MONDAY — 22-Jan
Q. Who was the first catcher to have five
hundred plate appearances in a season?
Hint: #1 He invested his entire savings in his
new team, but lost it all when the league folded after the season.
Hint: #2 As a manager, he presided over more
major league games than anyone else.
A. CONNIE MACK [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Playing
for the Buffalo Bisons in the Players League in 1890, Mack came up
to bat 570 X, a career high. Notwithstanding,
due to the lack of complete game log box scores, there’s no way to eliminate
the possibility that 1 of these three
other catchers didn’t get to 500 PA
before Mack did.
- #1 Mack
poured $500 into the Bisons in 1890, but the Players League only lasted one
year.
- #2 Mack
managed 7,755 G, 1894-1950
FCR - Michael Craig,
Gilbert, Arizona
Incorrect guesses: Al
Lopez, Joe Torre, Pete Rose, Wilbert Robinson
TUESDAY — 23-Jan
Q. Who played in at
least one hundred games per year for a record twenty-three straight seasons?
Hint: #1 He is the
oldest player in major league history to lead his league in hits.
Hint: #2 He is the
only player with more major league games played than Carl Yastrzemski. (…and he played a lot more, almost two seasons’
worth.)
- Ans. From his rookie season 1963, until 1985, Rose
served his employers with at least 100 G each year, leading MLB in 1974, 75, 77
& 82.
- #1 In the strike-shortened season of 1981, Rose
led all major leaguers with 140 H. Rose turned 40 at the beginning of that
season.
- #2 Rose’s 3,562 G is an all-time record. Yaz sits 244 back, at 3,308.
FCR - Brian Keith, Mills
River, North Carolina
Incorrect guesses: George
Brett, Stan Musial, Ty Cobb, Cap Anson, Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken,
Hank Aaron, Ted Williams
WEDNESDAY — 24-Jan
Q. Who is the
youngest player ever to hit forty home runs in a season?
Hint: #1 He is also
the youngest ever to rack up one hundred fifty runs batted in in one year.
Hint: #2 He was the first
player to win the final game of a World Series with an extra-inning home run.
- Ans. At age 20 in 1929, Ott hit 42 HR for NYG. It was his 4th year in the majors.
- #1 That year, Ott had 151 RBI. Both marks were career highs.
- #2 WS-winning HR = 10th
inning of G 5 07-Oct-1933. It was not a walk-off HR, since the Giants
were the visitors that day.
FCR - Tony Hughes, Woodbridge,
Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Ken
Griffey Jr, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Manny Ramirez,
Hack Wilson, Mickey Mantle, Joe Carter
MIDWEEK BONUS — 25-Jan
Q. Who
holds the record for hits in each of more than fifteen consecutive World Series
games?
Hint: #1
He was the manager of a team both before and after it moved cities.
Hint: #2
He is famous for arguing with a delicatessen owner at a club lounge
during a party with teammates, instigating a club-wide fight.
A. HANK BAUER [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Bauer had at a 17-G WS
hitting streak, least one hit in each G of 1956 WS G 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; ‘57 G 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; ’58 G 1, 2, 3. In his preceding WS G 1949-1955, he spread 19
H over 32 G with the longest hitting streak being 3 G. Bauer's career WS BA was a pedestrian .245.
-
#1 Bauer’s first job as a manager
was as a player/manager of KCA in 1961. His last career G as a player was 21-Jul-1961. Bauer went 2 for 3 then became a full-time skipper. He managed 1 more season in Kansas City then
later he managed the team
again in 1969 after they had moved to the West Coast.
-
#2 At the Copacabana in New Yor
City, Bauer was participating in teammate Billy Martin's birthday party when
the fight broke out. It has been a
subject of discussion in the years since it happened 15-May-1957. Read more here & here.
FCR - Kenneth
Domonkos, Fountain Inn, California
Incorrect guesses: Billy Martin, Frank Robinson, Leo Durocher
THURSDAY — 25-Jan
Q. Who
was the first man to both catch and manage no-hitters for three different
teams?
Hint: #1
He played, managed, coached and umpired in the National League.
Hint: #2
Once, after having his fingernail ripped off by a pitch, he ground the
finger in the dirt to stop the bleeding.
A. WILBERT ROBINSON [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. Wilbert was behind the plate for no-nos tossed by Ed Seward
(Philadelphia—American Association), 26-July-1888 & Bill Hawke (Orioles-NL)
16-Aug-1893 and managed the NL’s Robins while Dazzy Vance on 13-Sept-1925(1)
hurled the only no-hitter of Robinson’s 18
seasons as the Brooklyn skipper. [Not
3 of each—caught & managed. That would be a record!]
-
#1 See all four here.
-
#2 Robinson had to have the
finger amputated due to infection.
FCR - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Incorrect guesses: Jeff Torborg, Muddy Ruel
THURSDAY II — 25-Jan
Q. Which
future Astros manager termed the Astrodome “…a $45 million stadium with a
10-cent infield!”?
Hint: #1
He is the only man that at least five hundred victories with three
different National League teams.
Hint: #2
He was the first New York Yankees player to wear uniform number seven.
A. LEO DUROCHER [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. His tirade follow a 1966 3-G
sweep of the Cubs by the Astros in Houston.
He managed HOU in 1972-73 before retiring for
good with 2,008 W & a .540 career winning percentage.
-
#1 Durocher racked up 738 wins
w/BRO 1939-46, 48; another 637 w/NYG 1948-55; & 535 w/CHC 1966-72.
-
#2 Durocher wore #7 in 1929 in 100+
G for NYY. In 1929, the Yankees became
the 1st team to make numbers a permanent part of their uniform. Numbers were initially assigned per the
batting order in the lineup. In 1929,
Earle Combs wore #1, Mark Koenig #2, Babe Ruth #3, Lou Gehrig #4, Bob
Meusel #5, Tony Lazzeri #6, Leo Durocher #7, Johnny Grabowski #8, Benny
Bengough #9 & Bill Dickey #10. Another
dozen Yankees wore #7 between 1930 & early 1951 until young Mickey Mantle
switched from uniform #6 to his now famous #7, now retired.
FCR - Anthony
Zydlewski, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Bill Virdon, Dusty Baker
FRIDAY —
26-Jan
Q. Who
caught a ball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument?
Hint: #1
He was the first person to have a fifteen-year gap as a major league player.
Hint: #2
He guided the St. Louis Cardinals to their third and fourth National League
pennants.
A. GABBY STREET [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Washington Monument stunt was on 21-Aug-1908. Full story here.
-
#1 Street thought he had played
in his last MLB G in 1912 when he played in 29 G for NYY. However, 19 years later, as the 48-year-old manager
of the 1931 WS champion Cardinals, Street wrote himself into the starting
lineup at C on 20-Sept-1931. He wanted a farewell AB as a player and after
throwing out a baserunner in the 1st, he flied out to RF in the 3rd.
-
#2 Street was the STL mgr. when
they won NL pennants in 1930 and 1931. In 1930, they lost the WS to PHA and then
returned the favor in 1931.
FCR - Dave
Wise, Hyde Park, New York
Incorrect guesses: Moe Berg
SATURDAY— 26-Jan
Q. Who got
two hits in one inning in the first of his 1,021 major league games?
Hint: #1
In his managerial debut, a player in the opponent’s dugout, a future Rookie
of the Year and a future manager himself, got four hits.
Hint: #2 He managed one of the teams in
history’s first ALCS.
A. BILLY
MARTIN [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. In Martin’s debut, 18-Apr-1950, he doubled & singled
in the 8th inning. He was the
first player to get two hits in one inning in a major league Opening Day game. This occurred in only his 3rd regular
season inning as he entered his inaugural MLB game in the 6th as a
defensive replacement.
-
#1 In his managerial debut for
the Minnesota
Twins, 08-Apr-1969, KCA’s Lou Piniella
had a double and 3 singles.
-
#2 Martin’s Twins were swept by Earl Weaver’s
Orioles in 1969.
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FCR - Scott
Crawshaw, San Diego
Incorrect guesses: Joe Torre, Joe Morgan
WEEKEND BONUS — 26-Jan
Q. Who holds
the record for bases on balls in a season among second basemen?
Hint: #1
He is in an elite group of players who had at least a hundred walks in a
season for three different teams.
Hint: #2
He had a fairly puerile sobriquet.
A. EDDIE STANKY [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. In 1945, Stanky walked 148
X, which led the majors. He’s the only second baseman to walk 140 in
one year and he did it twice! In 1950
for NYG, Stanky collected 144 BB.
- #1 100
BB => Stanky (1945-47 Dodgers, 1949
Braves, 1950-51 Giants); An additional 7
other players drew 100 BB while playing for 3 different teams: Jim Thome,
Mickey Tettleton, Tony Phillips, John Olerud, Adam Dunn, Lu Blue & Roy
Cullenbine.
-
#2 Brooklyn fans gave Stanky
various nicknames. “Stinky” &
“Muggsy” were popular. The one that
stuck with him, was “The Brat”, a reference to the snarling, clamorous,
hot-headed edge to Stanky who emerged in instances of high emotion or
tension. The Brat wasn’t the only one of Stanky’s on-field label monikers. The off-field Eddie
Stanky was less of a dervish, very attentive & a serious student about how
to be the best major-league manager.
FCR - Len
Levin, Providence
Incorrect guesses: Joe Morgan
WEEK’S FINALE — 28-Jan
Q. Who
was the first baseball professional on the cover of Time magazine?
Hint: #1
He was the first player to have two hundred-hit seasons in both the National
League and the American League.
Hint: #2
He holds the record for hits in a season by an infielder.
Hint: 3:
His batting average in his MVP season is the highest qualifying mark in
the American League since the end of the Dead Ball Era.
-
Ans. Sisler’s hatted face graced
the Time cover on 30-Mar-1925. Those of many
others’ faces would follow. [See theme below.]
-
#1 Had 200+ H for SLB in 1920 (257);
1921 (216); 1922 (246); 1925 (224); & 1927 (201). For the Braves [BSN] in 1929, he had 205.
-
#2 Sisler still holds the infielder record, set in the 1920
season (with 257 hits).
- #3 In 1922, Sisler was 246 for 586 = .420.
FCR - Obrey
Brown, Tallahassee
Incorrect guesses: Nap Lajoie
WEEK’S THEME – Major
league managers who were cover subject for issues of
Manager Issue Page Ws WAR
Bauer................... 11-Sep-1964................ Pp............. 594... 27.2
Durocher.............. 14-Apr-1947................ 56.......... 2,008..... 4.3
Mack.................... 11-Apr-1927................ 22.......... 3,731..... 6.9
Martin.................. 11-May-1981............... 66.......... 1,253..... 3.0
Ott........................ 02-Jul-1945................. Pp............. 464. 110.9
Robinson.............. 25-Aug-1930............... Pp.......... 1,399..... 6.7
Rose..................... 19-Aug-1985............... 46............. 412... 79.6
Sisler*................... 30-Mar-1925................ 26............. 218... 57.2
Stanky.................. 28-Apr-1952................ 60............. 467... 41.4
Street.................... 28-Mar-1932................ 28............. 365..... 6.4
*First major leaguer to
appear on the cover of Time.
These 5 also would have
qualified for this week’s theme:
John
McGraw............. 27-Jun-1927......... 29.......... 2,763... 45.7
Rogers
Hornsby......... 09-Jul-1928.......... 23............. 701. 127.1
Mickey
Cochrane....... 07-Ocr-1935......... 23............. 348... 49.7
Ted
Williams.............. 10-Apr-1950......... Pp............ 273. 121.8
Casey Stengel............. 03-Oct-1955......... 58.......... 1,905... 20.2
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme –
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tues - People who have had stadiums named after
them
- Players with at least 500 PA in a season who became managers
- Player/Manager in MLB history
- Player/Managers
Wed - Most seasons as a player-manager
-
Managers with the most career wins who were
once player-managers
Thurs - People with nicknames that refer to speaking, like Gabby, and the Lip
-
All have middle names beginning with E
-
All have streets named in their honor
-
Baseball personnel who have caught or attempted
to catch a baseball or other object thrown from higher elevations
-
Sergeants
Sat - Major league managers who were pipe smokers
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