Sunday, July 1, 2012

June 25-July 1, 2012 Players who last wore uniform #42 in the majors, tying into the 42nd annual SABR Convention

Horsehide Trivia expresses its gratitude to Gregg Gaylord this week for –
a)  Thinking up this week’s theme;
b)  Getting its timing just right;
c)  Writing the questions, hints and answers and documenting same; and
d)  Recusing himself, eschewing his chance at FCR glory.
Considerable feats all.

MONDAY
Q.        Who is the only Cy Young Award winner for the Montreal Expos?
Hint:     The following year he was traded to Boston, then won consecutive Cy Young Awards in 1999 and 2000.
Twint:  He was the first right-handed pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts with an ERA under 2.00 since Walter Johnson did it in 1912.
Twint:  In the 1999 postseason, he was the only pitcher to hand the Yankees a loss, throwing seven shutout innings and yielding only two hits.
A.         Pedro Martinez (CYA 1997; Johnson in 1912: 1.39 ERA, 303 K, 50 G, 369 IP: Martinez 1997: 1.90 ERA, 305 K, 31 G, 241.1 IP; 1999 ALCS G3 19-Oct-1999, LP Roger Clemens)
FCR -  Michael Daponde, Sacramento

TUESDAY
Q.        Who holds the record for most career wins by a pitcher with an ERA of 5.00 or greater?  N.B. – [Gregg has clarified that this question was correct as written WHEN it was written, but the current correct answer now is Sidney Ponson.]
Hint:     He is one of 25 pitchers to have a season with at least 16 losses and an ERA greater than 6.00.
Hint:     He is the only one to accomplish that “feat” twice.
Twint:  He died of a heart attack at the age of 37.
Twint:  It clearly wasn’t his “Time”.
A.         Jose Lima (Career W/L 89-102, ERA 5.26 over 13 years; 2000 season 7-16, 6.65 ERA; 2005 season 5-16, 6.99 ERA; He referred to his pitching appearances as “Lima Time”.)
FCR -  Arieh Siegal, Austin

WEDNESDAY
Q.        In the 2003 National League Division Series, who pitched a complete game shutout against the Marlins, giving up only three hits and defeating Josh Beckett?
Hint:     That same season, he was the league leader with a 2.34 ERA.
Hint:     He has the same home state as Harmon Killebrew and Vern Law.
Hint:     His salary topped $30 million dollars from 2007-2009, but he only pitched a total of 33.1 innings and missed the entire 2008 season.
Twint:  In 2004 he set a team record 251 K’s, only to be broken 4 years later by Tim Lincecum.
A.         Jason Schmidt (G 1 NLDS 30-Sep-2003; Idaho; $15.7M and $15.2M 2007 and 2009; Lincecum 265K 2008 SF Giants)
FCR -  Doug Wilkins, San Francisco

THURSDAY
Q.        A college teammate of Craig Biggio, who is the only Seton Hall alumnus to capture a league MVP?
Hint:     In 1998, he and teammate Nomar Garciaparra combined for 75 home runs.
Twint:  In his first post-season, he went 0-14 with 7 strikeouts over 3 games.
Twint:  This was the same year he won the League MVP.
A.         Mo Vaughn (MVP 1995, 1987 his freshman year Biggio was the catcher; Vaughn 40 HR, Garciaparra 35 HR; 1995 ALDS vs. Cleveland)
FCR -  Neil Cohen, Brooklyn, NY

FRIDAY
Q.        Who holds the Astros’ record for games pitched with 563 appearances?
Hint:     He saved 199 games for the Astros, second only to Billy Wagner’s 225.
Hint:     He also holds the Astros team records for relief wins (53), relief innings (760) and most games finished (400).
Hint:     In his last major league appearance, he was replaced by Sammy Sosa in a double switch.
Twint:  He pitched 0.2 innings at Wrigley Field in the 1990 All-Star game then finished his career with the 1991-92 Cubs.
Twint:  After his sudden death in 2008, he was cremated and his surf buddies paddled out on their boards and spread his remains in the Pacific Ocean.
A.         Dave Smith (Sosa switch 08-Jun-1992; Astros relief wins 53, relief innings 760 and most games finished 400; ASG 10-Jul-1990; d. 17-Dec-2008, burial at sea reported in the NY Times 18-Dec-2008.)
FCR -  David Krassin, New York

SATURDAY
Q.        Who is the winningest left-handed pitcher in San Francisco Giants history?
Hint:     He ranks among the top pitchers of all time in all key fielding measures such as fielding percentage, range factor, double plays and double play to error ratio, placing ahead of his closest competitors Greg Maddux and Bobby Shantz.
Hint:     Despite this, he never won a Golden Glove.
Twint:  He is in the Thoroughbred Hall of Fame.
Twint:  He was once the Montreal Expo Rookie of the Year.
A.         Kirk Reuter (105 W; Murray State University Thoroughbreds 1989-1991 [now the Racers]; 1993 Montreal Expos)
FCR -  Tom Kennedy, Houston

SUNDAY
Q:        Who is the first player to get a save for the Yankees in an All-Star game?
Hint:     In his debut year, he pitched a two hit shutout for eight innings against the White Sox.
Hint:     A shoulder injury later that year nearly resulted in his being traded to the Tigers for David Wells.
Hint:     He made it back to the team that year after a rehab stint, joining the bullpen in the playoffs.
Twint:  In a rare doubleheader in 2000, where each game was played at different stadiums, he recorded saves for each game.
A.         Mariano Rivera (1997 ASG; White Sox W 04-Jul-1995; Near trade: 1995; Double Header saves 08-Jul-2000: 1 & 2 [The winner of those two games were Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens])
FCR -  Ira Kotel, Short Hills, NJ


WEEKLY THEME – “TRIVIA 42:  THE LAST OF THE LAST”  Select players who last wore uniform #42 in the majors, tying into the 42nd annual SABR Convention held this week in Minneapolis:  http://sabr.org/latest/sabr-42-mike-caragliano-wins-historic-trivia-contest-double

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Bill Garrod, Edgewood, WA

N.B.  Too see a list of all SABR Convention Trivia Champions, go to:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkIwxgaYtY3edGNCRXg1OHRCeE1zeEJQamVvVjVRdFE&pli=1#gid=0

Horsehide Trivia blog has the questions and answers from this week as well as from previous weeks:  http://horsehidetrivia.blogspot.com/


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