Sunday, April 8, 2012

April 2-8, 2012 Batters who hit home All-Star home runs in their home parks


MONDAY
Q.         For whom did the Red Sox first retire a uniform number?
Hint:     He was named after U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.
Twint:    He won the Triple Crown in 1938.
A.         Ted Williams (1984, same year as Cronin, but the chronological retired number list at Fenway Park listed Williams’s #9 first; AA TC for 1938 Minneapolis Millers [.366, 43 HR, 142 RBI])
FCR -    Bill Carle, Lee’s Summit, MO

MONDAY BONUS
Q.         Who was the first player with 3,000 career hits and 500 career home runs?
Hint:     His uniform number was retired in both Atlanta and Milwaukee.
Twint:    His brother was a Braves coach in the early 1980s.
A.         Hank Aaron (3,000th hit 17-May-1970, game 2; #44 retired by Braves & Brewers; Tommie Aaron 1979-84 Braves coach)
FCR -    Rev. Gerry Beirne, Narragansett, RI

TUESDAY
Q.         For whom did the Cardinals first retire a uniform number?
Hint:     The team would not retire another number for 11 years after.
Hint:     He ranks fifth in career HBP for the Cardinals, sixth in career batting average and seventh in career pinch-hits.
Twint:    He leads the team in career G, AB, PA, R, H, TB, EBH, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, BB, RC, WAR, etc…
A.         Stan Musial (#6 retired in 1963; Dizzy Dean’s 17 retired in 1974)
FCR -    Art Springsteen, Sunapee, NH

TUESDAY TWICE
Q.         After Earl Averill in 1975, who was the next position player for whom the Indians retired a uniform number?
Hint:     Among members of the Hall of Fame, he was the first to play in the Japanese League (NPB).
Twint:    He was the first black player to appear in an American League game.
A.         Larry Doby (#14 retired in 1994, pitcher Mel Harder’s #18 was retired in 1990; 1962 Chunichi Dragons; debut 05-Jul-1947)
FCR -    Bill Deane, Cooperstown, NY

WEDNESDAY
Q.         Which player wore #9 as a rookie, but had a different number retired in his honor 16 years later?
Hint:     His older and younger brothers were both Major League All-Stars.
Twint:    When he retired he was fifth on the career home run list.  He is now 73rd.
A.         Joe DiMaggio (#9 in 1936, #5 retired by Yankees in 1952; 361 career HR, behind Ruth, Foxx, Ott & Gehrig in 1952, now just three ahead of Lance Berkman, who will likely pass him this season)
FCR -    Bill Carle, Lee’s Summit, MO

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.         Who is the only former Senator for whom the Twins have retired a uniform number?
Hint:     He was the first Twins team captain.
Twint:    He was the first player elected to an All-Star team at three different positions.
A.         Harmon Killebrew (#3, retired in 1975, played for WS1 1954-60; Twins captain 1961; 1959 & 61 AS 3B, 1963-64 AS LF, 1965 AS 1B)
FCR -    Alan Work, White Plains, NY


THURSDAY
Q.         Which Hall of Famer won his only career batting title by .0002 over Ted Williams?
Hint:     The Arkansas State University baseball field and the Swifton, AR post office are named after him.
Twint:    He and fellow Hall of Famer Al Kaline formed the Tigers TV broadcasting team from 1975-96.
A.         George Kell (.3429 to .3427 in 1949)
FCR -    Jim Dunbar, Corinth, NY


FRIDAY
Q.         Who has hit the most career Major League home runs while wearing a Washington jersey?
Hint:     Three seats in the distant upper deck at RFK stadium are painted white in his honor.
Twint:    His career ended with a single game as a Lion.
A.         Frank Howard (237 for Senators, Roy Sievers is second with 184, Ryan Zimmerman currently fourth with 128; Sec 536 Row 5 Seat 17, Sec 538 Row 4 Seat 19 & Sec 542 Row 3 Seat 3 to mark the landing spots of some of his longest home runs; 1 AB for 1974 Taiheiyo Club Lions)
FCR -    Henry Hascup, Lodi, NJ

FRIDAY FINALE
Q.         Of whose 1954 World Series drive did one sportscaster observe, “It would have been a home run in any other park, including Yellowstone.”
Hint:     He is the only player to score fewer than 50 runs during a 100-RBI season.
Twint:    He missed part of the 1955 season when he was stricken with polio.
A.         Vic Wertz (“The Catch”; 45 R, 103 RBI in 1960)
FCR -    Paul Hirsch, Danville, CA

SATURDAY
Q.         Who is the only switch-hitter to boast a career .300 batting average with 400 or more home runs?
Hint:     He was the youngest player in the league when he debuted, and missed significant time after severely injuring his knee.
Twint:    He hit a HR in his 1st at-bat during the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
A.         Chipper Jones (.304 AVG, 454 HR; youngest player in the NL when he debuted in 1993, passed by Cliff Floyd 1 week later, tore ACL during spring training 1994)
FCR -    David Krassin, New York, NY

SATURDAY SECONDS
Q.         Who was the first catcher to win the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award?
Hint:     He twice won the Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year Award.
Hint:     He was a teammate of Jaret Wright, and his father was a teammate of Wright’s father, Clyde.
Twint:    He and his brother were teammates in both the minors and Majors.
A.         Sandy Alomar Jr. (BBAMLPOY 1989; SNMLPOY 1988-89; Sandy Alomar Sr. & Clyde Wright teammates on 1969-73 Angels)
FCR -    David Krassin, New York, NY

SUNDAY
Q.         Who replaced Ken Keltner as the Indians’ regular third baseman?
Hint:     He won the Texas League MVP Award a year before winning his only World Series ring as a player.
Hint:     He won another World Series ring as Yankees president in 1978.
Twint:    He was an assault boat navigator during the first wave of landings in the battle for Okinawa.
A.         Al Rosen (replaced Keltner in 1950; TX Lg MVP 1947, WS ring 1948)
FCR -    Glenn Horowitz New York

WEEK-ENDING BONUS
Q.         Who is the only non-Hall of Famer for whom the Dodgers have retired a uniform number?
Hint:     He played for the Baltimore Elite Giants from 1946-50.
Twint:    The Dodgers wore black armbands in his memory during the 1978 World Series.
A.         Jim Gilliam (#19 retired in 1978)
FCR -    Peter Baughman, Columbia, CT


WEEKLY THEME – Batters who hit home All-Star home runs in their home parks.  Note that two different pairs were on the same day.

Aaron               1972           Atlanta Stadium
Alomar              1997           Jacobs Field
DiMaggio          1939           Yankee Stadium
Doby                1954           Cleveland Stadium
Gilliam              1959           L.A. Coliseum
Howard             1969           R.F.K. Stadium
Jones               2000           Turner Field
Kell                   1951           Briggs Stadium
Killebrew           1965           Metropolitan Stadium
Musial               1948           Sportsman Park III
Rosen               1954           Cleveland Stadium
Wertz                1951           Briggs Stadium
Williams            1946 (2)      Fenway Park

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Gregg Gaylord, Chicago, IL

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