Sunday, February 4, 2018

2018-01-29 Hall of Famers who managed a team with 100 losses in a season

=> This week’s questions and theme come to us from reader Barry Sparks of York, Pennsylvania.

Q.        Who made his MLB debut on 09-Sep-1977 then played 20 years for the same team?
Hint:     He finished fourth in the 1978 Rookie-of-the-Year voting, which was won by his teammate.
Hint:     He and that same teammate, his double play partner, teamed up for 19 years.
Hint:     He was the World Series Most Valuable Player in 1984.
A.         ALAN TRAMMELL  [SABR Bio]
-  Debuted 09-Sep-1977.  Played for DET 1977-1996
Lou Whitaker played for DET 1977-1995
1984 WS
FCR -  Eric Savage, New York City
Incorrect guesses:  Eddie Murray, Lou Whitaker

MONDAY MIDNIGHT NIGHTCAP
Q.        Who did Babe Ruth nickname “The All-American Out”?
Hint:     Of him [not Ruth], Branch Rickey said, “He has the ability to take a bad situation and make it immediately worse.”
Hint:     He [not Rickey] was a broadcaster for NBC’s Game of the Week in the 1950’s.
Hint:     Christopher Meloni played him in a 2013 movie.
A.         LEO DUROCHER  [SABR Bio]
-  Lou hit .257 during his time w/NYY, so the Babe’s criticism seems a bit harsh.  Durocher played another 14 seasons in the majors with quite similar numbers, managing to make 3 All-Star teams and received MVP votes in 3 separate seasons.
-  As did Ruth’s, Rickey’s critique appears to be constructed more for headlines than accuracy.
Meloni played Leo in the Jackie Robinson biopic “42”.
FCR -  Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas
Incorrect guesses:  Buddy Blattner, Joe Garagiola, Dizzy Dean

TUESDAY
Q.        Who tied former teammate Jimmie Foxx when he hit his 17th career grand slam?
Hint:     He preached, “Hitting is 50% above the shoulders.”
Hint:     He like facing ace Virgil Trucks.  He homered off him 12 times over his career.
Hint:     In the history of the American League, no one led in on-base percentage more seasons than he did.
A.         TED WILLIAMS  [SABR Bio]
-  12th GS 29-Jul-1958 off Hall of Famer Jim Bunning.  Williams was teammates w/Foxx on BOS 1939-42
-  Nobody homered more off Trucks than Williams and Williams was not that rough on any other pitcher.
-  He led the AL in OBP 12 times.  Ruth is next w/10.
FCR -  Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses:  Al Simmons, Max Bishop, George Sisler, Mickey Cochrane

TUESDAY TWIN BILL
Q.        Who hit a game-winning inside-the-park home run in the 1923 World Series?
Hint:     He said, “I broke in with four hits and the writers promptly declared they had seen the new Ty Cobb.  It took me only a few days to correct that impression.”
Hint:     In 1958, he testified before an United States Senate committee which was investigating baseball’s anti-trust exemption.
Hint:     His career World Series batting average was .393 (33 plate appearances over 3 World Series).
A.         CASEY STENGEL  [SABR Bio]
-  WS IPHR = G 1, 10-Oct
-  Played in WS in 1916, 22 & 23
FCR -  Jeff Cohen, Wantagh, New York
Incorrect guesses:  Tony Lazzeri, Hank Gowdy, Bob Meusel

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Who collected five hits on Opening Day in 1936?
Hint:     He once drove in 100 runs in a season where he hit just two homers.
Hint:     Leo Durocher said, “He was an absolute master at hitting behind the runner.”
Hint:     Although he missed the inaugural All-Star Game, he was named to the next 10 consecutive All-Star Games and had a combined .433 batting average in them.
A.         BILLY HERMAN  [SABR Bio]
-  Opening Day 1936, 5-for-5, including a HR and a 2b 14-Apr-1936
-  1943 = 100 RBI; 2 HR (193 hits of which 41 were doubles certainly helped.)
-  ASG’s 1934-1943, 13 for 30
FCR -  Anthony Zydlewski, Virginia Beach
Incorrect guesses:  Luke Appling, Frankie Frisch, Charlie Gehringer, Joe Medwick, Hank Greenberg, Eddie Stanky, Lou Boudreau

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.        Who made his major league debut on Sept. 11 with the Washington Nationals?
Hint:     Honus Wagner said he used to walk or hitchhike 14 miles just to see him play.
Hint:     The American Amateur Baseball Congress sponsors a World Series named for him.
Hint:     His grandson and great-grandson served in the United States House of Representatives.
A.         CONNIE MACK  [SABR Bio]
-  Debut = 11-Sep-1886 w/WHS
Connie Mack III, U.S. House of Representatives, 1983-89;
   Connie Mack IV, U.S. House of Representatives, 2005-2013
FCR -  Michael Green, Las Vegas
Incorrect guesses:  Walter Johnson, Clark Griffith

THURSDAY
Q.        Who devised the Williams Shift?
Hint:     He did radio play-by-play for the NBA Chicago Bulls.
Hint:     Sports writer Stanley Frank said, “He is easily the slowest player since Ernie Lombardi got thrown out trying to stretch a double into a single.”
Hint:     His daughter, Sharyn, married pitcher Denny McLain.
A.         LOU BOUDREAU  [SABR Bio]
-  He was one of the first to place defensive players considerably far from their traditional positions to accommodate a batter’s hitting tendencies, in this case specifically, those of Ted Williams.  [I think we can agree that a better verb might have been “implemented”.  ~ dbb]
-  Radio gig 1966-68
Played MLB on arthritic ankles.
The couple & pet  (Boudreau’s daughter & son-in-law)
FCR -  Mark Pattison, Washington, DC
Incorrect guesses:  Paul Richards

THURSDAY ONCE MORE
Q.        Who said, “The day I got a hit off Sandy Koufax was when he knew it was all over.”?
Hint:     He refused to step into the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum until he was inducted because he felt unworthy.
Hint:     He played six of his 10 minor league seasons north of the border and was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.
Hint:     He never homered during his major league career.
Hint:     No other native of his home state is in the Hall of Fame.
A.         SPARKY ANDERSON  [SABR Bio]
-  Doubled off Koufax 24-Aug-1959 (2-for-8 career).  Despite Sparky’s legendary optimism, Koufax managed to hang on a few more seasons.  Legend has it that Sparky actually, seriously thought he had ended Koufax' career.
MLB totals (all in 1959) 104 H of which 9 = 2b & 3 = 3b—0 HR.
-  Born in Bridgewater, South Dakota
FCR -  Daniel Wilson, St. Paul
Incorrect guesses:  Ferguson Jenkins, Tommy Lasorda, Hoy Wilhelm, Tony LaRussa, Lou Boudreau, Bob Uecker

FRIDAY
Q.        Whose nickname was the single word he was heard to say when he witnessed a remarkable display of baseball prowess on the field?
Hint:     He broke Rabbit Maranville’s record for shortstop assists in a season.
Hint:     The first MVP votes he got were when he was on Braves teams that finished 5th and 7th in the 8-team National League.
Hint:     A switch-hitter, gifted with quick hands, he still believed that “…the business of batting and fielding is a contention between minds.”
A.         DAVE BANCROFT  [SABR Bio]
-  “Beauty!”
-  His 598 in 1920 eclipsed Maranville’s 574 from 6 years earlier.
-  He finished 6th in MVP voting in 1925 and 9th in 1926, leading those team in WAR by a comfortable margin.
FCR -  Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect guesses:  Hughie Jennings, Ozzie Smith, Whitey Wietelmann

DEEP INTO FRIDAY EVENING
Q.        Who was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame 116 years after his major league debut?
Hint:     He’s buried in the same cemetery as Hall of Famers John McGraw, Wilbert Robinson and Joe Kelley.
Hint:     Connie Mack summed him up this way, “I don't think any man ever lived who knew as much baseball as he did.”
Hint:     He finished his major league career with a team just before they became great.  He, however, was one of the main reasons for their success.
A.         NED HANLON  [SABR Bio]
-  Debut = 01-May-1880; HOF = 1996
-  Played last (as player/manager) for the 1892 Baltimore Orioles of the National League.  He then managed them to 3 straight league titles 1894-96 with Oriole team containing as many as six (6!) Hall of Famers.
FCR -  Mark DeLodovico, Rockville, Maryland
Incorrect guesses:  Casey Stengel, Rube Walker, Branch Rickey, Deacon White, Pete Alexander, Nolan Ryan, Jack Quinn

SATURDAY
Q.        Who played 25 seasons without appearing in a World Series?
Hint:     He began his career as a pitcher in the same rotation with Cy Young.
Hint:     He later moved to the outfield and then to the infield, playing 1,823 games at shortstop.
Hint:     He was an American League umpire in 1917 before ending his playing days in 1918.
A.         BOBBY WALLACE  [SABR Bio]
-  Played 1894-1918; 10 yrs in the NL, 15 in the AL
-  Played with Young on the 1894 Cleveland Spiders although “with” might be a stretch since Young appeared in 52 games that year, Wallace only 4.
-  He umpired 1 G in 1895 = 14-Jul-1895 and 11 G in 1915
FCR -  Barry Nelson, Guilderland, New York
Incorrect guesses:  Joe Wood, Alvin Dark

WEEKEND BONUS
Q.        Who is the only Hall of Fame pitcher to surrender more walks than strikeouts?
Hint:     Yankees manager Joe McCarthy said, “If he pitched for the New York Yankees, he would have won more than 400 games.”
Hint:     At age 41, he completed each of his twenty starts.
Hint:     He pitched a no-hitter that only required an hour and forty-five minutes.
A.         TED LYONS  [SABR Bio]
-  1,121 BB; 1,073 K
-  1942 = 20 GS & 20 CG [The 2.10 ERA was nice too and led the AL, the only time he did.]
-  No-hitter 12-Aug-1926
FCR -  Roger Kathmann, Cincinnati
Incorrect guesses:  Warren Spahn, Lefty Grove, Early Wynn

SUNDAY
Q.        Who managed Milwaukee’s first American League team?
Hint:     Legendary Hall of Fame manager Cap Anson said of him, “[He] plays the outfield carrying a crystal ball.  He is always there to make the catch.”  Even though earlier, Anson had rejected him because he, “… looked more like a batboy than a ballplayer.”
Hint:     He had the most total hits of any player in the Players League in 1890 then continued that lead to claim more hits than ANY major leaguer in the 1890’s.
Hint:     He was Ted Williams’ first major league batting coach.  Williams knew that his coach’s credentials for that assignment were beyond impeccable.
A.         HUGH DUFFY..[SABR Bio]
1901 MLA had the league’s first last-place finish.
-  Always appeared younger than his actual age.
-  Coach with the Red Sox in 1939, Williams’ rookie season.  Duffy still hold the all-time, single-season batting average record with the .440 he hit in 1894 with the Beaneaters.  At the time, though, it was held that he had hit .438.  Subsequent research added the 2 extra points (as if they were needed).
FCR -  Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect guesses:  Bing Miller, Jack Chapman, Willie Keeler


WEEKLY THEME – Theme: Hall of Famers who managed teams for a complete season that lost 100 or more games in a season. (Frank Robinson managed the 1988 Orioles who lost 101 games, but he replaced Cal Ripken, Sr. after 6 games.)


Manager           Team        Won-Lost Record
Anderson........ 1989 DET....... 59-103
Bancroft.......... 1924 BSN...... 52-100*
Boudreau....... 1956 KCA...... 52-102
Duffy............... 1904 PHI........ 52-100*
Durocher........ 1966 CHC...... 59-103*
Hanlon............ 1905 BRO...... 48-104**
Herman.......... 1965 BOS...... 62-100
Lyons............. 1948 CHW..... 51-101*
Mack.............. 1915 PHA...... 43-109
   "................... 1916 PHA...... 36-117
   "................... 1919 PHA...... 36-104
   "................... 1920 PHA...... 48-106
   "................... 1921 PHA...... 53-100
   "................... 1936 PHA...... 53-100
   "................... 1940 PHA...... 54-100
   "................... 1943 PHA...... 49-105
   "................... 1945 PHA...... 49-105
   "................... 1950 PHA...... 52-102
Stengel........... 1962 NYM...... 40-120*
   "................... 1963 NYM...... 51-111
   "................... 1964 NYM...... 53-109
Trammel......... 2003 DET....... 43-119*
Wallace.......... 1911 SLB....... 45-107*
Williams.......... 1972 TEX....... 54-100**
*First year managing the team.
**Last year managing that team.


First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeMike Sparks, Sarasota (After Stengel)

Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday  -  2018 HOF inductees
               -  Members of this year’s Hall of Fame group
               -  '18 HOF class

Tuesday - Hall of Fame shortstops who had 100-loss seasons as managers
               -  HOF All-Stars who became MLB managers by age 50
               -  Played in 1000+ games and in the World Series and managed 400+ games
               -  Voted by SABR as the most colorful characters

Wed.       -  Managers whose teams lost 100 games in a season
               -  Managers whose teams lost the most games ever by the franchise.
               -  100 or more losses in their first season managing the team

Sat          -  Hall of Famers who have managed teams they also played for.









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