MONDAY — 30-Dec
Q. Who has
more career RBI in World Series games than any other player?
Hint: #1
He lost the career regular season strikeout record to Willie Stargell.
Hint: #2
The timing of his one batting title couldn’t have been better.
-
Ans. He retired with 40. Yogi is right behind him with 39.
-
#1 Mantle took the K crown away
from Babe Ruth in 1964 and held it (1,710) until 1978 when Willie Stargell
passed him and held it for 4 years. The
man who passed Stargell in 1982, still holds it! There are now 40 players with career K totals
greater than Mantle’s.
-
#2 He hit .353 in
1956, by far his highest to that point.
He also led w/130 RBI that year. They lined up neatly with his 52
HR to give him a Triple Crown.
FCR - Ronn
Tarter, Cary, North Carolina
Incorrect guesses: Yogi Berra
TUESDAY — 31-Dec
Q. Only
four players have walked six times in one game.
Who was the first to do it?
Hint: #1
He was the first player to hit more than three hundred home runs during
the administration of a single U.S. president.
Hint: #2
He was an All-Star only the second and third times he won an MVP.
A. JIMMIE FOXX [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Foxx had 6 BB in St. Louis
on 16-Jun-1938. He walked in the 1st, 3rd,
4th, 7th, 8th & 9th at the
hands of Browns’ pitchers Les Tietje, Ed Linke & Russ Van Atta. Since then 6 BB in 1 G has been done by Andre Thornton, Jeff Bagwell & Bryce
Harper. Foxx won his 3rd MVP
that year.
-
#1 Foxx hit 353 HR 1933-1943, benefitting from FDR’s being re-elected
thrice.
-
#2 Foxx’s 1st MVP,
the 1st ever by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA)
was in 1932, the season before the advent of baseball’s annual
All-Star game. He lost out on a Triple
Crown that year by .003 for the batting title to Dale Alexander who won w/.367,
playing for DET & BOS.
FCR - Phillip
Fickling, San Diego
Incorrect guesses: Hank Greenberg, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Mel
Ott, Roger Maris, Johnny Bench
WEDNESDAY — 01-Jan
Q. Which
one-time White Sox player is the only one to win the All-Star Game Home Run
Derby more than twice?
Hint: #1
In one three-year stretch, he had at least 140 RBI in three consecutive
seasons.
Hint: #2
He was the first member of the Hall of Fame to record seasons of 40 home
runs for a team in both leagues.
A. KEN GRIFFEY, Jr. [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Griffey won the HRD in 1994,
1998 & 1999. Those who have won twice are Prince Fielder,
Yoenis Cespedes & Pete Alonso.
-
#1 In 1996, 97 & 98 Griffey
put up 140, 147 & 146 RBI.
He followed up w/134 in 1999.
-
#2 In 1994 w/SEA, Griffey led the
AL with 40 HR in that shortened season.
In his first season with CIN, he again hit exactly 40.
FCR - Jeff
Fink, Howell, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Jim Thome, Bill Melton, Sammy Sosa, Dick
Allen, Greg Luzinski, Frank Thomas
THURSDAY — 02-Jan
Q. Which
player was publicly feted by his team’s owner with a plaque describing the
player as the greatest clutch hitter ever in the [team] history?
Hint: #1
Notwithstanding, he was the last twentieth century American Leaguer to
go an entire season (min 20 AB ) without collecting a hit.
Hint: #2
He set major league career records for home runs, RBIs and hits from the
designated hitter position.
Hint: #3
Ten times in his career, he wore the Golden Sombrero.
A. DAVID ORTIZ [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. A plaque was presented to Ortiz on 06-Sep-2005 Boston Owner John Henry & President Larry Lucchino
declaring that Ortiz was “The greatest clutch hitter in the history of the
Boston Red Sox”. He had 11 career
walk-off HR during the regular season & 2 during the 2004 postseason, the 1st
of which clinched the AL Division Series.
-
#1 Was 0 for 20 in 1999. (He did walk 5 X,
so there’s that.)
-
#2 “Big Papi” the DH, finished
with 485 HR; 1,590 RBIs; & 2,192 H.
- #3 One more K than a 3-HR “Hat trick” has been
called “Golden Sombrero” since about 1977. Here are Papi’s = 4K X 10.
FCR - Dennis
Walls, Orrington, Maine
Incorrect guesses: Edgar Martinez, Hal McRae, Reggie Jackson, Frank
Thomas, Orlando Cepeda
FRIDAY — 02-Jan
Q. Who
passed Babe Ruth on the career doubles list on Mothers' Day earlier this
century?
Hint: #1
He won the Home Run Derby in the middle of the best offensive output season
of his career.
Hint: #2
He had walk-off single that few people will forget.
A. LUIS GONZALEZ [Wiki Bio]
-
Ans. On 14-May-2006,
Gonzalez hit his 507th career double, passing the Babe. He ended with 596, now 19th on the
all-time list.
-
#1 Gonzalez won the 2001 HRD at Safeco Field in Seattle. His HR (57), PA (728), R (128), BB (100),
OBP (.429), SLG (.688), OPS (1,117), TB (419), EBH (100) & WAR (7.9) were
all personal bests, all in the 8th year of his 19-year career in the
Bigs. [N.B. Not only did he never hit 50 HR in a season
in any other year, he never hit 40 and only once hit more than 30 (31 in 2000).
-
#2 His hit drove in the winning R in the 7th G
of the 2001 WS, giving ARI their 1st
(&, so far, only) championship.
FCR - Walt
Cherniak, Woodbine, Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, Garret Anderson,
Miguel Cabrera, Freddie Freeman, Barry Bonds, Robin Ventura.
SATURDAY — 04-Jan
Q. Who
was the first player to hit forty major league home runs in a season while
playing for two major league teams, one in the American League and one in the National
League?
Hint: #1
He won the MVP of the summer wood-bat league one year, but his cousin
was MVP in the majors.
Hint: #2
He became the only player traded after a fifty-home run season. {Shh… It might have been the quietest
50-HR season ever in the majors.}
A. GREG VAUGHN [SSHoF Bio]
-
Ans. In 1996, Vaughn hit 31 HR
for MIL (then an AL team) & was traded at the deadline to SDP where he managed
to hit 10 more off NL pitching.
-
#1 Vaughn played for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball
League (CCBL), leading the team to league titles in both seasons
& was league MVP in 1985. His ovate cousin Mo was AL MVP a decade later.
-
#2 Vaughn hit 50 HR in the NL in
1998 when McGwire& Sosa were soaring past
Roger Maris’ 1961 mark.
FCR - Jake
Bell, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Incorrect guesses: Gary Sheffield, Johnny Mize, Brady Anderson
SUNDAY —
05-Jan
Q. Who
was the youngest player to hit fifty home runs in a National League season?
Hint: #1
He and another player, who also had a relative who played in the majors,
both hit their first major league home run in an interleague game against the
Twins.
Hint: #2
Mother Nature had him hitting right-handed. His father thought otherwise.
A. PRINCE FIELDER [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Fielder hit exactly 50
in his 2nd full season in the majors, 2007, playing for MIL. He was 23 years
and 139 days old when he hit his 50th HR on 25-Sep-2007.
-
#1 Fielder, son of Cecil, & Rickie Weeks, brother of Jemile, both hit
their MLB 1st HR on 25-Jun-2005.
-
#2 Father Cecil Fielder taught
you Prince to bat lefty at a young age & it stuck throughout his life.
FCR - Mary
Hums, Louisville
Incorrect guesses: Ryan Howard, Miguel Cabrera, Mel Ott, Andruw
Jones, Ken Griffey, Jr., Chipper Jones,
Johnny Mize
WEEK’S THEME – Select Players who
hit 50+ HR in a season, but did not lead the majors
Player Year HR MLB
Leader HR WAR
Mantle............ 1961........... 54........... Maris................ 61 110.2
Foxx............... 1938........... 50........... Greenberg........ 58 93.0
Griffey, Jr....... 1997........... 56........... McGwire........... 58 83.8
Griffey,
Jr....... 1998........... 56........... McGwire........... 70 83.8
Ortiz............... 2006........... 54........... Howard............ 58 55.3
Gonzalez........ 2001........... 57........... Bonds............... 73 51.6
Vaughn........... 1998........... 50........... McGwire........... 70 30.9
Fielder............ 2007........... 50........... A-Rod............... 54 23.8
Additional legitimate claimants on this week’s
theme:
Brady
Anderson...... 1996...... 50........... McGwire........ 52 35.0
Sammy
Sosa.......... 1998...... 66........... McGwire........ 70 58.6
Sammy
Sosa.......... 1999...... 63........... McGwire........ 65 58.6
Sammy
Sosa.......... 2001...... 64........... Bonds............ 73 58.6
Aaron
Judge........... 2017...... 52........... Stanton......... 59 52.2
Shohei
Otani........... 2024...... 54........... Judge............ 58 43.8
KEY: Bold = Led league
Bold & Italicized = Led MLB
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Walt Cherniak, Woodbine, Maryland
Incorrect
theme guesses:
Mon - 500
HR club members who hit more on the road than at home
Tues - Players
who have won multiple MVPs and a Triple Crown
-
Players
with 500 or more career HR who have had a 50 or more HR season
-
AL
Triple Crown winners
Wed - Most
home runs before turning 25 years old
-
HOFers
with the most multi-homer games
Fri - Youngest
players to hit 300 HR
Sat - 50+
homer seasons
Sun - Guys
who hit 50 and .300 in the same season.
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