Sunday, February 19, 2017

2017-02-13 Major League Baseball’s Ornithological Society.

MONDAY
Q.        What pitcher cinched his chances to be a Cy Young Award winner by capturing a victory in the season’s final game?
Hint:     In that game, he surrendered a player’s 50th home run of the season, the only such season that batter ever had.
Hint:     He is the last pitcher to throw 5 complete games in 5 consecutive starts in one calendar month.
Hint:     In 2016, he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
A.         PAT HENTGEN
-  Final game 1996:  29-Sep-1996; 1996 CYA; 50th HR:  Brady Anderson
CHOF
FCR -  Paul Goodson, Cheyenne
Incorrect answers:  Fergie Jenkins, Eric Gagne, Pedro Martinez, Dennis Martinez, Roy Halladay, Barry Zito

TUESDAY
Q.        What pitcher holds the record for most games in a season for the Red Sox franchise?
Hint:     He owns 4 World Series rings.
Hint:     Only 7 pitchers in history have appears in more MLB games.
A.         MIKE TIMLIN
-  81 G in 2005 for BOS also led the AL that year.  His 76 G in 2004 is 4th on the all-time list.
-  Won the WS with TOR 1992, 93 & BOS 2004, 07
-  8th on the all-time list
FCR -  Bob Kimball, Sutton, Massachusetts
Incorrect answers:  Cy Young, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Dennis Eckersley, Javier Lopez, Tim Wakefield, Keith Foulke Sparky Lyle. Ramiro Mendoza

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Who was the first pitcher to win the Baseball Digest Rookie of the Year Award?
Hint:     He lost to his brother in his brother’s major league debut.
Hint:     Describing his career in an interview, he once said, “For 10 years I saw the entire U.S. for free and had five months vacation.”
A.         TOM UNDERWOOD
-  BD ROY 1975
-  On 31-May-1979, he made a start for TOR vs. DET, facing his younger brother Pat on the mound, as Pat made his big league debut. Tom hurled a complete game, but Pat took the win with a 1-0 shutout.  Single run was a HR by Jerry Morales.
-  Quote from in interview in the Kokomo Tribune.
FCR -  Scott Matteson, Shawnee, Kansas
Incorrect answers:  Don Newcombe Bob Forsch, Rick Reuschel, Jim Perry, Gaylord Perry, Jared Weaver, Jeff Weaver, Livan Hernandez, Todd Worrell, Pedro Martinez, Andy Benes, Bob Forsch, Joe Niekro, Ramiro Mendoza, Kelby Tomlinson, Sparky Lyle, Bob Grim

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.        What former Yankee pitcher was the first first-round draft pick to make his MLB debut for a first-place team in the same year he was drafted?
Hint:     He gave up Carl Yastrzemski’s 400th career home run in 1979 then surrendered Mark McGwire’s 61st home run in 1998.
Hint:     He was on the losing end of Dennis Martinez’ perfect game.
Hint:     He pitched for a prodigious number of major league teams during his 22-year career.
Hint:     He played on the first World Series winner this millennium.
A.         MIKE MORGAN
-  Drafted #4 overall by OAK in the 1978 June Amateur Draft.  Made his MLB debut a week later 11-Jun-1978.
-  Yaz’s 400th 24-Jul-1979; Big Mac’s 61st 07-Sep-1998
-  Martinez perfecto 28-Jul-1991
-  Played for 12 teams:  1978-2002: ARI, BAL, CHC, CIN, LAD, MIN, NYY, OAK, SEA, STL, TEX & TOR.
-  Was on the D-Backs when they won it all in 2001.
FCR -  Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect answers:  David Cone, Eric Plunk, Tom Gordon

THURSDAY
Q.        Brian Roberts and ______________ were the first Orioles to both collect 30+ stolen bases in the same season?
Hint:     He had been a 20/20 player for the Cubs just two years earlier.
Hint:     In 9 of his 12 major league seasons he was in double-figures in stolen bases.
Hint:     Dee Gordon tied him in 2016 in career stolen bases.
Hint:     He is now the head coach of a collegiate wood-bat summer league.
Hint:     His brother also played in the majors.
A.         COREY PATTERSON
-  2006:  Patterson 45 SB; Roberts 36 SB
-  2004:  24 HR, 36 SB for CHC
Dee Gordon reached 218 career SB, Patterson’s final total.
-  Head coach of the Brookhaven Bucks in the Sunbelt Baseball League
-  Brother is former outfielder Eric Patterson.
FCR -  Charley Riordan, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Incorrect answers:  Brady Anderson, Julio Lugo, Jerry Hairston, Sammy Sosa

FRIDAY
Q.        Besides Omar Vizquel, who was the most recent Venezuelan shortstop to win a National League Gold Glove?
Hint:     He too was an All-Star, but 11 times fewer than Vizquel.
Hint:     He was designated for assignment by the Washington Nationals a mere 11 days after they had claimed him off waivers from the Brewers.
Hint:     His half-brother had an 11-year career in the majors, also as an infielder.
Hint:     His son has signed with the Mariners.
A.         CESAR IZTURIS
-  GG for LAD in 2004.  Vizquel won for SFO in 2005, 06.
AS for LAD in 2005.
-  On 06-Aug-2012, WSN got him from MIL. They designated him for assignment 17-Aug, after only 4 AB’s. They then granted him free agency on 20-Aug.
-  Half-brother Maicer Izturis.
-  Son César Daniel Izturis was signed by SEA as an international free agent just last year.
FCR -  Dan Massey, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Incorrect answers:  Robin Yount, Alex Gonzalez

END-OF-THE-WORKWEEK BONUS
Q.        What purple ground hog once piled up over 200 innings pitched for the Rangers, trailing only Charlie Hough and Jose Guzman for the team lead that season?
Hint:     Thanks only to the generosity of the Seattle Mariners, the team did not finish last that year.
Hint:     Later, when Don Zimmer was his manager, he had more than 20 starts in over 100 innings and helped his team to clinch only their second first-place finish in a decade in spited of Hall of Fame teammates on the mound and in the field.
Hint:     That loaded team also had two former Rookie of the Year Award winners, one of whom later won a Cy Young Award.
Hint:     He’s from the UK and does have an accent.
A.         PAUL KILGUS
-  Attended Bowling Green (Kentucky) High School whose mascot is “The Purples”.  He was born 02-Feb-1962.  Pitched 203.1 innings for the 1988 Texas Rangers.
-  The 1989 Chicago Cubs had HOFers Greg Maddux as the ace of the staff and Ryne Sandberg at 2nd and Andre Dawson in the outfield.  #2 starter Rick Sutcliffe had won a CYA and ROY.  Outfielder Jerome Walton won the ROY that very season.
-  That’s not the United Kingdom of Great Britain, that’s the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.  Kilgus not only attended, he graduated.
FCR -  Barry Nelson, Guilderland, New York

SATURDAY
Q.        Whose well-timed 2-out, 2-strike, bottom-of-the-9th home run in the last game of the 2011 season tied the game on what most baseball experts agree was one of the most dramatic single days in baseball history?
Hint:     He was already famous in Tampa for 2 other dramatic late-season home runs in previous seasons.
Hint:     He had attended and played for 2 universities and a community college before being drafted.
Hint:     In an attempt to return to the majors this past season, he tried his hand at pitching.
Hint:     He has won a Most Valuable Player award in 2 different Triple-A leagues.
A.         DAN JOHNSON
-  HR off NYY’s Corey Wade on 28-Sep-2011 propelled the game to extra innings won in the 12th on a HR by Evan Longoria.  YouTube chronicles the event:  Johnson HR 
-  FIRST:  HR on 09-Sep-2008 off BOS closer Jonathan Papelbon helped keep TBR in the division race which they eventually won.
   SECOND:  2 HR vs. NYY 15-Sep-2010 helped TBR win the AL East.
Butler University (Indianapolis, IN), Iowa Western Community College (Council Bluffs, IA), University of Nebraska (Lincoln, NE)
-  Pitching in 2016, his 5.92 ERA over 76 innings in the low minors is not likely enough to get him to the mound in the majors.
-  He won the Pacific Coast League MVP in 2004 and the International League MVP in 2010.
FCR -  Doug Greenwald, San Francisco
Incorrect answers:  Evan Longoria, Matt Joyce, David Freese

WEEKEND BONUS
Q.        What former catcher, who played for the Mets and Yankees, was the captain for the record-setting Dominican Team in the 2007 Caribbean Series?
Hint:     He was the manager of the Dominican Series Mets in 2011 and DSL Mets in 2012-2014.
Hint:     He was a coach for the DSL Mets 2 in 2015-2016.
Hint:     In his 12-year major league career, he played for 7 different teams.
Hint:     He was the classic AAAA player:  Granted free agency or released a total of 11 times in addition to being traded twice.
Hint:     You can, however, see the logic of the teams who signed him as he was 3 times in league Top 5 in Total Zone Runs, not an insignificant achievement.
A.         ALBERTO CASTILLO
-  Signed by NYM as an amateur free agent in 1987 and played for them in the majors 1995-98.  With his title with the 2007 Caribbean Series, team manager Félix Fermín became the first manager in series history to win 3 championships.
-  DSL Mets 2011, ’12, ’13 & ’14.
TZR = The number of runs above average a player is worth based on the number of plays made at a given position.  He ranked 2nd in 1998 and 3rd in 1999 in the NL and 4th in 2000 in the AL.
FCR -  Steve Berman, Bergenfield, New Jersey
Incorrect answers:  Rick Cerrone

SUNDAY
Q.        Who was the Pitcher of the Year in the Mexican League in 2007 with a win/loss record of13-3 and an ERA of 2.62?
Hint:     He was even better there in 2008, with a 17-3 record and a 2.54 ERA in 20 games (a decision in every game he started), he again made their All-Star Game.
Hint:     With the exceptions of Tim Salmon and Pat Burrell, he only surrendered home runs in the majors to player who had been All-Stars.  (Baseball sages are still trying to figure out why Salmon and Burrell were never All-Stars.)
Hint:     Although this list could expand in future seasons, for now he is the last player to qualify for this week’s theme.
A.         NERIO RODRIGUEZ
-  Gave up MLB HR’s to Salmon, Burrell, Nomar Garciaparra, Tim Raines, Bernie Williams (same game as Raines), Alex Rodriguez, Garret Anderson and Darrin Erstad.
FCR -  Timothy Kearns, Washington, DC
Incorrect answers:  Pablo Ortega


WEEKLY THEME – Major League Baseball’s Ornithological Society.  Those who have played for the Cardinals, the Orioles and the Blue Jays.

PLAYER           BAL                    STL               TOR
Castillo             2007                     1999           2000-01
Hentgen           2001-03               2000           1991-99, 2004
Izturis              2009-11               2008           2001
Johnson            2013                     2015           2014
Kilgus              1991                     1993           1990
Morgan            1988                     1995-96      1983
Patterson          2006-07, ’10        2011           2011
Rodriguez         1996-98               2002           1998-99
Timlin              1999-2000           2000-02      1991-97
Underwood       1984                     1977           1978-79

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme –   David Washburn, Marietta, Georgia (after the Morgan question)








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