Sept 28-Oct 4, 2015 First player with 30-HR season on 8 Modern-Day National League teams

MONDAY

Q.         What seven-time National League batting champion couldn’t coach the 1962 Mets into hitting powerhouses?

Hint:     His nickname suggested the royalty of faraway realms.

Twint:    His demeanor was usually serious, almost somber, but when he smiled, he sported industrial-strength dimples.

A.         ROGERS HORNSBY

-  He was a coach for NYM in 1962, his final year as a baseball pro.

-  “Rajah” was the title of a prince in India during Great Britain’s raj (rule) there.

FCR -    Harvey Judkowitz, Miami, FL

Incorrect answers:  Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Stan Musial, Ralph Kiner, Mel Ott, Paul Waner, Casey Stengel, Richie Ashburn

TUESDAY

Q.         Which 20-year-old was the youngest player ever to hit 40 home runs in a season?

Hint:     His nickname could be considered an oxymoron.

Twint:    He was the first manager to be ejected from both games of a double header.

A.         MEL OTT

-  42 HR in 1929.  B. 02-Mar-1909.

-  “Master Melvin” implies proficiency or seniority.  Used here it means, “A courtesy title before the given or full name of a boy not considered old enough to be addressed as Mister.”  His mastery of the game at a young age made the sobriquet perfect.

-  Ejected 09-Jun-1946 & 09-Jun-1946

FCR -    Larry Hayes, San Francisco, CA

Incorrect answers:  Tony Conigliaro, Willie Mays

WEDNESDAY

Q.         What former Toronto Maple Leaf’s record for the most home runs in his first 1,000 major league games did Ryan Howard break on 10-Aug-2011 against the Dodgers?

Hint:     He cornered the gardens.

Hint:     He led his league in home runs three times when he shared the honor—twice with a Hall of Famer and once with an MVP.

Twint:    In one regular season with 667 at-bats, he hit 54 home runs, but only struck out 61 times.

A.         RALPH KINER

-  Howard hit his 278^th in his 999^th game on off the Blake Hawksworth.  Kiner’s record of 277 had stood for almost 60 years.

-  Shared HR Titles w/Johnny Mize in 1947 & 48; shared HR Title with Hank Sauer in 1952.

-  Many of Kiner's homers were hit into a shortened left-field and left-center-field porch at Forbes Field (originally built for Hank Greenberg and known in the Pittsburgh media as "Greenberg Gardens").  The porch was retained for Kiner and redubbed "Kiner's Korner".  Kiner would later use "Kiner's Korner" as the title of his post-game TV show in New York.

-  1949 was the 54/61 season

FCR -    Paul Vastola, Fanwood, NJ

Incorrect answers:  Rocky Nelson, Johnny Mize, Al Rosen, Hank Greenberg, Cark Yastrzemski

MIDWEEK BONUS

Q.         Who shattered Chuck Klein’s National League record for home runs in a season?

Hint:     He left Klein’s record in the dust, breaking it by 30%.

Twint:    Among Hall of Famers, it’s likely that only Candy Cummings had a smaller shoe size.

Twint:    Among Hall of Famers, it’s likely that no one had a larger neck size.

A.         HACK WILSON

-  56 HR in 1930; Klein had hit 43 the previous season

-  Shoe size 5½

-  Neck size 18", although his one-time manager, John McGraw, quipped that Wilson didn’t have a neck at all.

FCR -    Walt Cherniak, Woodbine, MD

Incorrect answers:  Mark McGwire, Johnny Mize, Ralph Kiner, Barry Bonds, Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx

THURSDAY

Q.         Who is the only Boston Bee to ever hit 20 home runs in a season?

Hint:     A high school teammate of his became a Hall of Fame player, manager, general manager and League President.

Hint:     He was selected for the first four All-Star games and was a starter in the first three.

Twint:    He didn’t even play in his fourth and final ASG having never made it to first base in his first three.

A.         WALLY BERGER

-  The team we now call the Atlanta Braves were the Boston Bees from 1936 through 1940.  Berger hit 25 homers in 1936, his only full year with the Bees.

-  Joe Cronin: At Mission High School in San Francisco, Joe and Wally teamed up to win the city high school championship.

-  Starting NL centerfielder 1933 ASG, he played the entire game.

-  1933, 34, 35 ASG he went hitless and “walk-less” in 8 plate appearances.

FCR -    Mark Jones, Birmingham, AL

Incorrect answers:  Harry Heilmann, Joe Cronin, King Kelly, Dom DiMaggio

FRIDAY

Q.         Whose record for career National League home runs did Rogers Hornsby break in 1929?

Hint:     He had led the NL in homers four times.

Hint:     After the first three seasons of his nineteen-year career, he never again played on a team with a winning record, five times losing 100 or more.

Hint:     According to Baseball Magazine, "(He) never played even half a dozen games of baseball in his life before he went to Notre Dame, and those games were of the scrubbiest kind."

Twint:    The only Notre Dame attendees with more years in the majors, are all Hall of Famers.

A.         CY WILLIAMS

-  Hornsby hit #252 29-Jun-1929

-  Fate decreed that he would catch the Cubs in some down year and then 13 years with the pitiful Phillies

-  NL HR champ in 1916 w/12; 1920 w/15; 1923 w/41; & 1927 w/30

-  Among ND’ers, only Cap Anson (27 years) and Yaz (23 years) top his 19 seasons.

FCR -    David Wallack, Greenwood Village, CO

Incorrect answers:  Ken Williams, Gavvy Cravath, Chuck Klein

SATURDAY

Q.         Who was the last (eligible) player to hit over .390 and not lead the majors?

Hint:     … or even his league?

Hint:     Only nine players in the history of the majors ever had more hits in a season than he did that year.

Hint:     He is also the last player to hit over .380 and not win the title.

Hint:     The only category he ever led the league in was triples.

Twint:    He wore uniform #14 when he played for the Pirates, as did Hall of Famers Chuck Klein, Heinie Manush and Jim Bunning when THEY played for the Pirates.

A.         BABE HERMAN

-  1930 his .392 fell short of Bill Terry’s .401.

-  241 H in 1930; Full list

-  In 1929 he finished at .381, second to Lefty O’Doul’s .398.

-  19 Triples in 1932

-  PIT #14: Herman 1935, Chuck Klein 1939, Heinie Manush 1939, Jim Bunning 1968-69

FCR -    Rich Klein, Plano, TX

Incorrect answers:  Joe Jackson, Joe DiMaggio, Harry Heilmann, Sam Crawford, Nap Lajoie, Ty Cobb, Lefty O’Doul, Tris Speaker

SUNDAY

Q.         Which National League All-Star fractured his shoulder diving for a ball in the mid-summer classic?

Hint:     The two seasons he was an All-Star, he led the majors in being hit by pitch.

Hint:     His OBP was over .300 in 46 World Series plate appearances.

Twint:    He led the National League in the in triples his first two seasons.

Twint:    In his final season as a major league regular, he helped his team to a 100-win season (the first in their history) and a World Series title.

A.         IVAL GOOODMAN

-  1939 ASG

-  AS 1938, 39; HBP 15, 7

-  18 3b in 1935, 14 in 1936

-  WS 1939, 40

-  1940 CIN 100-53; 1940 WS, their 1^st since tainted win in 1919

FCR -    Larry Hayes, San Francisco, CA

Incorrect answers: 

WEEKLY THEME – The first player in each of the 8 original NL franchises to hit 30 home runs in a season

Williams        PHI*         1923        41

Wilson          CHC        1927        30**

Hornsby       STL         1922        42**

Ott                NYG        1929        42

Herman        BRO        1930        35

Berger          BSN        1930        38 (Next highest HR total on the team was five [5!].)

Goodman     CIN          1938        30

Kiner             PIT          1947        51**

*Finished in last place that year

**Led the league in HR

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – No one

Incorrect theme guesses:

Tuesday   -  NY Giants player/managers

               -  National Leaguers with 150 RBI seasons

Friday -    Top career NL home run list pre-WW 2

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