Sunday, September 9, 2018

2018-09-03 Batters who had 160 RBI in a season


Q.        Who is the only member of the 500 home run club who stole home at least 10 times?
Hint:     He fell just shy of joining the 500 strikeout club.
Hint:     He once had a season with a qualifying ERA of 1.75 yet got not a single Cy Young Award vote.
Hint:     The next season he led the entire majors with 35 complete games and still—not a single CYA vote.
A.         BABE RUTH  [SABR Bio]
-  Ruth’s 10 steals of home was confirmed by the research done by Bob Davids, founder of SABR.  His 10 career steals of home totaled more than those of Rickey Henderson, Lou Brock and Tim Raines combined (9).
-  When he pitched, Ruth struck out batters 488 times.
-  His ERA of 1.75 led the AL in 1916, but the Cy Young Award began only after Cy Young’s death in November of 1955.
FCR -  Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses:  Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig

MONDAY MORE
Q.        Who was the first twentieth-century player to hit four home runs in a game?
Hint:     Quoth he, “In the beginning, I would make one terrible play a game.  Then I got so I’d make one a week and finally I'd pull a bad one about once a month.  Now, I’m trying to keep it down to one a season.”
Hint:     Only he exceeded 400 total bases in a season five (5!) times.
Hint:     He was the first player to lead his league in home runs twice in years where he had more home runs than strikeouts.
A.         LOU GEHRIG  [SABR Bio]
-  4 HR/G 03-Jun-1932.  3 other Yankees homered that day too.
-  Gehrig’s seasons of 400+ TB =
447 in 1927;
419 in 1930;
410 in 1931
409 in 1934; and
403 in 1936.
-  In 1934, he had 49 HR & 31 K.  In 1936 he had 49 HR 7 46 K.
FCR -  Naftali Greenwood, Kiryat, Arba, ISREAL
Incorrect guesses:  Ed Delahanty, Gil Hodges, Ty Cobb, Jimmie Foxx, Ken Williams, Chuck Klein

LABOR DAY BONUS
Q.        What glamorous New York player passed away in Hollywood?
Hint:     He once hit three triples in a game.
Hint:     He was the first athlete to be awarded the Presidential Medal for Freedom.
Hint:     My mother once got him to sign her menu as they sat at adjacent tables in a restaurant.
A.         JOE DiMAGGIO  [SABR Bio]
-  Did at age 84 in 1999 at his home in Hollywood, Florida.
-  3b X 3 = 27-Aug-1938
-  PMOF by Gerald Ford 10-Jan-1977.  Some readers informed us that Moe Berg was given the award earlier, in 1945.  Reader Steve Berman added this:
Recipient
Year

Sport
President
Robert J. H. Kiphuth
1963

Swimming
Kennedy
Jesse Owens
1976

Track
Ford
Perhaps the only correct wording would be, “He was the first baseball Hall of Famer to be awarded the Presidential Medal for Freedom.  [sigh… ]
-  Menu/autograph event at a restaurant somewhere in the East Bay circa 1975
FCR -  Jerry Miller, Liberty Hill, Texas
Incorrect guesses:  Marvin Miller, Jackie Robinson, Casey Stengel

TUESDAY
Q.        What Maryland-born Hall of Famer was “discovered” by another Maryland-born Hall of Famer?
Hint:     He was the first American Leaguer to collect nine (9!) RBI in a single game.
Hint:     He came within .003 of winning a Triple Crown in each of consecutive seasons.
Hint:     By 1941, he had played in 100% of every All-Star Game ever played.
A.         JIMMIE FOXX  [SABR Bio]
-  Home Run Baker [B. Trappe, MD, 1886] made scouts aware of Foxx [B. Sudlersville, MD, 1904].
-  9 RBI G 14-Aug-1933
-  BOS’s Dale Alexander took home his only batting title when he hit .367 in 1932.  Foxx hit .364 that year while winning the HR & RBI titles.  In 1933, Foxx took all 3.
-  ASG began in 1933 and Foxx was there every year through 1941.
FCR -  Charlie Riordan, Bethesda, Maryland
Incorrect guesses:  Babe Ruth, Al Simmons, Charlie “King Kong” Keller, Billy Herman, Mel Ott

TUESDAY TWICE
Q.        Who was the first player to have a string of five consecutive years each with 100 runs batted in?
Hint:     One amazing season, playing in a scant 102 games, he amassed 187 hits, 114 runs, 32 doubles and managed 42 walks and managed to squeeze in 13 strikeouts.
Hint:     Not only did he not win the National League MVP, he didn’t get a single vote!
Hint:     There may not be a better mustache depicted on any other Hall of Fame plaque.
A.         SAM THOMPSON  [SABR Bio]
-  100+ RBI = 1892-96 W/PHI
-  1894 was his amazing season (but not his only one and he was not the only one).  In fairness, many major leaguers had offensive explosions that year, the pitching distance being 10½ ' farther from home plate than it had been the year before.
-  1911 is considered the first year that any sort of MVP was awarded.  Thompson played his last season in 1906.
FCR -  Dave Washburn, Marietta, Georgia
Incorrect guesses:  Cap Anson

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Who is the only batter to exceed 60 home runs in three separate seasons?
Hint:     You’ve got to admit, he’s got skin in the game.
Hint:     Was passed by a recent Hall of Fame inductee on the career home run list.
A.         SAMMY SOSA  [SABR Bio]
-  1998 = 66 HR; 1999 = 63 HR; 2001 = 64.  His timing couldn’t have been worse all three seasons.  He finished behind McGwire’s 70 * 65 & Bonds’s 73 respectively.
-  Has undergone skin bleaching program with interesting results.
-  Sosa’s career HR total of 609 was bested by new HOFer Jim Thome, who finished at 612
FCR -  Naftali Greenwood, Kiryat, Arba, Israel
Incorrect guesses:  Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.        Who was the first major leaguer born in Norway to lead his league in games played in a season?
Hint:     Possibly the best slugger never to make an All-Star team.
Hint:     He is the only Cleveland Indian to exceed 400 total bases in a season.
Hint:     He no longer drives in the jov lane.
A.         HAL TROSKY  [SABR Bio]
-  Born in Norway, Iowa.  Played in 154 G in 1934 & 35.  (FYI:  13 additional states have towns named Norway.)  Mike Boddiker attended High School in tiny Norway (pop. 500+)
-  Never an AS because he played 1st B in the AL at the height of the careers of Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg.
-  405 TB in 1936
-  Born Harold Arthur Trojovsky.
FCR -  Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses:  Nap Lajoie, Jeff Heath, Albert Belle, Al Rosen

THURSDAY
Q.        Which Hall of Famer had 100 RBI at the break one year, but didn't make the All-Star team?
Hint:     One season recorded a record eleven multiple-home run games.
Hint:     Another year, he and three of his teammates each had at least 200 hits.
A.         HANK GREENBERG  [SABR Bio]
-  Greenberg didn’t get his first RBI until 20-Apr and yet had amassed 101 by the end of play on 07-Jul-1935.  The All-Star Game was played without him the next day in Cleveland before a record attendance of 69,812.  That record stood until the game was held there again in 1981 when 72,086 showed up. (Greenberg didn’t play in that one either.)
-  11 multiple-HR games in 1938, on…
1.     25-May
2.     24-Jun
3.     09-Jul
4.     26-Jul
5.     27-Jul
6.     29-Jul  (That looks like a pretty good week!)
7.     19-Aug
8.     11-Sep
9.     17-Sep
10.  23-Sep
11.  27-Sep
   One additional day like those and he would have tied Ruth w/60.
-  in 1937, these Tigers tallied these numbers of hits    Gee Walker                                                                        213
Charlie Gehringer........... 209
Pete Fox........... 208
Greenberg........... 200
FCR -  Leonard Epstein, Dallas
Incorrect guesses:  Juan Gonzalez, Hack Wilson, Lou Gehrig, Jim Thome, Jimmie Foxx, Vern Stephens

FRIDAY
Q.        Who is the only player to have walk-off hits against both Dennis Eckersley and Mariano Rivera?
Hint:     He has the most career grand slams of players born in Latin America, the final one, notably, hit on his Bobblehead Day.  [Please ignore the improper antecedent.]
Hint:     For eight consecutive seasons, he was in the Top 10 in MVP voting in the American League, 3 times in the top five.  He did however win he Silver Slugger for the last 8 of those 9 seasons.
A.         MANNY RAMIREZ  [SABR Bio]
-  Homered against Eckersley [The coiner of “walk-off home run”.] on 16-Jul-1995 (Notice Eck’s expression.)  Manny walked-off Rivera 13-Apr-2001 w/9th-inning 2-run, walk-off single.
-  21 GS.  The only two players with more are Lou Gehrig w/23 & A-Rod w/25, both born in New York City.  Interestingly enough, Manny was born in the Dominican Republic, but grew up in New York City.  Final GS (#21) was 22‑Jul‑2009 on Manny Ramirez Bobblehead Day at Dodger Stadium. (er… One of them, anyway.  He had four [4!] Dodger bobblehead days.)
-  SS awards 1999-2006, playing for CLE & BOS.
FCR -  Mike McCroskey, Sugar Land, Texas
Incorrect guesses:  Roberto Alomar, Albert Pujols, Sandy Alomar, Jr., David Ortiz,, Rafael Palmeiro

SATURDAY
Q.        Who was the first American League player to win the batting championship the same year his team won the World Series?
Hint:     He and a Hall of Fame teammate each scored two runs in a single World Series inning.
Hint:     He was the quaternary victim in a celebrated pentad of K’s.
Hint:     He played college football before focusing on baseball.
A.         AL SIMMONS  [SABR Bio]
-  1930 = Won batting title hitting .381; A’s beat STL in WS 4-2.
-  In the 4th G of the 1929 World Series, he and Jimmie Foxx both scored twice in the bottom            of the 7th.  The Cubs used 4 pitchers that inning.  The A’s went in to that inning behind 8-0 in the game.  The inning (and game) ended 10-8 in favor of Philadelphia.
-  Pitching in his home park in the second ever major league All-Star Game, Giants’ pitcher Carl Hubbell famously struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Simmons and Joe Cronin in consecutive at-bats.  They were the final batters of the first inning and the first two of he second inning.  Bill Dickey broke the string with a single before Hubbell ended the second whiffing his counterpart, Lefty Gomez.
-  Played football for Stevens Point Teachers College, now the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point.
FCR -  Tony Hughes, Woodbridge, Virginia
Incorrect guesses:  Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin

WEEKEND EXTRA
Q.        Who is still the only slugger in National League history to bang out 400 total bases in a season thrice?
Hint:     No outfielder in the modern era has ever had more assists than he did in his second full season.
Hint:     No National Leaguer in the modern era has ever crossed home plate in one season than he did that same year.
Hint:     In that same season, he also led the majors in games played and doubles while hitting .386 and homering 40 times.  These feats, however, did not help his team finish anywhere but last place, 52-102, 40 G out of first place.
A.         CHUCK KLEIN  [SABR Bio]
-  TB = 445 in 1930 (4th all-time); 420 in 1932; & 405 in 1929.
-  44 OF A in 1930
-  in 1930, he had 156 G and an amazing 59 doubles, for the hard luck Phillies.  Understandably, they drew fewer than 300,000 fans the entire season, also last in the league.  Although in regard to ticket sales, the spectacular team across town may have been part of the reason.
FCR -  Naftali Greenwood, Kiryat, Arba, Israel
Incorrect guesses: 

SUNDAY
Q.        Who holds a record, achieved during Babe Ruth’s career, that Ruth said would never be broken.  (So far… Ruth was right.)
Hint:     Not only has it been a record since then, savvy SABR researchers found that the record was even greater than previously believed.
Hint:     He was dismissed by a Hall of Fame manager who claimed he lacked a certain body part.
Hint:     He is the ultimate qualifier for this week’s theme.
A.         HACK WILSON  [SABR Bio]
-  191 RBI in 1930, thought for many years to be 190.
-  John McGraw complained, with some justification, that Wilson had “…no neck!”
FCR -  David Wise, Hyde Park, New York
Incorrect guesses:  Earl Webb, Owen Wilson, Lou Gehrig


WEEKLY THEME – Batters who had at least 160 RBI in a season.

Batter              #RBI          Year          Club
DiMaggio........ 165........... 1937......... NYY**

Foxx................ 169 LL....... 1932*........ PHA
                        163 tc        1933*         PHA
                        175 LL        1938*         BOS

Gehrig............. 173 LL....... 1927*........ NYY**
                        173 LL        1930          NYY
                        185 LL        1931          NYY
                        166 tc        1934          NYY

Greenberg........ 168 LL....... 1935*........ DET**
                        184 LL        1937          DET

Klein............... 170........... 1930......... PHI

Ramirez........... 165 LL....... 1999......... CLE

Ruth................ 168 LL....... 1921......... NYY
                        165            1927          NYY**
                        162            1931          NYY

Simmons......... 165........... 1930......... PHA

Sosa................ 160 LL....... 2001......... CHC

Thompson....... 166 LL....... 1887......... DTN**
                        165 LL        1895          PHI

Trosky............. 162........... 1936......... CLE

Wilson............ 191 LL....... 1930......... CHC

tc = Won the Triple Crown
*Won the MVP
LL = Led league
**World Series champions
Note:  Wilson’s 191 is the all-time record for a single season.  Babe Ruth accurately predicted that his HR record would fall before Wilson’s RBI record would.  Klein’s total that same year was for a last-place team.

First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeDave Washburn, Marietta, GA (following Thompson on Tuesday!)

Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday  -  Murderers’ Row HOF’ers
               -  Yankee hall of famers in uniform number order
               -  Murderer's row struck out by Carl Hubbell

Tuesday -  Yankee players with monuments in right field
               -  Yankee retired single digit numbers
               -  Yankees in some way involved in acting or movies
               -  Players on 1937-1939 Yankees, most consecutive World Series games won
               -  1938 NY Yankees starting lineup
               -  Retired #s by the Yankees
               -  Members of the 1st AL All-Star team

Wed        -  The top single-season RBI leaders

Thurs      -  Players with 400 total base seasons

Sat          -  Urban players who made the HOF











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