MONDAY —28-Nov
Q. Who
is the only pitcher to lead his league in strikeouts as many as twelve times?
Hint: #1
He is the only pitcher in the Modern Era with more than one hundred and
fifty career extra-base hits as a batter.
Hint: #2
He was nicknamed before interstate freeways existed.
- Ans. 12
X Johnson led the AL in K = 1910, 1912-19, 1921, 1923-24 – all w/WSH.
- #1 Had
159 XBH. Red Ruffing (148) & Cy
Young (140) are the only other pitcher with more than 125 career XBH.
- #2 “Big
Train” was the nickname bestowed on Johnson by the sportswriters of the day. Interstates became a thing in the Eisenhower
administration.
FCR - John
Bath, Gahanna, Ohio
Incorrect guesses: Warren Spahn, Nolan Ryan, Bob Feller
TUESDAY —29-Nov
Q. Who was the first
major leaguer to cross the plate more than one hundred and fifty times in a
single season in the Liveball Era?
Hint: #1 Carl
Hubbell surrendered this slugger’s first National League home run.
Hint: #2 He is the
only player ever to rack up more than two hundred hits in the same season he
was walked more than one hundred forty times.
- Ans. Had 158 R in 1920 then did it an additional 4
X= 1921 (177); 1923 (151); 1927 (158); & 1928 (163).
- #1 Ruth’s 709th career HR came in his
1st G in the NL as a Brave in Boston on 16-Apr-1935
vs. the Giants’ Hall of Fame lefty.
- #2 Ruth did it 3 X = 1921, 1923 & 1924. No one else did it even once.
FCR - Chip Bir, Abingdon,
Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Hack
Wilson, Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, Hank Aaron, Hank Greenberg, Chuck Klein
WEDNESDAY —30-Nov
Q. Who
played the most games for a single major league team?
Hint: #1
He was the first American League player to collect at least one hundred
hits in each of his first twenty major league seasons.
Hint: #2
He broke a record once held by Detroit’s Rudy York.
A. CARL YASTRZEMSKI [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Played 3,308 G all for BOS. Only Stan Musial (3,026 w/STL) and Cal Ripken
Jr. (3,001 w/BAL) also appeared in 3,000 career games without playing for at
least 2 MLB teams.
-
#1 100+ H 1961-80. In the NL, Pete Rose (1963-1985) started his
career with 23 consecutive 100 H seasons. Hank Aaron reached 20 straight
even before Rose did 1954-73.
-
#2 At 277, York had held the
esoteric mark of the most career HR by a player whose last name begins with Y. Yaz broke that with his 278th in
1973. His career HR total of 452 is
still the Y record. (Thanks to the late David Vincent for that heads-up.)
FCR - David
White, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Incorrect guesses: Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, Hank Aaron, Stan
Musial, Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Ernie Banks, Tony Gwynn
MIDWEEK BONUS —30-Nov
Q. Who was the first
to pitch no-hitters in both the American League and National League?
Hint: #1 He was the
first pitcher with double-digit shutouts in one year, from the modern pitching
distance.
Hint: #2 He stayed
in shape during the off-season by, in his words, "…hiking, hunting &
chopping lots of wood".
-
Ans. NL no-no = 18-Sep-1897 for CLV; AL no-nos = 05-May-1904*
for BOS; 30-Jun-1908
for BOS.
-
#1 Young threw 10 SHO in 1904,
from 60'6", which became the ML distance on 07-Mar-1893.
-
#2 Young was born and raised in
tiny Gilmore Ohio, an agrarian hamlet 100 miles south of Cleveland.
*Perfect game
FCR - Michael
Green, Las Vegas
Incorrect guesses: Jim Bunning, Milt Pappas, Nolan Ryan, Rube
Waddell, Curt Young, Randy Johnson, Madison Bumgarner
IN MEMORIAM —01-Dec
Q. Which Hall of
Fame pitcher won the Cy Young Award two years after his brother had won it?
Hint: #1 It was his
first season in a new league and the first time a pitcher in that league had
won the Cy Young Award for a team with a losing record.
Hint: #2 His WAR
that year was the best in the league and almost tripled the next best on his team.
Hint: #3 His first
home run as a batter came almost seven years after his debut and on a very
important day in American history.
Hint: #4 When he
joined the elite 300/3,000 Club, only he and Walter Johnson were members.
Hint: #5 He won
games against every team in the majors during his career.
Hint: #6 He attained
the distinction (according to him) as the world’s second-most famous peanut
farmer.
Hint: #7 He pitched
a no-hitter against Bob Gibson the year Gibson’s ERA of 1.12 led
the world.
Hint: #8 He was the
first person to win a Cy Young Award in each league.
A. GAYLORD PERRY [SABR Bio] [Obit]
- Ans. Won the AL CYA in 1972 with the Indians. Brother Jim Perry won the AL CYA in1970
w/MIN.
- #1 Perry had pitched for his original team SFG since
1962, but was traded to CLE in November 1971. CLE’s record in ’72 was 72
(& 84 losses).
- #2 Perry’s 11.0 led the AL. Teammate Graig Nettles’ respectable 4.8 was
next on CLE.
- #3 When Perry homered off LAD’s Claude Osteen in
the 3rd inning on 20-Jul-1969,
he fulfilled a whimsical prophesy his manager Al Dark had made years
earlier. Read the details here.
- #4 With more than 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts,
Perry is joined by only 9 other pitchers. Perry qualified in
1982. Walter Johnson had been there
alone, since 1923.
- #5 All 26 teams were beaten by Perry at least
once. 4 teams have been added to the
majors since.
- #6 Many people knew that U.S. President Jimmy
Carter raised peanuts on his farm in Georgia.
Perry’s farm in North Carolina was a commercially profitable peanut
producer.
- #7 Perry’s no-hitter on 17-Sep-1968
vs. STL, was a 1-0 gem.
- #8 Perry 2nd CYA came in 1978
w/SDP. CYAs in both leagues is a feat
now accomplished by an additional 5 pitchers.
FCR - Rich Lerner,
Silver Spring, Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Phil
Niekro, Jim Perry
THURSDAY —01-Dec
Q. Which
Hall of Famer from a tiny burg in the heart of Texas, passed away after the
major league team he had just been coaching, had the Modern Era’s most
execrable season?
Hint: #1
He was the first twentieth century National League player to collect
more RBI in a season than the number of games he played (minimum 100 RBI).
Hint: #2
Nobody with at least three hundred career home runs has a higher
lifetime batting average.
A. ROGERS HORNSBY [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. After going into the
hospital for eye surgery, he passed away from a heart attack 05-Jan-1963 at age
66. The NY Mets’ first year of operation,
1962, left a mark of 40-120-1,
during which Hornsby was their hitting instructor. [Note:
The 1916 PHA (.235) and 1935 BSN (.248) had worse percentages
than the Mets’ .250., but no Modern Era team, before or since, has dropped 120
G in a single year.] From Winters,
Texas, w/a population of just over 200 when he was born there in 1896.
-
#1 In 1925, Hornsby played in 138
G for STL & led the majors w/143 RBI.
-
#2 Had 301 HR & a career BA of
.358 (Not a typo.)
FCR - Chuck
Durante, Dover, Delaware
Incorrect guesses: Chuck Klein, Ted Williams
FRIDAY —02-Dec
Q. Who is
the only twentieth century pitcher to have twenty-win/twenty-loss seasons in the
American League and in the National League?
Hint: #1
One year he racked up a twenty-win season pitching for two last-place
teams.
Hint: #2
In nine of his ten major league seasons, he exceeded 300 innings
pitched, twice going over 400.
A. JOE McGINNITY [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. McGinnity’s record in the
AL’s debut season, 1901, was 26-20 for the Orioles. With NYG in 1903,
his record was 31-20.
-
#1 In In 1902, he was13-10 in 25
G for BLA in the AL & was then
released. Talent-savvy John McGraw
of NYG signed him immediately
& McGinnity finished 8-8 in 19 G, ending his season in the NL. He led BAL in WAR & was 2nd
only to the great Cristy Mathewson in WAR on the Giants.
-
#2 In his MLB seasons 1899-1908
only 1908 was a season under 300 IP.
FCR - Robert
Osman, Great Neck, New York
Incorrect guesses: Wilbur Wood, Phil Niekro, Vic Willis, Cy Young,
Warren Spahn
SATURDAY
—03-Dec
Q. Which
one-time Houston Astro pitcher struck out at least two hundred batters in each
of his first three seasons in the majors?
Hint: #1
He helped Tuffy Rhodes rise from anonymity.
Hint: #2
He (not Rhodes) suited up and played for three teams in his final major
league season.
A. DWIGHT GOODEN [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Doc K’d 276, 268
& 200 1984-86 for NYM, a Modern Era record later equaled by Hideo Nomo 1995-97. Gooden pitched exactly 4 innings, all in 1 G, for HOU in 2000.
-
#1 Rhodes (who now prefers to go by
his given name Karl) homered thrice off Gooden on the Opening Day of
what would prove to be a labor-dispute shortened season, 1994. Doing so, Rhodes tied George Bell, who had
hit 3 HR in an Opening Day G
6 years earlier.
-
#2 In 2000, Gooden pitched for HOU, TBD & NYY.
FCR - Matt
Kalman, Woburn, Massachusetts
Incorrect guesses: Mike Hampton, Mike Scott, J.R. Richard, Robin
Roberts, Shane Reynolds, Don Wilson
SUNDAY —04-Dec
Q. Which Hall of Fame pitcher with a career WAR
over 90.0 was credited with 244 lifetime losses.
Hint: #1 His name comes up when lopsided trades are mentioned.
Hint: #2 He racked up more than 50 shutouts and an extra
line on his CV shows that he had two saves, twenty years apart.
A. STEVE CARLTON [SABR Bio]
- Ans. WAR
= 90.2; record off 329-244. HOF in 1994 on
96% voting.
- #1 His
trade for Rick Wise in February 1972 gave
the PHI a future Hall of Famer who would be in the top 5 in Cy Young Award
voting 6 times. In exchange, STL
received a journeyman would go on to receive CYA votes only once and that one was
for 8th place.
- #2 Totaled
55 SHO and had saves on 16-Apr-1967 & 09-Apr-1987.
FCR - Dave Serota, Kalamazoo
Incorrect guesses: Milt Pappas, Early Wynn, Ferguson Jenkins, Nolan
Ryan, Gaylord Perry, Warren Spahn, Tommy John, John Smoltz
WEEKLY THEME – Players
with a season with a WAR of 12.0 or higher in the Modern Era (1900-)
Rank WAR Year W-L ERA SO SHO ERA+
1 Johnson............ 15.1.......... 1913............ 36-7........... 1.14........ 243....... 11 259
3 .. " 13.2.......... 1912............ 33-12......... 1.39........ 303......... 7 243
6 Young................ 12.5.......... 1901............ 33-10......... 1.62........ 158......... 5 219
9 Gooden............. 12.2.......... 1985............ 24-4........... 1.53........ 268......... 8 229
9 McGinnity.......... 12.2.......... 1903............ 31-20......... 2.43........ 171......... 3 140
10 Carlton.............. 12.1.......... 1972............ 27-10......... 1.98........ 310......... 8 182
Rank/Batter WAR Year Team HR RBI BA OPS+ TB
2... Ruth............... 14.2....... 1923........ NYY........ 41........ 130........ .393........ 239..... 399
4 " 12.9....... 1921........ NYY........ 59........ 168........ .378........ 239 457
5 " 12.6....... 1927........ NYY........ 60........ 165........ .356........ 243 417
6... Yastrzemski... 12.5....... 1967........ BOS........ 44........ 121........ .326........ 193..... 360
8... Hornsby........... 12.3............. 1924 STL......... 25.......... 94........ .424........ 222..... 373
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Joe Cohen, Holden Massachusetts (after
Young)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
-
First inductees into the HOF
-
HOF's who played in Boston
-
Players who opened each "inning" of the Ken Burns
documentary Baseball
-
20th century players who had a seasonal WAR of 12.5 or
higher
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