Q. Who almost
threw out Sid Bream?
Hint: He hit his
714th career home run as a designated hitter.
Hint: He was the
first major leaguer to appear in the TV show
"Everybody Loves Raymond".
Bonds: Excuse me, do you have
change for the phone?
Ray: Yeah, sure. What do you need me to break a million?
Bonds: C'mon! What is it with you reporters always getting
on me about my salary?
Ray: It's funny, calling $7
million a salary.
Bonds: What do you make?
Ray: That's kind of personal.
Bonds: Exactly.
Ray: But what you make is news,
because it's so gigantic.
Bonds: What do you make, really? About, say $50,000 a year?
Ray: Yeah, about that.
Bonds: Okay, that's two columns a
week, about eight columns a month. About
$500 for every column.
Ray: It is?
Bonds: Yeah, it's $1 a word. For
every little word like “the” and “a”, if you hit the letter “a”, it's $1.
Ray: Heh… I guess I'm doing all
right then.
Bonds: You see?
Ray: Yeah.
Bonds: So, can I borrow a quarter
for the phone?
Ray: Here, take two!
FCR - Doug Wedge, Edmond,
Oklahoma
Incorrect guesses: Mark
McGwire, Hank Aaron
TUESDAY
Q. What pitcher
won the most Cy Young awards without ever throwing a no-hitter?
Hint: He’s the
last pitcher to win the Baseball Digest Player of the Year Award.
Hint: His free
agent contract included providing his children lockers in the team clubhouse.
Hint: He once earned
free windshield wiper fluid for all attendees by striking out five batters in a
Class A minor league game.
- 7 CYAs; No no-nos. Clemens registered 13 two-hitters in his
career, but never held the opposition hitless.
His lone one-hitter came vs. CLE 10‑Sept‑1988. Dave Clark spoiled Clemens’ no-hit bid with a
single to CF in the top of the 8th.
- 1986 BDPOY None since. Pitchers were included in Player of the Year
selections through 1993. In 1994 Baseball
Digest began choosing both a Player & Pitcher of the Year.
- 5 K = Lexington Legends vs. Lake County Captains game on 06‑Jun‑2006. Not only did he win fans windshield washer
fluid, but in another game with 10 Ks he earned them free breakfast tacos.
FCR - Jim Carruthers, Richmond, Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Greg Maddux, Max Scherzer, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who was the first pitcher since Luis
Tiant did it in 1969 to allow ten extra-base hits in a single game?
Hint: He was the first native of the forty-ninth
state to be on an All-Star team.
Hint: He tied with a Hall of Fame pitcher for two
major awards in the same year.
- AS in 1997, 98, 99, 2001, 02 &04.
- 2001 he and Randy Johnson tied for the WS MVP
and for Sport Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year Award and thus were,
cleverly, the SportsMEN of the Year.
FCR - Sarah Grynpas, Toronto
Incorrect
guesses: Bill Lee, Sid Fernandez
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who was the first batter to put together
a 40-game hitting streak?
Hint: After it ended, he forthwith began a 28-game
hitting streak.
Hint: Ten years later, he had a year with 40
stolen bases in the same season as TWO of his teammates also broke the 40-stolen-base
barrier.
Hint: His competitiveness often escalated to
combativeness. He led his league in
ejections twice as a player. However, as
a manager, he led the NL in ejections three straight seasons.
- Batting streaks of 42 and 28 in 1894. Connect the two and he’d eclipse DiMag!
Had he gotten a hit on07-Aug-1884…
- In 1904 he (47), Sam Mertes (47) & Dan
McGann (42) had quite a year on the basepaths for pennant-winning NYG.
- He developed a penchant for being tossed by
certain umpires. During his playing and
managing career he clashed more with some umps than others. For example, was ousted 6 times each by Jim
Johnstone & Cy
Rigler;
8 times by Bob Emslie; 9 by Bill Finneran and an amazing 11 times by Hall of
Famer Bill Klem. His career boot total
was 65, 11th highest all-time. Dahlen is
the leader in ejections per games managed, getting tossed in more than 10% of
his total games.
FCR - Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect
guesses: Ty Cobb, Willie Keeler, John
McGraw, Hughie Jennings, Pete Rose, Cap Anson, Billy Martin, Pete Browning,
Everett Scott, Frankie Frisch, Rogers Hornsby
THURSDAY
Q. What Glaswegian hurler averaged 544
innings per year over his first six full seasons?
Hint: He lost 40 games in his first complete
season. The very next year he won 45.
Hint: During his ten years in the majors, he
tallied more career wins than did Bob Gibson, Carl Hubbell, Jack Morris,
Juan Marichal, Red Faber, Amos Rusie or Whitey Ford, to name a few.
Hint: His sparkling career ERA is lower than
those of Clayton Kershaw, Hoyt Wilhelm or Grover Cleveland Alexander among
other notables.
- Born in Glasgow, Scotland (my wife’s hometown). High innings stretch was from 1879 to 1884,
the acme being 657⅔ innings in 1880, the 4th best all‑time.
- 3 times he won more than 35 G in a season; 3
times he lost 30 or more. In 1882, his
record was 36-30.
- He racked up 265 W and ended with an ERA of 2.43.
FCR - Brett Moore, Studio City, California
Incorrect
guesses: Tim Keefe, Hoss Radbourn,
Albert Spalding, Will White, Jack Chesbro
FRIDAY
Q. Until 2018, who was the only second
baseman in American League history to amass 200 home runs, 2,000 hits and play
in 2,000 games?
Hint: He played for the same team during his
entire major league career.
Hint: Two Hall of Fame players finished behind
him in Rookie of the Year voting.
- Career totals were 244 HR, 2,369 H & 2,390
G. Robinson Cano joined him in that
statistical club with his 2,000th G on 31-Mar-2018.
- 19 yrs w/DET.
FCR - Lincoln Mitchell, New York City
Incorrect
guesses: Craig Biggio, Bobby Doerr, Joe
Morgan, Bobby Grich, Joe Gordon, Ryne Sandberg, Charlie Gehringer, Willie
Randolph, Tony Lazzeri
SATURDAY
Q. Which MVP winner was also the MVP of his
local men’s fastpitch softball league at age 16?
Hint: He, as a matter of superstition, delivered
mail to his teammates before every home game.
Hint: He injured his right knee when his cleats
slipped on a wet home plate while playing in the Mexican Pacific Winter League.
Hint: He was the last National Leaguer to score
five runs in a game in the 20th century.
- Larry’s softball teammates included his
rhyming brothers Carey, Barry, Gary as well as father Larry, Sr. whose wife was
named, of course, Mary.
FCR - Bill Deane, Cooperstown
Incorrect
guesses: Edgardo Alfonzo, Roberto
Clemente, Stan Musial, George Brett
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who reached a baseball milestone so
lofty that the commissioner of baseball was compelled to take out a full-page
ad in a national newspaper extolling both him and his accomplishment?
Hint: He was the home run and RBI leader on a
team that led wire-to-wire.
Hint: Before his debut game in the majors, two
All-Star teammates scolded him on the condition of his battle-worn cleats and
fitted him with a new pair.
- Ad in USA TODAY placed by Commissioner Bud Selig congratulating him on his 3,000th
hit on 15-Jul-2005.
The Selig ad read: “Congratulations Raffy, you never cease to amaze us!”
FCR - Patrick Ray, Paradise Valley, Arizona
Incorrect
guesses: Cal Ripken, Henry Aaron, Lance
Parrish, Joe DiMaggio, Mark McGwire, Roger Maris, Barry Bonds
IN MEMORIAM
Q. Who was the last batter ever to face Sandy
Koufax in the majors?
Hint: He saved Frank Robinson from drowning the
same year Robinson won the Triple Crown.
Hint: More than 20% of his career home runs were
hit against New York Yankee pitchers.
Hint: In his major league debut, he caught a
pitcher who himself was making his first appearance in “The Show”. Together they fashioned a two-hit shutout.
Hint: He was an All-Star his first two full
seasons in majors.
Hint: He played in four World Series taking home
two rings.
Hint: One season, he was one of the two principal
catchers who caught four pitchers who would each win 20 games that year.
- 1966 WS G 2 6th inning Etchebarren hit
into a double-play off Koufax who was then lifted from the game for Perranoski.
- At a party in August 1966, Robinson
slipped and fell into a pool. Not
knowing how to swim, Robinson began to sink but Etchebarren dived into the pool
and rescued him.
- Etchebarren hit 49 career HR, 10 of them vs.
NYY.
- First game catching for the Orioles was 26-Sep-1962. It was also Dave McNally’s debut. They dispatched KCA in Memorial Stadium in a
nifty 1 hour 32 minutes.
- Played in the WS in 1966, 1969, 1970 & 1971. BAL
won in 1966 & 1970. (Could the term “mini-dynasty”
apply?)
- In 1971 the Orioles’ starting aces Cuellar,
Dobson McNally & Palmer won 20, 20, 21 & 20 G respectively—81 of the
team’s pennant-winning 101 victories that season. Etchebarren was the catcher in 35 of those 81
wins.
FCR - Steven Wright, Naperville, Illinois
Incorrect guesses: Elrod Hendricks, Dave Johnson, Earl Williams,
Johnny Bench
SUNDAY
Q. Which Baltimore Oriole shortstop made
the All-Star team in his first full season in the majors?
Hint: He is the only American League second
baseman to lead the league in home runs since Nap Lajoie.
Hint: Her set the record for highest fielding percentage.
by a second baseman in his first full season at that position.
- 22 HR in strike-shortened 1981, tied with Tony
Armas, Darrell Evans & Eddie Murray
- Set the fielding record in 1973, lost the
record to Rob Wilfong in 1980, then reset the standard in 1985 @ .996699 (116
G). His mark, however, has since bested
by no fewer than six other 2Bs, viz.:
.996705 Bret Boone in 1997 (136 G)
.9968 Mark Ellis in 2006 (123 G)
.9973 Pedroia in 2014 (135 G)
.9973 Darwin Barney in 2012 (155 G)
1.000 Placido Polanco in 2007 (141 G) &
1.000 David Eckstein in 2010 (113 games)
FCR - Mark DeLodovico, Rockville, Maryland
Incorrect
guesses: Roberto Alomar, Ron Hansen, Jerry
Adair, Miguel Tejada
WEEK’S
FINALE
Q. Who was the youngest Phillie to collect
100 RBI in a season during the 20th century?
Hint: He was Ozzie Guillen’s favorite baseball
player.
Hint: He wore a tux, but no shoes or socks to his
own wedding.
- 110 RBI in 1993 @ 23 yrs. old
- Comment made when Guillen was manager of FLA.
- His wedding was in Key West, FL in February 2002.
FCR - Joe O’Neill, Wilmington, Delaware
Incorrect
guesses: Dick Allen, Chuck Klein, Juan
Samuel
WEEKLY THEME – . Highest career WAR among eligible players already voted on but not yet
in the Hall
Name Eligible since Career
WAR
Bonds................... 2013............... 162.8
Clemens............... 2013............... 139.2
Schilling............... 2013................. 79.5
McCormick........... 1936................. 76.2
Dahlen.................. 1936................. 75.4
Whitaker............... 2001................. 75.1
Walker.................. 2011................. 72.7
Palmeiro............... 2011................. 71.9
Grich.................... 1992................. 71.1
Rolen.................... 2018................. 70.2
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – David Gordon, Chevy Chase, Maryland (after Schilling)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tuesday - Players
not in the Hall of Fame because of Steroid suspicion
- Players
who would be in the Hall of Fame except for PED use
Thurs - Players
who get the most votes for the Hall of Fame, but are just not going to get in
- Players
that are not in the hall of fame because of off field issues even though stats
wise they should be in
Sat - Retired players
with highest lifetime WAR who are not in the Hall of Fame
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