Q. What
one-time Padre became the first player to hit thirty home runs in a season while
playing for three different teams? (Not 30
for each team. That would be a record!)
Hint: He was the
first National League rookie to knock in 100 runs in the expansion era.
Hint: Perhaps the
most famous one of him is built on the site of a stadium.
A. MIKE PIAZZA [SABR
Bio]
- 112 RBI in 1993,
his rookie season. Fittingly, he won the
NL ROY. [Notice his teammate who came in 9th
in the voting.]
- Piazza Navona, Rome’s famous city
square, is constructed on the site of the Stadium of
Domitian, built circa 80 AD, an arena to host public contests.
FCR - Mike Sparks,
Sarasota
Incorrect guesses: Dave
Kingman, Dave Winfield, Nate Colbert
TUESDAY
Q. Who was the
first player to join the 30/30 Club for the Cincinnati Reds?
Hint: He was the
first in MLB history to do it in a season where he stole 50 bases.
Hint: It was with
his bat that Fernando Tatis hit two grand slams in one inning.
A. ERIC DAVIS
- In 1987 he had 37 HR & 50 SB for CIN
- Only other player w/50+ SB in a 30/30 year was
Barry Bonds who had 52 to accompany his 33 HR in 1990 for PIT.
- Tatis feat 23-Apr-1999, both
off Chan Ho Park.
FCR - Howie Burgess, Wallington, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Tommy Harper, Barry Larkin, Joe Morgan, Vada
Pinson
WEDNESDAY
Q. Which Mets outfielder collided with a
teammate while chasing a David Ross fly ball, sending that teammate into surgery
to reconstruct his nose and cheekbones?
Hint: Both collidees suffered concussions.
Hint: He played 65 postseason games before he got
to end his career with a World Series ring.
- Collided with Mike Cameron on 11-Aug-2005.
- Was a member of the champion 2017 Astros.
FCR - Maureen Walsh, Tallahassee
Incorrect
guesses: Mike Cameron
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Whose fantastic outfield catch started
the second ever triple play in World Series history? (…until the umps missed the tag for what
would have been the 3rd out.)
Hint: No other player from his home country has
made more All-Star Game appearances.
Hint: He has seven more Gold Gloves than all
other combined major leaguers native to his home sovereign state.
Hint: He won two World Series rings in the
American League then closed out his MLB career with a ring in the National
League.
A. DEVON WHITE
- Triple play that wasn’t: 20-Oct-1992. Missed call
didn’t affect the outcome.
- Has 3 All-Star game selections, tied with fellow
Jamaican Chili Davis.
- Has 7 Gold Gloves. No other Jamaican ever won any.
FCR - Jim Casey, Savannah
Incorrect
guesses: Roberto Clemente, Chili Davis
THURSDAY
Q. Who is the only player that Ted Williams
ever struck out in a major league game?
Hint: He was favored to beat out Joe DiMaggio in
an unofficial rookie-of-the-year race.
Hint: He was the last manager in the majors whose
team never included a black player on the roster.
- K by Williams on 24-Aug-1940. York also doubled and homered in that game,
albeit off different pitchers.
- AL President William Harridge
singled out York and Joe DiMaggio as the most promising AL rookies in 1936 but,
when asked to choose between them, his nod went, “… to the Detroit youngster.” York, however, spent that season with Chet Laabs in AA Milwaukee. Joe D., on the other hand, had one of the most
outstanding rookie seasons in history.
- York managed exactly one game in the majors, a
loss by BOS @ BAL on 03‑Jul‑1959. He replaced Pinky Higgins and
was himself replaced by Billy Jurges. Pumpsie Green
debuted less than 3 weeks later.
FCR - Joseph Cosgriff, New York City
Incorrect
guesses: Pinky Higgins, Lou Boudreau,
Billy Jurges, Bucky Harris, Joe Cronin
THURSDAY BONUS
Q. Who held the Texas Ranger career home
run record at the time he lost his job to college phenom Pete Incaviglia?
Hint: The first year he was an All-Star, he
finished in the top 5 voter getters for MVP, the only season he received ANY
MVP votes in his 15-year playing career.
Hint: He was the last Tigers manager that Tiger
Stadium ever had.
A. LARRY PARRISH [SABR Bio]
- Inky’s 124 never equaled Parrish’s 149 TEX HR.
Parrish is now 14th on that
list.
- Finished 4th in 1979 in NL MVP voting
behind Hernandez and Stargell tied for 1st and Winfield at 3rd.
- Managed DET to a less-than-sterling 69-92
record in 1999. Phil Garner replaced him
as manager at the new Comerica Park.
FCR - Dave Serota, Kalamazoo
Incorrect
guesses: Jim Fregosi, Buddy Bell, Toby
Harrah, Mickey Hatcher, Jeff Burroughs, Dean Palmer
FRIDAY
Q. Who helped cinch a World Series
championship for his team when he
tripled over a 5-time Gold Glover’s head?
Hint: In seasons without labor strife, there has
never been so few postseason games in a year as there were before that game.
Hint: Twice in his career he had a game with at
least 8 RBI.
A. JIM NORTHRUP [SABR Bio]
- Curt Flood had
won 5 consecutive Gold Gloves and would win two more, but he stumbled and
misjudged this one to end the 1968 World Series.
- Division play and playoffs began following the
1969 season.
- 8-RBI games:
24-Jun-1968 &
11-Jul-1973,
exactly 8 RBI in each.
FCR - Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect
guesses: Joe Girardi, Willie Horton,
David Freese, Dave Winfield
SATURDAY
Q. Who was the first batter Mark Whiten
ever struck out in the majors?
Hint: He once took part in an unassisted triple
play.
Hint: He was first the player born in Germany
after the construction of the Berlin Wall who got more than a single at-bat in
the majors.
Hint: It was probably a good thing he didn’t
become a closer.
A. MIKE BLOWERS
- Whiten pitched 31-Jul-1998,
bottom of the 8th. The 3 outs
of Whiten’s
pitching career were all in that inning and were all strikeouts.
- Blowers was the 2nd out of the unassisted TP turned top
of the 6th 08‑Jul‑1994 at Fenway Park by The Red Sox John
Valentin.
- The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. Blowers was born 300 miles away on 24-Apr-1965
in Wurzburg,
Bavaria, West Germany.
- If “blau-ers” were ever to be pronounced “bloe-ers”
and he were to be brought in not to
blow saves, well…
FCR - Bob Flynn, Chandler, Arizona
Incorrect
guesses: Glenn Hubbard, Mickey Morandini,
Edwin Jackson
SUNDAY
Q. Whose first 27 games in the majors
produced these stats: --
10 home runs;
A batting average of .373;
A slugging percentage of .910; and
An OPS of 1.321 [not a typo.]?
Hint: The team he did it for is universally acknowledged
as one of the best teams in baseball history.
Hint: He once took part in an unassisted triple
play.
Hint: Three years before being called up, he was
voted MVP of his league in the minors.
Hint: He is the final player who qualifies for
this week’s theme (to date).
- The 27-game run constituted his entire first
year—with the 1998
New York Yankees, with a regular-season win-loss record of 114-48; a postseason
record of 11-2 and a sweep in the World Series.
(The brace of postseason losses might be forgiven as they came at the
hands of one of the most powerful teams of the decade—the Cleveland
Indians.)
- TP 29-May-2000. Spencer lined out into the triple play by Randy
Velarde.
- MVP of 1995 class A-Advanced, Florida State
League, playing for the 5th-place Tampa Yankees.
FCR - John Burbridge, Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania
Incorrect
guesses: Don Mattingly, Lou Gehrig, Alex
Rodriguez, Kevin Maas, Gary Sanchez, Rhys Hoskins
WEEKLY THEME – Players
who hit 3 grand slams in a calendar month
Player Team Dates Pitcher
Beltran................ NYM.......... 16-Jul-2006................. CHC’s Roberto
Novoa
............................................... 18-Jul-2006................. CIN’s Eric Milton
............................................... 30-Jul-2006................. ATL’s Chuck James
Blowers............... SEA............ 03-Aug-1995.............. CAL’s Mike
Butcher
............................ ................... 14-Aug-1995.............. MIN’s Pat Mahomes
............................ ................... 18-Aug-1995.............. BOS’s Tim
Wakefield
Davis................... CIN............ 01-May-1987............... PHI’s Don Carman
............................................... 03-May-1987............... PHI’s Dan
Schatzeder
............................................... 30-May-1987............... PIT’s Dorn Taylor
Northup.............. DET............ 24-Jun-1968 (X2)......... CLE’s Eddie
Fisher, Bill Rohr
............................................... 29-Jun-1968................. CHW’s Cisco
Carlos
Parrish................ TEX............ 04-Jul-1982................. OAK’s Fernando
Arroyo
............................................... 07Jul-1982................... BOS’s Mark Clear
............................................... 10-Jul-1982................. DET’s Milt Wilcox
Piazza................. LAD........... 09-Apr-1998................ ARI’s Jeff Supan
............................ ................... 10-Apr-1998................ HOU’s Mike
Magnante
............................................... 24-Apr-1998................ CHC’s Kerry Wood
Spencer............... NYY........... 18-Sep-1998................ BAL’s Jesse
Orosco
............................................... 24-Sep-1998................ TBD’s Wilson
Alvarez
............................................... 27-Sep-1998................ TBD’s Albie Lopez
White.................. MIL............ 10-May-2001............... CHC’s Justin
Heredia
............................................... 15-May-2001............... PHI’s Amaury
Telemaco
............................................... 20-May-2001............... PIT’s Terry
Mulholland
York................... DET............ 16-May-1938............... WSH’s Bill Phebus
............................................... 22-May-1938*............. BOS’s Jack Wilson
............................................... 30-May-1938............... SLB’s Lefty Mills
*GS in 1st
inning. Only runs his team scored (or
needed).
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – David
Washburn, Marietta, Georgia (after Davis on Tuesday!)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tuesday - Players
from the 1992 LA Dodgers team who made an All-Star Appearance and were either
undrafted or drafted in round 8 or lower.
Wed - Won
a silver slugger (or multiple silver sluggers) while never leading in a Triple
Crown category
Sun - Players
who hit HRs on the Day games continued in September 2001
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