MONDAY — 13-Oct-2025
Q. Who
was the first player in the three thousand hit club?
Hint: #1
He led the National League in runs batted eight times.
Hint: #2
Only he and Nolan Ryan have played in the majors for twenty-seven
seasons.
-
Ans. Anson hit his 3,000th
18-Jul-1897. Horsehide Trivia believes
his lifetime total of 3,435 to be the most accurate.
-
#1 NL RBI lead in 1880, 1881,
1882, 1884, 1885, 1886,1888 & 1891.
-
#2 Anson’s career was 1871 through 1897.
FCR - Ron
Marcelle, San Francisco
Incorrect guesses: Honus Wagner, Pete Rose
TUESDAY — 14-Oct-2025
Q. Who
managed the Reds to the only championship of the Players League?
Hint: #1
He managed in the home of the Reds the following season, but in a
different city in a different league.
Hint: #2
He was credited with originating signs between the catcher and pitcher.
A. KING KELLY [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. The Boston Reds went 81-48-4 in the only season of the ambitious Players
League. They led is virtually every
offensive category, ending well ahead of the team of the league’s founder & president, 2nd-place Brooklyn.
-
#1 Kelly skippered Cincinnati Kelly's Killers of the American Association in Pendleton Park
while the National League’s Reds played in League Park, just 3 miles way.
-
#2 Kelly is also thought to be the
author of the hook slide, the hit-and-run play and the 1st sports
autobiography.
FCR - Randall
Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee
Incorrect guesses: Charlie Gould, George Wright
WEDNESDAY — 04-Jun-2025
Q. Whose
thirty-five-year-old record for the most home runs hit in one season, did Babe
Ruth break?
Hint: #1
His record for doubles in one season was the standard for only four years.
Hint: #2
His career was shortened by a knee injury that he suffered in Paris,
France.
A. ED “Ned” WILLIAMSON [Wiki
Bio]
-
Ans. Williamson’s 27 HR in 1884 was
passed when Ruth hit 29 in 1919, while still winning 9 games as part-time
pitcher. Williamson’s record, however,
lasted longer than Ruth’s 60. It was
only 34 years until Roger Maris hit 61 in ‘61.
-
#1 He banged out 49 doubles in
1883 only to have Tip O’Neill hit 52 in 1887.
-
#2 Williams had gone to Europe in
a world-tour organized by Albert Spalding.
FCR - Brad
Clark, Madison, Wisconsin
Incorrect guesses: Frank Baker, Roger Connor, Gavvy Cravath, Buck
Freeman
THURSDAY — 16-Oct-2025
Q. Which
famed preacher delivered the eulogy at Addie Joss's funeral?
Hint: #1
He totaled a record eighty-four stolen bases in his final season in the
majors.
Hint: #2
He was discovered and scouted by his future Hall of Fame manager at a
local amateur tournament.
A. BILLY SUNDAY [SABR
Bio]
- Ans. The
funeral on 17-Apr-1911 was attended by many baseball personnel, but Sunday had
played in the NL and had never even faced Joss.
How well they knew each other is tough to verify. The resulting encomium, however, was corny mélange of mixed baseball metaphors with little about Joss personally.
-
#1 His last year was split
between teams in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The definition of a stolen base was not the same in
1890 as it is today.
-
#2 Cap Anson saw Sunday in an
Iowa fireman's tournament in Anson’s hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa, where
young Sunday had found work.
FCR - Dan
Greder, Ames. Iowa
Incorrect guesses: Ty Cobb
FRIDAY — 17-Oct-2025
Q. Which
one-time New York Giant opened the first baseball instructional camp?
Hint: #1
He is credited with being the first to suggest having two umpires per
game.
Hint: #2
He published a hardback book called “Scientific Ball”.
Hint: #3
He and two Chicago teammates once had three hits each, all in the same
inning.
A. FRED PFEFFER [Wiki
Bio]
-
Ans. Opened in 1901, it is
mentioned in the SABR Baseball Research Journal 1978. Pfeffer played 4 games for NYG in 1896 before
going back to CHC to end his career.
-
#1 Professional baseball first
used more than 1 umpire regularly in 1887, but the 2-umpire system became the MLB
standard by the time the AL started in 1901.
-
#2 “Scientific Ball” by N. Fred Pfeffer with “A Biography of the Author” by
De Witt May. No word on sales figures. (John Thorn may have a copy.)
-
#3 On 06-Sep-1883, Chicago White
Stockings Tom Burns, Ned Williamson & he all took advantage of their team’s
batting around twice to collect 3 hits each.
Source: Jason Stark
FCR - Richard
Masson, Lexington, Kentucky
Incorrect guesses: John McGraw, Roger Bresnahan, King Kelly, Cal
Hubbard, John Montgomery Ward, Hack Wilson
SATURDAY — 18-Oct-2025
Q. Who hit
.354 as a rookie in a season just two years removed from that league’s debut?
Hint: #1
He set a record for most doubles in one game that still stands.
Hint: #2
He held the record for the second-most home runs in a season for
fourteen years.
A. ABNER DALRYMPLE [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. In 1878, having been
recruited by Cap Anson, Dalrymple was off the NL batting title by a mere 4
basis points. Paul Hines of Providence had a
career year hitting .358.
The NL’s first year of operation was 1876.
-
#1 On 02-Jul-1883, he & his player/manager
(See Monday Q.) each hit four doubles. Although
it has been tied many times, more than 50 in the Modern Era alone, still, no one
has ever hit five double in a game.
-
#2 Dalrymple’s 22 HR in 1884 were
second only to his teammate’s total (See Wednesday Q.). He moved back one position when Washington’s
Buck Freeman exploded with 25 in that franchise’s final season.
FCR - Randall
Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee
Incorrect guesses: Rogers Hornsby, Dave Orr, Kevin Newman
SUNDAY — 08-Jun-2025
Q. Who
was the catcher for Hall of Fame pitcher John Clarkson’s no-hitter?
Hint: #1
It was the third time he had been behind the plate for a no-hitter.
Hint: #2
His name sounds like a special prize that might be won on “Survivor”.
A. SILVER FLINT [Wiki
Bio]
-
Ans. Flint was behind the plate
on 27-Jul-1885 when Clarkson kept Providence hitless.
-
#1 He was the catcher for Larry
Corcoran twice, on 19-Aug-1980 (when he shared catching duties with teammate King Kelly) &
20-Sep-1882. Flint was the
first to catch three no-hitters.
-
#2 Having any flint is an
advantage in the long-running CBS television series “Survivor”.
FCR - Jesse
Asbury, Norman, Oklahoma
Incorrect guesses: Buck Ewing, Moses Fleetwood Walker, King
Kelly
WEEK’S THEME
– Players
on the 1884 Chicago White Stockings who set personal HR highs. The
single biggest reason was Lake Front Park, the White Stockings’ home field from
1883–1884. The RF fence was only about
180' from home plate, LF only a little farther.
Easy outs anywhere else routinely went for over for HR. This created a distorted offensive
environment: in 1884, CHC led the NL with 142 home runs, while the next-best
team (Buffalo) had only 39. In 1883—using the same park—they hit 98 homers, but
before 1883, they had rarely topped single digits.
Player 1884 Home Next highest Career Total
Williamson............. 27....... 25......... 9... 1887....... 64
Pfeffer.................... 25....... 25....... 16... 1887....... 94
Dalrymple............... 22....... 18....... 11... 1885....... 43
Anson..................... 21....... 20....... 12... 1888....... 97
Kelly....................... 13....... 12......... 9......... 3
X.... 69
Flint.......................... 9......... 9......... 4... 1882....... 21
Sunday..................... 4......... 4......... 3... 1887....... 12
Also qualifying:
Walt Kinzie............... 2......... 1......... 0......... ~......... 2
Fred Goldsmith........ 2......... 0......... 1... 1883......... 3
George Crosby........ 1......... 1......... ~..................... 1
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Jesse Asbury, Norman, Oklahoma
Incorrect
theme guesses:
Mon - Players
who played for and managed the same team
-
Hall
of Famers with heat mustaches
Tues - Went
to Notre Dame theme
Wed - Most
home runs in the 1800s
Thur - Players
with two or more walks in the 1885 World Series
Sun - All
were signed by Cap Anson
-
Cubs
starting lineup in 1884 (or 83 or 85 or 86)
-
Players
who played in the game where the White Stockings scored 31 runs
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