MONDAY — 08-Sep-2025
Q. Who
was the first to play in 3,300 major league games?
Hint: #1
No left-handed batter has hit
into more double plays that he has.
Hint: #2
His grandson was recently traded to the Kansas City Royals.
A. CARL YASTRZEMSKI [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. (3,300th G 18-Sep-1983, total 3,308 [Only Pete Rose has more with 3,562.]
-
#1 Yaz has 323 GIDP, 6th
in the all-time list
-
#2 Mike Yastrzemski was traded by SFG on 31-Jul-2025 to KCR for Yunior Marte (minors).
FCR - Eric
Stone, Los Gatos, California
Incorrect guesses:
TUESDAY — 09-Sep-2025
Q. Who
was the last player to lead the league in home runs with fewer strikeouts than home
runs?
Hint: #1
He graduated from college, but not until he had helped his school win
the Big Ten football championship—its only undefeated season.
Hint: #2
He was the first player to hit two home runs in his first World Series
game.
A. TED KLUSZEWSKI [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. 1954: 49 HR, 35 K
-
#1 Indiana University
Bloomington – Klu played 1941-46. The 1945 football team was 11-0-1.
-
#2 Two WS HR = 1959 WS, G #1
FCR - Amar Rehal, Chicago
Incorrect guesses: Gene Tenace, Johnny Mize
TUESDAY TWICE — 09-Sep-2025
Q. Which
one-time Oakland A’s hurler led the American league in shutouts while playing
for the White Sox?
Hint: #1 A
three-sport standout in high school, he was runner-up for Mr. Football in his
state—as a junior!
Hint: #2
His record of 1,249 yards receiving was third most in the storied
history of the “football factory” university he attended.
A. JEFF SAMARDZIJA [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Samardzija’s two (2) shutouts
in 2015 tied 4 other AL pitchers.
-
#1 He starred at Valparaiso HS in Valparaiso, Indiana, just an
hour from South Bend.
-
#2 Samardzija played for Notre
Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
FCR - Art
Mugalian, Minneapolis
These answers weren’t necessarily incorrect,
but they showed great range. They were
among the variations sent in as answers:
S.
Samardija
Samardijia
Samardja
Samardjia
Samardjza
Samardzia
SamardzijaZ
Samardzja
Samardzjia
Samarja
Samarjia
Samarjzia
Samarzdija
Samarzjia
Smadrzja
Smardia
Smardijiza
Smardizja
Smardja
Smardjia
Smardjzia
Smardzia
Smardzjia
Smarjia
Smartizia
Smarzazdjia
Symardija
Szamarjida
Szchmardija
Szmardja
Incorrect guesses: Joel Horlen, Tommy John, Ken Kravec, Francisco
Berrios, Goose Gossage
WEDNESDAY
— 10-Sep-2025
Q. Which
curse-breaking player was a teammate of Alex Rodriguez in high school?
Hint: #1 He is one
of very few American players to win both an Olympic gold medal and a World
Series championship.
Hint #2 The year he
won his Gold Glove Award was the only season he received MVP votes.
A. DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. A-Rod & he attended Westminster Christian
Academy, Miami, FL. Mientkiewicz was on the 2004 BOS team that won a historic WS.
- #1 Mientkiewicz was one of the top U.S. hitters
in the 2000 Olympics, slashing
.414/.471/.655. Others w/U.S. Olympic
Gold & a WS ring: Ed Sprague, Pat Borders, Orlando Hernandez & Jose Contreras
-
#2 Won GG in 2001. Was 14th in AL MVP voting.
FCR - Mark
DeLodovico, Rockville, Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Jason Varitek, Anthony Rizzo, Eli Grba
THURSDAY — 11-Sep-2025
Q. Whose
teammates called him “Scrabble” when he broke in as a major leaguer?
Hint: #1
He was an important part of a St. Louis Cardinals World Series
championship, with four pitching appearances allowing zero runs scored.
Hint: #2
He was a key teammate when the Highlanders won their championship in the
early part of the century.
A. MARC RZEPCZYNSKI [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Debuted with TOR in 2009.
-
#1 Was with STL in their title year of 2011.
- #2 Played for U. of California,
Riverside Highlanders, the 2007 Big West Conference champs.
FCR - Gregory
Koch, Falls Church, Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Urban Shocker,
THURSDAY
TWICE— 11-Sep-2025
Q. Who was a teammate talking about when he
said, “He’s all right carrying the baseball, but he can’t throw it or hit it.”?
Hint:
#1 He and Bo Jackson belong to a very
elite “club” with only two members.
Hint:
#2 Small wonder that at least sixty
recruiters wanted to speak with him while he was still in high school.
A. VIC JANOWICZ [SABR
Bio]
- Ans.
Unidentified Pirate teammate is the source.
- #1
Jackson & Janowicz are the only major leaguers who have also won
football’s Heisman Trophy.
- #2 He
made all-state in football, baseball and basketball in high school and was
captain of all three teams in his junior and senior years with grades that
qualified him for the National Honor Society.
FCR
- Randall Chandler, ,Germantown,
Tennessee
Incorrect
guesses: Deion Sanders, Jim Thorpe, Brian
Jordan, D.J. Dozier
FRIDAY — 12-Sep-2025
Q. Who
was the only pitcher to win more than 10 games for the Toronto Blue Jays in
their inaugural season?
Hint: #1
He has been inaugurated into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame.
Hint: #2
He was a full time pitching coach at the New York Baseball Academy for
20 years.
A. DAVE LEMANCZYK [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. His record in 1977 was 13-16
for TOR.
-
#1 GSSHOF
-
#2 NYBA
FCR - Scott
Morrissey, Hamilton, Ontario
Incorrect guesses: A Hrabowski, Jim Clancy, Dave Stieb
SATURDAY — 14-Sep-2025
Q. Which
one-time Long Island Duck trailed only Ben McDonald in draft position in the
history of the Baltimore Orioles when he was chosen?
Hint: #1
He was known for being the only pitcher who was guaranteed to handle David
Ortiz.
Hint: #2
He passed away less than ten years after his playing days.
A. BRIAN MATUSZ [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Matusz was selected in the 1st
Round, 4th overall in 2008.
McDonald had been taken 1st overall in 1989. (Several other
Orioles have been taken at 4th overall.) Matusz played for Long Island in 2019, the last stop in his professional baseball playing
career.
-
#1 Ortiz had 4 hits in 30 at-bats
against Matusz, none of them for extra
bases.
-
#2 Matusz died in Phoenix in earlier this year at the age of 37.
FCR - Mike
Sparks, Sarasota, Florida
Incorrect guesses:
WEEKEND
BONUS — 14-Sep-2025
Q. Nail.
Hint:
#1 Homered off a known diabetic.
Hint:
#2 Snellen
A. DOUG GWOSDZ [B-R Bio]
- Ans. Gwosdz
translates roughly to "nail" in Slavic.
- #1 His
only major league home run was on 21-Aug-1983 off Bill Gullickson, famous for his
struggle with diabetes.
- #2 “Eyechart” was the nickname give Gwosdz by
his coaches, mocking the seemingly random assemblage of letters composing his
name. Snellen is the original name of the
eponymous chart used to measure visual acuity, named for its creator, the Dutch
ophthalmologist Herman Snellen (1834-1908).
FCR - Gregory Koch, Falls Church, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: Lenny Dykstra, Moe Drawbowsky,
Lew Fonseca
SUNDAY — 14-Sep-2025
Q. What Oral Roberts University alum once led
the Pacific Coast League in saves?
Hint:
#1 He invented a product to help young
players develop proper throwing habits and skills.
Hint:
#2 He scouted for two MLB teams clad in
orange and black.
A. RAY KRAWCZYK [Wiki Bio]
- Ans. Krawczyk
had 20 saves pitching for Hawaii
in 1985.
- #1 His
product is called the Throw Trac & is endorsed by,
among others, Chuck Finley.
- #2 He
scouted for the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants, signing Hayden Penn, Nick Noonan, Brett Pill and Dan Runzler.
FCR - Mark DeLodovico, Rockville, Maryland
Incorrect
guesses: Leon Czolgosz
WEEKLY THEME – Players whose names have,
at least for pronunciation purposes in English, a completely unnecessary z. They are the Redundanzees!
Name Pronunciations
available in www.baseball-reference.com\
Gwosdz.............. \GOO-sh\.................................... -0.8
Janowicz............. [JAN-uh-vich]............................. -1.2
Kluszewski......... [klu-ZOO-skee].......................... 31.4
Krawczyk............ [KRAV-chick].............................. -1.4
Lemanczyk......... \luh-MAN-chick\........................... 3.9
Matusz................ \MAT-iss\..................................... 2.1
Mientkiewicz....... \mint-KAY-vich\......................... 11.8
Rzepczynski....... \zep-CHIN-skee\.......................... 2.9
Samardzija......... \suh-MAR-jah\........................... 14.8
Yastrzemski........ \yuh-STREM-skee\............. 96.4
(Mike: 17.1)
Also qualified for the theme:
Len
Matuszek..... \Muh-TOO-zek\........................... 1.8
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Brett Moore, Studio City,
California
Incorrect
theme guesses:
Mon - Players
whose uniform number is the day of the month
Tues - Players
with impossibly difficult names to spell
-
Players
who became recognized by a shortened version of their name
-
Baseball
player names with the highest Scrabble point values
Wed All stars, who were recruited to college
not on a baseball scholarship
-
Polish-Americans
All-stars
-
Polish-Americans
GG winners
-
Longest
last names containing the letter Z
-
Impossible-to-spell
last names
-
Players
with a Z in their last name who played in the postseason
-
Players
whose last names have the highest Scrabble score
Thur - Major
league players with the longest last names
-
Players
whose last names are very often misspelled
-
Players
with at least 1 WAR whose last name doesn't start with Z but has a Z in it
-
Ballplayers
with 10 or more letters in their name
-
Players
who score the highest points if their names are used in scrabble
-
Players
whose names I can't spell right on the first try
-
Guys
with Zs in their name
-
Notable
players with Zs in their last names
-
Players
of note with long last names, containing Z's
-
Polish
American players
-
Names
with at least 10 letters including a Z in the spelling
Fri - Unique
last MLB names with a Z
-
Players
who catch a few Zs between innings
-
Players
whose last names are hard to spell and/or contain a Z
-
Names
of at least 10 letters in length
-
Multisport
athletes with Z's in their last names
-
Having
an Eastern European surname
-
Players
with last names containing the consonant pair "CZ"
-
Names
with a consonant followed by a "z"
-
WAR
leaders among those Z-men
Sat - Retired
American-born MLB players whose last name has a Z, but not at the beginning of
the name
Sun - Guys
with crazy spellings in their names and no other player with the same name ever
appears as a player in the mlb players list
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