MONDAY — 26-Jan-2026
Q. Who
was the first non-Dodger to win the Rookie-of-the-Year award?
Hint: #1
He was the first National League shortstop to hit twenty home runs in a
season more than once.
Hint: #2
As a manager, he won pennants with teams in each league.
A. ALVIN DARK [SABR
Doc]
-
Ans. When he won the ROY in 1948,
there was only one for both leagues.
-
#1 Dark hit 20+ HR in 1953 (23)
& 1954 (20).
-
#2 Copped the flag with SFG in 1962 then across the Bay with OAK in 1974.
FCR - Alan
Makovsky, Washington, DC
Incorrect guesses: Ernie Banks, Lou Boudreau
TUESDAY — 27-Jan-2026
Q. Who
is the only native of San Francisco to become Rookie of the Year.
Hint: #1
A player with his same given name opposed him twenty-seven times in
postseason play.
Hint: #2
A former All-Star, he retired rather than join an expansion team in an
expansion draft.
A. GIL McDOUGALD [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. B. 19-May-1928, San
Francisco, California. AL ROY=1951
-
#1 HOF Gilbert Ray ‘Gil’
Hodges & Gilbert James ‘Gil’ McDougald played in the same World
Series 4 times, 27 games in all.
1952 X 7
1953 X 6
1955 X 7
1956 X 7
-
#2 McDougald
was pursued by the newly formed Los Angeles Angels shortly
after MLB’s original expansion draft for the 1961 season.
FCR - Bob
Heckman, Alexandria, Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Lou Piniella, Tony Lazzeri, Curt Flood, Andy
Carey, Jimmie Foxx, Greg Olsen
WEDNESDAY — 28-Jan-2026
Q. Which
Boston first baseman collected more RBI one year than the number of games he
played? (minimum 100 RBI)
Hint: #1
Two years later, on Bastille Day, he began a three-game streak that tied
him with Johnny Kling and Pinky Higgins, in the feat they had
accomplished in 1902 and 1938 respectively.
Hint: #2
Husky of build, he had starred for the Huskies.
A. WALT DROPO [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. In 1950, his first full year
in the majors, Dropo played in 136 games for the Red Sox & led both leagues
with 144 RBI, one shy of Ted Williams’ team RBI record by a rookie.
In 2024, Jose Miranda moved into a
tie with Kling, Higgins& Dropo.
-
#1 Shortly after being traded to
the Tigers, Dropo had a hit in each of 12 consecutive at-bats, to wit:
1) Monday, 14-Jul-1952, DET at NYY=5 for 5 (all singles)
2) Tuesday, 15-Jul-1952(1), DET at WSH=4-for-4
(all singles)
3) Tuesday, 15-Jul-1952(2), DET at WSH=4-for-5 (a
single, a double, a triple before fouling out to end the run followed by another
single in the 9th.
-
#2 At 6'5", 220 lbs. Dropo
starred at his hometown University of Connecticut in football,
basketball & baseball. He was
drafted by the Chicago Bears in the NFL draft & by the Providence Steamrollers of the Basketball
Association of America draft. Instead, he
wisely opted for baseball, signing with BOS.
FCR - Rick
Fink, Edison, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Jimmie Foxx, Rudy York, Ted Williams, Vern
Stephens, Dick Stuart
THURSDAY — 29-Jan-2026
Q. Who was
the first Los Angeles Dodgers player to win the National League Rookie of the
Year Award?
Hint: #1
Many fans and media were reminded of him when Aaron Judge arrived on the
scene with the Yankees.
Hint: #2
He was an All-American in two sports at a Division One University
A. FRANK HOWARD [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. ROY=1960
-
#1 Howard’s 6'7"-255-pound countenance made him truly stand out among major leaguers, much as Aaron’s
6'7"-282-pound mien does today.
-
#2 Howard starred in basketball & baseball at Ohio State University in his home town,
Columbus, Ohio. He was drafted by
the Philadelphia Warriors in the 3rd
round (21st pick) of the 1958 NBA Draft. Instead, he signed with the Dodgers.
FCR - Bill
Deane, Cooperstown
Incorrect guesses: Jackie Robinson, Wally Moon, Cody Bellinger, Eric
Karros, Maury Wills, Jim Gilliam, Jim Lefebvre, Corey Seager, Ted Sizemore
FRIDAY — 30-Jan-2026
Q. Which former Aggie was the first player on a major
league team that moved west of the Mississippi River in the 1950s, to lead
the majors in triples?
Hint: #1
He was tied for the lead with a teammate that year.
Hint: #2
He was into moon shots long before NASA got President Kennedy’s marching
orders.
A. WALLY MOON [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. Moon, an alumnus of Texas A&M University, hit 11
triples for the recently-relocated Dodgers in 1959…
-
#1 …tied with LAD 2nd
baseman Charlie Neal. It was the only
time either of them led even their league in a major offensive category.
-
#2 On 11-Sep-1959(1), just after Moon
closed out a particularly productive skein of 4 HR in 7 AB, & just after there
was news that the Soviet Union had landed the first unmanned probe on the moon,
Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully proclaimed, “It’s another moon shot!” After that, use of “moon shot ” proliferated with
and without the Apollo Program. The
origin of the phrase is lost in the mists of time.
FCR - Doug
Wilkins, San Francisco
Incorrect guesses:
SATURDAY —31-Jan-2026
Q. Who
was the fifth Negro Leagues player signed by the Dodgers and the twenty-fifth
one to make it to the majors?
Hint: #1
He is the only pitcher in history to achieve a season with fifteen wins,
fifteen saves and a win/loss percentage over .750.
Hint: #2
He was the first black pitcher to win a World Series game in organized
baseball.
-
Ans. BRO had only signed Jackie
Robinson, Dan Bankhed, Roy Campanella & Don Newcombe before Black became a
Dodger.
-
#1 In 1952, Black had 15 saves,
15 victories and a winning % of .789.
-
#2 Black was the winning pitcher
in game 1 of the 1952 WS. He pitched a
complete game and held the Yankees to one earned run.
FCR - Mark
DeLodovico, Rockville, Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Don Newcombe
SUNDAY —
01-Feb-2026
Q. Who is
the only twentieth-century pitcher to win twenty games in fewer than two hundred
innings in one season?
Hint: #1
In the time before batting helmets, he fractured the skull of a future
Hall of Famer with an errant fastball.
Hint: #2
He was the first Rookie of the Year born in New York City.
-
Ans. In his inaugural MLB season,
Grim was the winner of 20 games. That
year, he started 20 games & completed 8 of those, ending with a total of
only 199 innings pitched. Since then, it
has been accomplished 7 more times, all in the 21st century, most notably by Dodger
immortal, Clayton Kershaw.
-
#1 On 18-May-1955, pitching for
NYY, Grim hit CHW’s Minnie Minoso in the left side of his head, but he was back on
the diamond by 04-Jun, less than 3 weeks later.
The following year, MLB required batting helmet protection for all batters.
-
#2 Robert Anton Grim was born on
08-Mar-1930 in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, fairly close to where Lou Gehrig was
born & not too far from Whitey Ford’s birthplace, i.e., Manhattan.
FCR - James
Cochran, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Incorrect guesses: Josh Beckett, Carl Mays, Herb Score, Jared
Weaver
Theme:
Rookies who outvoted future Hall of Famers for the Rookie of the Year Award
before Expansion.
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme –
1948 ML.. Dark................................. Richie Ashburn........ 43.9
1950 AL..
Dropo.............................. Whitey Ford............... 3.4
1951 AL.. McDougald....................... Minnie Minoso......... 40.9
1952 NL.. Black................................ Hoyt
Wilhelm, Eddie Mathews... 8.8
1954 NL.. Moon................................ Ernie
Banks, Hank Aaron 25.0
1954 AL.. Grim................................. Al Kaline..................... 5.8
1960 NL.. Howard............................. Ron Santo................ 37.6
First
Correct Respondent identifying the theme:
Randall Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee (after Frank Howard).
Incorrect
theme guesses:
Tues - Managers
who won pennants in both leagues
Wed - ROY’s
who played college baseball
Thu - Rookies
of the Year who played at a school that won either a men's or women's NCAA
basketball national championship.
-
All
played college basketball
-
Players
who were their franchise’s first ROY
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