MONDAY — 27-May
Q. Which former
Rookie of the Year has struck out more than 150 batters each of the past three
seasons?
Hint: #1 He has
finished as high as fourth in Cy Young Award voting.
Hint: #2 Although he
has been an All-Star three years in a row, he only pitched a single inning in
All-Star competition.
A. SHOHEI OHTANI [B-R
Bio]
- Ans. 2021=156 K; 2022=219 K; 2023=167 K. Was AL ROY in 2018.
- #1 Finished 4th in AL CYA voting in 2022.
- #2 AL AS in 2021, 2022 & 2023. Played in all 3 G. Ohtani was the AL starting pitcher in his 1st
ASG & threw a hitless inning.
FCR - Julian Keifetz, New York City
TUESDAY — 28-May
Q. Which former
Rookie of the Year is credited with hitting a 570-foot-long home run in high
school?
Hint: #1 He won the
MLB Home Run Derby in dramatic fashion in his home ballpark, beating a future
teammate.
Hint: #2 Baseball-Reference
lists him with five (5!) nicknames.
A. BRYCE HARPER [B-R
Bio]
- Ans. NL ROY in 2012. Putative 570’ HR was hit with a metal bat
& is still without any sort of verification or certification. However, his coaches at Las Vegas HS in 2008
(Harper was a freshman), measured it at
570’.
- #1 Harper outlasted all competitors at the 2018 MLB HRD in Washington, DC. Runner-up Kyle Schwarber & Harper have been
teammates on PHI since 2022.
- #2 B-R sobriquets for Harper:
Bam-Bam, Mondo, Harp, Big Kid, The Showman
FCR - Laura Peebles, Arlington Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Shane
Bieber, Prince Fielder, Ken Griffey Jr, Pete Alonso
SURREAL TUESDAY — 28-May
Q. Who is the only
native Venezuelan in the five-hundred home run “club”?
Hint: #1 Only he,
Hank Aaron and Willie Mays belong to an even more exclusive “club”.
Hint: #2 He began
and ended his career with the Tigers.
Hint: #3 He received
enough Rookie of the Year votes to tie for fifth.
A. MIGUEL CABRERA [B-R
Bio]
- Ans. Cabrera retired with 511 HR, tied w/Mel
Ott. The next closest Venezuelan is
Andres Galarraga at 399. The next
closest active Venezuelan is Sal Perez at 255, now in his 14th
season.
- #1 Only Cabrera, Aaron & Mays have a career
batting averages above .300 as well as 500+ HR & 3,000+ H.
- #2 Cabrera played for the Tigres de
Aragua of the Venezuelan Winter League in December 1999. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers in 2008 where he
played until the end of his career in 2023.
- #3 He tied for 5th w/Brad Lidge in
the 2003 ROY
voting.
FCR - Lee Dembart,
Hollywood, California
Incorrect guesses: Albert
Pujols, Rafael Palmeiro, Andruw Jones `
WEDNESDAY — 29-May
Q. Which Californian
Rookie of the Year had his record for most home runs in a rookie season broken two
short years later by a Floridian?
Hint: #1 Unfortunately,
he led the majors in strikeouts the same season.
Hint: #2 He hit a
home run in his first at bat, but wasn’t even the first to do it in that
inning!
A. AARON JUDGE [B-R
Bio]
- Ans. Judge was AL ROY in 2017* when he hit 52
HR to lead the AL. In 2019 the Mets’
Pete Alonso led the majors with 53 in his debut season. Judge grew up (way up!) in an exurb of
Stockton, NoCal. ”Polar Bear”
Alonso is from northern
Florida.
- #1 Judge K’d 208 times in 2017.
- #2 In the 2nd inning of the NYY/TBR G
on 13-Aug-2016, rookie Tyler Austin
homered in his 1st MLB at-bat off Matt Andriese. The next batter was Judge and he followed suit. Austin homered 4 more times that year. Judge?
51 times more.
FCR - Sean McCormick,
New York City
Incorrect guesses: Mark
McGwire, Frank Robinson
THURSDAY — 30-May
Q. Who
was the first player drafted this century?
Hint: #1
He signed the richest contract in the history of major league baseball
for a player at his position. By the
middle of the contract, he was playing
more games at a different position.
Hint: #2
He appeared in the “Faces in the Crowd” section in Sports Illustrated
for his achievements in a different sport.
-
Ans. Mauer was #1 in the first round
of the 2001 MLB June Amateur Draft.
-
#1 In 2010 he signed the 4th
largest baseball contract in major league baseball history for $184,000,000
with the Minnesota Twins. By 2013, his
principal position was 1st base.
-
#2 High school football
player Mauer appeared in “Faces in the Crowd”* the Christmas issue
2000. He graced the SI
cover thrice after making the majors: 2006, 2009 & 2018. Technically, we should probably add a 4th
instance since his image appears top/center on the cover of SI’s 50th
anniversary of FITC issue here.
*Couldn’t find an image the actual FITC page
online.
FCR - Willis
Kern, Fort Myers, Florida
Incorrect guesses: Adrian Gonzalez, Rick Monday, Bob Bailey, Alex
Rodriguez, Mookie Betts, Spencer Torkleson, Randy Bush, Henry Davis
THURSDAY BIS — 30-May
Q. Who
was the first teenage position player for the Seattle Mariners?
Hint: #1
He was the top Rookie of the Year vote getter among position players.
Hint: #2
Only Sammy Sosa has homered in more different ballparks.
Hint: #3
He would have hit fifty home runs one year, but a game he had homered in
was rained out.
A. KEN GRIFFEY Jr [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Griffey Jr. debuted 03-Apr-1989 at age 19. 18-year-old Alex Rodriguez debuted with SEA
in 1994.
-
#1 He finished 3rd in
the 1989 ROY
voting behind Greg Olsen & Tom Gordon.
- #2 Griffey has gone deep in 44 major league
venues. Sosa did 45.
- #3 In 1996,
Griffey ended w/49 HR. Rainout
occurred 06-Sep. Story here.
FCR - Jake
Rinloan, Chico, California
Incorrect guesses: Alex Rodriguez
FRIDAY — 31-May
Q. Which
former Yankee won a National League Most Valuable Player award for a team that
hadn’t won the World Series in more than a third of a century?
Hint: #1
He was no longer dreadful when he sported his new look.
Hint: #2
He won the Roberto Clemente Award not long thereafter.
A. ANDREW McCUTCHEN [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. McCutchen was NL MVP in 2013
for PIT. Their last MLB championship was
in 1979, 34 years earlier. He played 18
G for NYY in 2018.
-
#1 He played for PIT with braided
dreadlocks down past his shoulders for his whole career until before the 2015
season. Watch the haircut here. The locks were auctioned off and the proceeds
went to Pirates’ charities.
-
#2 Always active in his community
wherever he played, that was formally recognized when he was honored as the coveted
Clemente recipient in
2015.
FCR - Michael
Schneider, Wilmington, Delaware
Incorrect guesses: Carlos Beltran
SATURDAY — 01-Jun
Q. Which
former Rookie of the Year was the first defending major league home run champ to
hit a pinch-hit grand slam?
Hint: #1
In his MVP season, he set the record for longest home run at Citizens
Bank Park with a nearly 500‑foot blast.
Hint: #2
He was the first player to homer in each of his first two career plate
appearances against future Hall of Famer Mike Mussina.
Hint: #3
He also wrote a series of children’s books with his wife.
A. RYAN HOWARD [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Was ROY in 2005; HR champ in 2006; PH GS
on 09-May-2007 off ARI’s Brandon
Medders.
-
#1 In Philadelphia on 23-Apr-2006 in the 2nd
inning, he hit a 496’ HR off Sergio Mitre of FLA.
-
#2 HRs off Mussina: 20-Jun-2006 (both)
- #3 Howard and his wife Krystle struck a deal with
Scholastic publishing company for a collection of baseball-themed children's
books, called “Little Rhino,” geared toward kids
aged 7 to 10.
FCR - Mark
Neuman, Haddonfield, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Bryce Harper, Jim Thome
SUNDAY — 02-Jun
Q. Which former National League Comeback Player
of the Year made his major league debut as a catcher but became an All‑Star third
baseman a couple of years later?
Hint: #1 He came to the Tigers as a former Gatorade
Player of the year.
Hint: #2 His career ERA is 0.00, but then he only
pitched one inning.
A. JOSH DONALDSON [B-R Bio]
- Ans. Donaldson
spent a mere 7 G at C for OAK in 2010 (His debut season) & 3 more in 2012. He was
an AS for the 1st time in 20143 for OAK. He was voted NL CBPOY playing 3B for Atlanta in 2019.
- #1 Donaldson
was the Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year , playing for Faith Academy High School in Mobile, AL in 2003
and enrolled to play for the Auburn University Tigers.
- #2 Pitching
for NYY on 01-Jul-2023(1), Donaldson induced a
ground out & 2 fly outs in the 8th inning for the G’s last out.
FCR - Brad Clark, Madison Wisconsin
Incorrect guesses: Willie Horton, Lance Parrish
WEEK’S FINALE — 02-Jun
Q. Who was the only Red Sox player to be Rookie
of the Year one year and Most Valuable Player the next?
Hint: #1 He and Barry Bonds won the same MVP honor in
college.
Hint: #2 His career defensive measure is better than
that of any other Red Sox player except a certain other player who left Boston
in 1921.
A. DUSTIN
PEDROIA [Wiki Bio]
- Ans. AL
ROY in 2007; AL MVP 2008.
- #1 At Arizona State, Pedroia & Bonds were both named “ASU On
Deck Circle Most Valuable Player”. Others
winning that honor were Paul Lo Duca & Ike Davis.
- #2 Everett
Scott, a BOS SS between 1914 & 1921 amassed a franchise-best Defensive WAR
of 16.3. Pedroia’s 15.5, earned 2006-2019
leads all others. BOS was Pedroia’s only
major league team.
FCR - Richard Tourangeau, Boston
Incorrect guesses: Fred Lynn
WEEK’S THEME – MVPs who have been on the cover of the video game “MLB the Show” since 2006.
Player # Date MVP yr
Cabrera......... 14............ 1-Apr-2014........... 2012, 2013
Donaldson.... 16............ 29-Mar-2016......... 2015
Griffey........... 17............ 28-Mar-2017......... 1997*
Harper........... 19............ 26-Mar-2019......... 2015*,
2021
Howard......... 08............ 04-Mar-2008......... 2006
Judge............ 18............ 27-Mar-2018......... 2022
Mauer........... 10, 11..... 2-Mar-2010........... 2009
McCutchen... 13............ 05-Mar-2013......... 2013
Ohtani........... 22............ 05-Apr-2022......... 2021*,
2023*
Pedroia......... 09............ 03-Mar-2009......... 2008
*Unanimous
First Correct Respondent identifying theme – Joshua Salguero,
Long Beach, California (After Mauer)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tue - Former
ROYs that won MVP awards for teams other than the team they debuted with
- MVPs
who have had Tommy John surgery
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