2024-10-07 Hall of Fame pitchers who hit grand slams

MONDAY  — 07-Oct

Q.  Which pitcher’s major league career strikeout record lasted for more than sixty (60!) seasons?

Hint: #1  He was pictured signing to play for a Federal League team on the cover of Baseball Magazine.

Hint: #2  He holds the all-time career record for pitching complete-game shutouts.

A.  WALTER JOHNSON  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Johnson took over the record from Cy Young in 1921 and increased it to 3,509 playing only for WSH.  That number wasn’t passed until 1983 when Gaylord Perry, Steve Carlton & Nolan Ryan all went past the once-venerated mark.  Ryan stands alone w/5,714 K, career.

-  #1  Johnson was intending to sign and play for any of several teams in the startup Federal League for a huge pay increase from $7K to $25K year, but his loyalty to his team, his city & the Senators’ team own in addition to strong personal persuasion from PIT’s well-respected player/manager Fred Clarke.  Adding an interesting side note, this was following Johnson’s 1913 year which many baseball historians hold to be the greatest season ever pitched.

-  #2  He amazing 110 SHO total may never be reached..

FCR -  Paul Nielsen, Bowie, Maryland

Incorrect guesses:  Christie Mathewson, Rube Waddell, Old Hoss Radbourn, Pete Alexander, Eddie Plank, Lefty Grove

 

 

TUESDAY  — 08-Oct

Q.  Who was the first manager of the team that is now the New Yok Yankees?

Hint: #1  He led the National League in ERA in the penultimate season when they had twelve teams then led the American League in win/loss percent in the premiere AL season.

Hint: #2  He once gave up a home run to the only batter he faced all season.

A.  CLARK GRIFFITH  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  NYY began in 1903 & Griffith was their player/manager through 1907.  In 1908, he was their manager for the 1^st 57 G, but didn’t play.

-  #1  Griffith’s 1.88 in 1898 led the NL (the only major league a the time) pitching for CHC.  Then he went across town &, pitching for the AL CHW’s in their 1^st season, led both leagues in                 W-L% = .774.

-  #2   On the last day of the 1912 season, Griffith, Washington’s player/manager, inserted himself into the G to pitch to the dangerous Hal Chase w/2 me on.  Chase chased Griffith with an inside-the-park home run.

FCR -  Kevin Baker, New York City

Incorrect guesses:  John McGraw

 

 

IN MEMORIAM  — 80-Oct

Q.  Who is the only native of Cuba to be the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game?

Hint: #1  He is the only pitcher in the Expansion Era with two consecutive-inning-scoreless streaks of at least forty innings.

Hint: #2  There was some confusion about his age, possibly due  to…

Hint: #3  …the fact that his father had the same name and was also a great baseball player.

Hint: #4  The fans were not booing him even though it might have sounded like that at first.

Hint: #5  A sportswriter wrote that he looked like “Pancho Villa after a tough week of looting and burning.”

Hint: #6  He was beloved not only by the fans, but by his mates.  One teammate, a future Hall of Famer, actually wept upon hearing that this teammate was to be leaving the team.

Hint: #7  Forty per cent of the home runs he hit were off one pitcher.

A.  LUIS TIANT  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Tiant started the 1968 ASG in the summer of “The Year of the Pitcher”.  He surrendered an unearned run which was the only one of the game.  It was the first of 3 ASG for him.

-  #1  In 1968, his scoreless innings streak was 40 innings & included 4 shutouts.  In 1972,  it was 41 innings, but no shutouts.

-  #2  His listed date of birth was always 23-Nov-1940, but he looked older and seemed older.

-  #3  His father Luis Tiant pitched in the West Indies as well as in the major Negro Leagues in the U.S.

-  #4  Thousands of his devoted would chant “Loo-ee!” when he took the mound in Fenway Park.

-  #5  Red Smith is the source of the quote.

-  #6  Carl Yastrzemski admitted he cried when he heard the news: “They (Red Sox management) tore out our heart and soul.”

-  #7  Tiant hit 5 HR in the major.  Two were off NYY’s Kim Bouton.

FCR -  Matt Dicker, Chicago

Incorrect guesses:  Camilo Pascu, Orlando Hernandez

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 09-Oct

Q.  Who has the highest lifetime WAR rating of any left-handed pitcher?

Hint: #1  No one won more season ERA titles than he did.

Hint: #2  He is the most recent lefty to win thirty games in a season.

A.  LEFTY GROVE  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  His 106.8 is 26^th overall among all players.  Randy Johnson at 101.1 is the next highest lefty pitcher.

-  #1  Grove won AL ERA crowns for PHA in 1926 (2.51), 1929 (2.81), 1930 (2.54), 1931 (2.06) and 1932 (2.84).  He did it for BOS in 1935 (2.79), 1936 (2.81), 1938 (3.08) & 1939 (2.54).

-  #2  Grove’s W total of 31 in 1931 for the A’s hasn’t been equaled by a left-handed thrower since then.

FCR – Greg Gits, Glen Ellyn, Illinois

Incorrect guesses:  Warren Spahn, Sandy Koufax

 

 

THURSDAY  — 10-Oct

Q.  Who was the first National League pitcher to top the 3,000-strikeout mark?

Hint: #1  He later coached the Braves, Mets and Cardinals.

Hint: #2  His seven consecutive victories in World Series games is an all-time pitching record.

A.  BOB GIBSON  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  On 17-Jul-1974, Gibson’s struck out CIN’s OF Cesar Geronimo in the 2^nd inning.  It was the 1^st of his 4 K that day, but it was also the 3,000^th K of his career.  He would finish his playing career the following season with 3,117 K.  That total today is 4^th in the NL, 16^th overall.

-  #1  Coaching record here.  ATL – NYM – STL.

-  #2  Gibson won games in the World Series in 1964 (2) +WS MVP, 1967 (3) +WS MVP & 1968 (2).  That's not just 7 consecutive victories but 7 consecutive complete game victories.  He started 9 WS games & completed all 9 of them.

FCR -  Jerry Miller, Liberty Hill, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Steve Carlton, John Smoltz, Warren Spahn

 

 

FRIDAY  — 11-Oct

Q.  Who was the first Hall of Famer to die outside the United States?

Hint: #1  At the time of his retirement, he was the career leader in hitting batters with pitches.

Hint: #2  He was the first Cy Young Award winner to have a teammate win the award the following season.

A.  DON DRYSDALE  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Drysdale passed away in Montreal where he was to broadcast a game on 02-Jul-1993.  His body was found in his hotel room, victim of a heart attack.

-  #1  Drysdale left the game in 1969 having HBP 154 batters.

-  #2  Drysdale was CYA in 1962 & his teammate Sandy Koufax was the 1963 (& 1965 & 1966) winner.

FCR -  Jack Sullivan, Louisville

Incorrect guesses: 

 

 

SATURDAY  — 12-Oct

Q.  Whose record for most balks in a season did Dave Stewart break?

Hint: #1  He was the first twentieth-century pitcher to strike out more than eighteen batters in a nine-inning game.

Hint: #2  He started more games than any other left-hander in mlb history.

A.  STEVE CARLTON  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Stewart’s 16 balks in 1988 broke Steve Carlton’s otherwise unthreatened 15 in 1979.  1988 was the year of the Balk.  MLB told umpires to be stricter in calling balks, but it got a bit out of hand.  Here is a good article on the subject.

-  #1  On 15-Sep-1969, Carlton K’d 19 Mets.  Despite that, his team lost the game.

-  #2  Carlton started 707 G in the majors, 6^th place overall.  Tommy John (700), Tom Glavine (682), Warren Spahn (665) & Jamie Moyer (638) round out the top 5 lefties.

FCR -  George Alfano, Redlands, California

Incorrect guesses:  Warren Spahn, Eddie Plank

 

SUNDAY  — 13-Oct-Sep

Q.  Which BRTR, one-time White Sox pitcher surrendered the first of Ted Williams’ home runs when Williams hit two in consecutive games on the same day?

Hint: #1  After losing four toes on his left foot in a mining accident, he ( not Williams) switched from the outfield to pitching.

Hint: #2  No Yankee pitcher has ever pitched more complete games.

A.  RED RUFFING  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Ted’s 1^st HR = 30-May-1939(1)… off Ruffing; the 2^nd = 30-May-1939(2)… off Monte Pearson.  The were the 7^th & 8^th HR of Williams’ career.  Ruffing batter right and threw right.  His last season in the majors was 1947 w/CHW.

-  #1  He quit school at 13 to work for his father in the coal mines of central Illinois, earning $3 a day.  His left foot was crushed between 2 coal cars when he was 15.  The foot was saved, but 4 toes weren’t.

-  #2  Ruffing had 261 CG for NYY with Lefty Gomez a distant 2^nd at 173.

FCR -  Lee Dembart, Hollywood, California

Incorrect guesses:  Lefty Gomez

 

 

 

WEEK’S THEME – Hall of Fame pitchers who hit grand slams

 

Pitcher                     GS Date               Career W-L      ERA                                    WAR

Carlton................... 16-May-1984.......... 324-244.......... 3.22....................................... 90.2

Drysdale................. 09-Aug-1961......... 209-0166......... 2.95....................................... 67.1

Gibson................... 29-Sep-1965.......... 251-174.......... 2.91....................................... 89.2

Gibson................... 26-Jul-1973(1)

Griffith.................... 27-Jun-1891........... 237-146.......... 3.31........................................ 3.8

Grove..................... 27-Jul-1935(1).......... 300-141.......... 3.06...................................... 106.8

Johnson................. 21-Jun-1914........... 417-279.......... 2.17...................................... 166.9

Ruffing.................... 14-Apr-1933........... 273-225.......... 3.80....................................... 68.6

It is a stretch, but fun, to think that Madison Bumgarner (11-Apr-2014; 13-Jul-2014) could one day join this group.  Wes Ferrell should (12-Aug-36(1)) if for a different reason.  Babe Ruth hit 16 GS, but never on a day he was pitching.

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme – Nary a soul.  Not even a reasonable guess.

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Mon     -  Fullerton (California) High School alumni

 

Fri        -  Hall of Fame power pitchers

-   With 20+ SHO

 

Sat       -  NL All-Star pitchers in the Year of the Pitcher

 

 

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