MONDAY — 11-May-2026
Q. Who
won a batting title and a league Most Valuable Player Award at age twenty-two
then helped his team beat their crosstown rivals in the World Series the following
season?
Hint: #1
Only he has led the majors in triples each of the three times he won the
MVP.
Hint: #2
After his third MVP, he finished 2nd in the balloting the
next three consecutive seasons.
A. STAN MUSIAL [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. Musial hit .357
& was voted MVP at age 22 in 1943 then led the Cards over the Browns in the 1944 WS.
-
#1 MVP in 1943, 20 triples; MVP in 1946*, 20 triples; MVP in 1948, 18 triples.
-
#2 Was #2 in MVP voting in 1949, 1950 & 1951. He was also runner-up
in 1957.
*Would have been unanimous except for 2 votes
that went to a teammate.
FCR - Jahn
Hakes, Holiday, Florida
Incorrect guesses: Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio
TUESDAY — 12-May-2026
Q. Which player, who was voted Most Valuable
Player twice, would have won it six times had voting been along
WAR lines?
Hint:
#1 He led the majors twelve (12!)
times in on-base percentage and ended his career as he all-time OBP leader.
Hint:
#2 His memorable home run in post-World-War-II
Fenway Park has been scrutinized extensively.
A. TED WILLIAMS [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Williams
was AL MVP in 1946 & 1949. However, he led in WAR in:
1941 (10.4)
2nd;
1942 (10.5)
2nd;
1946 (10.6)
1st;
1947 (9.5) 2nd;
1949 (9.0) 1st; &
1951 (7.3) 13th. – Ordinals indicate AL MVP voting position.
- #1 His
position as career leader in OBP, .482, will not be challenged any time
soon.
- #2 In
Boston on 09-Jun-1946(1), he hit a ball that stands
as the record distance, 502’, for any home run ever hit there. A good explanation here: SABR.
FCR - Dave Williams, Glastonbury, Connecticut
Incorrect
guesses: Joe Morgan, Albert Pujols
TUESDAY
TWICE — 12-May-2026
Q. Which Hall of Famer’s first career stolen
base in the majors was a steal of home?
Hint:
#1 No other American Leaguer ever batted
in more runs in single year than he did.
Hint:
#2 Among players in the Modern Era who
walked more than one hundred times in a season, no one ever had more hits that
he did the same year.
A. LOU GEHRIG [SABR Bio]
- Ans. In
his 3rd year with NYY, on 24-Jun-1925, Gehrig stole home off
WSH‘s C Allen Russell & P Muddy Ruel. Gehrig had sips of coffee with the Yankees in
1923 & 1924 & nary a coffee break thereafter!
- #1 Gehrig’s
185 RBI in 1931 is topped only by Hack Wilson’s otherworldly 191
in 1930 w/CHC.
- #2 Not
only is Gehrig the leader with 220 H w/101 BB in 1930, he’s also 2nd,
7th, 8th & 11th on the same list.
FCR - David Skelton, Woodway, Texas
Incorrect
guesses: Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg,
Hack Wilson
WEDNESDAY — 13-May-2026
Q. Who passes Babe Ruth for most career
postseason home runs?
Hint:
#1 He won the only American Triple Crown,
batting or pitching, in the 1950s.
Hint:
#2 Wiser than perceived by many, he once
said, “It’s unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been
playing all your life."
A. MICKEY MANTLE [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Babe
had 15, but Mantle ended with 18 (All WS, of course.)
- #1 In
1956, Mantle had .353, 52 HR, 130 RBI. All 3 stats led the majors that season. It was the only year he ever led in RBI or
avg. He led in HR 2 additional times. Full list.
- #2 A
couple more favorites:
- “All the ballparks
and the big crowds have a certain mystique. You feel attached, permanently wedded to the
sounds that ring out, to the fans chanting your name, even when there are only
four or five thousand in the stands on a Wednesday afternoon.”
- “After I hit a home
run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough
without me showing him up rounding the bases.”
FCR - Lincoln Mitchell, New York City
Incorrect
guesses: Yogi Berra
MIDWEEK
BONUS 13-May-2026
Q. Whose middle name became known to fans and
sportswriters because of the (unbridled?) enthusiasm of the team’s broadcaster?
Hint:
#1 The ten Gold Glove Awards he had won
at the time of his retirement were the most ever by a National League third
baseman.
Hint:
#2 One year, he led the National League
in home runs, walks and strikeouts.
A. MIKE SCHMIDT [SABR Bio]
- Ans. “Michael Jack Schmidt !” was how the beloved
HOF, Ford C. Frick Award-winner Harry Kalas soon began calling
Schmidt whenever there was ANY occasion to speak Schmidt’s name. (The exclamation mark? …assumed &
understood.)
- #1 Schmidt
on Brooks Robinson=listen.
Nolan Arenado has tied Schmidt with 10 GG, but lags behind on HR titles,
3 to 8.
- #2 In
1983 while leading his team to the NL pennant, Schmidt led the Senior Circuit
in HR (40), BBs (128) & Ks (148).
FCR - Jake Bell, Baltimore
Incorrect
guesses: Ron Santo, Eddie Mathews
41=
THURSDAY — 14-May-2026
Q. Who has had more at-bats than any other left-handed
major league player?
Hint:
#1 He was the first American League
player to earn a Gold Glove and win the batting title the same season.
Hint:
#2 He was the only player to collect a hit
against Satchel Paige upon Paige's return to the majors after a twelve-year absence.
A. CARL YASTRZEMSKI [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Yaz
had 11,988 AB. Only BB Rose & BR
Aaron had more.
- #1 In
1963, not only did he warn a GG & hit .321, but he also led in hits
(183), doubles (40), walks (95), OBP (.418)
& made the first of his 18 All-Star appearances.
- #2 On
25-Sep-1965, with both teams the only serious candidates for last place in the
AL, Paige was brought in to open for KCA against BOS. Paige pitched 3 shutout innings, a double by
Yaz in the 1st was the only hit.
Read here.
FCR - Sarah Grynpas, Philadelphia
Incorrect
guesses: George Brett, Stan Musial,
Minnie Minoso
FRIDAY — 15-May-2026
Q. Who was the first American League shortstop
to have a season where he hit thirty home runs, drive in at least a hundred runs
and bat .300 or better?
Hint:
#1 He went longer between Most Valuable
Player Awards than any position player.
Hint:
#2 Few people know he had a season when
he led the majors in total bases.
A. CAL RIPKEN
[SABR Bio]
- Ans. In
1991 Ripken homered 34 times, had 114 RBI & hit .323. That went a long way to his being voted AL MVP for the second time.
- #1 Ripken
was AL MVP the last time the Orioles won the WS—1983. Eight years is the longest stretch in the
current system with no MVPs in between.
- #2 In 1991,
Cal led MLB with 368 total bases, 52 more than 2nd-place
Rafael Palmeiro.
FCR - Mark Pattison, Washington, DC
Incorrect
guesses: Ernie Banks, Robin Yount, Alex
Rodriguez, Vern Stephens
END-OF-THE-WEEK
EXTRA
— 15-May-2026
Q. Who leads all major leaguers still active, with
a career WAR that is already higher than those of retired stars Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew or Pete
Rose?
Hint:
#1 His current career WAR is also higher
than the combined career WAR of Hall of Famers Gil Hodges and Addie Joss.
Hint:
#2 He won a unanimous Rookie of the Year
Award and his first MVP was also unanimous.
Hint: #3 He is an eleven-time All-Star, a nine-time Silver
Slugger and has won the Wilson Overall Defensive Player of the Year Award. He easily qualifies for this week’s theme.
A. MIKE TROUT [B-R Bio]
- Ans. As
of Friday, 15-May-2026, Trout’s WAR stood at 89.5. The ones mentioned trailing him are
89.2 – Gibson
81.3 – Ryan
81.1 – Carew &
79.6 – Rose.
- #1 Hodges @
43.8 + Joss @ 45.4 = 89.2.
- #2 AL
ROY in 2012. MVPs in 2014,
2016
& 2019.
- #3 Has
415 career home runs at the moment.
FCR - Richard Vachet, Belchertown, Massachusetts
Incorrect
guesses: Aaron Judge
SATURDAY — 16-May-2026
Q. Whose two-syllable birth name, familiar only
to a few at the time, began to be sarcastically chanted by fans at Yankee
Stadium?
Hint:
#1 He once was voted Most Valuable
Player in a season he didn’t even make the All-Star team.
Hint:
#2 He is the only player who had more
than one multi-home run game against Randy Johnson. Remarkably, the two games were, to the day, exactly
one year apart.
A. CHIPPER JONES [SABR Bio]
- Ans. “LAR-ee!”,
“LAR-ee!” [Larry Wayne Jones] became the Bronx mantra. He nevertheless dispatched his appointed
duties very well at the old Yankee Stadium, batting .368 with a 1.104 OPS &
4 HR in 66 regular-season plate appearances.
(Mets fans also eagerly did the same.)
- #1 Chipper’s
MVP year was 1999. In 1996*,
1997,
1998*
& 2000*,
2001*,
he was on the NL All-Star team, but not in 1999. (He was also an All-Star in 2008*,
2011
& 2012.)
- #2 Jones
took Johnson deep twice on each of 05-Sep-1999
& 05-Sep-2000. In his career, Randy Johnson gave up
more HR (6) to Jones than to any other batter.
FCR - Matt Monitto, Bristol, Connecticut
*Starter
Incorrect
guesses: Albert Pujols, Kirk Gibson, Jean
Stapleton
SUNDAY — 17-May-2026
Q. Which Texan holds the record for the most
career hits at Wrigley Field?
Hint:
#1 He was the first National League first
baseman to record twenty-two putouts in a game.
Hint:
#2 This fourteen-time All-Star was the first
player at his position to twice homer thrice in a game.
A. ERNIE BANKS [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Banks
totaled 1,372 (Not 290 as originally reported) H in home games. He was born & raised in Dallas.
- #1 Playing
first base, he had 22 PO on 09-My-1963
vs. PIT. Banks played 1,269 of his 2,476 games at 1B.
- #2 Banks
had 3-HR games 4 X, the first two coming on 04-Aug-1955
& 14-Sep-1957(2).
The others were on 29-May-1963
& 09-Jun-1963.
FCR - Jesse Asbury, Norman, Oklahoma
Incorrect
guesses: Mark Grace
WEEK’S
FINALE — 17-May-2026
Q. Which Braves coach of Seminole ancestry was
the Comeback Player of the Year just one season before being named World Series
Most Valuable Player?
Hint:
#1 Eighteen home runs have cleared the
right field roof at Forbes Field; Thirteen homers have landed in the upper deck
at Three Rivers Stadium; Six balls have been hit completely out of Dodger
Stadium. Only this batter is in all
three groups.
Hint:
#2 Of him, the Dodgers Hall of Famer Don
Sutton remarked, “He didn’t just hit pitchers—he took away their dignity!”
A. WILLIE STARGELL [SABR Bio]
- Ans. After
having been sidelined by various injuries in previous seasons, Stargell was
named CBPY in 1978. Then, in 1979, the
Pirates won the World Series. Stargell’s
mother was Seminole. Stargell was a coach in the ATL
system 1986-1988.
- #1 Stargell
owns the most instances in each venue:
2 of the 6 at Dodger Stadium,
4 of the 13 in the upper
deck at Three Rivers &
7 of the 18 that
cleared the RF roof at Forbes Field
- #2 Additional
quotes about Stargell:
“If Willie asked us to
jump off the Fort Pitt Bridge, we would ask him what kind of dive he wanted. That's how much respect we have for the man.”
~ Al Oliver
"To keep factions
from developing, you have to have someone that the blacks respect and the
whites respect and the guy that puts that all together for us is
Stargell." ~ Phil Garner
“Having Willie Stargell
on your ball club is like having a diamond ring on your finger.” ~ Chuck Tanner
“From the White House
to rural neighborhood grocery store, Willie Stargell had a rare ability to
connect with anyone he met.”
~ Greater Wilmington (NC)
Sports Hall of Fame.
FCR – Mark Manuel,
Kenai, Alaska
Incorrect
guesses: Frank Howard
THEME: Top career home run totals among players who
only had one (1) major league team.
Player HR Team WAR
Banks................. 512........ CHC........... 67.8
Gehrig................. 493......... NYY......... 113.7
Jones.................. 468......... ATL........... 85.3
Mantle................. 535......... NYY......... 110.3
Musial................. 475......... STL......... 128.6
Ripken................ 431......... BAL........... 95.9
Schmidt.............. 536......... PHI......... 106.9
Stargell............... 475.......... PIT............ 57.7
Trout................... 415......... ANA........... 89.5
Williams.............. 521......... BOS......... 121.8
Yastrzemski........ 452......... BOS........... 96.5
Also qualifying…
Mel Ott................ 511........ NYG......... 111.0
Jeff Bagwell........ 449........ HOU.......... 79.9
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Kevin Epstein, San Antonio (After
Mantle)
Incorrect
theme guesses:
Tues - Second-place
MVP finishers
-
Players
who homered in the 1956 All-Star Game
Wed - Hall
of Famers who played their whole career for one franchise
-
Players
with most WAR that spent entire career with same team
-
Yankee
retired numbers
-
Hall
of Famers with the highest career BA that played their whole career for one
franchise
-
1st-ballot
HOFers who played their whole careers with one team
-
HOFs
who won world championships in their MVP seasons
Fri - Position
players with career WAR above 90
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