Sunday, November 29, 2015

November 23-29, 2015 San Francisco Giants with three World Series championship rings

MONDAY
Q.         Who is the only catcher to be a college alumnus and win a league MVP Award?
Hint:     He was also voted Rookie of the Year.
Hint:     After only six full years in the majors, has already caught three no-hitters.
Twint:    And played first base in a fourth.
Twint:    He has also been on the wrong end of a no-hitter.
A.         BUSTER POSEY
-  Attended Florida State University and was NL MVP in 2012*
-  NL ROY in 2010
-  Caught no-hitters thrown by:     Chris Heston    09-Jun-2015;
                                                  Tim Lincecum  13-Jul-2013;
                                                  Matt Cain         13-Jun-2012
-  Was at 1st base for no-hitter by Tim Lincecum  25-Jun-2014
-  Was catcher on losing team to            Homer Bailey    02-Jul-2013
FCR -    Morris Buenemann, Florissant, MO
* Without considering the hints, Mikey Cochrane also qualifies.
Incorrect answers:  Elston Howard, Jeff Torborg, Thurman Munson, Joe Mauer, Mike Piazza, Bill Freehan, Bob Boone

IN MEMORIAM
Q.         What Floridian fireballer pitched the last no-hitter in the history of the Houston Colt 45’s?
Hint:     It was, however, a historical first.
Hint:     The “hit king” did not get one of his 4,256 that day, but did score one of his 2,165 runs.
Hint:     It was the only run scored in that game.
Hint:     The opponent’s starting pitcher that day was 35 years old, but had debuted in the majors twenty years earlier.
Hint      His World Series ERA was spotless.
Twint:    After his retirement, he coached for Louisiana College in Pineville, LA.
Twint:    He passed away on Sunday at the age of 82 of a kidney infection.
Twint     He had suffered with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
A.         KEN JOHNSON (Passed away on Sunday)
-  No-hitter 23-Apr-1964.  On 17-May-1963, Don Nottebart pitched the only other no-hitter for Houston before they became the Astros beginning in 1965.  Born in West Palm Beach, Florida
-  The game was historic because never before had a pitcher thrown a no-hitter and lost that game.
Pete Rose scored the only run by means of a two-base E, then a fielder’s choice followed by another error in the top of the 9th inning.  The 2-base E was Johnson’s overthrow of 1b on Rose’s bunt.
-  Cincinnati pitcher Joe Nuxhall threw a 4-hit shutout to win that game.
-  Pitched a scoreless ⅔ inning in G 5 of the 1961 WS for CIN.
FCR -    Chuck Durante, Dover, DE
Incorrect answers:  J.R. Richard, Don Wilson, Don Nottebart

TUESDAY
Q.         Only two pitchers in major league history have won multiple Cy Young Awards, pitched multiple no-hitters and been on multiple World Series Championship teams.  One is Sandy Koufax.  Who is the other?
Hint:     You might think of him as a freaky Husky Samson.
Twint:    He was the first 21st century pitcher to make his major league debut within one year of being selected in the amateur draft.
A.         TIM LINCECUM       
FCR -    Charlie Vascellaro, Baltimore, MD
Incorrect answers:  Madison Bumgarner, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, Jack Morris, Clayton Kershaw, Jim Palmer

WEDNESDAY
Q.         What taciturn hurler owns the lowest career ERA in World Series history? (20 innings min.)
Hint:     It would be even lower if not for a singular wallop by this year’s World Series MVP.
Twint:    He also holds the World Series career records for WHIP, hits allowed per nine innings pitched and win/loss percentage (tie).
A.         MADISON BUMGARNER
-  WS ERA 0.25 in 36 innings
-  WS WHIP .528, H/9 inn. 3.50, 4 W 0 L.
FCR -    Ryan Storts, Loveland, OH
Incorrect answers:  Jeremy Affeldt, Mariano Rivera

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.         What ovate hot-corner maven chose to play for the Red Sox even though his then current team had offered him a similar deal?
Hint:     Growing up, his baseball heroes were Omar Vizquel and Andrés Galarraga.
Twint:    In his first two years in the majors, he played fourteen games behind the plate.
A.         PABLO SANDOVAL
-  Giants executive Bobby Evans said, "He felt like he needed a new challenge, and he wanted to try something new."
-  14 G @ C 2008-09
FCR -    Ryan Storts, Loveland, OH
Incorrect answers:  Mike Lowell, Adrian Beltre

THURSDAY
Q.         Who tied Sandy Koufax’s record of fourteen strikeouts in a perfect game?
Hint:     Whereas Koufax exceeded that strikeout total for a game eight times and twice had eighteen, it was this guy’s career high.
Hint:     After John Montefusco in 1975, he was the next Giants rookie pitcher to strike out twelve or more batters in a game.
Hint:     He was the youngest player his league in his first MLB season.
Twint:    He won both series-clinching playoff games for his team to clinch the pennant one year.
Twint:    Symmetrically, he also lost a game in each of those series.
A.         MATT CAIN
-  Perfecto:  13-Jun-2012
-  12 K’s in a G in his rookie year 06-Aug-2006
-  Youngest in NL in 2005; Born 01-Oct-1984
-  Won NLDS clincher 11-Oct-2012 & NLCS clincher 22-Oct-2012
-  Lost NLDS G 1 06-Oct-2012 & NLCS G 3 17-Oct-2012
FCR -    Ryan Storts, Loveland, OH
Incorrect answers:  Randy Johnson, Len Barker, Chris Heston

THURSDAY EXTRA THANKFUL BONUS
Q.         What Puerto Rican Cavalier LOOGY delivers his pitches at or below his beltline?
Hint:     With 0 starts, he has pitched in 771 career games.
Hint:     That places him 13th on the list of pitchers with the most games pitched, but with no starts.
Hint:     Not one of the thirteen is in the Hall of Fame.
Hint:     If his 2016 performance is typical, he could move into ninth on the list.
Twint:    Although he and his namesake were on the Red Sox together for two months, they never formed a battery in a game.
A.         JAVIER LOPEZ
-  Born in San Juan; Attended the University of Virginia, and is typically used as a Left-handed One-Out Guy.
-  You must be subscribed to Baseball-Reference’s PLAY INDEX to see:  The List.  [Horsehide Trivia highly recommends this very reasonably-priced subscription.]
-  Catcher Javy Lopez was his teammate on the Red Sox in 2006 from 04-Aug until 01-Oct.
FCR -    Larry Hayes, San Francisco, CA
Incorrect answers: 

FRIDAY
Q.         Whose slider is often referred to as the best in baseball?
Hint:     Although his mound presence is fearsome, he’s gentle as a puppy in his personal life.
Hint:     He once retired thirty straight batters in ten innings over a span of fourteen games.
Hint:     He won one of the California state legislature’s 2015 Latino Spirit Awards.
Hint:     Even though a lefty*, right-handed batters only hit .170 against him in 2015.
Twint:    He is the regular catcher at AT&T Park for the ceremonial first pitch.
A.         SERGIO ROMO’s
-  Most batters know a slider is coming but Romo maintains a career 2.57 ERA.
-  10 perfect innings from games from 04-Jul thru 06-Aug-2011, equivalent of a perfect game and more.
Latino Spirit Award given for community activism.
FCR -    Paul Goodson, Cheyenne, WY
*Romo is a righty.  It’s his son Rilen who is the lefty.
Incorrect answers:  Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt

SATURDAY
Q.         What Dominican reliever has spent half his twelve-year career on each side of the Bay?
Hint:     His ERA his first six years was an unimpressive 5.11; the last six 2.22.
Hint:     He started his professional baseball career with false documents using the pseudonym Jairo Garcia Paulino.
Hint:     That allowed him also to lie about his age, where he claimed he was three years younger.
Hint:     He once got a save by pitching an immaculate inning.
Twint:    He broke Omar Infante’s wrist in a World Series game.
A.         SANTIAGO CASILLA
-  Oakland A’s 2004-09; San Francisco Giants 2010-15
-  False birth date of 07-Mar-1983 was given when he was first signed.
-  Hit Infante in the wrist with a fastball in the bottom of the 9th inning of the 4th and last game of the 2012 WS.  Infante was the 1st batter he faced. 28-Oct-2012
FCR -    Larry Hayes, San Francisco, CA
Incorrect answers:  Yusmiero Petit

SUNDAY
Q.         After four seasons of pitching the World Series, whose postseason ERA ranks 4th all-time, slightly better than Babe Ruth’s?
Hint:     He is shown pitching, but never credited, in a television spot stressing the precision of GMC vehicles.
Hint:     When he realized that his major league team was paying him $500,000 a year too much, he returned the money.
Twint:    His autobiography is not “as told to… “.  He wrote it himself.
A.         JEREMY AFFELDT
-  Postseason ERA = 0.86, behind Mariano Rivera 0.70, Harry Brecheen 0.83 & Wade Davis 0.84, but ahead of Babe Ruth’s 0.87.  Pitch in WS in 2007, 2010, 2012 & 2014.
GMC TV ad [I personally have never of a finesse pitcher referred to as a “Rembrandt”.]
FCR -    Steve Elsberry, Windsor Heights, IA
Incorrect answers:  Madison Bumgarner, Barry Zito


WEEKLY THEME – Players who won three championships with the San Francisco Giants:  2010, 2012, 2014



First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Brian Wood, Pacific Grove, CA

Incorrect theme guesses:

Wed        -  World Series winning pitchers who also threw a no-hitter and won a Cy Young for the Giants
               -  New York/San Francisco Giants World Series MVPs
               -  MVPs on the giants WS team
               -  Giants’ World Series MVPs
               -  The starting lineup for game 7 clincher

Thursday  -  The lineup on the field for the clinch
               -  Players who were drafted by the Giants in the first round and played in a World Series for the Giants

Sunday    -  SF Giants WS Pitchers/Records


Questions archived here:  http://horsehidetriviA.  blogspot.com/


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