Sunday, February 24, 2019

2019-02-18 Forty-year-old pitchers who hit triples


Q.        What pitcher’s record of 749 complete games is likely never to be challenged?
Hint:     He faced 29,565 batters in the majors—another record.
Hint:     His 7,356 innings pitched seems pretty safe too.     
Hint:     On the down side, he did lose more game than anyone ever.
A.         CY YOUNG  [SABR Bio]
-  Lost a record 350 G.
FCR -  Vince Guerrieri, Elyria, Ohio
Incorrect guesses: 

MONDAY BONUS
Q.        Who is the winningest pitcher never to throw a no-hitter?
Hint:     He was named for and played by a president.
Hint:     He was the first native of Nebraska to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
A.         PETE ALEXANDER  [SABR Bio]
-  373 W (tied for 3rd all-time.  Had 4 1-hitters one year (1915), but no no-no.
-  Named Grover Cleveland Alexander, (nickname Pete came during his career) he was born 26-Feb-1887, almost the exact middle of the administration of U.S. President Grover Cleveland.  In a biographic film on his life and career, he was played by actor Ronald Regan who became the 40th U.S. president.
-  HOF = 1938. (Fellow Nebraskan Sam Crawford didn’t make it until 1957.)
FCR -  Francis Manion, Bardstown, Kentucky
Incorrect guesses: 


TUESDAY
Q.        Who is the only pitcher in the storied history of the New York Yankees to notch 20 wins in four consecutive seasons?
Hint:     Only Jack Morris has a higher career ERA among Hall of Fame pitchers.
Hint:     He won 5 of his 6 starts in a World Series opener.
A.         RED RUFFING  [SABR Bio]
-  20, 20, 21, 21 W in 1936-39 respectively
-  3.80 ERA (Morris = 3.90)
-  WS G#1 = W 1932, 38-39, 41-42; L 1936 (In 1937, he won G #2.)
FCR -  Sarah Grynpas, Toronto
Incorrect guesses:  Whitey Ford, Allie Reynolds, Roger Clemens, Catfish Hunter, Robin Roberts, Lefty Gomez, Waite Hoyt, Lefty Grove, Herb Pennock

TUESDAY BONUS
Q.        Who is the last National League hurler to post six straight 20-win seasons?
Hint:     The most wins he was ever credited with in one year, however, was in the junior circuit.
Hint:     His father was in the Black Panthers.
A.         FERGIE JENKINS  [SABR Bio]
-  1967-1972 he won 20, 20, 21, 22, 24, 20 respectively.
-  25 W for TEX in 1974 (His W.A.R. that season was more than twice that of his teammate who won the AL MVP!)
-  Father played for a Canadian Negro semi-pro team called the Chatham Black Panthers.
FCR -  Lincoln Mitchell, New York City
Incorrect guesses:  Warren Spahn

IN MEMORIAM
Q.        Who was the recipient of the first ever Cy Young Award?
Hint:     He is still the only National League player to win Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Award and MVP during his career.
Hint:     He was the first black pitcher to appear in an All-Star game.
Hint:     He had been teammates with Hall of Famers Mule Suttles, Ray Dandridge, Larry Doby, Monte Irvin and Willie Wells in the Negro Leagues.
Hint:     He also played with Larry Doby in Japan after their MLB careers.
Hint:     He admitted that his drinking was the reason he did not end up in the Hall of Fame.
Hint:     He was told by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. how he and other African American players helped prepare the country for the civil rights era.
Hint:     Maury Wills credited him with saving his life after Wills had gotten into drug abuse.
Hint:     He and Wills eventually had bridges at the Los Amigos Country Club named after them in honor of their work with recovering drug addicts and alcoholics.
A.         DON NEWCOMBE  [SABR Bio]
-  Cy Young Award 1956 (Cy Young himself had just passed away the previous November.)
-  NL ROY 1949; NL MVP 1956; MLB Cy Young Award 1956
-  He replaced Warren Spahn after 3 batters in the 1949 ASG and got an RBI in his first AS AB.
-  Played for the Newark Eagles in 1944 and 1945.
-  Los Amigos Country Club, located in Downey, L.A. County.
-  Dr. King had stayed at his home in Los Angeles.
FCR -  J.P. Wanamaker, Binghamton, New York
Incorrect guesses:  Bob Gibson

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Whose career record for most career bases-on-balls surrendered did Nolan Ryan break?
Hint:     His name contradicts his ultimate achievement.
Hint:     He played in the World Series twice in the 1950s, but neither time was with or against the Yankees.
Hint:     He identified Yogi Berra as the batter he least liked to face.
A.         EARLY WYNN  [SABR Bio]
-  Wynn walked 1,775 batters in his 23-year career.  Ryan passed that number in 1981 the added 1,000+ more to set a record many now consider unbreakable:  2,795.  Steve Carlton and Phil Niekro have both since passed Wynn’s number, but nobody is close to Ryan’s total.
-  His 300th win was late.  (Almost didn’t get it.  CHW released him in 1963 just short of 300 W.  His old team of 9 year, CLE, charitably picked him up and started him against Kansas City on 13-Jul-1963.  Wynn won his 300th to finish the year 1-1 and to finish the career 300-244.)
-  He was w/CLE in the 1954 WS vs. NYG and w/CHW in the 1959 WS vs. LAD.  The NL team prevailed both times.
-  Berra homered off Wynn 11 times, but Mantle took him yard 13 times, the most home runs Mantle hit off any pitcher.
FCR -  Larry Farin, Plano, Texas
Incorrect guesses:  Bob Feller, Warren Spahn, Bob Lemon, Herb Score, Hoyt Wilhelm, Nolan Ryan

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.        Who was the first native of the great Commonwealth of Virginia to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?
Hint:     In the 20th century, only he lost more National League games than Warren Spahn.
Hint:     He was once traded for an NFL Hall of Famer.
A.         EPPA RIXEY  [SABR Bio]
-  HOF in 1963
-  Career record 266-251 (all NL). 
-  On 22-Nov-1920, PHI traded him to CIN  for Greasy Neale and Jimmy Ring.
FCR -  Joe Haardt, McLean, Virginia
Incorrect guesses:  Pud Galvin, Warren Spahn, Cy Young, Robin Roberts, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton

THURSDAY
Q.        Who was the last player born in 1899 to throw a pitch in a major league game?
Hint:     He was the first pitcher to surrender four home runs in a single World Series game.
Hint:     The 3rd of these homers is better known than the pitcher himself.
Hint:     He still leads his 140+ -year-old franchise in pitching wins, games played, innings pitched and batters faced, among others.
A.         CHARLIE ROOT  [SABR Bio]
-  B. 17-Mar-1899; MLB Career = 18-Apr-1923 02-Sep-1941
-  HR X 4 = 1932 WS, G 3
-  3rd NYY HR of G 3 was Babe Ruth’s “called shot”.
-  201 W, 605 G, 3,137.1 IP & 13,266 BF, + + +
FCR -  Vince Guerrieri, Elyria, Ohio
Incorrect guesses:  Charlie Hough, Waite Hoyt, Jack Quinn, Burleigh Grimes, Tom   Zachary

FRIDAY
Q.        Who was the losing pitcher in Cy Young's 511th and final career win?
Hint:     His 72-year-old record for fewest walks surrendered in a season by a qualifying pitcher was broken Bret Saberhagen.
Hint:     He was the first rookie to start the 7th game of a World Series.
Hint:     He was one of the principals of the A-B-C Affair in 1926.
A.         BABE ADAMS  [SABR Bio]
-  Young’s 511th on 22-Sep-1911 was a complete game shutout.  Young lost his final 3 G.
-  Adams’ 15 BB in 1922 was bested when Saberhagen walked 13 in 1994.
-  Started G #7 on 16-Oct-1909.  He also finished, throwing a 9-inning shutout.
-  On 11-Aug-1908 players Adams, Carson Bigbe and Max Carey asked owner Barney Dreyfuss to keep assistant Fred Clarke off the bench.  Adams & Bigbee are released.  Carey is waived to the Brooklyn Dodgers.  All well described here.
FCR -  Madison McEntire, Bryant, Arkansas
Incorrect guesses: 

SATURDAY
Q.        Who is the only pitcher in the modern era to win 20 games in each of his first three major league seasons?
Hint:     Led the majors in ERA in his rookie season in the middle of the Deadball Era.
Hint:     Born outside the U.S., he finished his schooling in bookkeeping, yet began his professional career working for his father as a plasterer.
Hint:     His brother came up to the majors and joined him on his first team.
A.         VEAN GREGG  [SABR Bio]
-  Won 23, 20 & 20 in 1911-1913.  (“Modern era” = 1901-present)
-  ERA of 1.80 for CLE in 1911 [Walter Johnson was next at 1.899)
-  Born 13-Apr-1885 in Aberdeen, Washington on a sparsely populated bay on the Pacific.  Washington didn’t become a state until 11-Nov-1889.
FCR -  Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses:  Dizzy Dean, Christy Mathewson, Harry Coveleski, Pedro Martinez

SATURDAY BONUS
Q.        What former New York Mets pitcher is the only native of the state of Georgia to ever throw a perfect game?
Hint:     He dropped Scott Boras to become his own agent.
Hint:     He and a fellow Detroit Tiger were the first 21st century teammates to form a battery in the All-Star Game..
A.         KENNY ROGERS  [SABR Bio]
-  B. 10-Nov-1964 in Savannah, Georgia; Perfecto = 28-Jul-1994
-  He and Ivan Rodriguez were the AL ASG battery in 2006, innings 1 & 2
FCR -  Patrick Ray, Paradise Valley, Arizona
Incorrect guesses:  Michael Fulmer, David Wells. David Cone, Denny McLain

WEEKEND BONUS
Q.        What future former Arizona Diamondback was the first pitcher to win his first eight (8!) postseason decisions?
Hint:     He made his major league debut replacing an injured teammate with whom he would later make a TV commercial.
Hint:     His brother would later lead the majors in innings pitched for teams in two separate countries.
A.         ORLANDO HERNANDEZ  [SABR Bio]
-  8-0 from the 1998 ALCS through the end of the 2000 ALCS.
-  Debut 03-Jun-1998; TV ad
-  Brother Livan led the NL in IP in 2003-04 with MON then again with WSN in 2005.
FCR -  Larry Hayes, San Francisco
Incorrect guesses:  Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Joe Kuhel

SUNDAY
Q.        The Washington Senators of 1918 only hit four home runs, just one more than the ”Hitless Wonder” White Sox of 1906.  Only one of the four, however, was hit at home.  Who, on the last day of that season, finally homered at home?
Hint:     He had actually been on that 1906 White Sox team and was the winner of the first game ever in White Sox postseason history, beating his opponent on the mound who went on to become a Hall of Famer.
Hint:     He averaged exactly one home run per season for his 16 years* in the majors.
Hint:     He was the first pitcher in the 20th century to participate in ten double plays in a single season.
A.         NICK ALTROCK  [SABR Bio]
-  Home homer:  02-Sep-1918
-  10 DP in 1905.
* Altrock pitched 16 years in the majors, but his whole career was 19 years.
FCR -  Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses:  Walter Johnson, Ed Walsh

WEEK’S FINALE
Q.        Whose side-armed, one-finger knuckleball allowed him a career at baseball’s highest level?
Hint:     Although he didn’t throw his first pitch in the majors until he was almost 35 years old, racked up over a thousand inning over the batter part of a decade.
Hint:     He made a living as a barber before, during and after his playing career, which was not related to the fact that he once led the majors by hitting the most batters.
Hint:     He played for two different Boston teams in the same league.
A.         JOHNNY NIGGELING  [SABR Bio]
-           Debut = 30-Apr-1938 @ age 34 yrs. 294 days.
-           Career spanned 1938-46 w/1,250.2 IP.
-           11 HBP in 1942 for SLB
-           Played for the Boston Bees in 1938 then the Boston Braves (same franchise) in 1946.
FCR -  Patrick Ray, Paradise Valley, Arizona
Incorrect guesses:  Mordecai Brown, Sal Maglie, Eddie Cicotte


WEEKLY THEME – Forty-year-old pitchers who hit triples.

Batting pitcher        Date                       Age       Team      Career Triples
Adams............. 21-Aug-1923.............. 41.......... PIT............... 15
Alexander........ 22-Jun-1927............... 40......... STL.............. 13
Altrock............. 30-Sep-1924*.............. 47........ WSH............... 1
Gregg............... 18-Jul-1925............... 40........ WSH............... 2
Hernandez....... 04-Aug-2006.............. 40......... NYM............... 1
Jenkins............ 03-Sep-1983.............. 40......... CHC................ 6
Niggeling.......... 12-Jun-1944............... 40........ WSH............... 1
Rixey................ 23-Jul-1933............... 42......... CIN................ 4
Rogers............. 11-Jun-2005............... 40......... TEX................ 1
Root................. 28-Aug-1939.............. 40......... CHC................ 7
Ruffing............. 27-Sep-1945.............. 40......... NYY.............. 13
Wynn................ 06-Jul-1960............... 40........ CHW............... 5
Young.............. 15-Aug-1910.............. 43......... CLE.............. 35
*He then scored his team’s only run that G.

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Larry Hayes, San Francisco (after Hernandez)


Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday  -  Pitchers who have won at least 300 games & lost 200
               -  Hall of Fame inductees present at the first Cooperstown induction ceremony in 1939
               -  All-time wins list
               -  Pitchers who won 300 games
               -  300 game winners who played at least one game in the field
               -  Pitchers with at least 350 wins
               -  Pitchers with the most career wins. 
               -  HOF Pitchers with 300+  wins, 200+ losses, 400+ complete games and 2000+ strikeouts

Tuesday -  Pitchers who don’t use their real names
               -  Pitchers with 20+ win seasons with at least two different teams
               -  Most innings pitched by decade
               -  Pitchers with the most shutouts in a season
               - 

Wdsday  -  Players known by nicknames that had little (if anything) to do with their real names
               -  Multiple wins and ERA leaders
               - 

Thurs      -  Pitchers with most losses by decade
               -  Most innings pitched by decade

Sun         -  Something to do with pitching in their 40’s







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