Sunday, October 15, 2017

2017-10-09 500-home-run club members who have been coaches in the majors

MONDAY
(Continuation of previous week.)

TUESDAY
Q.        Since 1930, who is the only player to win the National League Most Valuable Player awards for 2 different teams?
Hint:     He holds the New York/San Francisco Giants record for home runs in a single season.
Hint:     He also holds the team record for bases-on-balls for a single season.
A.         BARRY BONDS
-  NL MVP for PIT in 1990 & 1992; for SFG in 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003 & 2004 [Was also 2nd in MVP voting in 1991 & 2000.]
-  73 HR in 2001
-  232 BB in 2004.  He also holds the 2nd, 3rd, 9th & 14th most in a season.
FCR -  Mark Yecies, Sarasota, Florida
Incorrect guesses:  Orlando Cepeda, Johnny Mize, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Who was so good that he was bad?
Hint:     He bought his first automobile from a salesman named Bud Selig.
Hint:     He has his own dealership today.
A.         HANK AARON
-  His nickname “Bad Henry” was meant purely ironically.
-  His first city in the majors was Milwaukee where Selig owned a dealership.
-  Owns Hank Aaron Toyota in suburban Atlanta
FCR -  Kellen Nielson, Blanding, Utah
Incorrect guesses:  Joe Torre, Bob Newsome, Bob Uecker

THURSDAY
Q.        Who is the only player to hit 3 home runs in a postseason game more than once?
Hint:     He is also the first one to do it even once.
Hint:     His beloved step-daughter appeared recently at an event sponsored by a museum named for him.
A.         BABE RUTH
-  3 HR in G 4 1926 WS; G 4 1928 WS
-  “Recent” is relative especially for the 101-year-old Julia Ruth Stevens.  I had my picture taken with her in 2012 in Baltimore when she appeared as a guest of the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. (alas it’s on a cell phone that was stolen.)
FCR -  Madison McEntire, Bryant, Arkansas
Incorrect guesses:  Reggie Jackson, Yogi Berra, Willie Mays

FRIDAY
Q.        Who made a New York City street game famous, if not emulated, across the country?
Hint:     THOSE were simpler times.
Hint:     He grew up in a family that most sociologists would not refer to as “nuclear”.
Hint:     His most thorough biographer claims that he purposely missed certain pitches early in a game knowing a pitcher would think that he’d found a weak spot.  He’d used that to good effect in subsequent innings.
Hint:     His swing had no weak spots.
A.         WILLIE MAYS
-  New Yorkers played stickball, a clever adaptation of baseball for space-restricted urban environments.
-  Mays was raised by multiple relatives, mostly his older sister.
-  Charles Einstein wrote three books with Mays as the subject.
FCR -  Lee Dembart, Los Angeles
Incorrect guesses:  Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Alfonso Soriano

SATURDAY
Q.        Who has hit an All-Star game home run in each league?
Hint:     One of them earned him All-Star Game MVP.
Hint:     The place where he was born has seen a lot of water recently.
Hint:     The place where he grew up has seen a lot of fire recently.
A.         FRANK ROBINSON
-  ASG HR’s:  NL 1959 [2]; AL 1971 (MVP)
-  Born in Beaumont, Texas, which felt the full fury of Hurricane Harvey.
-  Raised in Northern California where wildfires are still burning out of control in some areas.
FCR -  Frank Workman, Lake Forest Park, Washington
Incorrect guesses:  Alfonso Soriano

WEEKEND BONUS
Q.        Whose nationally-viewed, completely-unexpected lachrymosity was viewed by many as hardly concomitant with his culpability nor even his “alleged” malfeasance?
Hint:     Recruited to one of the top college baseball programs in the U.S., his pitching skills had been well-honed, widely-admired and feared by all who stood in to face him.
Hint:     His robust brachioradiales and those of several teammates became key components in a publicly-enacted performance-related kudos.  They were self-congratulatory, to be sure, but soon became a fan favorite.
A.         MARK McGWIRE
Wept openly before Congress, sputtering that he didn’t want to talk about the past (alleged abuse of performance-enhancing drugs).
-  Played baseball at the University of Southern California under legendary coach Rod DedeauxMcGwire had dominated the game from the mound, but by the time he was drafted 8th overall by OAK in 1984, it was his power at bat and steady hand at 3rd base they sought.
Bashed his meaty forearm with that of A’s teammate Jose Canseco as a sort of muscle-bound ‘high five’ after either of them homered or did something equally heroic.
FCR -  David Johnson, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Incorrect guesses:  Roger Clemens, Tommy John, Rollie Fingers

SUNDAY
Q.        In Joe DiMaggio’s final season in the majors, what teammate of his wore uniform #6?
Hint:     He was the third player from his native state inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Hint:     Three more have been inducted since then.
A.         MICKEY MANTLE
-  Since Ruth had been #3, Gehrig #4 and DiMaggio #5, Mantle was assigned uniform #6, a hint of the great things the Yankees expected of him.  After a stint back in the minors, he returned to the big club on 24-Aug of his rookie season, 1951, and was assigned #7, which he proceeded to make iconic.
-  Oklahoma native brothers Paul and Lloyd Waner became Hall of Famers in 1952 and 1967 respectively.  Mantle made it in on his first ballot in 1974.  Three players succeeded him: Willie Stargell (1988), Johnny Bench (1989) and Negro Leaguer Bullet Rogan (1998).  One manager, Bobby Cox, was voted in in 2014.
FCR -  Rick Zucker, St. Louis
Incorrect guesses:  Yogi Berra, Andy Carey, Elston Howard

SUNDAY ANTEPENULTIMATE
Q.        Who was the first player to pinch-hit a grand slam in each league?
Hint:     He was the youngest player to play catcher in the modern major league history.
Hint:     He once walked 6 times in a single game.
A.         JIMMIE FOXX
-  P-H GS’s:  21-Sep-1931 for PHA & 18-May-1945 for PHI.
-  Played C on 26-May-1925 @ 17 yrs. 204 days
-  6 BB 16-Jun-1938
FCR -  Danny Shilkett, Pensacola
Incorrect guesses:  Jim Pagliaroni, Pudge Rodriguez, Tim McCarver

SUNDAY PENULTIMATE
Q.        Which Hall of Famer ran for a Ward Alderman during his playing days, losing in a landslide?
Hint:     He was the first player to hit at least 45 home runs in a season without hitting 10 in any single month.
Hint:     He was the first National League first baseman to record 22 putouts in a game.
A.         ERNIE BANKS
-  8th Ward Chicago 1963
-  45 HR in 1959 (MVP season):  5 in Apr; 7 in May; 9 in Jun; 8 in Jul; 9 in Aug; & 7 in Sep.
-  22 PO 09-May-1963
FCR -  Patrick Roth, Chicago
Incorrect guesses:  Willie McCovey

THE WEEK’S CABOOSE
Q.        Of whom did Seattle sportswriter David Ginsburg say, “[his] bronze bust in Cooperstown will chatter only slightly less than the man himself.  The first line of text on the monument should read: ‘He spoke rarely & carried a mighty bat’.”?
Hint:     No player active in 2017 is within 35 places of catching him on the career leader board for games played at his position.
Hint:     He belongs to one of baseball’s most exclusive clubs.  (Picture a venn diagram.)
A.         EDDIE MURRAY
-  Murray’s HOF plaque.
-  Racked up 2,413 career games at first base.  It should be noted that he played almost 600 additional games at other positions.
-  He is one of only five (5!) players with 3,000 career hits of which at least 500 were home runs:  H. Aaron [3,771/755], A. Rodriguez [3,115/696], W. Mays, [3,283/660], R. Palmeiro [3,020/569] & Murray 3,225/504].
FCR -  Tim Phares, Laurel, Maryland
Incorrect guesses:  Adrian Beltre, Jim Bottomley


WEEKLY THEME – 500 home run club members who have been coaches in the majors.           

Pos Name        HRs  Coached
1.     Bonds        762   Marlins 2016
2.     Aaron        755   ~
3.     Ruth          714   Dodgers 1938
5.     Mays         660   Mets 1974-79
10.   Robinson   586   Orioles 1978-87
11.   McGwire    583   Cards 2010-12; Dodgers 2013-15; Padres 2016
18.   Mantle       536   Yankees 1969-70
19.   Foxx          534   Cubs 1944
23.   Banks        512   Cubs 1967-73
27.   Murray       504   Orioles 1998-2001; Indians 2002-05; Dodgers 2006-07

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Know-body!

Incorrect theme guesses:

Friday     -  HR career leaders in descending order.
               -  Top HR hitters of all time

Sunday-  -  Group of players who collectively have homered in every MLB park since 1910.





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