Sunday, September 30, 2018

2018-09-24 Pitchers with 20 wins & 20 losses in the same season


Q.        Whose record for most times leading his league in strikeouts did Nolan Ryan never manage to catch?
Hint:     No pitcher in the modern era has hit more batters with pitches during a major league career.
Hint:     Notwithstanding his legendary control, he once hurled 4 wild pitches in a single inning.
A.         WALTER JOHNSON  [SABR Bio]
-  Led in K 12X (Ryan = 11X)
-  Career 205 HBP
-  WP 4th inning, 21-Sep-1914
FCR -  Tony Hughes, Woodbridge, Virginia
Incorrect guesses:  Bob Gibson, Lefty Grove, Christie Mathewson, Randy Johnson, Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, Steve Carlton, Jim Maloney

TUESDAY
Q.        Who was the first qualifying Braves pitcher to post a sub-2.00 ERA in a season since World War I?
Hint:     He faced Roberto Clemente and Mark McGwire.  (Not in the same game.  That would be a record.)
Hint:     His modest former home is located on a street named for him.
A.         PHIL NIEKRO  [SABR Bio]
-  His 1966 ERA was 1.87 (Greg Maddux did it twice subsequently.)
-  Faced Clemente first on 28-Apr-1964.  Clemente singled in an RBI.  Faced McGwire last on 29-Aug-1987.  McGwire tripled.
-  4138 Phil Niekro Parkway, Norcross, Georgia and is currently being rented.
FCR -  Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect guesses:  Doyle Alexander, Warren Spahn, Greg Maddux

TUESDAY TWICE
Q.        Who was the seventh native of the state of Maryland to be enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown?
Hint:     He and another better-known Hall of Famer share state-and-fruit-based nicknames.
Hint:     No other National Leaguer has ever thrown more complete games in a single season.
A.         VIC WILLIS  [SABR Bio]
-  HOF 1995 (between the 6th, Al Kaline in 1980 and the 8th, Call Ripken in 2007)
-  Ty Cobb was the “Georgia Peach”; Willis was called the “Delaware Peach”.
-  45 CG in 1904 (Jack Chesbro set the MLB mark the same year w/48.)
FCR -  Sam Bogen, Manhattan Beach, California
Incorrect guesses:  Al Kaline, Amos Rusie, Lefty Grove, Charles Radbourn, Iron Joe McGinnity

WEDNESDAY
Q.        What pitcher won the most games in a season for the original American League Baltimore Orioles?
Hint:     His metallic nick name derived from his previous occupation.
Hint:     Reinforcing his nickname for different reason, he once pitched both ends of 3 doubleheaders in a single month.
A.         JOE McGINNITY  [SABR Bio]
-  He led BLA in wins in 1901 w/26 and was the only staff member with double-digit victories in 1902, the last year of the franchise, w/1903.
-  He had worked for his father-in-law’s iron foundry in McAlester, Oklahoma.
-  Three twin-bills on 01-Aug, 08-Aug & 31-Aug for the 1903 NYG.  McGinnity won all six games.
FCR -  Jesse Asbury, Norman, Oklahoma
Incorrect guesses:  Don Larsen, Urban Shocker

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.        Who does SABR refer to as, “Arguably the best left-handed knuckleball pitcher in major-league history”?
Hint:     In high school, he was recruited by some 50 colleges to play, variously, hockey, football and baseball.
Hint:     Since the 162-game MLB schedule began in 1961, no other pitcher, lefty or  righty, has had a season with more inning pitched.
A.         WILBUR WOOD  [SABR Bio]
-  He appears on virtually every list of baseball history’s top knuckleballers, but is always the only southpaw.
-  He signed instead, close to home, with the Red Sox before graduating.
-  He threw 376⅔ in 1972, breaking Mickey Lolich’s mark of 376 set just the prior season.  From 1971-75, Wood had 5 straight seasons of 290+ innings each.  Bert Blyleven was the last pitcher, in 1983, to exceed 290.
FCR -  Lincoln Mitchell, New York City
Incorrect guesses:  Charlie Hough, Mickey Lolich, Gaylord Perry

THURSDAY
Q.        Who is the only pitcher in baseball history to throw a no-hitter on his birthday?
Hint:     He once pinch-hit for Ty Cobb.
Hint:     He threw a one-hitter on Opening Day of his best season.  The sole knock was by a batter who later would six times be league home run king.
A.         GEORGE MULLIN  [SABR Bio]
-  B. 04-Jul-1880; No-no 04-Jul-1912.
-  Pinch-hit 22-Jun-1912, two weeks before his no-hitter.  Cobb had departed for the clubhouse early, with the Tigers down 11-3 w/2 out in the bottom of the 9th inning.  Mullin flied out to end the game.
-  One-hitter 14-Apr-1909.  Hit was by Gavvy Cravath who also walked and stole a base.  He was the only one doing anything that day for the Pale Hose.
FCR -  Mark Pattison, Washington, DC
Incorrect guesses:  Bob Feller, Ed Walsh

FRIDAY
Q.        Whose record for strikeouts in a single World Series did Bob Gibson break in 1964?
Hint:     He had also once owned the record for most strikeouts in a World Series game, having broken Deacon Philippe’s record.
Hint:     He played an important role in the outcome of the first All-Star Game in Chicago in 1933.
A.         BILL DINNEEN  [SABR Bio]
-  28 K in the 1903 WS
-  Phillippe had struck out 10 in G 1.  Dinneen struck out 11 in G 2 the next day.  (Ed Walsh then K’d 12 in G 3 in the 1906 WS.)
-  He was the home plate umpire for the 1933 ASG.
FCR -  Scott Matteson, Shawnee, Kansas
Incorrect guesses:  Carl Hubbell, Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez, Babe Ruth, Carl Erskine, Howard Ehmke, Lefty Grove, Bob Gibson, Bill Hallahan

SATURDAY
Q.        Who was the first pitcher in modern era baseball to win 20 games for a team that lost 100 that same season?
Hint:     He stood alone with that distinction for almost half a century.
Hint:     He led the majors as a rookie with 41 complete games.  That’s 39 more that Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber each had in 2017.
Hint:     No rookie in the 20th century pitched more innings or more complete games than he did in his debut season.
A.         IRV YOUNG  [SABR Bio]
-  In his rookie season of 1905, he won 20 and his team, the Boston Beaneaters (now Braves) lost 103.  Thus, 43% of the team’s victories were his.  No other member of the rotation won more than 14 and they EACH lost at least 20. (finished 7th of 8)
-  Ned Garver won 20 for the 52-102 St. Louis Brown of 1951 (finished last).
-  1905 = 378 innings pitched (led the majors) and 7 shutouts
FCR -  Walt Cherniak
Incorrect guesses:  Steve Carlton, Ned Garver, Pete Alexander, Jack Chesbro, Tom Seaver, Jack Taylor, Russ Ford, Rube Marquard, Ed Walsh

SUNDAY
Q.        Who threw the first no-hitter Ray Schalk ever caught?
Hint:     He showed up to his first professional tryout dressed in overalls and tennis shoes.
Hint:     In his best season in the majors, he tied Walter Johnson for the league lead in shutouts.
Hint:     Ring Lardner later made him a peripheral character in his dead ball classic, “You Know Me Al”.
Hint:     He died on the U.S./Mexico border.
A.         JIM SCOTT  [SABR Bio]
-  No-hitter 14-May-1914, later de-certified by MLB because he gave up 2 R in the 10th inning and lost the game.  Schalk caught 3 more no-nos.
-  Had 7 ShO in 1915.
-  Passed away of a heart attack 07-Apr-1957 at age 63 in Jacumba, California a census‑designated place  in eastern San Diego County.  It literally abuts the border with Mexico.
FCR -  Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses:  Ed Cicotte, Doc White, Cy Falkenberg, Joe Benz


WEEKLY THEME – Modern era pitchers with 20 wins and 20 losses in the same season.

Pitcher           Year            W/L               Team         WAR           Team Finnish
Dinneen....... 1902........... 20/20........... BOS.......... 0.7...................... 3rd of 8
Johnson....... 1916........... 25/20........... WSH.......... 9.8.................... 7th of 8
McGinnity.... 1901........... 26/20........... BLA........... 7.6.................... 5th of 8
         "            1903........... 31/20........... NYG........ 11.7                       2nd of 8
Mullin........... 1905........... 21/21........... DET........... 3.8...................... 3rd of 8
         "            1907........... 20/20........... DET........... 2.9.................... 1st of 8
Niekro.......... 1979........... 21/20........... ATL........... 7.4.................... 6th of 6
Scott............. 1913........... 20/21........... CHW......... 7.5.................... 5th of 8
Willis............ 1902........... 27/20........... BSN........... 8.4...................... 3rd of 8
Wood............ 1973........... 34/20........... CHW......... 7.6.................... 5th of 6
Young.......... 1905........... 20/21........... BSN........... 9.2.................... 7th of 8


First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeJohn Ford, Greenwich, Connecticut (after Mullin)

Incorrect theme guesses:

Tuesday -  Hall of fame pitchers who lost 20 games in a season
               -  Hall of Famers who led their leagues in Ks one year & ERA another year
               -  Hall of Fame pitchers who won 20 games and lost 20 games in the same season.

Wed        -  IP leaders
               -  20th century pitchers who led MLB with at least 340 IP in a season
               -  Pitchers who led the league in wins one year and era another











Sunday, September 23, 2018

2018-09-17 Cy Young Award winners the same year as Roger Clemens


Q.        Who was the majors’ last pitcher to notch at least 305 career victories?
Hint:     He was the MVP of the last World Series his franchise had won since Roy Campanella was active.
Hint:     Citing it as too large for their current needs, he and his wife recently put their 16,000 square-foot home up for sale.
A.         TOM GLAVINE
-  Won his 305th 20-May-2008 against his old team.  His team lost his next five starts before chose to retire.
-  MVP of the 1995 WS, the last Braves team to win it all since 1957.
-  The Glavines are asking $6,750,000.  It is lovely.
FCR -  Bill Helm, Cottonwood, Arizona
Incorrect guesses:  Randy Johnson, Don Sutton, Warren Spahn, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Flavones, Orel Hershiser, Sandy Koufax

TUESDAY
Q.        Who was the last pitcher to win 300 games?
Hint:     Larry Walker and John Kruk helped establish his rightful place among the immortals.
Hint:     The Cardinals, Orioles and Blue Jays were not the only volitant opponents he dominated.
A.         RANDY JOHNSON  [SABR Bio]

-  Won his 300th in Washington, DC against a seemingly cooperative Nats team on 04-Jun-2009.
-  In the 1993 All-Star Game, Kruk altered his at-bat goals as Johnson channeled Nuke LaLoosh.  In the 197 ASG,       Walker, knowing the inconsistency of his former teammate’s searing fastball, also altered his at-bat approach.
-  Johnson was a collective 31-21 against those 3 MLB club, but had a perfect game against a certain uninvited San Francisco Giants’ preseason walk-on, ornithological interloper 24-Mar-2001.
FCR -  Timothy Kearns, Washington, DC
Incorrect guesses:  Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, Don Sutton, Tom Seaver

WEDNESDAY
Q.        What pitcher, currently under contract to the Toronto Blue Jays, was the only MLB pitcher to tally 1,100 strike outs in the 5 seasons 2004-2008?
Hint:     The only other pitcher in the majors with even 1,000 during the same period was the Padres’ Jake Peavy.
Hint:     He finished in the Top 10 in Cy Young Award voting for six consecutive seasons.
Hint:     His closest match on Baseball-Reference’s Similarity scores in Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer.
Hint:     When his youth baseball coaches told him that only right-handers can play shortstop, this natural left-hander taught himself to throw right-handed.
A.         JOHAN SANTANA
-  1,189 K 2004-08, 179 more than Peavy and Peavy had 70 more than the bronze medalist in this competition, Javier Vazquez.
-  Won the CYA in 2004 & 2006, both years by unanimous vote.  2003-08, he also had finishes of 7th, 3rd, 5th & 3rd.
FCR -  Preston Salisbury, Starkville, Mississippi
Incorrect guesses:  Roy Halladay, Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ, Pedro Martinez

THURSDAY
Q.        What pitcher holds the career record for most games lost in League Championship Series play?
Hint:     A Chalupa a well as two all-time Hall of Famers were chosen ahead of him in the draft.
Hint:     He pitched the last professional game of his career in Rome.
A.         TOM GLAVINE
-  Has 10 NLCS loses:  9 w/ATL & 1 w/NYM.
-  Glavine was the 69th pick in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft.  Taken before him were Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux (#1) & Patrick Roy (#51).  Let’s not forget Czechoslovakia’s Milan Chalupa, selected 49th overall.
-  Last played professionally for the 2009 Rome (Georgia) Braves.
FCR -  Bob Boehme, Birmingham, Alabama
Incorrect guesses:  Jimmy Nelson John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Jamie Moyer

FRIDAY
Q.        Who clinched his team’s division championship with a no-hitter?
Hint:     It virtually secured his well-earned hardware that season.  Maybe it wasn’t even needed though, since he led his league in shutouts and ERA+, but he also led the majors in ERA, strikeouts, innings pitched and more.
Hint:     He surrendered the first home run at night in the first official game held in Wrigley Field.
Hint:     In his first full season, he surrendered Mike Schmidt’s 300th home run.
A.         MIKE SCOTT  [SABR Bio]
-  No-no 25-Sep-1986 over SFG.
-  Won the 1986 CYA.
-  HR at Wrigley 22-Aug-1988.  Ryne Sandberg did hit a HR off of Kevin Gross on 08-Aug-1988, but that history-making game was rained out & all stats, including Ryno’s HR, were erased.  Games played by the Cubs from 09-Aug through 21-Aug were:
A.) Day games;
B.) Played on the road; or
C.) Games where no Cub homered.
-  Schmidt’s 300th HR came 14-Aug-1981.  Also gave up Schmidt’s 398th & 537th.
FCR -  Madison McEntire, Bryant, Arkansas
Incorrect guesses:  Justin Verlander, Rick Sutcliffe, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay, Max Scherzer, Kerry Wood

SATURDAY
Q.        Who is the only pitcher to compile over 3,000 strikeouts before he had pitched 3,000 innings?
Hint:     He owns the highest career winning percentage for any right-hander in the modern era.
Hint:     Speaking of era, his career adjusted ERA+ is the best of any starting pitcher in major league history.
Hint:     Even as his vocabulary improves, it is becoming evident that his accent will not.
A.         PEDRO MARTINEZ  [SABR Bio]
-  His 3,000th K came in his 2,644th IP in the 2nd inning 03-Sep-2007.  Career totals:  3,154 K; 2,827.1 IP.
-  Career W/L = 219/100 = .687% (Only lefties Whitey Ford and Clayton Kershaw sport better marks.)
-  Career ERA+ = 154 (Next closest is Roger Clemens @ 143)
-  Has become a valuable analyst on the MLB television channel.  His delivery is articulate, his insights are insightful, but his heavy (but charming) Dominican Spanish accent colors his color commentary.
FCR -  Dave Serota, Kalamazoo
Incorrect guesses:  Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Nolan Ryan [ERRATUM:  Reader R.D. Lerner of Silver Spring, Maryland points out that Nolan Ryan, not Pedro Martinez, was the first to reach 3,000 strikeouts in fewer than 3,000 innings. Ryan got his 3,000th K on 02-Jun-1980 in San Diego but his 3,000th inning wasn't until 04-Jul-1980. Pedro was the second with the honor.]

SUNDAY
Q.        Who set the MLB record for most starts in a single season without a complete game?
Hint:     Two seasons later he finished in the top 5 in Cy Young voting for the only time in his career.
Hint:     His alma mater was seeded 6th in the recent NJCAA championship series.
Hint:     His other alma mater gave him Charlie and put him in their Hall of Fame.
A.         STEVE BEDROSIAN
-  In 1985, he started 37 games for PHI and not once that season did he throw an 8th inning pitch.  In the 574 career games he pitched in after that year, not one was as a starter.
-  In 1987 he led the majors in saves w/40 and finished first in the Cy Young Award voting.
-  2018 NJCAA baseball championship seedings.
-  The University of New Haven’s mascot is Charlie the Charger.  Bedrosian was selected for the school’s Hall of Fame in 1996.
FCR -  Joe Haardt, McLean, Virginia
Incorrect guesses:  Tim Hudson, Max Scherzer, Kevin Brown


WEEKLY THEME – Pitchers who won the Cy Young Award in the same seasons as did Roger Clemens.

Pitcher             Year         Team          W/L                   ERA              WAR
Bedrosian....... 1987........ PHI............. 5/3 (40 saves)..... 2.83............. 2.3
Glavine........... 1991........ ATL........... 20***/11............ 2.55......... 8.5***
      " ............... 1998........ ATL........... 20***/6.............. 2.47............. 6.1
Johnson......... 2001........ ARI........... 21/6.................. 2.49***... 10.1***
Martinez......... 1997........ MON......... 17/8.................. 1.90***....... 9.0**
Santana.......... 2004*...... MIN........... 20/6.................. 2.61**....... 8.7***
Scott............... 1986........ HOU......... 18/10................ 2.22***....... 8.4**
*Unanimous CYA selection
**Led league
***Led majors

First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeDavid Washburn (after the 2nd Glavine), Marietta Georgia

Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday  -  Braves Franchise players in the hall of fame

Tuesday -  Left handed hall of fame pitchers with no-hitters
               -  Left handed world series MVPs
               -  Pitchers who have won both a Cy Young Award and World Series MVP Award
               -  HOF pitchers named Tom
               -  Left-handed Cy Young winners

Wed        -  Left-handed pitchers with multiple Cy Young Awards.

Thur.       -  Lefties who are in different teams’ Halls of Fame