Sunday, April 3, 2016

March 14-20, 2016 NL batters who outhit Yaz in Yaz's batting title years

14-Mar-2016

MONDAY
Q.         Who was the first Pittsburgh Pirate to notch a postseason RBI in the playoff era?
Hint:     The next year he was World Series MVP.
Hint:     12-31-1972, 3000 and 21 are his “numbers”.
Hint:     His choice of 21 had nothing to do with Jackie Robinson or any player other than himself.
A.         ROBERTO CLEMENTE
- 1970 NLCS Game 2, b6 drove in Dave Cash. Pirates were swept by CIN 3-0.
- 1971 WS MVP as the PIT took BAL in 7 games.
- Died in a plane crash on a charity mission Christmas Day 1972.  He had exactly 3000 career hits.  His number was 21 after initially wearing 13 for the first month of his rookie season.
- “Roberto Walker Clemente” has 21 letters.
FCR -    Chuck Durante, Dover, DE
Incorrect answers:  Bill Mazeroski

TUESDAY
Q.         Who is the only player to lead his league in Plate Appearances for seven seasons?
Hint:     He was the last player to score 130 runs in a season for this team.
Hint:     His player number stayed the same throughout his 24 seasons as a player.
Hint:     Odds are that he won’t be best remembered for that kind of number.
A.         PETE ROSE
- PA: 1965, ‘72-74, ‘76-78
- For CIN: Rose 130 R in 1976.  Robbie 134 R in 1962.   Pinson 131 R in 1959
- MLB playing career 1963-86
FCR -    Bill Deane Cooperstown, NY
Incorrect answers:  Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken, Jr

WEDNESDAY
Q.         Who was the first St. Louis Cardinal to win 7 Gold Gloves?
Hint:     They were consecutive.
Hint:     As a rookie he led his league for most times caught stealing though his total was the lowest ever for a rookie that led in that category.
Hint:     As one might imagine, he was not a great base stealer and was caught stealing 45% of the time in his career.
A.         CURT FLOOD
- 7 consecutive 1963-69.  Later achieved by Gibson (9), Ozzie Smith (13) and Yadi (8 and counting).
-  CS 12  times led the NL, with only 2 actual stolen bases.
- 88 SB, 73 CS over a 15 year career.
FCR -    Morris Buenemann  Florissant MO
Incorrect answers:  Ozzie Smith, Marty Marion (No GG in his era), Yadier Molina, Bill White
(7th with PHI)

THURSDAY BONUS
Q.         Who had the highest batting average in the Fall Classic the first time an expansion team played a 7 game series? (min 25 AB).
Hint:     He was the first Astro to hit 40 doubles in a season.
Hint:     He is the only player in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame born in Louisiana.
Hint:     Though well liked, he was born a Fool.

A.         RUSTY STAUB
- .423 in 26 AB; NYM lost to OAK in 7, 1973 WS
- 1967 led the majors with 44.  It took 29 years for another Astro to top his total - Bagwell did it with 38 in 1996, Biggio tied him with 44 in 1994
- Born April 1, 1944
FCR -    Jerry Mora, Prescott, AZ
Incorrect answers:  George Brett, Donn Clendenon

THURSDAY EVENING
Q.         Who is the only Dodger to win consecutive batting titles in the post-Dead Ball era?
Hint:     He was the only Dodger to start in both All-Star Games the last time they played two per season.
Hint:     He hit the last home run in a season that set the mark for most games played.
Hint:     He hit it off a future Hall of Famer who a few seasons later took a “disliking” to the Dodgers catcher.
A.         TOMMY DAVIS
- BA led the majors in 1962 (.346) and 1963 (.326).  
- 1962 ASG July 10th and July 30th.
- G 165, 1962 LAD vs SFG 03-Oct-1962, b6 two run shot
- Off Marichal, Dodger catcher was Roseboro.  
FCR -    Rich Klein, Plano, TX
Incorrect answers:  

FRIDAY LATE
Q.         Who was the first Atlanta Brave to reach the 200 hit mark in a season?
Hint:     It was enough to lead the majors.
Hint:     He was the only Brave to get 200 hits for the next 5 years.
Hint:     He was the last Giants manager to lead his team to 100 victories.
Hint:     He managed the Nationals’ franchise during more seasons than any other manager.
A.         FELIPE ALOU
- 218 H, 1966 - the year they moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee.
- He also hit 210 in 1968.  Ralph Garr had 200H+ 1971, ‘73-74.
- 100-61 SFG 2003
- Expos manager for 8 full and 2 partial seasons 1992-2001
FCR -   
Incorrect answers:  

SATURDAY
Q.         During Clemente’s career, who is the only other Pirate to hit over .340?
Hint:     He was the only Oakland A’s player to steal a base the first time they won a World Series.
Hint:     He pitched two consecutive innings in his career beginning and ending with strike outs of Willie Stargell.
Hint:     He was stranded on 3rd with Mays at 2nd when Bobby Richardson… well you know the story.
A.         MATTY ALOU
- 1966 BA .342.  Clemente had 4 such seasons.
- 1972 WS OAK over CIN in 7, Game 2 t8
- 26-Aug-1965 b7 and b8 throwing slow curves to Stargell.
- Game 7 1962 WS ended with NYY Richardson snagging a line shot by McCovey in the b9th that would have otherwise won the series for the Giants (most likely).
FCR -    Bill Carle, Lee’s Summit, NJ
Incorrect answers:  

SATURDAY SPECIAL
Q.         Who was the only Angel player to win the batting title?
Hint:     He played on eight teams in a 13 year career--never more than 2 seasons with any one of them.
Hint:     His attitude probably had more to do with this than his skills as a player as he often failed to run out ground balls or catch bloopers.
Hint:     Once, in order to avoid a player-conducted “Kangaroo court”, he wrote a $500 check and and asked that it be applied to future abuses.
Hint:     He was clearly emotionally unstable, a fact that Marvin Miller used to defend him in a landmark case.  
A.         ALEX JOHNSON
- 1970 AL crown BA .329
- Johnson would let bloopers drop, fail to run out ground balls, distance himself from the other players, get into verbal and physical altercations with teammates, and was generally disliked wherever he went.  
- Marvin Miller defended Johnson against a suspension claiming he should have been put on the disabled list for his emotional issues, just as anyone with a broken leg would have been.  In particular, he established that black players should be treated the same as white players.  He interviewed Johnson at length for his book A Whole Different Ball Game.  From SABR BIO - a worthy read on the career of Johnson.
FCR -    Rich Klein Plano, TX
Incorrect answers:  - Bill Matlock, Chili Davis, Jesus Alou

SUNNY SUNDAY
Q.         Who scored the winning team’s last run in the very last game played at the Polo Grounds?
Hint:     It was the only time he appeared in this unique, historical game.
Hint:     The last RBI for the NL in that game was awarded to the winning pitcher.
Hint:     There may have been another run scored on that play, but the hitter was gunned down trying to stretch a triple into an inside the park homer.  
A.         TONY GONZALEZ
- The forgotten Latin All Star Game was the last game at the Polo Grounds 12-Oct-1963.  Gonzalez scored for the NL in the 6th, their final run in a 5-2 victory.  It was the one and only time the game was held.
- Al McBean drove in the final run. He also pitched 4 innings after Marichal pitched 4, thus picking up the victory.
FCR -    Mark Hayne  Dumfries, VA
Incorrect answers:  Willie Mays, Wes Covington, Chris Short, Tommy Agee, Jesus Alou, Ron Hunt, Al McBean, Ed Kranepool

WEEKLY THEME – NL batters with a higher batting average than Carl Yastrzemski the same years Yaz took the AL title (1963,67-68)

1963 Yastrzemski: .321
Davis .325

1967 Yastrzemski: .326
Clemente .357
Gonzalez .339
Matty Alou .338
Flood .335
Staub .333

1968 Yastrzemski: .3006
Rose .336
Matty Alou .332
Felipe Alou .317
Johnson .312
Flood .3010

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – No one

Incorrect theme guesses: (not by day of the week, but in order)

- Players with multiple batting titles and multiple Gold Gloves.
- Hall of Famers who did not play for the team that originally signed them
- Batting champions that played on artificial turf,  
- NL MVP’s,
- Players who won multiple batting titles in the 1960's
- 1969 GG winners
- People who had the highest single season batting average in the 1960s for each NL franchise
- Players who batted .300+ in the Year of the Pitcher
- Players who finished in the top 5 in hitting in the NL in either 1967 or 1968
- Sixties outfielders who hit for good batting averages.

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




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