Q. Whose career
MLB record for most double plays turned by a shortstop was broken by Omar
Vizquel in 2006?
Hint: This Tigers’
draftee has held the San Diego Padres’ single-season record for sacrifice hits
for more than 40 years.
Hint: He’s also in
third and fourth place on the same list.
Hint: Some of the
fans born since then don’t even know that he played for them.
Hint: He still holds
the MLB record among shortstops for assists.
A. OZZIE SMITH [SABR
Bio]
- Vizquel broke it 13-May-2006 and played six more
seasons.
- Set the record in
1978 w/28. He also holds 3rd
& 4th places on the SDP’s record list for SHs in a season w/23
& 22 in 1980 & 79 respectively.
In 78 & 80, those numbers also led the majors. Drafted by DET #2 overall in
the 1976 MLB June Amateur Draft. Drafter by SPD the
following year.
- Played for SDP
1978-81 On 10-Dec-1981, was traded by the SPD with a player to be
named later and Steve Mura to the STL for a player to be
named later, Sixto Lezcano and Garry Templeton.
- Has 8,375 assists,
359 more than 2nd-place Luis Aparicio
FCR - Mischa Gelman,
Pittsburgh
Incorrect guesses: Garry
Templeton, Enzo Hernandez, Placido Polanco
TUESDAY
Q. Who was the
first second baseman named Most Valuable Player under the system now used?
Hint: He was known
to walk onto the field under an umbrella to protest games he thought should be
called for rain.
Hint: He was the
last National League player/manager to win the World Series.
Hint: He was the
first player to score two runs in World Series inning.
A. FRANKIE FRISCH [SABR
Bio]
- In 1931, the very
first year of the MVP being presented by the
Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), the first players so
honored were Frisch in the NL and Lefty Grove in the AL.
- Rain protests were
during the 16 seasons he was a manager:
1933-51.
- Won the 1934 WS playing for and
managing STL. Player/manager Lou Boudreau won the WS
for CLE in 1948.
- Scored twice in the
7th inning of G 3 in the 1921 WS, helping the Giants
beat the Yankees 5-3 in their first WS appearance.
FCR - R.J. Lesch,
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Incorrect guesses: Charlie
Gehringer, Joe Gordon, Nellie Fox, Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Stanky, Billy
Southworth, Pete Rose, Bucky Harris, Red Schoendienst
TWOOZDAY
Q. What White Sox free agent signed a
$600,000 one-season contract before retiring in spring training?
Hint: He hit .319 the season he played for the
Pilots.
Hint: He and his brother played for the same four
major league franchises. On three of
them they were teammates.
Hint: Seventy-six major league pitchers failed to
retire him even once.
Hint: Nolan Ryan tutored him in pitching although
he made the majors as a position player.
A. ROBERTO ALOMAR [SABR Bio]
- Retired from the Devil Rays in March 2005. Did not receive any money from that contract.
- Played for the Wichita Pilots in
1987.
- A teammate of his brother Sandy Alomar, Jr. on
SDP in 1988-89, CLE 1999-2000, CHW in 2004. They also both played for the Mets, but in
different years, Robbie in 2003, Jr. in 2007.
- Alomar has a perfect 1.000 batting
average against 76
pitchers. Billy Taylor leads the pack with six
appearances, followed by eight guys who failed to retire him in three tries,
and 23 who had two shots at him. Nate Bump, Edwin Hurtado, Isidro
Marquez, the Jim Morris, and former teammate Ricky Trlicek all
gave up a homer to Alomar the only time they faced him.
- Robbie was 4 years old when his father and
Ryan were on the Angels together 1972-74.
FCR - Randall Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee
Incorrect guesses: Tom Paciorek, Fred Stanley, Greg Goossen,
Tommy Davis Adam LaRoche, Jim Paciorek
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who was replaced by Casey Stengel as
manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers?
Hint: As a player, he led the league in stolen
bases four consecutive seasons… twice!
Hint: Those were not the only years where he
out-stole the rest of the league.
Hint: In one stretch, he scored at least one run
in 15 straight games.
- Managed BRO 1932-33; Stengel managed
BRO 1934-36. Neither got the team above .500. It was the first time managing for both; it
was Carey’s last. Both had played for
them when the team was called the Robins.
- Led the NL in SB 1915-18 & 1922-25.
- Also led in 1913 w/61 & in 1920 w/52.
- 1+ R every G 23-Aug- through 06-Sep-1924 (2)…
@ age 34.
FCR - Spencer Weisberg, Renton, Washington
Incorrect guesses: Gil Hodges, Leo Durocher, Burleigh Grimes
WENZDY
Q. What National League batting champ said
after switching leagues, “American League pitchers start you 0-2, and 3 hours
later, it's 3-2.”?
Hint: He also brought with him NL seasons where
he had led the league in runs, doubles, OBP and plates appearances.
Hint: He went from 106th pick in the
draft to the Hall of Fame.
Hint: He was at the plate for Dave Dravecky’s
last pitch.
A. TIM RAINES [SABR Bio]
- Changes leagues when he traded from the Expos
to the White Sox in December of 1990.
- Led the NL in 2b w/38 in 1984. Led in in OBP w/.413 in 1986. Led the majors in R w/133 in 1983 and 123 in
1987.
- Was the 2nd pick in the 5th round of the of the
1977* MLB June Amateur Draft.
Elected to the Hall in 2017.
- Dave Dravecky was
lost for good to baseball in the bottom of the 6th in Montreal 15-Aug-1989 when
the cancer in his are made him unable to throw another pitch. Jeff Brantley
finished pitching to Raines who hit a sacrifice fly.
*Drungo Hazewood, Mike Jones and Scott Munninghoff
went in the 1st round.
FCR - Preston Salisbury, Starkville, Mississippi
Incorrect
guesses: Frank Robinson, Vladimir
Guerrero
WITNESSDAY
Q. Who broke Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty’s
franchise hitting streak record?
Hint: Delahanty set the record at a time when
Christy Mathewson was still kicking field goals for Bucknell.
Hint: Before Jose Altuve, he had been the most
recent MVP under 5"8'
Hint: His teammate had been the MVP the year
prior.
Hint: He attended the same high school Tommy
Harper had gone to.
- Delahanty’s PHI record of 31 consecutive MLB G
with at least 1 H, set in 1899, was broken when Rollins did it off Juan Padilla
in the 7th inning of his 32nd straight G 27-Sep-2005.
- 5"7' MVP in 2007
- Ryan Howard was
NL MVP in 2006 (even though
teammate Chase Utley has a
WAR more than 2 points higher that year, 7.3 to 5.2)
- Attended Encinal High School
in the East Bay area. Dontrelle Willis,
Chris Speier and Willie Stargell are also alumni thereof.
FCR - Mark DeLodovico, Rockville, Maryland
Incorrect
guesses: Joe Morgan, Hack Wilson, Yogi
Berra, Dustin Pedroia, Ozzie Smith, Willie Keeler, Nap Lajoie
THURSDAY
Q. Who was the first MVP not born in one of
the 50 united states?
Hint: He barely edged out the player in 2nd
place in MVP voting that year, a player’s whose WAR was 4.5 points higher!
Hint: However, he broke a record that year that
had been considered unbeatable.
Hint: He played on an expansion team and managed
another.
A. MAURY WILLS
- Born 02-Oct-1932 in Washington, DC. NL MVP in 1962.
- Willie Mays’s WAR was 10.5. Wills’s was 6.0. The highest other one that was belonged to
Cincinnati’s Frank Robinson at 8.7.
- Wills stole 104 bases in 1962 breaking Ty
Cobb’s modern day record of 96, set in 1915.
FCR - Will McCracken, Bradenton, Florida
Incorrect
guesses: Zoilo Versalles, Justin Morneau,
Jim Fregosi, Rod Carew, Felipe Alou, Orlando Cepeda
ANOTHER THURSDAY-BASED
QUESTION
Q. Who was the first shortstop to won
multiple Gold Gloves with teams in both leagues?
Hint: A teammate who debuted in the same game is
now in the Hall of Fame.
Hint: His first major league team wanted him to
bat right-handed. Instead, the taught
him to switch-hit.
A. OMAR VIZQUEL [SABR Bio]
- Won GG w/CLE 1993-2001; w/SFG 2005-06. (Andrelton Simmons ha since repeated the feat
with ATL and CAA.)
- Debuted 03-Apr-1989
alongside Ken Griffey, Jr.
- Tutored in switch-hitting by Bill Plummer who
managed Vizquel with the Leones del Caracas,
in 1986-87 and 1988-89, and coached and managed the Mariners.
FCR - Tom Lee, Nashville
Incorrect
guesses: Garry Templeton, Michael Young,
Miguel Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, Ozzie Guillen, Andrelton Simmons
FRIDAY
Q. What former Royal, Mariner and Tiger had
his best years in the National League?
Hint: He was voted Rookie of the Year with a
unanimous vote, finishing ahead of four player would become All-Stars and one
of whom would pitch a perfect game in the majors.
Hint: He thrice played in the postseason, twice
in the World Series. Never, however, was
with a team that won the title.
Hint: His nickname came because he made such an
impression.
- ROY in 1985
- “Vincent van Go”, calling to mind the famous
impressionist.
FCR - Jeff Kabacinski, Wilmington, Delaware
Incorrect
guesses: Benito Santiago, Hideo Nomo
SATURDAY
Q. Whose record for at-bats in a single
season did Jimmy Rollins break in 2007
Hint: Rollins’ teammate then broke his record for
most strikeouts in a World Series.
Hint: He was the first post-expansion American League
player to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate in a season.
- 705 AB in 1980. Rollins had 716 in 162 G in 2007.
- Ryan Howard struck out 13 times in the 2009
WS; Wilson had K’ed 12 in 1980
- 230 H in 1980.
At least 100+H from each side of the plate. (Exact split not available at press time.)
FCR - Mike Mattsey, Robinson, Illinois
Incorrect
guesses: Carlos Baerga, Juan Samuel,
Eddie Murray
WEEKEND
BONUS
Q. Who bunted a groundout to end a World
Series?
Hint: His name somehow makes you think of
cookies, elevators and presidents.
Hint: On the occasion of his first vote for Hall
of Fame induction, he received…
no votes.
A. OTIS NIXON
- Bunted with 2 out in the 9th inning
of G 6 of the 1992 WS. Pitcher Mike Timlin tossed to Joe Carter
at 1b to clinch the victory
for Canada.
- Otis Spunkmeyer,
cookie maker
- A fellow nominee who had been a 4-time
All-Star and a 6-time Gold Glove winner also received no votes in 2005—Mark
Langston.
FCR - Jack Fahey, Oak Forest, Illinois
Incorrect
guesses: Amos Otis
SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL
Q. Who was the only players besides Ty Cobb
to lead the Tigers in runs scored 1909‑19?
Hint: He was offered the Yankees managerial post
after Miller Huggins’ death, but turned it down since he had already committed
to manage elsewhere.
Hint: His 425 putouts in 1914 is a major league
mark which has never been broken.
Hint: The closest any other shortstop came to
that mark in the 20th century was Neifi Perez with more than a
hundred fewer.
A. DONIE BUSH [SABR Bio]
- Bush led DET in R in 1914, 15, 16 &
17. Cobb led all the other years, but
Bush was second to him I 1909, 19, 11,
12 & 18.
- He has already committed to manage CWH.
- At 425 PO, he is tied with the 1895 mark set
by Hughie Jennings. Perez had 288 in
2000.
FCR - Daniel Wilson, St. Paul
Incorrect
guesses: George Burns, Sam Crawford
SUNDAY
Q. After World War II, who was the first
National League player to collect 15 triples in each of consecutive seasons?
Hint: No other active player has led his league
in triples more times.
Hint: His infectious smile belies some of his
off-field troubles.
A. JOSE REYES
- 17 3b in each of 2005 & 2006
- Triples titles in 2005, 06, 08 & 2011.
- Let’s just leave it at that.
FCR - Damian Begley, New York City
Incorrect
guesses: Lenny Dykstra, Garry Templeton,
Hughie Jennings
WEEK’S
FINALE
Q. Whose record for most stolen bases in a
season by a National Leaguer in the modern era did Maury Wills break in 1962?
Hint: In fact, he held the top three places on
that list.
Hint: He denied a pitcher is second no-hitter
with 2 outs in the 9th.
Hint: The only seasons when he played for a team
that finished higher that 3rd, he lasted only one season with them,
even when his manager was Miller Huggins.
A. BOB BESCHER [SABR Bio]
- 81 SB in 1911
- Also had 70 in 1910 and 67 in 1912 (67 also
achieved by Frank Chance and Jimmy Sheckard)
- Nap Rucker of the
Brooklyn had to settle for a 1-hitter on 22-Jul-1911. Rucker’s 1st (only) no-no was 09-May-1908.
- Played for 2nd-place NYG in 1915
and 2nd place CLE in 1918.
-
Played
for Miller Huggins on
STL 1915-17.
FCR - Larry Hayes, San Francisco
Incorrect
guesses: Ty Cobb, Max Carey, Billy Hamilton,
Arlie Latham
WEEKLY THEME – Switch-hitters
with 400 or more career stolen bases.
Raines............ 808
Coleman........ 752
Carey............. 738
Wilson........... 668
Nixon............ 620
Wills.............. 586
Smith............. 580
Reyes............. 517
Alomar.......... 474
Rollins........... 470
Bescher.......... 428
Frisch............ 419
Bush.............. 406
Vizquel.......... 404
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Walt
Cherniak, Woodbine, MD (after Raines)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Monday - Players
on the HOF ballot for the first time this year
Wed - Players
with at least 10,000 career plate appearances as a switch hitter.
Questions archived here: http://horsehidetriviA. blogspot.com/
Horsehide Trivia home
page: https://sites.google.com/site/tnfotobbpics/home/horsehide-trivia
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