Sunday, April 29, 2018

2018-04-23 Top 7 MLB batters of 1966; First time top 7 were all minorities


Q.        Who is the only person to manage the same franchise in two different countries?
Hint:     A half century earlier, he became the first ever unanimous Rookie of the Year.
Hint:     He later earned a unanimous MVP.
A.         FRANK ROBINSON  [SABR Bio]
-  Managed MON in Canada in 2003-04 then moved with them to become WSN in the U.S. in 2005.
-  Unanimous NL ROY 1956
-  Unanimous AL MVP 1966
FCR -  Sarah Grynpas, Toronto
Incorrect guesses:  Felipe Alou

TUESDAY
Q.        Who won batting titles in 4 out of 7 seasons, but didn’t win the MVP until his teammate won the batting title in the 6th year of that run?
Hint:     He received MVP votes in 12 out of 13 straight years and won a Gold Glove 12 consecutive seasons.
Hint:     He left us with a very round number.
A.         ROBERTO CLEMENTE  [SABR Bio]

-  Batting titles in 1961, 64, 65 & 67.  MVP in 1966.  Teammate Matty Alou hit .342 to his .317 and finished 9th in the MVP voting.
-  MVP votes in 1960-72, excepting 1968 when he led the NL in intentional walks.  Won GGs 1961-72.
-  Final career hit total = 3,000 , achieved on 30-Sep-1972.  (He played ½ inning in RF on 03-Oct-1972.)  He perished in that off season.
FCR -  Joe Merth, Grove city, Ohio
Incorrect guesses:  Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs, Larry Walker, Willie McCovey

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Who was the first National League player to amass 30 home runs before the All-Star break twice? (Not in the same season.  That would be a record.)
Hint:     He is the last player in his franchise’s 130+ year-old franchise to lead the league in runs batted in.
Hint:     His 60 career home runs against the New York Metropolitans has never been equaled.
A.         WILLIE STARGELL  [SABR Bio]
-  Hit #30 on 10-Jul-1971, ASG 13-Jul-1971; Hit #30 on 22-Jul-1973, ASG 24‑Jul‑1973.  Mark McGwire did it 4 times: 1987, 1997, 1998 & 2000.  Sammy Sosa did it in 1998 & 1999.  Barry Bonds did it in 2001 & 2003.  Willie  Mays almost qualified, doing it in 1954 and then by the 2nd ASG of 1962.
-  119 RBI in 1973
FCR -  Steve Murfin, Olney, Maryland
Incorrect guesses:  Tony Perez, Barry Bonds, Mike Schmidt, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron

THURSDAY
Q.        Who was the second player, after Frank Robinson, to be named Rookie of the Year in the National League and later win an MVP in the American League?
Hint:     His nickname is the same as a movie that received the Oscar for Best Picture just over a decade ago.
Hint:     His career slugging percentage is higher that those of Ty Cobb, Willie McCovey, Eddie Mathews or Harmon Killebrew.
Hint:     He was on the Hall of Fame ballot 14 times, never receiving more than 19% of the votes cast.
Hint:     Any answers that involve the word “Richie” will be marked incorrect.
A.         DICK ALLEN  [SABR Bio]
-  Crash”, also the title of Allen’s autobiography and the title of the 2005 Best Motion Picture, release in 2004.
- Career SLG % = .534
-  On HOF ballot 1983-1997
-  A reading of “Crash” will explain why “Richie” is hereinafter forever inappropriate.  He was never "Richie".  That name was forced on him by a racist Philly media.  When he protested (Who wouldn't), they doubled down so then HE looked petty, when it was actually the other way around.
FCR -  Sarah Grynpas, Toronto
Incorrect guesses:  Frank Howard, Miguel Cabrera, Orlando Cepeda, Vladimir Guerrero, Mark McGwire, Josh Hamilton, Gary Matthews

FRIDAY
Q.        Who was the last player to homer twice in a single game off Sandy Koufax?
Hint:     He is tied with three 500-HR Club members for most career homer off Koufax.
Hint:     He has a brother who is famous for NOT making it to the majors in spite of having the talent to do so.
Hint:     He hit over .375 in his first complete professional season.
Hint:     Not meaning to be too personal, but he’s been my favorite player since the Eisenhower administration.
A.         FELIPE ALOU  [ SABR Bio]
-  2 HR = 09-Jul-1966
-  7 career HR off Koufax, tied w/Aaron, Banks & F. Robinson.
-  Youngest brother Juan Rojas Alou stayed home and concentrated on his education, partly as a result of military upheaval in his home country, the Dominican Republic and partly to honor his mother’s wishes who did not want to lose her last child to baseball in the faraway U.S.
-  Hit .380 in 119 G w/ the Class D Cocoa Indians of the Florida State League, leading the league, having started the year w/9 ABs on the Class C 1956 Lake Charles (LA) Giants of the Evangeline League.
-  First heard his name called by Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons on KSFO in the summer of 1960.  He seemed very comfortable with his Hall of Fame teammates.  He played then like he too was a future Hall of Famer.
FCR -  Thomas Lewis, Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania
Incorrect guesses:  Hank Aaron, Bob Uecker, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays, Tom Paciorek, Willie McCovey

SATURDAY
Q.        What future former Yankee was the only A's player to collect a stolen base against the Reds in the 1972 World Series?
Hint:     Six different Reds stole at least one base in the same Series
Hint:     He is the only player in the modern era to pitch in the majors the season before he won a National League batting title.
Hint:     He struck out Willie Stargell to begin and to wrap up his pitching career.
Hint:     Management claimed that soggy conditions held him up.
A.         MATTY ALOU  [SABR Bio]
-  1972 WS SB = G 2 15-Oct-1972.  Played for NYY in 1973.
-  On 26-Aug-1965, on the wrong end of a blowout in Pittsburgh, Manager Herman Franks put Matty in to pitch in the 8th inning.  He struck out Hall of Famer and future teammate Willie Stargell in each of the innings he pitched.
-  In the now legendary 9th inning of the 7th game of the 1962 World Series, with NYY ahead 1-0, Matty bunted his way aboard.  The next two batters struck out*.  Willie Mays then hit a double to RF, where the outfield grass, still wet from previous rains, prevented the strong liner from going to the fence.  Many people, to this day, think Alou could have, should have scored the tying run, being one of the fastest runners on the team.  Several factors, however, held him at 3rd:  A.) Third base coach Whitey Lockman was known to coach by the book, conservatively.
                        B.) Roger Maris, the Yankee’s RF was known to have an accurate rifle arm on throws from the outfield.
                        C.)  The next two batters in the line-up were among the most dangerous hitters of that era, Willie McCovey followed by Orlando Cepeda.

  After a conference on the mound, the Yankees decided not to walk McCovey who then famously lined out to Yankee 2nd baseman Bobby Richardson to end the Series.  Lockman said he’d hold up a runner in that situation, “1,000 times out of 1,000.”  Giants manager Alvin Dark and even opposing manager Ralph Houk agreed that, “Matty would have been out by a mile.”

*Matty’s brother Felipe was the first of these two K’s and to this very day regards that failed at-bat as the most regrettable moment of his entire career.
FCR -  Barry Nelson, Guilderland, New York
Incorrect guesses:  Reggie Jackson, Mike Hegan, Rickey Henderson, Bert Campaneris, Catfish Hunter  

SUNDAY
Q.        Who was the first native of San Pedro de Marcoris receive a Hall of Fame vote?
Hint:     He was the first player to be selected to the All-Star team via write-in.
Hint:     He was arrested and beaten by police, causing that city's mayor to suspend the officers involved and publicly declare the incident “blatant brutality”.
A.         RICO CARTY  [SABR Bio]
-     HOF vote 1985 s
-     ASG 1970
-     Beating administered by the police of Atlanta in 1971.  Quote from Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell, the most recent white Mayor of Atlanta.  He was the city’s youngest ever mayor and the first Jewish mayor of any major U.S. city.
FCR -  Adam Foldes, New York City
Incorrect guesses:  Juan Samuel, Tony Fernandez, Pedro Guerrero, Orlando Cepeda


WEEKLY THEME – Top 7 MLB batting averages of 1966, the first time the top 7 were all men of color.  Ironically, Robinson is the only entrant from the American League, but his number was enough to help him to the AL Triple Crown.

1.   M. Alou          .3421
2.   F. Alou           .3273
3.   Carty              .3263
4.   Allen              .3168
5.   Clemente       .3166
6.   Robinson       .3160
7.   Stargell          .3155


First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeRichard Giovanoni, Morton Grove, Illinois (after first Alou)

Incorrect theme guesses:

Tuesday -  A regular and WS MVP
               -  Managed in the Puerto Rican winter leagues
               -  Major league leaders in hits in 1960s
               -  Players with the most hits in the 1960s   

Wed        -  Hall of Famers who played in the 1971 World Series.
               -  Hall of Famers who were on players/managers/coaches in the 1971 World Series
               -  Players who won the MVP after finishing in the top 10 and missing at least 3 times.
               -  Most home runs in the 1960s.
               -  World Series MVP’s
               -  NL MVP winners who have also been World Series MVP winners during their careers
               -  Multiple ASG appearances and who were World Series MVP’s
               -  All time HR leaders by Pirates?

Thur        -  Hall of Famers who played in the 1971 WS.
               -  Players who played in the 1965 All-Star Game.

Friday     -  Led league in total bases only one time









No comments:

Post a Comment