N.B. Gregg Gaylord of Chicago has supplied us with this week’s theme and questions.
MONDAY
Q. Who was the first player to hit two home runs in an inning twice?
Hint: He, Bobby Richardson and Charles Schultz will forever be linked.
SABR Hint: He still holds the record for career grand slams by a National Leaguer.
Twint: He played for three California-based teams.
A. Willie McCovey (12-Apr-1973 & 27-Jun-1977; “Peanuts” comic strip 22-Dec-1962; 18 NL GS; San Francisco, San Diego & Oakland)
First Correct Respondent - Mark Jones, Birmingham
TUESDAY
Q. Who was the first Braves player to win the Rookie of the Year Award?
Hint: His single started the rally that ended with the “Shot heard ‘round the world”.
Hint: He was regular-season teammates with Warren Spahn, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Ernie Banks and Robin Roberts.
SABR Hint: He was once drafted by the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
Twint: He managed in the World Series with teams from each league, winning once.
FCR - Cappy Gagnon, South Bend
WEDNESDAY
Q. What former Cardinals All-Star was an MVP, leading the league in HR, RBI, BB, OBP, and SLG?
Hint: The batting title that year went to a player who hit no home runs.
SABR Hint: He hit the first regular-season home run indoors, accounting for all the runs in the game.
SABR Hint: He also committed the first indoors error.
Twint: When he was growing up, no one ever called him Richie. It simply wasn’t his name.
A. Dick Allen (MVP in 1972; Rod Carew .318 w/ 0 HR; (HR at the Astrodome 12-Apr-1965; Error in the 9th inning)
FCR - Jim Casey, Savannah
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who hit the first regular-season home run for the Florida Marlins?
Hint: It was the team’s sixth game, their first on the road.
SABR Hint: He holds the record for the longest hitting streak by a player at his position.
Twint: He was signed as a free agent 11 times.
FCR - Randall Chandler, Germantown, TN
THURSDAY
Q. Who, when he retired, was his team’s all-time leader in stolen bases with 252?
Hint: In the Vietnam War, in the middle of his career, he earned a Bronze Star as platoon leader.
SABR Hint: He was regarded by some as the fastest player in Baltimore Oriole history.
SABR Hint: That claim, though made by his Hall of Fame manager, was easily gainsaid by several teammates.
Twint: He was a Trojan.
A. Al Bumbry (Service from July 1969 to June 1971; Fleet of skeptical teammates included Don Baylor, Paul Blair, Mark Belanger, Rich Coggins et al; Attended Troy State University)
FCR - John Rickert, Terre Haute
NEARING-THE-END-OF-THE-WEEK BONUS
Q. Who appeared as the double for actor Tab Hunter in distance shots in the movie “Damn Yankees”?
Hint: Hunter's character was left-handed, so this right-hander was outfitted with a mirror-image Nats uniform and the film was reversed in production.
SABR Hint: The previous season, he had led the league in home runs, runs batted in and total bases and finished behind only Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams in slugging percentage.
Twint: He was only one of seven players to don the uniforms of both the original and expansion Washington Senators.
FCR - Jim Casey, Savannah
FRIDAY
Q. Whose thirteen hits in consecutive calendar days is still a major league record?
Hint: He went on this tear only six weeks after being traded with another All-Star for a Hall of Famer.
SABR Hint: His parents moved from Mostar to Moosup.
Twint: A Husky, he was drafted by the Steamrollers and the Bears.
A. Walt Dropo (13 H 14-, 15a- & 15b-Jul-1952; Traded 03-Jun-1952 with Johnny Pesky [and others] for George Kell [and others]; His Serbian parents emigrated from Mostar, then Kingdom of Yugoslavia [Bosnia and Herzegovina] to Moosup, CT; drafted in the first round of the Draft by the Providence Steamrollers with the fourth overall pick; also drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 9th round of the 1946 NFL Draft after starring in three sports at the University of Connecticut.)
FCR - Peter Baughman, Columbia, CT
SATURDAY
Q. Whom did Mike Scioscia call the “Ozzie Smith of the American League”?
Hint: He was on the losing team in three perfect games.
SABR Hint: He was on deck as Joe Carter faced Mitch Williams in the ninth inning of Game Six of the 1993 World Series.
SABR Hint: His playing career ended when Carter homered.
Twint: He once had a consecutive games played streak that stretched to 392 games.
A. Alfredo Griffin (Perfect games 15-May-1981 by Len Barker, 16-Sep-1988 by Tom Browning & 28-Jul1991 by Dennis Martinez)
FCR - David Krassin, New York
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who is, in all probability, the most tattooed player today in major league baseball?
Hint: He appeared in three consecutive World Series with three different teams, winning twice.
SABR Hint: The next year he was with the team that lost in the NLDS to the eventual champions.
Twint: In his major league debut—on opening day of the season—he picked up his first big league hit and an RBI with a two-run single off Pedro Martinez.
A. Eric Hinske (Tats; WS in 2007 w/ the Red Sox, 08 w/ the Rays & 09 w/ the Yankees; 2010 NLDS w/ the Braves; Debut 01-Apr-2002)
FCR - David Krassin, New York
SUNDAY
Q. Who broke Ron Santo’s consecutive games Cubs hitting streak?
Hint: He once injured his hamstring running for third and was tagged out crawling to third.
Hint: It was the final out of the game.
Hint: He missed a month of play during his best season.
SABR Hint: He played for six teams in the majors, but was never traded.
Twint: Teammate Dwight Smith got two votes, preventing his Rookie of the Year Award from being unanimous.
FCR - David Krassin
WEEKLY THEME – Rookie of the Year Award winners who never hit for a higher batting average after their rookie season.
Allen .318 1964
Bumbry .337 1973
Dark .322 1948
Dropo .322 1950
Griffin .287 1979
Hinske .279* 2002
McCovey .354 1959
Santiago .300 1987
Sievers .306 1949
Walton .293** 1989
*Currently has a higher average
** Had higher averages, but never in a season with enough at-bats to qualify for a batting title
First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Al Blumkin, Brooklyn
