MONDAY — 09-Mar-2026
Q. Who
is the Lion from the Rock?
Hint: #1
As a manager, he won 500 games with three different teams in the same
league.
Hint: #2
He once opined, “I never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight? Yes.”
A. LEO DUROCHER [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. [Translation in Latin then
French of his name]
-
#1 Durocher was the Dodgers’
manager for 9 seasons from 1939-1948 (suspended in 1947), winning 738 games
& 1 pennant (1941). In 5 of those
years, he was a player/manager. He was
the skipper for the Giants from 1948-1955, winning 637 games, 2 pennants
(1951,1954) & 1 World Series (1954).
He ran the Cubs from the dugout for 7 years (1966-1972) & won 535
games.
- #2 Click here for more gems from Mr. Durocher.
FCR - John
Burbridge, Timonium, Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Dick Williams
TUESDAY — 10-Mar-2025
Q. Five major
leaguers have hit home runs in each of four consecutive Opening Day games. Who was the only one to do it for a team
domiciled outside the United States?
Hint: #1
He was the first player in his franchise’s history to hit at least
twenty home runs in each of four consecutive seasons.
Hint: #2
He is the only catcher to win the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star
Game more than once.
A. GARY CARTER [SABR
Bio]
- Ans. Carter’s
OD HRs = 09-Apr-1977,
11-Apr-1980, all for the Montreal Expos.
The others with 4 consecutive opening-day HRs
Yogi Berra (1955-58) for NYY,
Todd Hundley (1994-1997) for NYM,
Jack Hannahan (2008-2009, 2011-2012) for OAK & CLE [in the minors in
2010] &
Tyler O'Neill (2020-2025) for STL, BOS & BAL, six (6!)
straight years & counting.
-
#1 Playing for MON, Carter, in
these same 4 seasons, hit 30, 20, 22 & 29 HR respectively.
-
#2 Carter was MVP of the
mid-summer classic in 1981 & 1984. The other multiple
winners are Mays (1963, 68); Garvey (1974, 78); Ripken (1991, 2001) &
Trout (2014, 15).
FCR - Scott
Byrne, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Incorrect guesses:
WEDNESDAY
— 11-Mar-2025
Q. Who
hit more doubles on one season that any other National Leaguer?
Hint: #1
He was the first player to hit home runs in the All-Star game and World
Series in the same season.
Hint: #2
He was Yogi Berra’s hero.
A. JOE MEDWICK [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. Medwick had 64
2B in 1936 in 677 plate appearances.
-
#1 In the 1st of his
10 All-Star appearances, 1934, Medwick homered in the 3rd inning off
Lefty Gomez. On 03-Oct, he homered in the 5th inning of the 1st
game off Detroit’s General Crowder.
-
#2 When advised to lay off bad
pitches, Berra replied, “Joe Medwick's still my hero.” Yogi grew up in St. Louis in the heyday of
the Cardinal’s Gas House Gang.
FCR - George
Curcio, DeLand, Florida
Incorrect guesses: Stan, Musial, Bill Terry, Bill Dickey, Frank
Crosetti, Earl Webb, Joe DiMaggio, Roy Campanella, Pepper Martin
MIDWEEK BONUS 11-Mar-2025
Q. Which
Hall of Fame player was the home plate umpire in a regular season game his team
was playing?
Hint: #1
He is also in the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati
Reds Hall of Fame.
Hint: #2
As a player, he once hit exactly nineteen triples in each of five
consecutive seasons but never led the league in any of the five. The leader was different in each of those
seasons.
Hint: #3
Just the year before that streak began, he led his league in triples. It’s the only black ink in his twenty-season
major league career.
A. JAKE BECKLEY [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. On Sunday, 06-Sep-1906(2), Beckley worked the
plate in a seven-inning game between his Cardinals & CIN. Additional recorded instances of Beckley
umpiring are confusing & conflicting.
- #1 Along with Roberto Clemente, Honus Wagner,
Willie Stargell and others, Beckley entered the Pirates Hall of Fame with the inaugural
class in 2022. He entered the Cincinnati
Reds Hall of Fame in 2014 with Ken
Griffey Jr & Dave Parker.
- #2 19 3B = 1891-1895. The league leaders in triples were:
1891– Tom Brown 22
(AA) [Harry Stovey 20 (NL)]
1892 Ed Delahanty 21
(NL)
1893 Perry Werden 29
(NL)
1894 Henry Reitz 31
(NL)
1895 Kip Selbach 22
(NL)
For the 5-year period, however, no major
leaguer totaled more than Beckley’s 95 triples.
- #3 In 1890, Beckley led the Players League in
triples w/22.
FCR - Brian
Barris, Oneida, New York
Incorrect guesses: Bid McPhee, Edd Roush, Bill McKechnie,
u — 12-Mar-2025
Q. Which
right-handed starting pitcher went directly from high school to pitch for the
Cleveland Indians as a teenager?
Hint #1
He holds the record for hitting the most major league home runs in games
when he pitched.
Hint: #2
Less than a quarter of his fifteen-year career in the big leagues was
spent with the Red Sox, yet he is in the Red Sox Hall of Fame.
Hint: #3
He once made the same All-Star team his older brother did, but only his
brother got into the game.
A. WES FERRELL [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. Ferrell did play some minor
league ball after his 1-inning, 3-earned-runs inauspicious CLE debut. He came up for
good the following year after a 20-8 season with the B-Class Terre Haute Tots for whom he also
homered twice.
-
#1 No major league pitcher has
hit more career home runs than Wes Ferrell’s 37. (He hit 1 HR as a pinch-hitter.) In 1934, he had two 2-HR games:13-Jul & 22-Aug.
- #2 He was inducted in the BOS HOF in 2008, 13 years after his brother who played with BOS
for 5 seasons. Rick Ferrell was born in 1905, Wes in 1908.
- #3 In MLB’s 1st ASG, 1933, Wes sat
while Rick was never replaced behind the plate.
FCR - Michael
Green, Las Vegas
Incorrect guesses: Rick Ferrell, Joe Nuxhall, Bob Feller, Bob
Lemon, Dick Radatz, Smokey Joe Wood, David Clyde, Ken Brett,
Lefty Grove
FRIDAY — 13-Mar-2025
Q. Who
broke Pete Rose’s MLB record for most plate appearances in a season only to
have his record broken by Jimmy Rollins?
Hint: #1
He once stole more than 100 bases in a 139-game minor league season.
Hint: #2
Three of his uncles played professional hockey.
A. LENNY DYKSTRA [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. Rose: 771 in
1974; Dykstra: 773 in 1993; Rollins 778 in 2007.
-
#1 In 1983, for the Level-A Lynchburg Mets, Dykstra played in 136 of his team’s 139 games & stole 105
bases. It was his highest season total at
any level & 3 X his best MLB season (37 in 1993 w/PHI).
-
#2 Lenny Dykstra’s name at birth
was Leonard Kyle Leswick. His uncles, Jack, Pete & Tony Leswick, played in the National Hockey League1934-58.
FCR - Barry
Nelson, Guilderland, New York
Incorrect guesses: Willie Wilson, Paul Molitor, Billy Hamilton,
Ichiro Suzuki, Juan Samuel
T.G.I.F.SPECIAL — 13-Mar-2025
Q. In
honor of which strikeout king did 3,436 fans (including 46 women) shave their
heads before a game one year?
Hint: #1
He hit more home runs than all but two other major leaguers 1995-1997
inclusive.
Hint: #2
Costanza felt (adamantly!) that he never should have been traded.
A. JAY BUHNER [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. The “Bald-In” honored Buhner
on 17-Jul-1997. It was his only All-Star
season, but he also led everybody in K’s with 175., a
total that would not even have placed him in the Top Ten in 2025.
-
#1 Buhner out-homered, among
others, his HOF outfield mate during those three years. Here are the top 5: Marl McGwire 149,
Albert Belle 128, Buhner 124, Griffey 122, Galarraga 119.
-
#2 See “Seinfeld”, “The Caddy” Season 7, Episode 12. It was Frank Costanza, George’s farther, who
was in high dudgeon over the Buhner trade.
FCR - Paul
Heally, Tracy, California
Incorrect guesses: Danny Tartabull
SATURDAY — 14-Mar-2025
Q. Which
New York City native was a short shortstop, born during the administration of
president Zachary Taylor and considered the second-best player at that position
in professional baseball’s earliest era?
Hint: #1
He indirectly helped cause the creation of the National League.
Hint: #2
He worked for the Otis Elevator Company for 35 years after his
retirement from baseball.
Hint #3:
An unsubstantiated accusation of illegal activity followed him for much
of his life.
A. DAVY FORCE [Wiki Bio]
-
Ans. Force was born 27-Jul-1849 (Taylor was POTUS 04-Mar-1849 – 09-Jul-1850) was listed at 5'4",
130 lbs.& had a reputation on defense just behind that of HOF George
Wright.
-
#1 Force had signed with different
clubs and ironing out his case led to the foundation of the NL. Read more here.
-
#2 Much like baseball, that
business has its ups and downs.
- #3 Force was thought to have shot a killed a
fellow baseball player in a bar fight in San Francisco. It was found to be a case of two mistaken identities.
FCR - Terry
Walters, Wabasha, Minnesota
Incorrect guesses: George Wright, Dickie Pearce,
SUNDAY —
15-Mar-2025
Q. Which
American League Baltimore Orioles player was the first player in the twentieth
century to symmetrically hit twenty triples in a season?
Hint: #1
One fielding play he made was alleged to be “historically” bad, but those
so reporting were not without blatant bias.
Hint: #2
He qualifies twice for this
week’s theme.
A. BILL KEISTER [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. Keister hit his 20th
3B on 08-Aug-1901. He hit his
league-leading 21st later in that same. It seems clear he didn’t feel any obligation toward
the Keystone-he only racked up 20 doubles that same season. Honus Wagner hit 22 triples in
1900, the last year of the 19th
century. Keister’s own teammate, Jimmy William
caught up and tied for the AL & MLB lead when he hit his 20th
& 21st triples on 23-Sep-1901.
-
#1 Read about Keister’s throw
from 2nd to John McGraw at 3rd on 25-May-1901, here, but be warned, the account there unsubstantiated and
contradictory claims.
-
#2 Obvious, no?
FCR - Kevin McGraw, Middletown, Delaware
Incorrect guesses: Brian Roberts, George Stone, Al Bumbry, John
McGraw, Heinie Manush
THEME: Players whose nicknames call to mind human
body parts, some better known than others.
Player___________ Nickname________ WAR
Beckley..................... “Eagle Eye".................. 61.2
Buhner...................... “Bone".......................... 23.0
Carter........................ “Teeth"......................... 70.1
Durocher................... “The Lip”........................ 4.1
Dykstra...................... “Nails".......................... 42.2
Farrell........................ “Cheek"*....................... 60.1
Force......................... “Tom Thumb”............... 17.1
Keister....................... “Wagon Tongue".......... 11.0
Medwick.................... “Muscles"..................... 54.4
Additional qualifiers –
Jeff
Beliveau.............. “Belly”............................ -0.2
Andy
High.................. “Knee".......................... 12.5
Don
Mossi.................. “Ears"........................... 23.5
Bill
Ramsey................ “Square
Jaw"................ -0.3
Walt
Williams............. “No
neck"....................... 2.4
*Actual
middle name
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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