MONDAY — 21-Oct
Q. Which pitcher won
the most game in the history of the major leagues (Minus, of course, all the
right-handed pitchers)?
Hint: #1 He was his
team’s Opening Day starting pitcher ten (10!) times and was thrice his
league’s starting pitcher for the All-Star Game.
Hint: #2 He was the
last pitcher before expansion to lead his league in strikeouts four consecutive
seasons.
Hint: #3 Thirteen
times he won twenty or more games in a season.
In eight of those, he led or tied for the league lead.
A. WARREN SPAHN [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Spahn’s 363 pitching victories ranks him 6th
all-time but 1st among lefties, well outdistancing Steve Carlton,
the next lefty, who checks in with 329 W. Spahn’s 1st W didn’t happen until
he was 25 years old !
- #1 Started ASG for the NL in 1949, 1958 & 1961(1). He was the Braves Opening Day starting
pitcher in 1950, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 & 1964.
- #2 Spahn led in NL in K in 1949, 1950, 1951*
& 1952. *Tied w/BRO’s Don Newcombe.
- #3 Spahn‘s fantastic B-R record.
FCR - Thomas Nester,
Ft. Myers
Incorrect guesses: Lefty
Grove, Pud Galvin, Bob Feller, Christy Mathewson, Satchel Paige,
Pete Alexander, Randy Johnson
TUESDAY — 22-Oct
Q. Who surrendered
more home runs to Mickey Mantle than any other pitcher?
Hint: #1 He was only
the second ever pitcher to win the Cy Young Award the same season he led the league
in bases-on-balls.
Hint: #2 He made his
ML debut the year Lou Gehrig retired and played his final season when Pete Rose
was called up.
A. EARLY WYNN [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Mantle hit 13 HR off Wynn, from 15-Jul-1952 to 13-Jul-1961. Mantle played 7 more years and hit 186 more
HR, but no other pitcher ever overtook or tied Wynn’s total.
- #1 Wynn won the MLB CYA in 1959 (There was only 1
then.). He led the majors in BB allowed with 119. Only Bob Turley had done it before him w/123
BB in 1958.
- #2 His career lasted from 1939 in Washington to 1963 in Cleveland.
FCR - Damian Begley,
New York City
Incorrect guesses: Bob
Feller, Pedro Ramos
WEDNESDAY — 23-Oct
Q. Who pitched the
first no-hitter for the Orioles after they had moved from St. Louis where
they were the Browns?
Hint: #1 He was the
first pitcher to take the mound in more than one thousand major league games.
Hint: #2 In spite of
a Hall of Fame career, he pitched for nine different major league teams. No Hall
of Famer has pitched for more.
A. HOYT WILHELM [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Wilhelm no-hit NYY 1-0 on 20-Sep-1958.
- #1 He pitched in 1,070 G, 6th on the career G list for pitchers.
- #2 20-Nov-1947: Drafted by NYG from BSN in the 1947 minor
league draft.
26-Feb-1957: Traded by NYG to STL for Whitey
Lockman.
21-Sep-1957: Selected off
waivers by CLE from STL.
23-Aug-1958: Selected off
waivers by BAL from CLE.
14-Jan-1963: Traded by BAL w/Ron Hansen, Dave
Nicholson & Pete Ward CHW for Luis Aparicio & Al Smith.
15-Oct-1968: Drafted by KCR from CHW as the 49th
pick in the 1968 expansion draft.
12-Dec-1968: Traded by KCR to CAL for Ed
Kirkpatrick & Dennis Paepke.
08-Sep-1969: Traded by CAL w/Bob Priddy to ATL for Clint Compton & Mickey Rivers.
21-Sep-1970: Selected off
waivers by CHC from ATL.
30-Nov-1970: Traded by CHC to ATL for Hal Breeden.
29-Jun-1971: Released by ATL.
10-Jul-1971: Signed as a Free
Agent with LAD.
21-Jul-1972: Released by LAD.
Note: Hall of Fame
reliever Rich Gossage also had 9 MLB stops.
FCR - Dan Greder,
Ames, Iowa
Incorrect guesses: Bobo
Holloman
IN MEMORIAM — 24-Oct
Q. Which former
All-Star threw the first pitch at the first game played outside the US or
Canada?
Hint: #1 He was the
first rookie to win the Cy Young Award.
Hint: #2 As a
rookie, he led his league in games started and complete games while leading the
majors in shutouts and strikeouts.
Hint: #3 A speedster
on a Canadian team prevented his Rookie of the Year vote from being unanimous.
Hint: #4 Dusty Baker
was a teammate and remembers, “Every Latin American country was represented
when he pitched, not only Mexico. I’m
talking El Salvador, Nicaragua. There’d be flags.”
Hint: #5 His
no-hitter against a future team of his was the day a former teammate did the
same to a future team of his.
Hint: #6 He matched
a remarkable record for All-Star Game strikeouts and did it with the same pitch
used by the first owner of that feat.
Hint: #7 Attendance
in games he was known to start, surged dramatically throughout the league for
the first decade of his career.
Hint: #8 His
achievement of winning the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award in the
same year is now listed among baseball’s most unbreakable records.
A. FERNANDO VALENZUELA [Wiki
Bio] + [PBS
News Obit]
- Ans. It was his native country! On 16-Aug-1996, the Padres beat the
Mets in Monterrey 15-10.
- #1 1981 CYA.
- #2 1981 25 GS; 11 CG & 1981 8
SHO; 180 K in a season shortened by a nearly
two-month-long players’ strike.
- #3 MON’s Tim Raines stole an MLB-leading 71
bases and stole a handful of 1st-place ROY votes in the NK in 1981.
- #4 Dusty Baker, quote was told to mlb.com in 2021.
- #5 On 29-Jun-1990, Valenzuela held STL hitless while Dave
Stewart was no-hitting TOR.
- #6 In the 2nd ever All-Star Game in 1934, NYG pitcher Cark
Hubbell K’ed 5 notable
opponents in a row. No other
pitcher struck out 5 All-Stars in a row until Fernando did it in 1986, setting down Don
Mattingly, Cal Ripken, Jesse Barfield, Lou Whitaker & Teddy Higuera
consecutively, all on strikes.
- #7 Games averaged 40,000+ fans in attendance, which
was between 10,000 and 20,000 more per game than expected, depending on the stadium,
for basically the entire 1980s.
- #8 Rookies seldom receive that much opportunity
or acclaim in the years since.
FCR - Derek Granger,
Chandler,, Arizona
Incorrect guesses: Juan
Marichal
THURSDAY — 24-Oct
Q. Which
Hall of Fame pitcher was roughed up by a rookie on that rookie’s debut game in
the majors?
Hint: #1
He and some very well-known former Dodgers are alumni of the same
university.
Hint: #2
He started opening day games for the same team for twelve straight
seasons.
A. ROBIN ROBERTS [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. On 30-Jul-1959, PHI visited Seals
Stadium and saw their starting P ambushed by rookie Willie McCovey who had 2
singles & 2 triples all off Roberts.
Somebody looked like a future Hall of Famer that day.
-
#1 Roberts, Kirk Gibson, Ron Perranoski & Mike Marshall all attended Michigan
State University.
-
#2 Roberts opened the season for PHI
in 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 & 1961. He also pitched Opening Day for HOU in 1966. He did not start the O.D. game in any of his
4 seasons w/BAL.
FCR - Terry
Gans, San Carlos, California
Incorrect guesses: Bob Feller, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Jack
Morris, Jim Bunning, Bob Gibson
FRIDAY —
25-Oct
Q. Which
Hall of Fame pitcher to many baseball historians consider to be underappreciated
& was referred to as "Satchel's Shadow", as he frequently
relieved his better-known teammate?
Hint: #1
Together, their team dominated for many years, the term “dynasty” often being
used in reference to that dominance.
Hint: #2
He (not Paige) was on the Dean’s List twice while playing in college.
Hint: #3
He was a scout for the Chicago Cubs after his playing days.
A. HILTON SMITH [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Paige and Smith were
longtime teammates on the KC Monarchs and two of the reasons
for their dominance in the Negro
American League.
-
#1 The Kansas City Monarchs won
championships with Paige & Smith in 1940, 1941, 1943 & 1946 & were always in
the first division* if they didn’t take the crown. Smith had also played for the Monarchs when
they won in 1937 & 1939.
-
#2 Smith was an Agricultural
Science major at Prairie View
State Normal and Industrial College in 1928 and 1929.
- #3 Following his retirement after the 1948
season, Smith served as a coach and scout – eventually scouting for the Chicago
Cubs until his death on Nov. 18, 1983.
*Meaning in the top half of all teams in the
final standings.
FCR - Jay
Caldwell, St. Petersburg, Florida
Incorrect guesses: Joe Rogan, Buck O'Neil
SATURDAY — 26-Oct
Q. Who
was the first pitcher to strike out eighteen batters in a nine-inning game?
Hint: #1
After considerable success in the majors, he incorporated himself.
Hint: #2
He was the first American League pitcher going by his given name to
start an All-Star game.
A. BOB FELLER [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. On 02-Oct-1938(1), Feller, a month shy
of his 20th birthday, fanned 18 Detroit Tigers, but lost 4-1 in a G
lasting just over 2 hours.
-
#1 Feller incorporated as Ro-Fel,
Inc., in order to reduce his tax burden.
-
#2 Feller was the starting AL
pitcher for the ASG in 1941. All the others, from 1933-1940 were called either
“Lefty” or “Red”.
FCR - Scott
Morissey, Hamilton, Ontario
Incorrect guesses: Roger Clemens, Ron Guidry, Hal Newhouser
SUNDAY — 27-Oct
Q. Which Hall of Fame pitcher was in the majors
five years before he threw his first pitch to a big league batter?
Hint:
#1 He threw the first American League night-time
no-hitter.
Hint: #2 He played centerfield during a teammate’s
no-hitter.
Hint: #3 He was an important part of the last World
Series championship his team has ever won.
- Ans. Lemon
had a sip of coffee at 3rd base for CLE in each of 1941 & 1942. Following
WWII, he rejoined the team as a starting P & was an AL All-Star every
season 1948-1954.
- #1 In
the evening of 30-Jun-1948 in Detroit, Lemon held the Tigers hitless. He walked 3, but won the G 2-0.
- #2 Lemon
played center field on 30-Apr-1946 as Bob Feller no-hit the Yankees. Lemon got a hit & made it as far s 3rd
base, but didn’t score. He also caught
flyball out from Joe DiMaggio in the 6th.. Lemon was CLE’s centerfielder 12 X that year
& 1 X in 1947.
- #3 Lemon
won G #2 & 6 in the 1948 World Series when, ironically, the Indians beat the Braves. CLE has won the AL pennant 4 X since: 1954, 1995, 1997 & 2016 but did not prevail in any of those WS.
FCR - Eric Stone, Los Gatos, California
Incorrect
guesses: Don Black, Catfish Hunter
WEEK’S FINALE —27-Oc
Q. Which former star died six days after being
elected to the Hall of Fame?
Hint:
#1 His positions are listed in
Baseball-Reference as Pitcher, Centerfielder and Second Baseman.
Hint:
#2 He struck out eighteen batters to set
a major league record; he struck out nineteen in a winter league to set a
record there that still stands.
- Ans. HOF
election 07-Mar-1995, died 13-Mar-1995.
- #1 Career
numbers by position: Pitching = 91; Outfield
= 59; 2B = 32. No doubt there additional
hundreds of games unaccounted for.
- #2 Day
fanned 18 in a G in 1942 in the Negro National League; K’d 19 in a G in the Puerto
Rican Winter League. Neither record was
ever broken. Another one tat can’t be topped
is striking out 14 in the East-West All-Star game.
FCR - Gabe Kinstlinger, Reisterstown, Maryland
Incorrect
guesses: Bullet Rogan, Martin Dihigo, Bob
Feller, Eppa Rixey
WEEK’S THEME – Hall of
Fame pitchers who are Veterans of World WAR II
Day............................. (Army).................... 18.3
Feller.......................... (Navy)..................... 63.4
Lemon........................ (Navy) .................... 48.2
Roberts....................... (Army).................... 86.1
Spahn......................... (Army).................. 100.1
Wilhelm...................... (Army).................... 46.8
Wynn.......................... (Army).................... 61.0
Also qualifying:
Ted Lyons.................. (Marine Corps)........ 70.6
Red Ruffing................ (Army Air).............. 68.6
Did not qualify:
Smith.......................... (~)........................... 23.5
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Pat Ray, Paradise Valley, Arizona
(after Wilhelm)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tues - Hall
of Fame pitchers who pitched a scoreless inning in an All Star Game at age 40
or older
- Hof
pitchers that served in the army in WW II
- Guys
who threw a lot of innings in the 50s
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