27-May-2019
Q. Whose season
ERA was the lowest among American League qualifiers since Pedro Martinez’?
Hint: His name
literally describes how he pitches.
Hint: In his
breakout year had captured ⅔ of the pitchers’ Triple Crown, but was only sixth
in strikeouts.
- There’s slight
variation in spelling and pronunciation, but in German, et al, “schnell” means “fast”.
- Led the majors w/21
W; had 221 K.
FCR - Noah LaBelle,
Southborough, MA
Incorrect guesses: Max
Scherzer, Zack Greinke, John Smiley, Chris Sale, Jacob deGrom
IN MEMORIAM
Q. Which left
fielder climbed the fence in an attempt to catch Hank Aaron's 715th career home
run?
Hint: He was
drafted by the Dodgers behind his friend Bobby Valentine, who the Dodgers took
first.
Hint: He was
displaced at first base by Steve Garvey.
Hint: He was the
first professional baseball player to wear Nike high-top cleats.
Hint: He was once
traded for Dennis Eckersley.
Hint: His record
for assists by a first baseman in a season lasted well into this century.
Hint: His 174th
and final career home run was, ironically, his only inside-the-park home run.
Hint: He is one of
only five players to appear in major league games in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and
90s.
Hint: As of today,
he ranks 66th in career hits and 65th in career doubles.
Hint: He was responsible
for developing the Fenway Park subdivision in Boise.
- He went in the 2nd round of the 1968 Draft. Valentine
went in the 1st,
just behind Thurman Munson.
- Garvey took over 1st
base for LAD in 1973. He won the NL MVP in 1974. Buckner also got an MVP vote that year.
- His record of 184
assist by a 1st baseman in 1985 w/BOS was broken when Albert Pujols
had 185 in 2009 with STL.
- ITPHR off Kirk McCaskill
25-Apr-1990, made
possible when Claudell Washington fell into the stands after trying to catch Buckner's
drive. That was the 1st HR McCaskill
gave up that season. The antepenultimate
and penultimate HRs he surrendered that year were to father & son Griffey.
- 60s-90s players
also include Rick Dempsey, Carlton Fisk, Jerry Reuss and Nolan Ryan.
- His 2,715 H rank
just behind Rusty Staub & Lou Gehrig.
He is also just behind Staub w/498 career doubles.
FCR - Charlie Fouché,
Dalton, Georgia
Incorrect guesses: Wes Parker, Darrell Evans
TUESDAY
Q. Who was the
first center fielder to be honored with a Platinum Glove Award?
Hint: His first
major league game was game 163 of the regular season, and a wild-card
tiebreaker game.
Hint: He played
one inning on defense and was involved in no plays.
Hint: His high
school won its state championship.
Hint: His college
won a national championship.
- His high school,
the 2A Bishop Luers
(Fort Wayne) had a record of 30-3 in 2008 and won the IHSAA state championship in Indiana.
- When he played for Parkland College in
Champaign, Illinois, he was a 2-time All-American. They won the NJCAA championship in 2009.
FCR - John Sullivan, Louisville
Incorrect guesses: Tim Raines
WEDNESDAY
Q. Whose Rookie-of-the-Year Award was partly
secured by leading his team to their first Division crown?
Hint: Three years later, on the last day of the
regular season, his extra-inning home run was one of the highlights of what
some have called the most exciting day in the history of televised baseball,
assuring his team a place in the postseason.
Hint: It was his second home run of the game.
Hint: His Wikipedia page ask you not to confuse
him with a famous actress.
FCR - Lincoln Mitchell, NY, NY
Incorrect
guesses: Brett Butler, Rocco Baldelli,
Fred Lynn, Chris Chambliss,
Bryce Harper
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who manages the team with the major’s best
record?
Hint: As a player, he finished just behind a future
World Series MVP in Rookie-of-the-Year voting.
Hint: After a stellar start , his promising
playing career was hijacked by a series of medical issues.
- Doctors discovered in him a rare disorder called
“Mitochondrial channelopathy”. It affected him in an unfortunate variety of ways.
FCR - Bradley Curtis, Roseville, California
Incorrect
guesses: Kevin Cash. AJ Hinch, Don
Mattingly, Dave Roberts, Rocco Baldinni, Bobby Valentine, Aaron Boone
THURSDAY
Q. What Cy Young winner and future Blue Jay
is now only listed in the middle of his team’s rotation?
Hint: His stats this year might merit a
reconsideration.
Hint: The season where he started the All-Star
Game, in the Cy Young Award voting, he finished behind a pitcher with a 13-12
won-loss record.
Hint: He finished 2nd that year, but
ahead of three other pitchers with Cy Young Awards on their résumés.
- In Baseball-Reference, he’s shown 4th
in the BOS rotation in spite of
his ERA of 2.83 as by far the best among the starters. In TOR, he teamed with CYA winner R.A. Dickey to win the division title
in 2015.
- Started the ASG in 2010, but he, CC Sabathia, Cliff
Lee and Justin Verlander all finished behind Felix Hernandez for Cy Young honors.
FCR - Thomas Nester, Dix Hills, New York
Incorrect
guesses: R.A. Dickey, Dave Stieb, Clay
Buccholz
THURSDAY BONUS
Q. What pitcher surrendered Bartolo Colon’s
home run?
Hint: He is the only pitcher to win a World
Series game for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Hint: It was no doubt a big game.
Hint: In a game against Toronto he tied a modern
day major league record by surrendering six home runs in a single game. The sixth was hit on the first pitch and it
was the first career home run for that batter.
- 6 HR G = On 07-Aug-2010, Shields gave up 6
home runs to TOR (2 by Aaron Hill, and 1 each by Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind, Jose Bautista, and J. P. Arencibia), tying a modern-day
record of home runs allowed in one game.
Arencibia's home run was the 1st of his career, hit in his 1st
at-bat off Shields’s 1st pitch.
FCR - Adrian Fung, Toronto
Incorrect
guesses: James Paxton, Brett Myers, Johnny
Cueto
FRIDAY
Q. Who won the Babe Ruth Award for the
Kansas City Royals when they last won the World Series?
Hint: His ERA for both their World Series runs
was 0.00.
Hint: His second cousin of the same last name was
an All-Star catcher for the Cubs.
Hint: He and his wife run a charity focused on
helping combat childhood cancer.
- He and wife Katelyn run Full Kount.
FCR - Duncan Crowl, San Juan Capistrano, California
Incorrect
guesses: Bret Saberhagen, Salvador Perez
END-OF-THE-WEEK BONUS
Q. Whose managerial efforts are being
overshadowed by a duck and a Nurse?
Hint: For many years, he managed the Durham
Bulls.
Hint: No relation to Inigo
- Montoyo, 1st-year manager of TOR has his team competing
in the AL East, but NBA Toronto Raptors’ coach Nick Nurse (also in his 1st
year) has his team in the Finals, too
often seen with sideline mascot Drake.
- Skippered the Bulls 2007-14.
FCR - Daniel Wilson, St. Paul
Incorrect
guesses: Brian Snitiker
SATURDAY
Q. Who passed up a scholarship to play
baseball for Roger Clemens’ alma mater to sign with Mets?
Hint: His accomplishments in high school were
eye-popping. For example, in one
stretch, he threw five no-hitters in the space of six starts. The game he didn’t? It was a one-hitter. He then, following this string, threw three
consecutive one-hitters
Hint: His senior stats are equally stellar. 172 strikeouts in 75 innings; an ERA of 0.37.
Hint: His high school teammate was chosen by the
Expos. They were high school teammates
drafted into the majors in the same round.
Hint: Now out of the majors, he pitched for six
teams over two leagues for twelve seasons.
- University of Texas wanted him, but he chose
the pros.
FCR - Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect
guesses: Calvin Schiraldi, Floyd Youmans,
Al Leiter, Roger McDowell
Q. What
two-time All-Star signed a letter of intent to attend and play for the
University of Miami but went pro when the Indians drafted him?
Hint: He was
drafted in the same round as a two-time All-American football player from Notre Dame
and a future MLB home run champion.
Hint: While still
in A ball, he strung together 41 scoreless innings one season and was named the
Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Hint: Pitching for
USA Baseball in the Pan American Games, defeating the Cuban national baseball
team, causing “USA Baseball” to call his game the International Performance of
the Year.
Hint: Although
proudly African-American, he was raised by his Caucasian maternal grandparents,
who adopted him when he was two years old.
- Drafted in the 5th
round of the 2006, 161st overall.
- Chris Davis and
Jeff Samardzija also went in the 5th, overall numbers 148 & 149
respectively.
- Played in the Pan American Games in 2011. Archer’s stellar
Pan Am Games’ performance versus Cuba took place in those games’ pre-qualifying
rounds held earlier.
FCR - David Krassin,
Los Angeles
Incorrect guesses:
SUNDAY
Q. Who did the Washington Nationals release
in order to “improve clubhouse chemistry”?
Hint: He was suspended at least once in each of
his seasons in the minors.
Hint: He attended the same high school as Dwight
Gooden and Gary Sheffield.
Hint: His agent is the same one representing the 2018
Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.
- B-R
lists his agent as Scott
Pucino. Pucino heads up Octagon Baseball. Another of Pucino’s charges is Khris
Davis, 2018’s EMODHA winner.
FCR - Joseph Cosgriff, New York City
Incorrect
guesses: Brandon Kintzler, Jonathan Papelbon,
Shawn Kelley
WEEKLY THEME – Notable
alumni of the AA Montgomery Biscuits. There were other good ones, so we apologize
if we’ve left off your favorite.
Player Years w/Montgomery
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme –
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tuesday - Tampa
Bay
Wed - TB
Rays who have won multiple (consecutive) gold gloves
- A ward
winners for the Tampa Bay Rays
- Tampa
Bay Rays with multiple All-Star berths
Thurs - Players who are in the top 10 lifetime stolen base leaders
for Tampa Bay
- Players
drafted in the first round by the Tampa Bay Rays?
- Tampa
Bay players who got MVP votes
- Players
who broke in with Tampa Bay and got MVP votes during their careers
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