Sunday, September 6, 2026

2026-08-31 Switch-hitters with career batting averages of .300 or better

 MONDAY  — 31-Aug-2026

Q.  Who has more career hits than any other National Leaguer?

Hint: #1  He led the majors in hits one season at age forty.  No one else has ever done that.

Hint: #2  Since Rogers Hornsby did 1920-1929, he is the only National League player to exceed 2,000 in a decade.

A.  PETE ROSE  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Rose’s MLB career was an NL career.  He holds multiple records due, in part, to length of his playing career, but his hits total of 4,256 really stands out.  Symmetrically, his 4,000th hit came exactly 21 years after his 1st MLB hit, 13-Apr-1963 off Bob Friend & 13-Apr-1984, off Jerry Koosman.

-  #1  In the strike-shortened season of 1981, Rose hit safely 140 times to lead MLB.  He turned 40 on 14-Apr earlier that year.

-  #2  Rose had 2,045 hits 1970-1979.  Hornsby’s number was 2,085. 

FCR -  Shaun Montana, Medway, Massachusetts

Incorrect guesses:  Stan Musial, Paul Molitor, Julio Franco, Henry Aaron

 

 

TUESDAY  — 01-Sep-2026

Q.  Whose record for career World Series doubles did Yogi Berra tie with his tenth and final one in 1958?

Hint: #1  He was the captain of the baseball, football and basketball teams at his D-1 university.

Hint: #2  As a manager, he was known to walk onto the field under an umbrella to protest a game he thought should be called for rain.

A.  FRANKIE FRISCH  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  In the 7th game of the 1958 WS, Yogi doubled off the Braves’ Lew Burdette in the 8th inning then scored on Elston Howard’s single with what would prove to be the game’s go-ahead and eventual-WS winning run.  It was Yogi’s 10 career WS double.

-  #1  Frisch attended Fordham University in the Bronx before playing for the Giants in 1919.

-  #2  I’m supposing it worked the same number of times that it would have been without the thespian prop.

FCR -  Michael Green, Las Vegas

Incorrect guesses:  Goose Goslin, Miller Huggins, Marty Marion, Connie Mack, Casey Stengel, Jackie Robinson

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 02-Sep-2026

Q.  Who accumulated more career bases-on-balls than anyone else in the 150-year history of the franchise that is now known as the Atlanta Braves?

Hint: #1  He is the career record holder for home runs hit under a single National League manager.

Hint: #2  He received the same early fatherly advice and training that his Hall of Fame hero had.

A.  CHIPPER JONES  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Jones’s 1,512 career walks total is well ahead of those of Eddie Mathews at 1,376 or of Hank Aaron at 1,297.

-  #1  All but 32 of Jones’s 468 career home runs—436—were hit while playing for Braves’ manager Bobby Cox: 1993, 1995-2010.  {N.B.  Further research reveals that Albert Pujols passed Jones’s NL record by hitting 445 in Saint Louis playing for manager Tony LaRussa 2001-2010.}

-  #2  Larry Wayne Jones Sr., also a devoted fan of Mickey Mantle, taught Chipper to hit from both sides from the start.  Mantle himself had been schooled at a tender age by his father, Elvin Charles “Mutt” Mantle, to grow up as a switch-hitter.

FCR -  Jim Cochran, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Incorrect guesses:  Henry Aaron, Eddie Mathews

 

 

THURSDAY  — 03-Sep-2026

Q.  Whose season batting average record for the Giants’ franchise did Bill Terry break?

Hint: #1  No National League player ever won a game on a grand slam, with two out, down by three in the bottom of a nineth inning before he did it.

Hint: #2  In fact, there is no proof anyone had ever even hit a grand slam before.

A.  ROGER CONNOR  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Connor had hit .371 for the 1885 Giants to set a standard that would stand until Terry hit .372 in 1929.

-  #1  Playing for the Troy (NY) Trojans on 10-Sep-1881, Connor brought everybody home in the 9th.  Read here.

-  #2  See #1 above

FCR -  Andrew Jett, Waxahachie, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Mike Donlin, ,Mel Ott, Lefty O’Doul

 

 

FRIDAY  — 04-Sep-2026

Q.  Who is the only Hall of Famer who played together with his son on the same major league team?

Hint: #1  He (Dad) was the first player in the Live Ball Era (1920- ) to have at least seventy stolen bases and seventy RBI in the same season.

Hint: #2  He was history’s first postseason batter to have the next two batters homer in succession following his home run.

A.  TIM RAINES  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Raines & his son Tim Jr. were both on the Baltimore Orioles’ roster in 2001.  However, they played in only four games together:  03-, 04-, 05(2)- & 06-Oct.  If we were to extend beyond what’s call “Organized Baseball”, Willie Wells Sr. & Willie Jr. were teammates in 1948 (though they don’t satisfy the hints.)  Reader Mark Pattison has furnished us with the following nugget:  In that game on Oct. 6, 2001, not only was Tim Raines Jr. in the lineup, but so was Cal Ripken Jr. (his last game) and Jerry Hairston Jr.”  Further, he adds., “This is why the American League has been called the Junior Circuit.”

 

-  #1  In 1983 with MON, Raines had 90 SB & 71 RBI, both career highs.  Four others have followed.

-  #2  Yankees Raines, Derek Jeter & Paul O'Neill homered back-to-back-to-back in the 6th inning off CLE’s Eric Plunk in game 1 of the 1997 ALDS.

FCR -  Bill Deane, Cooperstown

Incorrect guesses:  Ken Griffey, Sr., Bobby Bonds, Craig Biggio

 

 

SATURDAY  — 05-Sep-2026

Q.  Who hit more triples in one season than any other switch hitter?

Hint: #1  He once helped his team win a World Series Championship but contributed exactly zero (0) home runs.

Hint: #2  His record for the longest hitting streak in the history of his franchise has lasted more than one hundred thirty years.

A.  GEORGE DAVIS  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Davis hit 27 triples for in 133 in games in his 1st year with the Giants, 1893.

-  #1  Davis was the starting SS on the 1906 “Hitless Wonders” White Sox in 133 of the team’s 154 games.  He was only 2 off the team lead with his 0 HR total.  Somehow, they beat the Cubs in the WS, 4 games to 2.

-  #2  Davis’ hitting streak of 33 games set in1893 is still the Giants’ standard.

FCR -  Terry Walters, Wabasha, Minnesota

Incorrect guesses:  Mark Koenig, Pete Rose, Owen “Chief” Wilson, Max Carey, Willie Keeler, Roger Connor

 

 

SUNDAY  — 06-Sep-2026

Q.  The last name of which Seattle Mariners player means “Glass: in Portuguese?

Hint: #1  As an infielder playing for a franchise domiciled outside the United Stats, he twice had seasons with more than 95 RBI.

Hint: #2  Those were two of his All-Star seasons.

A.  JOSE VIDRO  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Vidro is Portuguese for “glass.”

-  #1  As a Montreal Expo in 2000 & 2002, Vidro had 97 & 96 RBI respectively.  In his 12-year career in the majors, his RBI total never exceeded 65 in any other season.

-  #2  Vidro was an NL AS in 2000, 2002 & 2003.

FCR -  Randall Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee

Incorrect guesses: 

 

 

 

THEME:  Switch-hitting National Leaguers with .300+ career batting averages (min. 1,000 games)*

 

Player       BA     Games       Career         NL Teams      WAR

Connor ... .314...... 1875..... 1880.. 1897... TRO, NYG, PHI, STL.......... 84.2

 

Davis....... .313...... 1516..... 1890.. 1903... CLV, NYG........ 84.4

 

Frisch...... .316...... 2311..... 1919.. 1937... STL, NYG......... 71.7

 

Jones....... .303...... 2499..... 1993.. 2012... ATL................... 85.3

 

Raines..... .300...... 1550..... 1979.. 2002... MON, FLA........ 69.5

 

Rose........ .303...... 3562..... 1963.. 1986... CIN, MON, PHI. 79.6

 

Vidro........ .301...... 1186..... 1997.. 2006... MON/WSN....... 17.4

 

https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/F9I5o

 

*Averages & games include all major leagues games.

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme – [Many came close.  However... ]

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Tues    -  Player-manager

-   Player-managers that won an MVP

-   Player-managers who a World Series

-   Managers whose managerial record is over .500 that had at least 2,000 hits as players

-   Most hits in a career by a switch hitter

-   Switch hitters who had career batting averages over .300 from both sides of the plate

 

Wed     -  HOF switch hitters with highest career batting average

-   Players who won one MVP award and had 2,700 or more hits

-   Players who won one MVP award and had a career .300 batting average

 

Thur     -  Switch-hitters with 2,400 or more hits

-   Highest career WAR for switch-hitters

 

Fri        -  Highest career WAR for Hall of Fame switch-hitters

 

Sat       -  Highest single season BA for a switch hitter

 

 

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Monday, August 31, 2026

2026-08-24 Hall of Famers at the Mic

MONDAY  — 23-Aug-2026

Q.  Who had more hits in the 1950s that any other player?

Hint: #1  The time he led the majors in batting average, he could only manage thirty-three runs batted in.

Hint: #2  He twice led the majors in triples.

A.  RICHIE ASHBURN  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  From 1950-1959 Ashburn reached base with a hit 1,875 times.  The AL leader over that time was Nellie Fox with 1,837.

-  #1  Ashburn hit .350 in 1958.  His RBI total?...33.

-  #2  He tripled 14 times in 1950, leading his team to the World Series.  He hit 13 triples in 1958.

FCR -  Ed Yoder, Port Matilda, Pennsylvania

Incorrect guesses:  Eddy Mathews, Nellie Fox, Mickey Mantle

 

 

TUESDAY  — 24-Aug-2026

Q.  Who won the first Cy Young Award for a major league team domiciled on the West Coast?

Hint: #1 A better-than-average-hitting pitcher, he is the only pitcher to homer in two Opening Day games.

Hint: #2  Three Hall of Fame batters hit career double-figure home runs off him.

A.  DON DRYSDALE  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Drysdale was the 1962 MLB CYA winner.  The award would stay on the West Coast for the next 5 seasons…

MLB:  Sandy Koufax – 1963, 1965, 1966*; Dean Chance 1964.

NL: Mike McCormick 1967.

-  #1  OD HRs:  At Wrigley on 11-Apr-1959 off the Cubs’ Bob Anderson.  It was the Dodgers’ only run in a 1-6 loss.  True to his already-established reputation, Drysdale hit a batter and threw a wild pitch.  Then he hit a home run in Shea Stadium on OD on 12-Apr-1965 off the Mets’ Al  Jackson.  Both Opening Days were the 1st games of Dodgers WS championship seasons.

-  #2  Most career home runs surrendered to a player by Drysdale:

17 – Hank Aaron

13 – Willie McCovey

12 – Willie Mays

*All 3 were unanimous votes

FCR -  Mike Webb, Burlington, New Jersey

Incorrect guesses:  Vida Blue, Don Newcombe, Dean Chance, Sandy Koufax

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 26-Aug-2026

Q.  Who was the first pitcher to win more than ten career post-season games?

Hint: #1  No Brave has won more games in a season since they won their first Modern Era World Series.

Hint: #2  He broke his 262-game errorless streak in the same game his teammates tied their franchise record of hitting eight home runs in a game while surrendering none.

A.  JOHN SMOLTZ  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Won his 11th such on 30-Sep-1998, winning the 1st game of the NLDS, breaking the record of 10 shared by Whitey Ford & Dave Stewart.

-  #1  Smoltz won 24 in 1996 to lead the NL & tying Tony Cloniger’s 1965 win total in Milwaukee.  The Braves first World Series championship was in 1914.  That same year, teammates Bill James & Dick Rudolph won 26 each.

-  #2  On 28-May-2006, the Braves beat the Cubs 13-12.  ATL had 8 HR; CHC had 0.  Smoltz bobbled the ball hit by Neifi Perez.& threw wildly to first.  His errorless game streak had begun 18-Sep-2001 at Veterans Stadium.  He fielded 163 errorless chances during the 262-game run.

FCR -  Steve Riach, Southlake, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Christy Mathewson, Warren Spahn, Pedro Martinez, Catfish Hunter

 

 

MIDWEEK BONUS  27-Aug-2026

Q.  Whose brother and he were #1 and #2 on the pitching staff of a World Series Championship team?

Hint: #1  He lectured at SMU regarding his changed profession.

Hint: #2  He finished in the Top Two in MVP voting for three consecutive seasons.

A.  DIZZY DEAN  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  The 1934 WS champion St. Louis Cardinals featured Dizzy Dean & Daffy (Paul) Dean at the top of their pitching rotation.  Dizzy’s record that year was 30-7; Paul (Daffy) had 19-11.

-  #1  He made an erudite presentation at Southern Methodist University entitled, “Radio Announcing I Have Did”.

-  #2  MVP voting:  1934 - 1st; 1935 - 2nd; 1936 - 2nd.

FCR -  Rick Fink, Edison, New Jersey

Incorrect guesses:  Greg Maddux, Phil Niekro, Paul Waner

 

 

THURSDAY  — 27-Aug-2026

Q.  Who is the only Pittsburgh Pirate to lead the National League in home runs in consecutive seasons?

Hint: #1  Only one player in National League history (since 1876) had a season’s home run total higher than his best year.

Hint: #2  The town where he was born bears an eerie similarity to the town where another National League home run champion was born.

A.  RALPH KINER  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Kiner led or tied for the NL lead in home runs every year from 1946, his rookie season, through 1952.

-  #1  Only Hack Wilson’s 56 in 1930 was more than Kiner’s 54 in 1949 (tied with Johnny Mize).  Since then, 8 NL sluggers have topped that season mark with Mark McGuire & Shohei Ohtani doing it in consecutive seasons, 1998-1999 & 2024-2025 respectively.

-  #2  Santa Rita, New Mexico no longer exists.  It was home to employees who worked in the nearby cooper mine.  When the mine was no longer productive, it closed & the town with it.  Willie Mays was born in Westfield, Alabama a town which also was “ghosted” when employment opportunities dried up.

FCR -  Rich Lerner, Silver Spring, Maryland

Incorrect guesses:  Barry Bonds, Willie Stargell

 

 

FRIDAY  — 28-Aug-2026

Q.  Which Lone Star state native set a record for career bases-of-balls by a National Leaguer did Barry Bonds break?

Hint: #1  His best season amassing walks was the same year he won the MVP and he aided his team win the World Series..

Hint: #2  His Hall of Fame manager proclaimed him “… the greatest offensive player I ever managed.”

A.  JOE MORGAN  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Morgan ended with 1,799 NL BB when he retired in 1984.  Bonds’s final total was an otherworldly 2,558 of which 688 were intentional passes. (Both numbers the all-time records.)  Morgan was born in Bonham, Texas.

-  #1  In 1975, Morgan was the NL MVP.  His team, the red-hot Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds won the NL Pennant & an exciting WS over BOS.

-  #2  The quote is attributed to Reds Manager Sparky Anderson who didn’t even mention Morgan’s 5 Gold Glove Awards.

FCR -  Jim Cochran, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Incorrect guesses:  Don Baylor, Rogers Hornsby, Rickey Henderson

 

SATURDAY  — 29-Aug-2026

Q.  Who is the last Hall of Fame pitcher to lead the majors in shutouts with more than nine that season?

Hint: #1  He is the only Hall of Fame pitcher to homer in the majors as a teenager.

Hint: #2  He is the only pitcher to surrender more than one postseason home run to Reggie Jackson.

A.  JIM PALMER  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Palmer led the majors with 10 shutouts in 1975, the same year he led everyone in pitching WAR (8.4), wins (23), ERA (2.09) & ERA+ (169).  John Tudor had 10 shutouts in 1985, but finished behind Dwight Gooden in Cy Young voting that year.  No one has hit double digits since.

-  #1  Palmer’s 1st HR (of the 3 in his career) was off NYY’s Jim Bouton on 16-May-1965.  Palmer was 19 years, 7 months, 1 day old that day.  Surprisingly, pitcher Babe Ruth’s 1st major league HR didn’t happen until he was 20 (06-May-1915).

-  #2  Jackson hit 2 HRs off Palmer in the 3rd game of the 1971 ALCS, both solos, one in the 3rd inning & one in the 8th.

FCR -  Alan Makovsky, Washington, DC

Incorrect guesses:  Babe Ruth, Bob Gibson, Fernando Valenzuela, Bert Blyleven, Don Drysdale, Don Sutton, Steve Carlton, Gary Nolan, Randy Johnson

 

 

SUNDAY — 30-Aug--2026

Q.  Who is the only Hall of Famer to play in a losing World Series six (6!) times?

Hint: #1  His nickname is from the first professional team he played on.

Hint: #2  He was traded by the Red Sox to the Dodgers.

A.  PEE WEE REESE  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Reese was on the Dodgers championship team in 1955, but prior to that, he couldn’t prevent BRO from losing in the WS in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953 & 1956.

-  #1  Reese was recruited to play for the minor league Louisville Colonels & as the smallest member of the team, was called the ”little Colonel”.  His other nickname, the one he became known by, “Pee Wee” is said to derive from his time as a young marbles champ.  Given his diminutive stature bearing, it’s not impossible to believe that the marble

-  #2  On 18-Jul-1939, Reese was dealt to BRO before playing in the majors.  It was a fairly elaborate exchange.  Traded by BOS to BRO in exchange for $35000 and 3 players & 2 players to be named later.  They turned out to be Red Evans & Art Parks neither of whom played in the majors again.

FCR -  Frank Larkin, Brattleboro, Vermont

Incorrect guesses:  Duke Snider

 

THEME:  Hall oi Fame players who became announcers after their playing days

 

Name                    On Air                                                   WAR

Morgan.............. ESPN TV.............................................. 100.6

Smoltz............... Fox, MLB 2014-...................................... 69.0

Palmer............... Orioles radio, TV..................................... 68.5

Reese................ GOTW, WS Radio.................................. 68.4

Drysdale............ LAD ........................................................ 67.1

Ashburn............. PHI analyst 1963-1976........................... 64.3

Kiner.................. Mets radio, Kinser’s Corner.................... 48.1

Dean................. Cardinals radio....................................... 46.2

 

There are others who qualify:

Phil Rizzuto

George Kell

Et al.

Et al.

Et al…

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme – Steve Riach, Southlake, Texas (after Kiner)

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

           

Tues    -  MLB players-turned-broadcasters who died while still broadcasting

 

Thur     -  HoF inductees that have announced a WS game

-   Hall of Famers who became broadcasters for a different team

-   HoF inductees that have announced a WS game

 

If you know someone who would enjoy receiving daily Horsehide Trivia questions, have them click here:  Horsehide Trivia or do it on their behalf.

 

Click here => THIS WEEK’s quiz, compete with questions, hints, answers & even incorrect guesses.

 

Scroll back to see previous Horsehide Trivia posts as far back as 2010.  Quizzes before that may also be available upon request.

 

 

Horsehide Trivia encourages independent research.  ⚾️