Sunday, October 20, 2019

2019-10-14 Hall of Famers for the Cincinnati Reds during Marty Brennaman’s tenure


The questions, hints and theme this week come to us from John Michael Pierobon of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Q.        What player’s page appears if you type “terrific” in the search box on Baseball‑Reference.com?
Hint:     He has a street named after him in New York City.
Hint:     He once pitched under Tony LaRussa in the same rotation with Steve Carlton.
A.         TOM SEAVER  [SABR Bio]
-  Nicknamed “Tom Terrific” after the cartoon character Tom Terrific.  Despite the legal efforts of uber NFL QB Tom Brady to request exclusive trademark control over the shared moniker, the US Patent & Trademark office denied Brady’s filings.
-  41 Seaver Way is the official address of Citi Field, home of the New York Mets (#41 was Seaver’s uniform number—the first one ever retired by the Mets.) Watch the dedication ceremony here.
-  Seaver pitched for the CHW 1984 -1986—including a memorable 3‑month stretch on The South Side in 1986 when LaRussa slotted Seaver alongside the then fellow 41-year old Carlton.
FCR -  Michael Shea, Dublin, Ireland
Incorrect guesses: 

TUESDAY
Q.        Who is the latest iteration of “The Kid”?
Hint:     He played major-league baseball alongside his father.
Hint:     He broke a record held by yesterday’s answer.
A.         KEN GRIFFEY, Jr.  [SABR Bio]

-  Like Ted Williams, Ron Moeller and Robin Yount before him, Griffey was also nicknamed “The Kid” (demonstrative adjective required).
-  Playing KCR on 31-Aug-1990, Ken Griffey, Sr. and son became the first father/son combo to appear in the same lineup, a pairing not soon forgotten by Kapuskasing’s Kirk McKaskill (or anyone else!).
-  When Griffey, Jr. was elected to the HOF in 2016, he received 99.30% of the vote, breaking pitcher Tom Seaver’s previous record of 98.84% set in 1992.  (Mariano Rivera surpassed both of them with his unanimous selection in 2019.)
FCR -  Abbey Garber, Dallas
Incorrect guesses:  Tim Raines, Jr., Kid Nichols

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Who is “Doggie”?
Hint:     He was originally nicknamed “Tany” by his family.
Hint:     “The Cuban Comet” was his boyhood idol.
Hint:     He is good friends with Sam Zynger, co-chair of SABR’s South Florida Chapter.
A.         TONY PEREZ  [SABR Bio]
-  He has also been called “Big Dog” or “Big Doggie”.
-  Born Atanasio Perez in 1942 in Cuba, his mother lovingly dubbed him “Tany”.  He left Cuba as a lanky 17-year-old in March 1960 and it was during spring training in Florida that he became “Tony” Perez.  Coaches and teammates didn’t take the time to learn the correct pronunciation of his Latino name, using instead the Anglicized version, calling him “Tony” instead of “Tany”.
-  The great Minnie Minoso from Havana made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians on 19‑April‑1949, about a month before Tany Perez turned seven years old.  Tany and his father would listen to games together on the radio, thrilled by the exploits of their countryman. Perez fondly remembered him as one of his first heroes, saying, “Everybody wanted to be like Minnie Minoso.”
FCR -  J.P. Wanamaker, Binghamton, New York
Incorrect guesses:  Richard Hidalgo, Tony Pena, Greg Maddux, Minnie Minoso

THURSDAY
Q.        Who spent over 500 Sunday nights alongside Jon Miller?
Hint:     He is one of three Hall-of-Famers to play for both the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics.
Hint:     He is the only National League second baseman to have drawn more than 100 walks in six consecutive seasons.
A.         JOE MORGAN  [SABR Bio]
-  From 1990–2010 Morgan did national television broadcasts with Miller on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.
-  Morgan played for SFG 1981-1982 and for OAK in 1984.  Fellow HOFs Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda also played on both sides of the Bay Bridge.
-  100+ BB every year 1972–1977.
FCR -  Dr. Frank Stephenson, Rome, Georgia
Incorrect guesses:  Duane Kuiper, Jason Isringhausen, Al Hrabosky, Steve Bedrosian

FRIDAY
Q.        Who was the last St. Louis Cardinal to lead the league in saves in consecutive years?
Hint:     Only Mo and Trevor walked off the mound last for their teams more times.
Hint:     A seven-time All-Star, he earned Top Ten Cy Young votes in four seasons, bested in the final voting by four different eventual 300-game winners.
A.         LEE SMITH  [SABR Bio]
-  NL Saves leader w/STL w/47 in 1991 & 43 in 1992.
-  W/802, he is 3rd all-time in Games Finished.
-  CYA balloting: 1983, 1991, 1992 and 1993.  300-game winners: Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson.
FCR -  Bill Helm, Camp Verde, Arizona
Incorrect guesses:  Bruce Sutter, Steve Bedrosian, Al Hrabosky, Dennis Eckersley

SATURDAY
Q.        Who hypes a product that he insists won’t make you stink?
Hint:     You’re unlikely to forget his handshake.
Hint:     He hit 3 home runs in a game 3 times in his career, twice off the same Hall of Famer.
A.         JOHNNY BENCH  [SABR Bio]
-  Spokesperson for pain-relief cream Blue-Emu, which contains an odorless oil harvested from Australia’s largest flightless bird.  Watch Bench’s “pitch” here.
-  The size and strength of Bench’s hands are legendary.
-  Bench frequently undressed Steve Carlton bashing 3 homers off him 26‑July‑1970 when Lefty was w/STL and again on 9-May-1973, while Carlton was on PHI. (Bench’s third 3-HR G was against Randy Jones of SDP 29-May-1980.)  Bench’s career 1.065 OPS (min 60 AB) against Carlton was his highest against any hurler.
FCR -  Bobby Salerno, Seminole, Florida
Incorrect guesses:  Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Joey Votto, Frank Thomas, Albert Pujols

SUNDAY
Q.        Who hit his first career grand slam just after The Naked Cowboy streaked across the field of play?
Hint:     He was, until that point, the only active player with 150+ homers, 6,500+ at‑bats, 2,000+ hits and 350+ doubles without a grand slam to his name.
Hint:     He once stole a base in the same game where he hit three homers.
Hint:     For eight seasons, his teammates’ uniforms were not the same as his.
A.         BARRY LARKIN
-  GS = 20-Apr-2001; Game recap; [Filmed evidence of streaker not available.]
Entering 2001, Larking had accumulated 179 HR, 6,687 AB, 2,008 H & 361 2b.
-  3 HR + SB = 28-Jun-1991
-  Named CIN team captain in 1997, Larkin’s uniform embroidery always included an additional small-letter “c” in the same font used throughout the Reds uniform design scheme.
FCR -  John Leavy, Austin
Incorrect guesses:  Ted Kluszewski, Derek Jeter, Carlton Fisk, Mike Piazza, George Foster

WEEK’S FINALE
Q.        What Hall of Famer missed only two scheduled games from his rookie season, yet ended his career with a WAR rating of -1.2?
Hint:     He was the bat boy for a legendary college team during their first year in the finals.
Hint:     The baseball field at California Lutheran University now bear his name.
A.         SPARKY ANDERSON  [SABR Bio]
-  Rookie year was his ONLY year.  The stats tell why.  He did all this playing for a last-place team, PHI.
-  Batboy for the 1948 USC team,  They defeated Yale in the finals.
-  Sparky Anderson Field at Ullman Stadium.  Anderson was a long-time supporter of their program.
FCR -  Jesse Asbury, Norman, Oklahoma
Incorrect guesses:  Tommy Hutton



WEEKLY THEME – Hall of Famers for the Cincinnati Reds during Marty Brennaman’s highly acclaimed 46-year (1974-2019) broadcasting tenure in the Queen City.

Player             CIN yrs              HOF
Anderson....... 1970-78............ 2000
Bench............ 1967-83............ 1989
Griffey............ 2000-08............ 2016
Larkin.......... 1986-2004.......... 2012
Morgan.......... 1972-79............ 1990
Perez....... 1964-76; 85-86....... 2000
Seaver........... 1977-82............ 1992
Smith................ 1996............... 2019



First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeSarah Grynpas, Toronto (after Morgan)

Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday  -  Pitchers who lost perfect games in the 9th inning
               -  Most Hall of fame votes (by percentage)

Tues       -  Hall of Famers who played for both the White Sox and Reds—though not in World Series—in this centennial of the Black Sox series.

Wed        -  Big Red Machine sons in MLB
               -  Hall of Famers who played for the Reds  X 5
               -  HOF teammates of Ken Griffey Sr.


Thurs      -  Members of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame
               -  Living ballplayers with statues
               -  Players who played with Ken Griffey Sr.
               -  The Big Red Machine
               -  Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famers who played for at least two AL teams
               -  Hall of Famers who were multiple time All-Stars with the Reds
               -  Cincinnati Reds players involved in blockbuster trades

Friday     -  Hof players who played with 3 or more teams including the Reds


Sunday   -  Living member of the Hall of Fame who played for the Cincinnati Reds
               -  HOF'ers who played for the Cincinnati Reds during the expansion era
               -  Big Red Machine
               -  All century team players who were active at its announcement
               -  Living Reds Hall of Famers
               -  Reds in the Hall of Fame













No comments:

Post a Comment