MONDAY — 09-Feb-2026
Q. Which
active player has a higher career WAR than any of these MVPs/Hall of Famers Jeff
Bagwell, Johnny Bench, Rod Carew, Joe Dimaggio, Ken Griffey Jr,
Chipper Jones and Robin Yount?
Hint: #1
Ten years ago he tied a record first set by Willie Mays.
Hint: #2
He led the league in WAR for each of five consecutive seasons, beginning
as a twenty-year-old, four times also leading the majors.
A. MIKE TROUT [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. For comparison
Player WAR MVP(s) HOF Vote %
Bagwell* 79.9 NL
1993 2017 86.2
Bench* 75.1 NL 1970, 72 1989 96.4
Carew* 81.2 AL 1977 1991 90.5
DiMaggio 79.1 AL
1939, 41, 47 1955 88.8
Griffey 83.8 AL 1995** 2016 99.3
Jones 85.3 NL 1999 2018 97.2
Yount 77.4 AL 1982, ‘89 1999 77.5
Trout** 87.5 AL 2014**, 16, 19 ~
*Also ROY; **Unanimously
-
#1 When Trout won his 2nd
All-Star Game MVP in 2015, he joined Mays (1963, 68), Steve Garvey (1974,
78), Gary Carter (1981, 84) & Cal Ripken (1991, 2001) as a 2-time winner.
-
#2 From 2012 thought 2016, Trout led
with: 10.5, 8.9.
7.7, 9.5 & 10.4. Led MLB 4X.
Only Led the AL in 2015.
FCR - Lawrence
Adams, Oxford, England, UK
Incorrect guesses: Aaron Judge, Robin Yount, Juan Soto, Mookie
Betts
TUESDAY — 10-Feb-2025
Q. In
2014, Anthony Rizzo became the final recipient of the Branch Rickey Award, but
who was the first?
Hint: #1
He was third in MVP voting the year there was a tie for the award in the
National League. He took the ‘bronze’ in
spite of leading the league in runs-batted-in, OPS, total bases and intentional
bases-on-balls.
Hint: #2
He had the World-Series-winning hit for the Toronto Blue Jays.
A. DAVE WINFIELD [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Winfield was honored as the first
recipient of the Rickey Award in 1992.
-
#1 In 1979, playing for the
Padres, Winfield came in 3rd behind Willie Stargell & Keith
Hernandez. He led in RBI (118),
OPS (166), TB (333) & IBB (24).
-
#2 In Game 6 of the 1992 WS, he became “Mr. Jay” (shedding his previous “Mr. May” epithet) as he delivered the
game-winning 2-run double in the 11th inning.
FCR - Brian
Baris, Oneida, New York
Incorrect guesses: Joe Carter, Jackie Robinson
WEDNESDAY — 11-Feb-2025
Q. Which
San Francisco native was the major league manager for a future Hall of Fame player
he had once been traded for?
Hint: #1
A former Pirate, he was in uniform in Toronto for the “Joe Carter game”.
Hint: #2
He and Barry Bonds attended the same high school.
A. JIM FREGOSI [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Fregosi was born in San
Francisco 04-Apr-1942. When he managed
the California Angels in 1978 & 1979, the ace of his
pitching staff was Nolan Ryan for whom he, as a player, had been traded in
December 1971. The trade sent Fregosi
from his original team, the Angels, to the Mets in exchange for Ryan, Leroy
Stanton & 2 prospects.
-
#1 Fregosi was the manager of
PHI 1991-1996, including the 1993 WS & the
oft-referenced game 6. He finished his playing career as a shortstop
for PIT in 1977-78.
-
#2 Both are alumni of Junipero
Serra HS, San Mateo*, California, but a
full generation apart.
FCR - Dave
Williams, Glastonbury, Connecticut
*The city surprisingly not named after
Matty Alou!
Incorrect guesses:
THURSDAY 12-Feb-2025
Q. Who is
the only major leaguer to win a league Most Valuable Player Award unanimously more
than once?
Hint: #1
He was also voted Rookie of Year.
That vote was overwhelming, but not unanimous.
Hint: #2
One season when he did not win he MVP, he got enough Cy Young Award
votes for fourth place.
A. SHOHEI OHTANI [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Playing for the Angels, Ohtani
won the AL MVP in 2021 & 2023. After
signing with LAD, he won the NL MVP in 2024 & 2025. All 4 times, no other nominee ever got even a
single first-place vote!
-
#1 He was ROY with LAA in 2018 with 25 of the
available 30 first-place votes.
-
#2 Pitching for LAA in 2022,he finished 4th behind
Justin Verlander’s unanimous vote.
FCR - Waker
Arnold, Jay, Vermont
Incorrect guesses: Sandy Koufax, Tom Seaaver, Roger Clemens, Justin
Verlander
IN MEMORIAM — 12-Feb-2025
Q. Which
pitcher holds the record for highest winning percentage in a season? (Min. 15 decisions)
Hint: #1
Who was the first pitcher to save three games in a single World Series.
Hint: #2
He was the first major leaguer to save twenty games in a season more
than once.
Hint: #3
He was drafted twice by Branch Rickey.
Hint: #4
His dominant stat became official during his last season in the majors.
Hint: #5
He had one dominant pitch most hitter found hard to handle.
Hint: #6
Only Walter Johnson matched him in career pitching appearances with one franchise.
-
Ans. For the 1959 Pirates, Face’s record
was 18-1 (with 0 starts), resulting in a .947 W-L%
-
#1 Face preserved wins in Gs 1, 4
& 5 of the Pirates’ 1960 upset WS win over the Yankees. John Wetteland surpassed Face in 1996 setting a record that is unlikely ever to be broken: 4
saves in a single WS.
-
#2 Face compiled his first two
20+ save seasons in 1958 (20) & 1960 (24).
His career-best was 28 saves in 1962.
- #3 Branch Rickey’s Brooklyn Dodgers selected
Face in the annual winter draft in 1950. Two years later, Rickey drafted Face again,
this time for the Pirates
- #4 Saves were tallied by most teams even though
the "save" wasn't officially acknowledged by MLB until 1969, Face's
final season. Retroactively, he was credited
being the NL saves leader in 1958, 1961 & 1962.
- #5 Face’s signature pitch was a forkball,
learned in the minors after watching former Yankee star reliever Joe Page throw the pitch in
1954 while both were in Spring Training with the Pirates. Face said his own
forkball acted like a cross between a knuckler and a sinker. “How do you know
which way it will go?” he was once asked. “I don't,” he said, “but neither does
the batter.”
- #6 Face appeared 802 times as a pitcher for
PIT. Johnson had reached the same number
with WSH.
FCR
- Dave Huners, Herndon, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: Lefty Grove
FRIDAY —
13-Feb-2025
Q. Who
was the first Los Angeles Angel to lead the majors in stolen bases for a
season?
Hint: #1
No Angels player ever led the league in bases-on-balls before he did.
Hint: #2
The only major leaguer born in Viet Nam and he are alumni of the same
high school.
A. CHONE FIGGINS [Wiki Bio]
-
Ans. Figgins had 62
SB in 2005. Mike Trout is the only other
one to do it.
-
#1 He walked 101 times in 2009.
-
#2 Figgins and Danny Graves were both Brandon High Eagles.
FCR - Brett
Moore, Studio City, California
Incorrect guesses: Mike Trout, Ben Chapman, Mickey Rivers
SATURDAY — 14-Feb-2025
Q. Who
hit the first home run in refurbished Yankee Stadium?
Hint: #1
His nickname reflected a music genre.
Hint: #2
Five major league All-Stars attended his high school.
-
Ans. Ford, the venue’s 2nd
batter ever, homered in Yankee Stadium II, as it come to be called, on 15-Apr-1976. That put the visiting Twins up 2-0 before the
first out of the game had been made.
-
#1 He was called Disco Dan. The Disco Era was began to peak as
he entered the majors in 1975.
-
#2 Although Ford never made an
All-Star team he transferred to Fremont HS ( not to be confused
with Fremont HS in Sunnyvale, California, 350 miles to the north) because he
admired the baseball players that he knew some recent Fremont graduates Bobby
Tolan, Willie Crawford & Bob Watson who had made the majors. For 60 years, Fremont had been a source a
talented baseball recruits.
FCR - Quentin
Wittrock, Coon Rapids, Minnesota
Incorrect guesses: Dan Driessen
SUNDAY —
15-Feb-2025
Q. Which
owner of a thirty-three home-run, eight-year major league career, once had
multiple home runs in each of three consecutive games?
Hint: #1
He was born in San Diego because his father had grown up in San Diego
and had played for the Padres.
Hint: #2
After his playing career, he became the development manager for a
wellness and fitness company.
A. JEFF DaVANON [Wiki Bio]
-
Ans. In 3 straight road games in
2003, DaVanon hit 2 HR on 01-Jun vs. TBD. The Angels’ schedule then took them so
Montreal. On 03-Jun & 04-Jun, he homered twice in
each game as hie team dominated. In
doing so, he tied Ralph Kiner (7–9Jun-1947), Darryl Strawberry (4–6-Sep-1987) &
Albert Belle (3–5-Sep-1995).
-
#1 His father, Jerry DaVanon, played in the majors
for parts of 8 MLB seasons.
-
#2 In 2020, DaVanon joined Carnosyn®
Brands as their Health & Wellness Business Development
Manager.
FCR - Terry
Gans, San Carlos, California
Incorrect guesses: Tony Gwynn, Jr., Chri Gwynn
WEEK’S FINALE — 15-Feb-2025
Q. Which
Badger-born major league All-Star was a two-way player and a four-year letterman
for the Bulldogs?
Hint: #1
He hit for the cycle almost exactly two years after his more famous
teammate also did for the same team.
Hint: #2
He remembers pausing just a fleeting moment watching the ball clear the
fence of his first career grand slam off Gibson.
A. JARED WALSH [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Walsh was born in Brookfield,
Wisconsin, but attendedAtlanta’s Peachtree
Ridge HS & the University of
Georgia, the Bulldogs. He as an All-Star for the Angels in 2021.
-
#1 See dates below. No Angles player has “cycled” since Walsh
did.
-
#2 On 21-Sep-2020, Walsh knocked in 3 teammates
& himself when he homered off Kyle Gibson of TEX. Walsh paused a moment to watch his grand slam
sail out of the park, even though he still felt a bit of doubt about a no-doubt
homer: “I probably would have looked like an idiot had it not
gone out.”
FCR - Randall
Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee
Incorrect guesses: Jim Ray Hart
THEME: [Los Angeles, Anaheim, etc.] Angels who have hit
for the cycle
DaVanon............... 25-Aug-2004 Watch.............. 5.2
Figgins.................. 16-Sep-2006 Watch............. 22.0
Ford...................... 10-Aug-1979........................ 11.8
Fregosi.................. 28-Jul-1964 &...................... 48.7
............................. 20-May-1968
Ohtani................... 13-Jun-2019 Watch............. 51.5
Trout..................... 21-May-2013 Watch............ 87.5
Walsh.................... 11-Jun-2022 Watch............... 1.5
Winfield................ 24-Jun-1991 Watch............. 64.2
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Randall Chandler, Germantown,
Tennessee (after Fregosi).
Incorrect
theme guesses:
Tues - Players
with 400 or more career home runs and played for the Angels
-
-
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