Sunday, July 29, 2018

2018-07-23 Four-HR/Game + All-Star G HR


MONDAY  {Wild card—question & answer not related to this week’s theme.  […and not at all a “Monday” question in the Horsehide Trivia sense of the word.}
Q.        Who was the first eventual Hall of Famer to hit 2 home runs off another eventual Hall of Fame pitcher in the same inning?
Hint:     Baseball Historian John Thorn calls him, “the greatest player of the period before professional league play.”
Hint:     He once led the league in triples while playing for Boston.
Hint:     His brother, who was also his manager, was a decent player too.
A.         GEORGE WRIGHT  [SABR Bio]
-  Double-homer game 26-Jul-1873, hit off Candy Cummings
-  Hit 15 3B in 60 G in 1874, playing for the Boston Red Stockings of the National Association
-  Brother was Hall of Famer Harry Wright
FCR -  Bill Helm, Cottonwood, Arizona
Incorrect guesses:  Harry Wright, Ed Delahanty, Dan Brouthers, Andre Dawson

TUESDAY
Q.        From the end of World War II through the beginning of MLB expansion, nobody had more league stolen base titles than Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio.  Who had the second most?
Hint:     He was the first payer to win his league’s MVP in his first full season after winning his league’s Rookie of the Year Award.
Hint:     After his career, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
A.         WILLIE MAYS  [SABR Bio]
-  In the span 1945-1962, Aparicio had 7 (1956-62); Mays had 4 (1956-59).  Minnie Minoso, Maury Wills, Bob Dillinger & Bill Bruton each had 3.
-  ROY 1951; MVP 1954 (He spent 1952-53 mostly in military service.)
-  PMOF conferred by President Barack Obama 24-Nov-2015.
FCR -  Naftali Greenwood, Kiryat, Arba, Israel
Incorrect guesses:  Jackie Robinson, Maury Wills, Curt Flood, Lou Brock, Jackie Jensen, Stan Musial

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Who had seven seasons where he walked at least 100 times PLUS had 200 hits in each of those same years?
Hint:     He was voted MVP in his third full season, even though he’d received not a single vote for Rookie of the Year.
Hint:     Much of his character was revealed when he said, “I love to win, but I love to lose almost as much.  I love the thrill of victory, but I also love the challenge of defeat.”
Hint:     The first base he stole in the majors was home plate.
A.         LOU GEHRIG  [SABR Bio]
-  No other player had more than 4 such.  In those years, 1927, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36 & 37, Gehrig averaged 210 H & 114 BB!  [NOTE: Wade Boggs did it 1986-89.]
-  MVP n 1927 (ROY not begun until 1947 but Gehrig would likely have lost to Heinie Manush in 1923, Al Simmons in 1924 and Mickey Cochrane in 1925, depending on when they determined his rookie season was.)
-  Stole home 24-Jun-1925 in his first full season.  He had 5 more SB that year and only 94 more in his 17-season career.
FCR -  Larry Hayes, San Francisco
Incorrect guesses:  Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, Wade Boggs, Ted Williams, Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Willie Mays

THURSDAY
Q.        What Hall of Famer has been an outspoken advocate for electronic ball and strike calls for more than four years?
Hint:     His team’s lead broadcast announcer seldom announced his name without saying his first full name then his middle name then last, especially for his first at-bat.
Hint:     He played a different position in high school and college than the one he dominated in the majors.
A.         MIKE SCHMIDT
-  Schmidt’s statement 10-Apr-2014
-  It doesn’t take too much imagination to remember Harry Kalas saying, “Michael Jack Schmidt”.
-  Was a SS before joining PHI.  (If you unfamiliar with what position he played in the majors, please give me a call.)
FCR -  Kevin Johnson, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Incorrect guesses:  Derek Jeter, Greg Maddux, Sandy Koufax

FRIDAY
Q.        Whose first six seasons managing in the majors resulted in his teams finishing 10th, 9th, 8th, 8th, 6th and 9th?
Hint:     His only career cycle came less than two weeks after Wally Westlake’s.
Hint:     Finished his career holding the record for double plays by a right-hander at his position.
A.         GIL HODGES  [SABR Bio]
-  Five seasons w/WSA: 1963-67 + 1st year w/NYM. (Notice the SRO attendance the first time they played the other expansion team!)
-  Westlake’s cycle 14-Jun-1949; Hodges’: 25-Jun-1949
-  Had 1,733 DP @ 1B.  Passed by Chris Chambliss in 1984.
FCR -  Sarah Grynpas, Toronto
Incorrect guesses:  Frank Robinson, Danny Murtaugh, Casey Stengel, Joe Torre, Jackie Robinson, Wes Westrum

SATURDAY
Q.        Who was the first American League outfielder to play a full season without committing an error?
Hint:     He’s the only outfielder ever recorded to collect seven hits in one game.
Hint:     He is the fifth player in American League history to have eleven consecutive 20-home run seasons.
Hint:     A future World-Series-champion manager was his teammate on his first professional team.
A.         ROCKY COLAVITO  [SABR Bio]
-  In 1965, his first season back with CLE, he played all 162 G, 1,426⅓ IN, had 274 chances, threw out 9 baserunners and made exactly zero errors.
-  7 H = 24-Jun1962.  Added a BB for good measure.  It was a marathon affair vs. NYY, going 22 innings.
-  20+ HR:  1956-66
-  Played with Joe Altobelli on the 1951 D-league Daytona Beach Islanders.  Altobelli skippered BAL to a WS in 1983.
FCR -  Naftali Greenwood, Kiryat, Arba, Israel
Incorrect guesses:  Rip Radcliff, Wilbert Robinson, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle

SUNDAY
Q.        Who is the only other player to qualify for this week’s theme?
Hint:     He qualified only last week.
Hint:     He hit his first career grand slam off Stephen Strasburg.
Hint:     He is not the most recent member of the 10-RBI-in-a-game club.
Hint:     His double-digit major league ERA is envied by very few.
Hint:     He’s always got three doubles.
A.         SCOOTER GENNETT
-  [See theme]
-  [See theme]
-  Had 10 RBI on 06-Jun-2017.  Mark Reynolds did it since, on 07-Jul-2018
-  Gave up 2 R in 1 IP on 14-Aug-2017
-  Double ‘o’ in Scooter; double ‘n’ & ‘t’ in Gennett.
FCR -  Sarah Grynpas
Incorrect guesses:  Kike Hernandez, Alex Avila, Mark Reynolds, Josh Hamilton, Anthony Rendon, J.D. Martinez


WEEKLY THEME – Players with 4 home runs in a regular season game who also have homered in All-Star competition.

Player                 4 HR/G                  ASG HR
Colavito.... 10-Jun-1959............ 1959b
.................................................. 1961b
.................................................. 1962b
Gehrig....... 03-Jun-1932............ 1936
.................................................. 1937
Gennett..... 06-Jun-2017............ 2018
Hodges..... 31-Aug-1950............ 1951
Mays......... 30-Apr-1961............ 1956
.................................................. 1960b
.................................................. 1965
Schmidt.... 17-Apr-1976............ 1981


First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme¯\_()_/¯

Incorrect theme guesses:

Wed        -  Players with the most career hits winning exactly ONE batting title.
               -  Hall of Fame players who hit four home runs in a game.

Fri           -  Players who hit 4 homers in a game.

Sun         -  4 homers in a game by a right hander.
-                     -  MLB All-Star position players who pitched at least once.
-                     -  HOF position players with 400+ HRs who also did some MLB pitching
-                     -  Players who hit four home runs in one game












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