Q. What
Maryland native was known as “The Beast”?
Hint: He was
traded from a perennial winner to a team that would never win during his career.
Hint: He won two
MVPs for his first team and one for the second.
- Went to the World
Series w/PHA in 1929, 1930 & 1931. The next pennant for BOS was the year after he
retired, 1946.
FCR - Thomas Howell,
Reno
Incorrect guesses:
TUESDAY
Q. Whom does
Bill James deem the best catcher of all time?
Hint: Only he (not
Mr. James) and Mike Trout have finished in the top four in league MVP voting
for seven consecutive seasons.
Hint: In his first
professional postseason action, his team was beat by a team starring Jackie
Robinson.
- James so stated 04-May-2019 in a public
interview at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
- MVP top 4 1950-1956, winning in 1951, 54 & 55; finished 2nd in 1953 & 56; finished 3rd in 1950; and 4th in 1952. He
received AL MVP votes every season from 1947 through 1962, i.e., 17 straight
years!
- In 1946, Berra’s Newark Bears lost to Robinson’s Montreal Royals. Click here for an excellent article about the series.
FCR - Steve Newton, Newcastle, Delaware
Incorrect guesses: Josh Gibson, Roy Campanella, Jim Sundberg
WEDNESDAY
Q. Whose all-time record of career RBI-per-game
leads the field?
Hint: SABR estimates that it “…probably will
never be broken.”
Hint: He played for teams in both the American League
and National League in the same city.
Hint: He played with or for eleven Hall of
Famers.
Hint: He was born before the war.
- He racked up .923 RBI over the 1,410 G of his 15-season
MLB career.
- Was a teammate of Dan Brouthers, Deacon White,
Ned Hanlon, Ed Delahanty, Tim Keefe, Roger Connor, Billy Hamilton, Nap
Lajoie, Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford and was managed by Harry Wright.
- B. 05-Mar-1860. The Civil War began in 1861.
FCR - Sarah Grynpas, Toronto
Incorrect
guesses: Babe Ruth, Johnny Mize, Hank
Aaron, Hank Greenberg, Hack Wilson, Jimmie Foxx, Yogi Berra, Eddie Murray, Jim
Bottomley, Willie Mays
THURSDAY
Q. What one-time Cubs coach was the first
player to hit a natural cycle, culminating with a grand slam?
Hint: He broke Babe Ruth’s home run record.
Hint: He grew up in Cow Hollow, loved boxing and
dreamt of becoming a prize fighter.
- Cycle 03-Jun-1932.
Three Hall of Fame teammates homered in that game as did two Hall of
Famers on the opposing team. HRs that
day by Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Earle Combs on NYY as well as Mickey Cochrane and Jimmie Foxx on PHA. He coached CHC in 1938.
- When he hit 60 home runs in the Pacific Coast
League in 1925, he bested the 59 that Ruth had hit in 1921 for the record home
runs by a professional baseball player in a single season.
- Cow Hollow was a rough San Francisco
neighborhood in the early 20th century. It has significantly
gentrified since then.
FCR - Nels Johnston. St. Thomas, Ontario
Incorrect
guesses: Cy Williams, Bill Collins, Jack
Williams, Roger Maris
FRIDAY
Q. Who was the first player to rack up, in
one season, 157 singles, 48 doubles, 9 triples but 0 home runs?
Hint: He didn’t lead his league in triples or
singles that year but led the majors
in hits.
Hint: He once cost himself weeks on the DL during
a season after wounding himself in fisticuffs with a Hall of Fame teammate.
Hint: His team won their franchise’s first pennant
their first year without him.
- Had 214 hits in 1906, mais pas un seul coup de
circuit !
- Philadelphia A’s released him 21-Apr-1902, two
days before Opening Day. He signed on
with Cleveland (AL) 31-May-1902. PHA then won the AL’s second ever pennant, 14
games ahead of 5th place CLE.
FCR - Nels Johnston, St. Thomas, Ontario
Incorrect
guesses: Ichiro Suzuki, Lloyd Waner,
Tommy Leach
SATURDAY
Q. Who is the only player to hit 40 doubles,
20 triples and 30 home runs in a single season?
Hint: He reached the doubles total in two other
seasons as well but could never duplicate his highs in triples nor homers.
Hint: For six seasons did he receive MVP vote,
but only once did he land in the Top 5.
Hint: He had a fascination with astrology that
some found quirky.
- In 1925, in addition to his 42 doubles, Bottomley
led the NL with 20 3b, 31 HR, 136 RBI and 362 total bases. It was not enough to win him the, but he did
so 3 years later NL MVP.
- His 40 2b in 1926 led the NL. His 44 in 1925 led the majors.
- Also received MVP votes in 1924, 25, 27, 31
and 32.
FCR - Larry Hayes, San Francisco
Incorrect
guesses: Jimmy Rollins, Chuck Klein,
Charlie Gehringer, Curtis Granderson, Jimmy Piersall, Willie Mays, Jeff Heath, Kiki
Cuyler
SUNDAY
Q. Who has the 2nd all-time in
career WAR on a franchise that debuted with the National League in 1876?
Hint: His team won a double header sweep against
the eventual World Series champs in his first two games in the majors, halting
a nine-game losing streak. His
contribution was significant, overcoming early jitters.
Hint: He was a regular speaker with civic groups
during and following his playing career.
- Suffered diabetes and often gave talks on its
prevention and management.
FCR - David Gordon, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Incorrect
guesses: Walter Johnson, Al Simmons,
Albert Spalding, Cap Anson
WEEK’S
FINALE
Q. Who is the only member of the 40–400
club?
Hint: In the spring of 1962, he uttered one of
his lesser-known quotes is, “I’ve posed with some real major leaguers, not bush
leaguers like he is (Roger Maris). He couldn’t carry my bat. He didn’t hit in
two years what I hit in one."
Hint: His nickname made him sound like an Indian
chief.
- In 1922 w/STL, he hit
.401 and had 42 HRs.
- Quote source: NY Mets Spring Training Press
Conference (22-Mar-1962)
- “Rajah” is an Indian king or prince and a
title extended to petty dignitaries and nobles in India during the British
Raj.
FCR - Sarah Grynpas, Toronto
Incorrect
guesses: Yogi Berra, Ted Williams,
Jimmie Foxx
WEEKLY THEME – Select Hall
of Fame players who began their career in one city and ended it in the same
city by with a different team in a different league. Thanks to Jeffrey Yeo of Antelope, California
for this suggestion.
Player Debut
Team Final Team HOF
Hornsby......... 1915 St. L Cardinals...... 1937 St. L Browns............. 1942
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Patrick Ray, Paradise Valley, Arizona (after
Thompson)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tuesday - Three-time
MVPs
- Back-to-back
MVP winners
- Top
MVP vote-getters by decade
- Leading
hitters of the 1950s
Wed - Leading
hitters of the 1950s
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