MONDAY
Q. Who
was the first player to win the Most Valuable Player Award at two different
positions?
Hint: In
1938 he fell two homers short of tying Babe Ruth's single season record.
Hint: He
was Hammerin' Hank before Hammerin' Hank.
Twint: He
lost nearly four years to military service partly due to the fact that he
re-enlisted after Pearl Harbor was attacked.
A. Hank Greenberg (MVP 1935 1B, 1940 LF; 58 HR 1938 to
Ruth’s 60; Nickname the same as Henry Aaron; Out from early 1941-1944, he was
discharged 05-Dec-1941, but signed up again 30-Jan-1942)
FCR - Will
McCracken, Bradenton, FL
Incorrect answers: Hack Wilson, Robin Yount, Jimmie Foxx, Alex
Rodriquez
MONDAY HUSKY WILDCAT
Q. Whose
towering blast in the nation's capital became the first "tape measure"
home run?
Hint: The
uniform number he became famous for is not the number he first wore.
Twint: "I
would have hated to be named Gordon."
A. Mickey Mantle (HR off Chuck Stobbs 17‑Apr‑1953 out of Griffith Stadium,
traveling a purported 565 feet, as measured and reported
by Yankee publicity director Red Patterson; Well-known
for wearing (being!) #7, originally wore #6; Named by his father after future
Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane, who
had won the AL MVP 3 years before; Cochrane's birth name was Gordon.)
FCR - Robert
Heckman, Alexandria, VA
Incorrect answers: Harmon Killebrew, Frank Howard, Ted Williams
TUESDAY
Q. Who
was the first Atlanta Brave to win a league Most Valuable Player Award?
Hint: To
show it wasn’t a fluke, he won another the very next year.
Hint: He
hit more career homers than Tony Perez, Orlando Cepeda, Ralph Kiner or Joe
DiMaggio but never earned enough votes to gain entry into the Hall of Fame.
Twint: Russ Nixon said of him
"He's scary. Do they have something
above MVP?"
A. Dale Murphy (MVP 1982-83; 398 HR [Perez 379, Cepeda 379, Kiner 369, DiMaggio 361]; It
might be worth noting that Nixon was coach for the last-place Reds those two
seasons.)
FCR - Joel
Gross, Dunwoody, GA
Incorrect answers: Bob Horner, Dwayne Murphy , Terry
Pendleton, Eddie Matthews, Joe Adcock, Jeff Burroughs, Darrell Evans
TUESDAY BONUS
Q. Babe
Ruth held the career home run record for over forty years and three
months. Whose record did he break
originally?
Hint: He
led his league once in home runs, once in RBI and once in batting average.
Hint: Alas,
they were not in the same season.
Twint: His
wife gave him a weather vane made from baseball bats. It stood as a landmark in Waterbury,
Connecticut for years after his retirement from the game.
Twint: His
is the example most people use when explaining why left-handed throwers shouldn’t
play third base.
A. Roger Connor (Ruth broke both his records: For… a. # of career homers and b. Time
holding that record; Connor tallied 138 HRs, a record for 26 years, 25 days,
Ruth passed him in 1921; Led in HR w/14 in 1890, in RBI w/130 in 1889 & in
avg. w/.371 in 1885; Committed 60 E in 83 G @ 3B as a rookie in 1880.)
FCR - Gary
Glasser, Fort Lee, NJ
Incorrect answers: Frank Baker, Cy Williams, Hank Aaron, Tris Speaker,
Sam Crawford, Socks Seybold, Babe Ruth, Buck Freeman, Everett Scott, Sam
Thompson, Ken Williams, Wally Pipp, Bob Johnson, Ned Williamson
WEDNESDAY
Q. Which
post-expansion Washington Senator won his league's RBI title, home run title,
most walks and most intentional bases-on-balls, but only finished 5th
in the AL MVP voting?
Hint: The
year he won a World Series ring, both of his postseason extra-base hits were
off a future Hall of Famer.
Hint: As
a junior in college, he was an All-American basketball player and was drafted
by the NBA.
Twint: At
the time he retired, he led his franchise in total home runs, RBI,
bases-on-balls, extra-base hits, on-base %, slugging, OPS, games played,
at-bats, inter alia.
A. Frank Howard (1970 stats: 44 HR, 126 RBI,
132 BB, 29 IBB lost to Boog Powell who didn't
lead in a single offensive category; 1963 WS G 1 2B & G 4 HR off Whitey Ford; Played
basketball at Ohio State, NBA 1958 draft 3rd
round, 5th pick; Texas Rangers franchise, which includes 1901-1971
when they were the Washington Senators.)
FCR - Bob
Chan, Oakland, CA
Incorrect answers: Harmon Killebrew, Jeff Burroughs, Roy Sievers
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who
is the only player to hit 23 triples in a season since 1950?
Hint: The
following year he led the American League in triples with 13.
Hint: He
hit an Opening Day home run in his first at-bat as a Yankee.
Twint: He
is putting up $5 million of the $7 million need to build a stadium at his alma
mater, the University of Illinois at Chicago.
A. Curtis Granderson (23 3b in 1949: Dale Mitchell; 13 3b
2008; HR 04‑Apr‑2010; UIC announcement)
FCR - David
Krassin, New York, NY
Incorrect answers: Rickey Henderson, Willie Wilson, Tim Raines,
Derek Jeter, Dale Mitchell, Ichiro Suzuki, Jim Rice, Rod Carew, Roy White,
Mickey Rivers, Lance Johnson, Bobby Bonds, Willie Mays, Bernie Williams
THURSDAY
Q. Who
was the first player to hit three home runs in a game thrice in a season?
Hint: He
once sat next to the First Lady during the State of the Union Address.
Hint: He
was the last player to collect a combined 300 Runs + RBI in a season.
Twint: Some
say he has tried to save face by changing race.
A. Sammy Sosa (09‑Aug‑, 22‑Aug‑ & 23‑Sep‑2001; SOUA 1999; 2001: 146 R + 160 RBI; Pigment change story)
FCR - Richard Tharp, Gaithersburg, MD
Incorrect answers: Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Jeff Bagwell, Barry
Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Johnny Mize,
Mark McGwire, Ben Oglivie, Ryan Braun, George Brett, Henry Aaron
FRIDAY
Q. Who
was the first New York Mets player to lead the National League in home runs?
Hint: His
batting average that season was fourteen points lower than the National League
Cy Young Award winner's.
Hint: He
holds the record for most home runs in a final season.
Twint: In
his only major league pitching appearance, he finished a game started by Juan Marichal, Sam McDowell, Don Carrithers and Elias Sosa in an 11-0
losing effort.
A. Dave Kingman (1982 37 HR; .204 BA to Steve Carlton’s .218; 35
HR 1986; 15-Apr-1973)
FCR - Dean
Kloner, New York, NY
Incorrect answers: Howard Johnson, Eddie Murray, George Foster,
Frank Thomas, Daryl Strawberry, Ralph Kiner, Mike Piazza, Richie Ashburn
END-OF-THE-WEEK BONUS
Q. Who
was the founding member of the 30/30 Club?
Hint: He
holds the records for fewest games played in a 100-RBI season.
Twint: Although
born 74 years apart, he and his namesake are the only two major leaguers to
attend Fort
Pleasant High School, San Jose, CA.
A. Ken Williams (30/30 in 1922 w/39 HR
& 37 SB, [There WAS no "club" until Willie Mays went 36-40
in 1956.]; 105 RBI in 102 G 1925;
Ken Williams, born 1964)
FCR - Josh
Sullivan, Tomball, TX
Incorrect answers: Bobby Bonds, Rusty Staub, Barry Larkin,
Willie Mays, Jose Canseco, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Baby Doll Jacobsen,
Frank Robinson
SATURDAY
Q. Who
was the first player with a three-home-run game in each league?
Hint: At
the height of his career, he was arrested for fishing out of season. (Yes—fishing!)
Twint: He
was also arrested at age seven for repeated theft.
A. Babe Ruth (3HR 21‑May‑1930 w/NYY
& 25‑May‑1935 w/BSN [He
also did it twice in interleague play: 06‑Oct‑1926 & 09‑Oct‑1928; Fishing arrest)
FCR - Mark
Kanter, Portsmouth, RI
Incorrect answers: Johnny Mize, Frank Robinson, Jim Thome
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who
was the last player to hit four triples in one game?
Hint: His
record of reaching base in 64 straight games stood for fifty years.
Hint: He
led the majors with 123 bases-on-balls in his rookie season.
Twint: He
was succeeded by a future Hall of Fame manager who then managed the final 22
games of his 2,288-game career.
A. Bill Joyce (4 3b 18‑May‑1897, George Strief the only
other player with 4 3b in 1 G 25‑Jun‑1885; OB record 1891-1941; 123 BB 1890 in
the Players’ League; Managed the NY Giants to a respectable 179-122 record 1896-98 but was succeeded
by Cap
Anson, who bowed out with an unremarkable 9-22.)
FCR - Micki
Maynard, Phoenix, AZ
Incorrect answers: Joe Morgan, Ted Williams, Baby Doll Jacobson,
Eddie Yost, Billy Hamilton, Tris Speaker, Joe DiMaggio
SUNDAY
Q. Who
was the first player to lead the American League in hits playing for two teams?
Hint: After
he committed 86 errors at third base in one year, still a National League
record for that position, he was wisely re-assigned.
Hint: Contemporaries
believed that had he played in the 1920s and1930s, he’d have been a power
hitter on par with the best of that era.
Twint: After
retiring, he coached baseball at West Virginia University, his alma mater.
Twint: Not
stopping there, he later became mayor of Morgantown.
Twint: He
appeared in the rare 1903 E1007 Breisch Williams
baseball card set.
FCR - Josh
Sullivan, Tomball, TX
Incorrect answers: Frank Baker, Ned Williamson, Ginger Beaumont,
Roger Connor, Wee Willie Keeler, Kevin Mitchell
WEEKLY THEME – Players who finished 2nd
in home runs in the major leagues in consecutive seasons.
Player Years/HRs Behind
Connor 1887 / 17 Billy O'Brien /
19
1888
/ 14 Jimmy Ryan / 16
Granderson 2011 / 41 Jose Bautista / 43
2012
/ 43 Miguel Cabrera / 44
Greenberg 1939 / 33 Jimmie Foxx / 35
1940
/ 41 Johnny Mize / 43
Hickman 1902 / 11 Socks Seybold / 16
1903
/ 12 Buck Freeman / 13
Howard 1969 / 48 Harmon Killebrew / 49
1970
/ 44 Johnny Bench / 45
Joyce 1894 / 17 Hugh Duffy / 18
1895
/ 17 Sam Thompson / 18
Kingman 1975 / 36 Mike Schmidt / 38
1976
/ 37 Schmidt / 38
Mantle 1960 / 40 Ernie Banks / 41
1961
/ 54 Roger Maris / 61
Murphy 1984 / 36 Tony Armas / 43
1985
/ 37 Darrell Evans / 40
Ruth 1932 / 41 Jimmie Foxx / 58
1933
/ 34 Foxx / 48
Sosa 1998 / 66 Mark McGwire / 70
1999
/ 63 McGwire / 65
1922
/ 39 Rogers Hornsby / 42
First Correct Respondent
to Identify Theme – No
one
Incorrect theme guesses:
Monday
- Famous Jewish players
- Baseball
players featured on USPS postage stamps
- Players who
debuted as the youngest player in the league
- Sluggers who
retired in their 30s
- Unanimous
American League MVPs
- Players who
debuted as the youngest in their league and went on to win multiple MVP awards
- American
League home run champs
- 50+ home run
hitters
- Home Run
leaders with 50 or more in a season
- Hitters who
have led the league in walks and strikeouts in the same season
Tuesday
- Back-to-back MVP award winners
- Home
run leaders by decade
- First
time MVP and RBI champs in the same year
- Debuted
at teenagers, won multiple MVP awards
- Debuted
as teenagers, led the league in home runs multiple times
- A team made up with a
multiple MVP in each position
- Multiple MVP's
Wednesday
- Players who
won a HR title playing OF and 1B
Horsehide Trivia blog has the
questions and answers from this week as well as from previous weeks: http://horsehidetrivia.blogspot.com/
Horsehide Trivia home page: https://sites.google.com/site/tnfotobbpics/home/horsehide-trivia
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