Horsehide Trivia: June 27-July 3, 2016 Terry Cashman's nominees for the Hall of Fame

MONDAY

Q. Who is the only player to lead his franchise in all of the following career categories: WAR, Games Played, At-Bats, Plate Appearances, Runs Scored, Hits, Singles, Total Bases, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, RBI, Bases-on-Balls, Runs Created, Adjusted Batting Wins, Extra Base Hits, Times on Base, Sacrifice Flies, Intentional Bases-on-Balls, Double Played Grounded Into, Outs Made, Base-Out Runs Added, Win Probability Added, Situational Runs Added, Base-Out Wins Added and possibly several other categories not tracked by Baseball-Reference?

Hint: One year he even had more RBI than games played.

Hint: He finished just behind Bucky Dent in Rookie-of-the-Year voting.

Hint: Always good for a quip, he once said, “If a tie is like kissing your sister, losing is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out.”

Hint: About his retirement, he noted, “I could have played another year, but I would have been playing for the money, and baseball deserves better than that.”

A. GEORGE BRETT

- KCR leaders

- In 1980, he had 118 RBI in 117 games played.

- Mike Hargrove won the Rookie of the Year Award that season

FCR - Joe Matocha, Meriden, CT

Incorrect answers: Robin Yount, Andre Dawson, Mike Schmidt, Harmon Killebrew, Todd Helton, Cal Ripken, Stan Musial, Jeff Bagwell, Gorman Thomas, Tony Gwynn, Luis Gonzalez

TUESDAY

Q. Who, in a single game, hit three home runs with only three pitches thrown off three different pitchers?

Hint: It is believed that this feat is unequalled in any major league game, including spring training or other exhibition game.

Hint: Fortunately, this accomplishment did not go to his head and did not change his quiet, self-effacing demeanor.

Hint: Oh, wait… More research is perhaps warranted on that previous hint.

A. REGGIE JACKSON

- All 3 HR’s were hit in the 6th and deciding game of the 1977 World Series.

- The three pitchers were the Dodgers’ Burt Hooton (2nd batter, 4th inning); Elias Sosa (4th batter, 5th inning); and Charlie Hough (1st batter 8th inning)

- Neither before nor after this epic performance has Jackson ever evinced a self-effacing demeanor.

FCR - Ken Bell, Miami, FL

Incorrect answers: Jim Hickman, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra, Boog Powell, Barry Bonds, Bryce Harper

WEDNESDAY

Q. Whose offensive performance was so outstanding one season, that not only did he appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated with Ted Williams, he was, the very same week, the cover subject of Time magazine?

Hint: He was also on the S.I. cover before and after this standout season.

Hint: Only Ty Cobb won more American League batting titles.

Hint: He did not play high school baseball because he was working in a grocery store to help support his family AND also because he’d had rheumatic fever when he was 12, leaving him sick and weakly in his high school years.

A. ROD CAREW

- Covers from July 18, 1977

- Additional S.I. covers July 1, 1974; April 10, 1978; June 13, 1983

- Cobb won the AL batting title an otherworldly 11 times; Carew did it 7 times, Ted Williams had 6 and Wade Boggs & Nap Lajoie each had 5. No one else has had more than 4.

FCR - Larry Hayes, San Francisco, CA

Incorrect answers: Tony Gwynn, Joe DiMaggio, Wade Boggs, Rogers Hornsby, Mickey Mantle

THURSDAY

Q. Who is the only pitcher to win a Cy Young Award after his brother had won one?

Hint: He was the first to do something that has only since been accomplished by Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay and Pedro Martinez.

Hint: He was the last pitcher to have 4 consecutive seasons pitching 300 innings.

Hint: He wore 5 different uniform numbers during his 22-year major league career.

A. GAYLORD PERRY

- Brother Jim Perry won the CYA in 1970

- Gaylord won CYA in 1972 w/CLE and in 1978 w/SDP and was, for 21 years the only pitcher with that distinction until both Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson did it in 1999.

- 300+ IP 1972-75; He had also done it 1969-70 w/SFG and led the league both those years

- Played with SFG, CLE, TEX, SDP, NYY, ATL, SEA & KCR over 22 seasons and sported uni numbers 22, 28, 35, 36 & 45 along the way

FCR - Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, RI

Incorrect answers: Ken Brett, Jim Perry, Joe Niekro, Phil Niekro, Dizzy Dean

FRIDAY

Q. Who did Ken Griffey, Jr. pass to become the recipient of the Hall of Fame’s highest percentage vote?

Hint: He is the first pitcher to strike out 10 consecutive batters in a game.

Hint: He struck out 200 batters per year for 9 consecutive seasons.

Hint: He surrendered the first home run to an Expos batter.

A. TOM SEAVER

- Seaver received 98.84% of the 430 votes cast in 1992. Griffey passed him this year with his 99.32% of the 440 votes cast.

- On his way to striking out 19 San Diego Padres on 22-Apr-1970, he struck out 10 consecutive batters, beginning with the last out of the 6th inning through the end of the game, Al Ferrera being the first and last of the 10.

- 200+ K 1968-76

- First MON HR on 08-Apr-1969 at Shea Stadium by pitcher Dan McGinn

FCR - Timothy Kearns, Washington, DC

Incorrect answers: Steve Carlton, Greg Maddux, Nolan Ryan

WEEKEND

Q. Which opposing player hit the most home runs in the history of Three Rivers Stadium?

Hint: He is the only 20th century National League player to hit 4 consecutive home runs in a game?

Hint: Terry McDermott and Bucky Guth are the only other players whose debut was the same day.

Hint: The last of his 2,452 games in the majors was an All-Star game.

Hint: He once famously opined, "Anytime you think you have the game conquered, the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose."

A. MIKE SCHMIDT

- Hit 25 HR at Three Rivers (1970-2000)

- Schmidt’s game, 17-Apr-1976, saw him hit homers in consecutive at-bats. The other NL batters with 4-HR games in the 20th century, Chuck Klein, Gil Hodges, Joe Adcock, Willie Mays, Bob Horner, Mark Whiten and Shawn Green, had intervening at-bats.

- Schmidt, McDermott & Guth all debuted 12-Sep-1972 .

- Retired after 1989 ASG. Did not play. Final game total should then probably read 2,451.

FCR - Jeff Fink, Howell, NJ

Incorrect answers: Stan Musial, Ken Griffey, Jr., Eddie Mathews, Dave Parker, Mike Cameron, Willie Mays, Willie Stargell, Carlos Delgado, Dick Allen, Johnny Bench

THEME FOR THE WEEK - There are 12 players that Terry Cashman implies in the 6th and 7th stanzas of his iconic 1981 song, “Talkin’ Baseball” [né “Willie, Mickey And The Duke”] where of them he says, “If Cooperstown is callin’, it’s no fluke.” Six of those mentioned have been selected, six have not. Those who are in, make up this week’s theme: