MONDAY
Q. Who became the oldest batter to appear
as DH after a 12-year hiatus since his previous at-bat of any kind?
Hint: He was once struck by a pitch and homered
in the same at bat.
Hint: He was the first publicly acknowledged
Cuban ball player in Major League Baseball.
- DH AB 11-Sep-1976. In 3 tries, he could not reach base against
the redoubtable Frank Tanana. Minoso did get a hit the following day. It would be his last ever, even though he had
2 more at-bats 4 years later at age 54, the first one against… You guessed
it—Frank Tanana!
- According to Minoso’s own Internet
bio, “In
a minor league game, Minoso turned into a pitch that struck him. The umpire refused to give him the base.
Minoso hung in and homered later in the same at bat. After he rounded the
bases, the umpire asked if he was happy with the way things turned out. ‘Give me my first base the first time,’ Minoso
told the ump.”
- B. in Havana, Cuba 1925
FCR - David Johnson, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Incorrect answers: Jose Cruz, Vladimir Guerrero, Juan Samuel,
Armando Marsans
TUESDAY
Q. Who hit 57% more World Series home runs
than any other player while wearing a National League uniform?
Hint: He evolved vulpine, patrician chromatic
sobriquets, occasional partnered with horizontal topiary geographical
references.
Hint: His final career hit came fittingly in
October, but wearing the uniform he would have once deemed anathema.
- “Silver Fox”; “Duke of Flatbush”
- Got a single inch-hitting for Billy Pierce in what would have
been Pierce’s final career at-bat 03-Oct-1964 then scored on Willie Mays’s walk-off HR.
FCR - Richard Marston, Newport Beach
Incorrect
answers: Jimmie Foxx, Frank Robinson
WEDNESDAY
Q. Which Hall of Famer suffered through a
broken finger, pleurisy and bruised ribs during one season before sitting out
the next with tuberculosis?
Hint: He legitimized his selection to the
All-Star game one year by hitting a game-winnings home run in the 3rd-longest
All-Star game in history.
Hint: He was traded during the same season he led
the league in hits.
Hint: He won a World Series as a player with the same
team that he later skippered to a championship.
- Troubles in 1958; TB in 1959.
- 200 H in 1957; trade to NYG 15-Jun-1957.
FCR - Michael Green, Las Vegas
Incorrect
answers: Johnny Callison, Lou Boudreau,
Frank Robinson, Stan Musial
THURSDAY
Q. Which future Rookie of the Year was
drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, but signed instead with a team sporting
eagle feathers?
Hint: Having studied deep into the writings of
Marx and Engels, he once opined, "Any pitcher who throws at a batter and
deliberately tries to hit him is a communist."
Hint: He was the first former pitcher to manage teams
from each league to the World Series.
- Pitched one inning on 27-Sep-1953 for the NYG. Led the 1962 SF Giants and the 1974 Oakland A’s to the World Series,
winning it all with the latter.
FCR - Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect
answers: Dallas Green
FRIDAY
Q. What is the only player listed in the
top 20 in career hits, singles, doubles and triples?
Hint: He slips to top 30 in home runs.
Hint: He is the only General Manager to preside
over a World Series champion in his lone season in that capacity.
Hint: He knew his playing days were numbered when
teammates began to compliment him on what he considered routine defensive
plays.
Hint: As a youngster, he was a big fan of
evaporated milk.
- Ranks 4th
in hits w/3,630
3rd in doubles w/725
FCR - Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect
answers: Hank Greenberg, Al Rosen, Lou
Gehrig, Rod Carew, George Brett, John McGraw
CINCO DE MAYO BONUS
Q. What baseball patriarch was second in
the majors in triples in each of his first two years, but never again cracked
the top 10 in his remaining 13 big league seasons?
Hint: In his sophomore season, he led his league
in triples.
Hint: He did lead his team in triples twice more.
Hint: He was energized by a trade after his third
year that saw him with double-digits in home runs in every one of his full
seasons with his new team.
Hint: In his only season where he played every
game on the schedule, his team changed its name.
- Averaged 20 HR per season in his 8 full years
in Cincinnati.
- Cincinnati became the Red legs 1954 through
1960 (As soon as they changed back to Reds, they won the pennant!)
FCR - Dave Serota, Kalamazoo
Incorrect
answers: Ray Boone, Jimmy Wynn
SATURDAY
Q. Who is the only Hall of Famer with a
twin sister?
Hint: After watching him play in a high school
all-star game, the observant Tall Tactician Connie Mack advised him to switch from
playing catcher.
Hint: More than 80% of major league organizations
showed interest in him and he signed with 3 of them.
Hint: His value to his team was easily shown by
the 8 times in 12 seasons with them that he had 700+ plate appearances. In 3 of the remaining 4, he was over 640.
Hint: His speed was such that well after
retirement, he won a footrace against then active major leaguer Dick Allen.
- Sister Donna passed away in 1992. She was born just before midnight and he,
just after. He always referred to her as
his older sister.
- He was the state of Nebraska’s representative
on the West team of Esquire Magazine’s
American Legion Junior Baseball East/West All-Star game in 1944 at the Polo
Grounds
where Mack saw him play.
- 13 of the majors’ 16 had scout watch
Ashburn. Contracts he signed with the
Indians and Cubs were invalidated by Commissioner Landis on technical grounds.
FCR - Adam Foldes, New York City
Incorrect
answers: Jimmie Foxx, Kirby Puckett,
Robin Roberts
SUNDAY
Q. Who was the first player to win the MVP and
Gold Glove awards in the same season?
Hint: Teammates of his were 2nd and 3rd
in the league MVP voting that year. (All
three are now in the Hal of Fame.)
Hint: His manager once decided to rest him for a
couple of days but lamented his decision, saying, "I took it for a couple
of days. Then I had to put him back in
the lineup. On the bench, he was driving
me crazy!"
Hint: He once hit a bloop double on that hit his
own glove in shallow center field.
FCR - Mike McCroskey, Sugar Land, Texas
Incorrect
answers: Frank Robinson, Willie Mays,
Roger Maris, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Cal Ripken, Phil Rizzuto, Maury
Wills
WEEKLY THEME – Players
with at the 1,500 hits in the 1950’s: 1950-59
Ashburn........... 1,875
Bell................... 1,551
Dark................. 1,675
Fox................... 1,837
Minoso............. 1,526
Musial.............. 1,771
Snider.............. 1,605
Schoendienst... 1,517
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Robert Charkovsky
(After Musial)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Monday - MLB
players who played in 4 decades
-
Sun - Players
included in the 1954 Red Hart dog food baseball card set
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