MONDAY
Q. Whose long-standing mark for career
winning percentage did Clayton Kershaw pass this year?
Hint: He (not Kershaw) broke Babe Ruth’s pitching
record for consecutive scoreless World Series innings pitched.
Hint: No pitcher ever lost more career World
Series decisions.
A. WHITEY FORD [SABR Bio]
- Kershaw’s .692 moved him into 3rd place all-time
and bumped Ford’s .690 back to 4th.
[In 1st is Albert Spalding (.795) followed by Spud Chandler (.717)]
- Ruth’s record of 29⅔ consecutive scoreless innings
set in the 1916 & 1918 WS was broken when Ford pitched 33⅔straight
no-run innings in the 1960, 61 & 62 WS. His streak was
ended by Willie Mays on a bunt single by Jose Pagan in the 2nd inning G1 of the 1962 Fall Classic.
Mariano Rivera is the current record holder*.
- 8 career WS L’s.
*Rivera
came really close to Ford as a postseason
record. Between the 1998 ALDS and the final game of the 2000 ALCS, Rivera racked up 32⅔ straight
scoreless postseason innings. Ford, not
Rivera, is the current record holder both for the World Series AND the postseason.
FCR - Kenny Fink, The Villages, Florida
Incorrect
answers: Roy Face, Orel Hershiser, Lefty
Grove
TUESDAY
Q. Who is the undisputed career leader in
doubles?
Hint: Albert Pujols will need 179 more to catch
him.
Hint: He led the American League in all three
Triple Crown categories exactly once each, but alas, in three separate seasons.
A. TRIS SPEAKER [SABR Bio]
- 792 2b.
Pujols, the active leader, has 619.
- 10 HR in 1912; .386 in 1916; & 123 RBI in
1923.
FCR - Naftali Greenwood, Kiryat, Arba, ISRAEL
Incorrect
answers: Yogi Berra, Ty Cobb, Craig
Biggio
IN MEMORIAM I
Q. Of all players who tallied 1,800 games
played at second base, who was the one who never played any other position?
Hint: Before he passed away on Monday, he was not
only the oldest living Hall of Famer, he was the oldest living former major
leaguer.
Hint: He was the last surviving major leaguer who
played in the 1930s, having begun his career with the Red Sox in 1937, two
years before Ted Williams rookie
season.
Hint: His high school was an unusually fecund
source of major league talent.
Hint: He gave his country a year of military
service in the middle of his 14-year career.
Hint: The year he returned, the Red Sox won 103
games and the American League pennant.
Hint: At the height of his career he finished #2
twice in WAR on teams packed with talent and once #1.
Hint: He is still the only Red Sox player to hit
for the cycle twice.
A. BOBBY DOERR [SABR Bio; NYT Obit]
- Played 1,856 G, all for BOS
- Died just 115 days short of his 100th
birthday.
- Attended the John C. Fremont
High School
in Los Angeles, as did some two dozen other major leaguers including Eric Davis, Bob Watson and Gene Mauch.
- Missed the 1945 season. In ’46, BOS had a great year.
- Cycles 17-May-1944 & 13-May-1947, both at Fenway.
FCR - Kellen Nielson, Blanding, Utah
Incorrect answers: Johnny Pesky
TUESDAY TWICE
Q. Who won a World Series MVP in the first
year with his new team after playing 15 years with his original major league
team?
Hint: He was the winning run when you-know-who
did you-know-what to you‑know‑whom.
Hint: Wait !
You don’t know? You must not be
from Philly.
Hint: He is a major candidate for a major award
for the 2017 season.
A. PAUL MOLITOR [SABR Bio]
- He scored from first base when Joe Carter took Mitch Williams deep to end the 1993 WS. Rickey Henderson scored the tying run ahead of him.
- Oops!
Already won the 2017 AL Mgr of the Year !
FCR - Doug Greenwald, San Francisco
Incorrect
answers:
IN MEMORIAM II
Q. Who did Rogers Hornsby once call, “… the
only man I would pay admission to watch play.”?
Hint: His American League stolen bases title was
the last one before nine consecutive such titles by a player who would be voted
into the Hall of Fame.
Hint: His involvement in amateur boxing as a
teenager game him the name we know him by today.
Hint: Ben E. King had a hit song about his native
neighborhood, though he was more Jungle than Rose.
Hint: Serving a lifetime sentence for assault, he
was paroled after 5-years before the start of his baseball career.
Hint: His major league General Manager once
justified his being on the team, saying, “[He] may not have the fattest average
in baseball, but he gives the fans a show with his daredevil running and
sliding, his terrific fielding and clutch hitting.”
A. JIM RIVERA [SABR Bio] [Obit]
- Led the AL in SB in 1955. Luis Aparicio took the next 9 from 1956 to 1964.
- Born Manuel Joseph Rivera, his association
with classmate and fellow boxer Jim Dorso led to his being called Jim also.
- Born in Spanish
Harlem
- He led the league in triples once and stolen
bases once, sliding on his belly many years before that style was fashionable
in the majors.
- He served 5 years in the Atlanta Federal
Penitentiary, and was paroled in 1949.
- Quote from CHW GM Ed Short.
FCR - R.D. Lerner, silver
Spring, Maryland
Incorrect
answers: Enos Slaughter, Ty Cobb
WEDNESDAY
Q. Which player appeared on the TV show “Toast
of the Town” [also known as “The Ed Sullivan Show”] on
14-Oct-1951,
21-Sep-1952,
30-Sep-1956,
13-Apr-1958
and again on
28-Sep-1958?
Hint: In addition to Cooperstown, he is a member
of the Sports Hall of Fame of an adjacent state.
Hint: He once claimed that the only color of
sweater he didn't own was “navy brown”.
A. YOGI BERRA [SABR Bio]
- Appearances such as these as well as others
from other TV shows are readily available on the Internet via YouTube. Here’s an example: WML
- Was inducted into the inaugural class of the
New Jersey Hall of Fame, along with Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and Bruce Springsteen.
- awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Berra's son, Larry,
accepts on his behalf.
- I’m inclined to believe him on the sweater.
FCR - Naftali Greenwood, Kiryat, Arba, ISRAEL
Incorrect
answers: Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle,
Leo Durocher
ODIN’S DAY
Q. Which Hall of Famer died on the same day
as Game One of the World Series?
Hint: Coincidentally, the winning pitcher of that
game and he are the only two pitchers in a quite exclusive club. It may be baseball’s most exclusive club of
all time.
Hint: In addition to Cooperstown, he is a member
of the Sports Hall of Fame of an adjacent state.
Hint: For 12 straight seasons, he reached the
20-win level.
Hint: He is buried in a plot just behind his
college alma mater.
- Passed away 07-Oct-1925. Winning pitcher was Walter
Johnson as the Senators beat
the Pirates 4-1.
- Only 2 pitchers
elected to the Hall of Fame in
its first-ever
class of 5.
- Inducted into the Pennsylvania
Sports Hall of Fame in 1965.
- Won 20+ G 1903-1914
- Buried within sight of Bucknell
University
FCR - Gary Sarnoff, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect
answers: Jim
Bunning
THURSDAY
Q. What New York Yankee has hit more
triples than any other?
Hint: His career RBI numbers top those of any
other Yankee ever.
Hint: By one (1!) he had the most Yankee
extra-base hits.
A. LOU GEHRIG [SABR Bio]
- 163 career 3b
- 1,995 career RBI
- 1,190 XBH (Babe Ruth had 1,189)
FCR - David Johnson, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Incorrect
answers: Babe Ruth, Willie Randolph,
Mickey Mantle
THOR’S DAY
Q. Which Hall of Famer stopped pitching
during a World Series game to watch a plane fly over the stadium?
Hint: He had vanity plates reading “GOOF” on his
car.
Hint: When asked if he threw a spitball replied,
“Not intentionally, but I sweat easily.”
Hint: He once walked 11 batters as he pitched a
complete-game shutout.
A. LEFTY GOMEZ [SABR Bio]
- Work stoppage was in G 2 of the 1936 WS.
- ShO 01-Aug-1941
FCR - Al Blumkin, Brooklyn
Incorrect
answers: Joe Niekro, Rube Marquard, Rube
Waddell, Lefty Grove, Dizzy Dean, Wilbur Wood, Bobo Newsom, Mark Fidrych,
Bugs Raymond, Billy Loes, Bill Lee
FRIDAY
Q. Who played in eight World Series (50
games) without hitting a home run but hit home runs from each side of the plate
in All-Star competition?
Hint: He was an Al-American running back for his
college, which, BTW, had the same name as his high school.
Hint: In college he didn’t just play football,
basketball, and baseball—he was the captain of all three teams.
Hint: He went from college to the majors, having
talked the big league club’s manager out of sending him to the minors.
A. FRANKIE
FRISCH [SABR Bio]
- Played in WS 1921-24 for NYG then in WS 1928,
30, 31 & 34 for STL. Played in the
majors’ first 3 ASG 1933-35 for STL.
Homered in ’33, batting lefty off General Crowder then off Lefty Gomez in ’34.
- After being signed by John McGraw of NYG,
Frisch convince the manager that if he were forced to play in the minors, his
father would make him quit baseball to work the family farm.
FCR - Daniel Wilson, St. Paul
Incorrect
answers: Eddie Murray, John Olerud
FRIED-EGG DAY
Q. What batter had a five-year stretch
where he led his team in stolen bases, runs and home runs?
Hint: He also had at least one hit in the
All-Star game in each of those same years.
Hint: It wasn’t as if his team didn’t have
additional talent. No fewer than 5 of
his teammates were All-Stars in each of those seasons.
Hint: He was an honorary colonel in his state’s
militia.
A. MICKEY
MANTLE [SABR Bio]
- Fantastic streak 1956-60
- Colonel Mantle of the Oklahoma State Militia
FCR - No one!
Incorrect
answers: Honus Wagner, Willie Mays, Edd
Roush
SATURDAY
Q. Which Hall of Famer had seasons where he
hit .372, .365 and .360 yet never won a batting title?
Hint: He also had 8 additional seasons where he
hit above .340.
Hint: No other player is within 100 games of his
career total at his position.
Hint: No other player is within 100 for the
career lead in sacrifice hits.
A. EDDIE COLLINS [SABR Bio]
- In each of his 3 best seasons for batting
average, there was a player who finish with a BA over .400. (3 different players) He never finished better than 4th
in he league in each of those year.
- Played 2,650 G @ 2b. Joe Morgan is in 2nd place w/2,527.
- Successfully sacrificed 512 times. Jake Daubert takes the silver w/392.
FCR - Derek Granger, Chandler, Arizona
Incorrect
answers: Tris Speaker, Lou Gehrig,
Willie Mays, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Harry Heilmann, Chick Hafey
SATURDAY BONUS
Q. Who is being honored with a profile on
the MLB channel as this question is being sent?
Hint: A portion of the calendar has been
associated with him.
Hint: Hooton, Sosa, Hough.
Hint: His ability to promote almost exceeded his
ability to play.
A. REGGIE JACKSON [SABR Bio]
- MLB TV “The Making of Mr. October”. They’ll undoubtedly run it again.
- Because of his 5 home runs during the 1977 World Series, the
media crowned him with this sobriquet and it stuck immediately.
- In the 6th and final G
of that WS, still wondering if New York really loved him, Jackson homered off Burt Hooton in the 4th;
Elias Sosa in the 5th;
and Charlie Hough in
the 8th, each time on the only pitch of the
at-bat.
FCR - Michael Green, Las Vegas
Incorrect
answers: Bo Belinsky, Steve Yeager
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who is the last National League pitcher
to hit at least 5 home runs in each of 2 seasons?
Hint: Before Randy Johnson in 2001, He was the
last pitcher to score 2 runs in a World Series game.
Hint: He had surrendered a home run to the first
batter he ever faced in the majors, a batter whose entire major league career
was that one season.
A. BOB
GIBSON [SABR Bio]
- 5 HR in 1965 & 1972
- 2 R, G 4 1968 WS
- In his debut in the 7th inning on
15-Apr-1959, the first batter, Jim Baxes, homered on a
3-0 pitch. It was the first of his 17 career homers, all hit in 1959. Among the 17, he homered additionally off
Hall of Famers Jim Bunning and Early Wynn as well
as off standouts Billy Pierce, Bill Monbouquette and Camilo Pascual. Pretty good one-season career.
FCR - Bill Deane, Cooperstown
Incorrect
answers: Warren Spahn, Don Drysdale, Don
Newcombe, Madison Bumgarner, Mike Hampton, Tom Glavine
SUNDAY
Q. Who is the last pitcher to throw 30
complete games in a single season?
Hint: He was the only pitcher to surrender 4 home
runs in a game in the “year of the pitcher”.
Hint: He once hit for the cycle—but in a season—not
in a single game.
A. CATFISH HUNTER [SABR Bio]
- 30 CG in 1975. Only 9 G did he start and not finish. Not surprisingly, he led the majors in
innings pitched (328) and batters faced (1,294) that season.
- 4 HR G 14-May-1968. Rod
Carew, Tony
Oliva, Rich
Rollins and Bob
Allison all took him deep in Minneapolis.
Oakland
still won the game 13-8. The 4-HR game was his next
start after his perfect game against these same Twins 08-May-1968 in Oakland.
- “Cycle” in 1971.
FCR - Richard Walker, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect
answers: Mickey Lolich, Denny McLain, Steve
Carlton, Phil Niekro, Ferguson Jenkins, Juan Marichal, Robin Roberts, Bob
Gibson, Wilbur Wood, Don Drysdale
WEEKLY THEME – Hall of
Famers who hold career World Series records
Berra At-Bats
(259), Hits (71), Doubles (10), Plate Appearances (295), World Series
Championships (10)
Collins Sacrifice Hits (8)
Ford Wins (10), Losses (8), Bases on
Balls (34), Innings (146), Strikeouts (94), Games Started (22)
Frisch Doubles (10**)
Gehrig On-Base
Percentage [50 min PA] (.477)
Gibson Consecutive Pitching Victories (7), Consecutive Complete
Games (8)
Gomez Wins without a loss (6)
Hunter Home Runs allowed (9)
Jackson Slugging Percentage [20 G min] (.755)
Mantle Home Runs (18), Runs-Batted-In (40), Runs Scored (40),
Bases‑on‑Balls (43), Extra‑Base Hits (26), Strikeouts (54), Total Bases
(123)
Mathewson Complete Games (10), Shutouts (4)
Molitor Batting
Average [50 min AB] (.418*)
Ruffing Opening Game of Series Wins (5)
Speaker Triples
(4***)
*Tied w/Pepper Martin
** Tied w/Berra
***Tied w/Billy Johnson & Tommy Leach
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – No one
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tuesday - Hall of
Famers with color in their nicknames
Questions archived here: http://horsehidetriviA. blogspot.com/
Horsehide Trivia home
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