Sunday, October 20, 2024

2024-10-14 Players from the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays World championship team who later played for the Baltimore Orioles

MONDAY  — 14-Oct

Q.  Which player, after announcing his retirement two days earlier, threw out the first pitch at the Yankees vs. Devil Rays game?

Hint: #1  He is the only middle infielder to represent four teams in the All-Star game.

Hint: #2  He was the last out in Nolan Ryan’s final no-hitter.

A.  ROBERTO ALOMAR  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  “First pitch” = on 20-Mar-2005.

-  #1  Alomar was an AS for SDP, TOR, BAL & CLE.

-  #2  Ryan’s 7th  No-no = 01-May-1991

FCR -  Mary Hums, Louisville

Incorrect guesses: 

 

 

TUESDAY  — 15-Oct

Q.  Which former White Sox pitcher had been the next pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium after Dwight Gooden?

Hint: #1  Every time he received Cy Young Award votes, he came in third.

Hint: #2  One measure of his longevity was the number of Hall of Fame teammates he had.  In his case, it was twenty-one.

Hint: #3  Fifteen times in his nine-team major league career, he was among his team’s leaders in WAR.

A.  DAVID WELLS  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Gooden’s no-no was 14-May-1996; Wells had his perfect G on 17-May-1998.  Wells pitched for CHW in 2001, between his two stays with NYY.

-  #1  Wells was 3rd in CYA voting in 1998 w/NYY when he led the AL in W/L % (.818); SHO (5); WHIP (1.045); & perfect games (1).  Wells was 3rd in CYA voting in 2000 w/TOR when he led in GS (35); CG (9); & HR/9 (1.2).  He never received a single CYA vote in any other season of his 21-year MLB career.

-  #2  Wells OF teammates:  Roberto Alomar, Harold Baines, Wade Boggs, Roy Halladay, Trevor Hoffman, Derek Jeter, Barry Larkin, Greg Maddux, Fred McGriff, Jack Morris, Eddie Murray, Mike Mussina, Phil Niekro, Mike Piazza, Tim Raines, Cal Ripken, Mariano Rivera, David Ortiz, Frank Thomas, Alan Trammell & Dave Winfield.  (It’s possible there’ll be more.)

-  #3  His value to the team is represented by the WAR column, showing what place he finished among his teammates that year and ~ = not in the top 12.

                        Year    WAR   Team

1987........ ~........ TOR

1988........ ~........ TOR

1989...... 11th...... TOR

1990........ 4th...... TOR

1991........ 8th...... TOR

1992........ ~........ TOR

1993........ 6th...... DET

1994........ 2nd..... DET

1995........ 1st/~... DET/CIN

1996........ 7th...... BAL

1997........ 6th...... NYY

1998........ 5th...... NYY

1999........ 6th...... TOR

2000........ 3rd...... TOR

2001........ ~........ CHW

2002........ 6th...... NYY

2003........ 5th...... NYY

2004........ 9th...... SDP

2005........ 7th...... BOS

2006........ ~........ BOS/SDP

2007........ ~........ SDP/LAD

FCR -  Chris Betsch, New Albany, Indiana

Incorrect guesses:  Chris Sale, Dave Righetti, Mark Buehrle, Jim Kaat, Hoyt Wilhelm, David Cone

 

 

WEDNESDAY— 16-Oct

Q.  Which former Tiger was the last native of Alabama to be the American League’s starting pitcher in an All-Star Game?

Hint: #1  He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame fifteen years later.

Hint: #2  In college, he made the conference All-Star team at two positions, pitcher and designated hitter.

A.  JIMMY KEY  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  In the 1994 ASG, Key pitched the 1st 2 innings for the AL, giving up 1 ER & then was pinch-hit for by Paul Molitor.  He was replaced on the mound by David Cone, a former teammate.  Key pitched for the Clemson University Tigers in college.

-  #1  Key joined the ASHOF in 2009.  Others enshrined there include Joe Louis, Bear Bryant, Jesse Owens, Satchell Paige, Bo Jackson, Ozzie Smith & JoJo Starbuck.

-  #2  In 1982, Key became the 1st Clemson baseball player to be named first-team All Atlantic Coast Conference at two positions in the same season—pitcher and designated hitter.

FCR -  Adrian Fung, Toronto

Incorrect guesses:  Tim Hudson, Frank Lary, Doyle Alexander, Todd Jones, Early Wynn, Joe Carter

 

 

MIDWEEK BONUS  — 17-Oct

Q.  Which former college football player was named All-American in baseball each of his three seasons eligible?

Hint: #1  With his first two full-season teams in the majors, he had more than one hundred runs batted in ten times out of twelve years, including leading the majors on the first one.

Hint: #2  He is in the Kansas State Hall of Fame even though he is not a native of Kansas.

A.  JOE CARTER  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Cater began his Wichita State career as a two-sport athlete, but left football after one season to focus on baseball.

-  #1  With CLE & YOR, Carter breached the 100-RBI mark 10 X from 1986 to 1997, leading MLB w/121 in 1986.

-  #2  Carter was born Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  He played baseball, however, at Wichita State University in Kansas.  See Ans. above.

FCR -  Daniel Wilson, St. Paul

Incorrect guesses:  Bob Allison

 

 

THURSDAY  — 17-Oct

Q.  Who is the only Dominican Republic native to lead the American League in Earned Run Average for a season besides Pedro Martinez?

Hint: #1  He broke one-time teammate Jack Morris’ record for most Wild Pitches in a season by an American League pitcher.

Hint: #2  He is the only pitcher in the American or National League to retire before 2001 with at least 225 career Games Started without ever appearing in relief (0).

A.  JUAN GUZMAN  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Guzman’s 2.93 ERA led all AL hurlers in 1996.  Pedro’s MLB ERA titles = 1999 (2.07); 2000 (1.74); 2002 (2.26); & 2003 (2.22).

-  #1  Morris had 24 WP in 1987.  Guzman outdid him when he racked up 26 in 1993.  A.J. Burnett had 25 for the Yankees in 2011 to move into 2nd place.  Guzman & Morris were teammates on TOR in 1992 & 1993, their WS championship seasons.

-  #2  All others accomplishing this feat have done it in the 21st century.

FCR -  Adrian Fung, Toronto

Incorrect guesses:  Bartolo Colon, Johan Santana

 

 

FRIDAY  — 18-Oct

Q.  Who would have denied Roger Clemens winning the American League ERA title in Clemens’ MVP season if he had pitched five more innings.

Hint: #1  He (not Clemens) was, however, the American League Rookie Pitcher of the Year that year.

Hint: #2  Because of an injury to his pitching shoulder in his brief debut season he developed a very effective sidearm delivery.

A.  MARK EICHHORN  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  In his MVP season, Clemens’ ERA was 2.48 and ed the AL.  Eichhorn’s was the American League’ ERA leader with 1.78, .a good margin ahead of winner Clemens, but he fell 5 innings pitcher short of qualifying for the award.  TOR manager Jimy Williams offered him a chance to get those 5 innings with a start at the end of the season, but Eichhorn declined.

-  #1  In addition to the AL ROTY award, Eichhorn set TOR team records for rookie relief in ERA, games (69), wins (14) & strikeouts 166, all career bests..

-  #2  His injury in 1982 influenced the rest of his career because as he healed, he began throwing with a release below his waist & found that he could do so with good accuracy.

FCR -  Jason Winston, Riverside, California

Incorrect guesses:  Randy Johnson, Jacko Morris, Teddy Higuera

 

 

SATURDAY  — 19-Oct

Q.  Who was Nolan Ryan’s 5,714th and final strikeout?

Hint: #1  Earlier that year, he (not Ryan) hit a grand slam single.

Hint: #2  He hit one of the most famous home runs in San Diego Padres postseason history.

A.  GREG MYERS  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Myers fanned in the 5th inning on 17-Sep-1993.  Ryan pitched 2 more innings that day, but Myers was his final K ever.  In Ryan’s last appearance, he faced 5+ batters without recording an out & left the game with Dave Magadan at bat.

-  #1  On 11-Jun-1993, in the 4th inning, Myers singled through what Tony Gwynn used to call the “5.5 hole” with 3 runners on.  Two fielding & throwing errors later, he and all 3 runners had scored before the next pitch was thrown.  Interestingly, the next batter homered.

-  #2  In the 6th G of the 1998 NLCS, Meyer pinch-hit for Chris Gomez in the bottom of the 9th & lit up Ligtenerg for a 2 R HR.  Ligtenberg was immediately replaced by Greg Maddux who got the final 3 outs to secure an ATL victory.  SDP won the 6th G & the series the next day in Atlanta.

FCR -  Matt Clairmont, New Minas, Nova Scotia

Incorrect guesses:  Ken Caminiti, Steve Garvey, Robin Ventura, Kurt Bevacqua, Jim Leyritz, Tony Gwynn

 

 

SUNDAY  — 20-Oct

Q.  Whose first two years in the majors found him on a team that won consecutive World Series championships?

Hint: #1  Unfortunately, he was not on the postseason roster either time.

Hint: #2  In his first season as a professional, he went 14-2 w/a 1.55 ERA for a Class-A farm team.  He also struck out 155 in 122 innings.

Hint: #3  In all, he played for minor- and major-league teams in five countries.

A.  DOUG LINTON  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  TOR won the WS in 1992 & 1993.  Linton pitched 24.0 & 11.0 innings respectively in those seasons.

-  #1  Linton didn’t make the postseason roster in 1992 & by the time TOR won in 1993, he had been put on waivers & selected off by CAL.

-  #2  Stats are from his time with the 1987 Myrtle Beach Blue Jays.

-  #3  In Asia, Linton played for the NPB for the Yakult Swallows 1998-1999; the Samsung Lions of the KBO during the 2000 season; & played for Uni-President in the CPBL in 2004.  In North America, his teams were TOR, KCR, NYM, CAL & BAL & their minor league affiliates.  He played for the Goldpanners in the summer collegiate baseball team based in Fairbanks, Alaska to a first-place finish & he played 3 seasons for one of the top collegiate programs, UC Irvine.

FCR -  Mike McCroskey, Sugar Land, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Atley Donald

 

 

 

 

WEEK’S THEME – Players from the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays World championship team who later played for the Baltimore Orioles

 

Player             TOR                        BAL

Alomar............... 1991-95.................... 1996-98

 

Carter................. 1991-97.................... 1998

 

Eichhorn............. 1982, 1986-88,.......... 1994

.......................... 1992-93

 

Guzman.............. 1991-98.................... 1998-99

 

Key.................... 1984-92.................... 1997-98

 

Linton................ 1992-93, 2003.......... 1999

 

Myers................. 1987, 1989-92,.......... 2000-01

.......................... 2004-05

 

Wells................. 1987-92.................... 1996

.......................... 1999-2000

 

ALSO QUALIFYING ARE:

Pat Hentgen &.. 1991-99, 2004.......... 2001-03

 Mike Timlin........ 1991-97.................... 2000


It is worth pointing out that Hall of Fame General Manager Pat Gillick, who was TOR’s GM 1978-1994, became BAL’s GM 1996-1998.

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme – Jon Symons, Winnipeg (After Guzman)                      

,

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Thurs   -           All of these players were on the 1992 Blue Jays team that won the world championship

            -           Toronto players

            -           Members of the 1992 WS team

            -           Members of the 1992 WS team who were All-Stars at some point

 

Sat       -           1992 Jays who also won another World Series

 

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