Sunday, December 8, 2019

2019-11-18 Hall of Fame pitchers who lost no-hit bids with two out in the ninth inning or later


Q.        What durable pitcher passed away in 1955 prompting baseball to create an award honoring his legacy?
Hint:     His gold career totals indicating an all-time career record in Baseball-Reference are almost comically numerous.
Hint:     He threw the first pitch ever thrown in a World Series game in the modern era.
A.         CY YOUNG  [SABR Bio]
-  The Cy Young Award for excellence in pitching was first awarded in 1956.  Brooklyn’s Don Newcombe was the first winner.
-  He is the all-time leader in Wins (511), Losses (315), Games Started (815), Compete Games (749), Innings Pitched (7,356), Hits surrendered (7,092), Earned Runs (2,147) and Batters Faced (29,565).
-  On 01-Oct-1903 he face Ginger Beaumont of the Pirates and got him to fly out to center field.
FCR -  Mark Manuel, Kenai, Alaska
Incorrect guesses:  Joe McGinnity

TUESDAY
Q.        Who is still the only pitcher to strike out ten consecutive batters in a major league game?
Hint:     He was the first Baseball Digest “Player of the Year” winner.
Hint:     His condition of green thumb was never investigated as a possible pitching advantage.
A.         TOM SEAVER  [SABR Bio]
-  10 straight Ks = 22-Apr-1970
-  Won the BB Digest POY in 1969
-  A successful farmer, he owns a successful vineyard in northern California.
FCR -  Dan Greder, Ames, Iowa
Incorrect guesses:  Catfish Hunter

TUESDAY BONUS
Q.        What legendary pitcher holds the rookie record for wins in a season in the modern era?
Hint:     He won the pitching triple crown for three consecutive seasons.
Hint:     His wife was once portrayed by Doris Day in a major motion picture.
-  He led the majors with 28 wins in his debut year 1911.  (Modern era = 1901- )
-  Pitching TC 1915, 16 & 17 (also won it in 1920)
-  Alexander’s wife Aimee was played in the fictionalized 1952 movie about his life, The Winning Team, by Doris Day.  His part was played by a young actor named Ronald Reagan.
FCR -  Leonard Levin, Providence
Incorrect guesses:  Don Drysdale, Steve Carlton, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Dizzy Dean, Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller, Carl Hubbell

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Who was the first National League pitcher to win an MVP?
Hint:     Who was the first pitcher to win his league’s ERA title by >1.00 run?
Hint:     His teammates called him “Dead Shot” because he backed up his boasts about his prowess with a revolver by slicing a card in 2 edgewise & shooting through the bottom of a bottle w/o breaking the neck.
A.         DAZZY VANCE [SABR Bio]
-  1924 MVP for BRO.  He could hardly be denied.  He led the majors, not just the NL in wins, ERA, complete games, Ks, ERA+, FIP, WHIP, H9, SO9 & SO/W.
-  His ERA of 2.61 was 1.26 runs better than runner-up Carl Hubbell n 1930.
FCR -  John Burbridge, Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania
Incorrect guesses:  Carl Hubbell, Dizzy Dean, Don Newcombe, Jim Konstanty, Bob Gibson, Clayton Kershaw

MIDWEEK BONUS
Q.        What multiple-Cy-Young-Award winner had a season with more than ten starts but ended that season with an ERA over 10.0?
Hint:     His ERA when he won his first Cy Young Award was the highest of winner in the past eighteen seasons.
Hint:     His tibia was broken by a line drive, ending his season before the All-Star break.
Hint:     He was certainly on pace to make the All-Star team when it happened.
A.         ROY HALLADAY  [SABR Bio]
-  13 GS, 10.64 ERA in 2000 for TOR
-  CYA in 2003 with an ERA of 3.25
-  Bone-breaking liner off the bat of the Rangers’ Kevin Mench 08-Jul-2005
-  Had a record of 12-5 w/ERA of 2.41 & 108 K at the time of the accident.  Halladay got hurt on a Friday and the '05 All-Star Game was played the following Tuesday.  He's listed as a reserve by baseball-reference.
FCR -  Michael Caragliano, Flushing, New York
Incorrect guesses:  Dizzy Dean, Corey Kluber, Johan Santana, Bob Gibson, Bartolo Colon, David Cone, Roger   Clemens

THURSDAY
Q.        What one-time Phillies pitcher had the largest margin between first and second place for his league’s ERA title?
Hint:     He was the first Dodger rookie to pitch in sixty games.
Hint:     His cousin pitched for six teams in seven years in the majors.
Hint:     On year for an expansion team he began the season with eight win and no losses (although not in their expansion year).
A.         PEDRO MARTINEZ  [SABR Bio]
-  In 2000, Pedro’s ERA  for BOS was 1.74 and Clemens’ was 3.70 was in second place in the AL for a delta of nearly 2 full runs.
   -  Appeared in 65 G for the 1993 LAD.  Threw 107 innings for a 10-5 record.
-  Cousin = Denny Bautista
-  8-0 start for MON in 1997.
FCR -  Humbert Kilanowski, Providence
Incorrect guesses:  Burt Hooton, John Denny, Mike Marshall, Pedro Astacio

FRIDAY
Q.        Who was the third native of Louisiana to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?
Hint:     He once pitched a no-hitter against the Red Sox where he walked the first batter then was otherwise perfect through 6⅓ innings.  An error by his shortstop allowed the only other runner.
Hint:     Although he never won the award, he received MVP votes nine times.
Hint:     Playing his entire major league career for just one team, he won more than 250 games.
A.         TED LYONS  [SABR Bio]
-  HOF in 1955 after Mel Ott (1951) and Bill Dickey (1954)
-  No-no 21-Aug-1926
-  Entire 21-year career spent w/CHW.  260-230 record.
FCR -  Steve Berman, Bergenfield, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses:  Vida Blue, Bob Gibson, Ron Guidry, Andy Pettitte

SATURDAY
Q.        Who was the winning pitcher in Cal Ripken's 2,131st consecutive game?
Hint:     He was the surprise reliever who held off the Red Sox in the game where Aaron Boone hit his triumphant ninth-inning home run to win the ALCS.
Hint:     He played baseball for a university that has no mascot.
Hint:     A persistent rumor in his hometown holds that he purposely lowered his high school GPA to avoid being valedictorian so he would not have to give a graduation speech.
A.         MIKE MUSSINA
-  Ripken G 06-Sep-1995
-  Mussina came in to replace Roger Clemens in the 4th inning then completed the 5th & 6th in G 7 16-Oct-2003.
-  After several tortured changes, Stanford University has had no official mascot since 1981.  Cardinal red is the school’s official color.
FCR -  John Romps, Dover New Hampshire
Incorrect guesses:  David Cone, Tim Wakefield, Andy Pettitte, Mike Boddicker

WEEKEND BONUS
Q.        What BBTL hurler surrendered Babe Ruth’s first Yankee home run?
Hint:     He got the first win and last win in the Yankees first World Series Championship.
Hint:     His delivery was so smooth that Grantland Rice said, “He pitched each game with the ease and coolness of a practice session.”
A.         HERB PENNOCK  [SABR Bio]
-  Pennock was pitching for BOS when Ruth took him deep 01-May-1920.  [Bats Both, Throws Left]
-  1923 WS; Pennock won G 2 & G 6.
   Rice was the preeminent sportswriter in the first half of the 20th century.
FCR -  Bobby Salerno, Seminole, Florida
Incorrect guesses:  Bob Shawkey, Carl Mays, Waite Hoyt

SUNDAY
Q.        Which Ivy League pitching coach alone amassed more career complete games than the entire total of complete games accumulated by all pitchers in both leagues over MLB’s six most recent seasons combined?
Hint:     His windup was such that he faced second base then whirled around and threw with excellent accuracy, often startling the batter.
Hint:     Although born in a family of comfortable circumstance, his last years on earth were spent in misery.
A.         JOHN CLARKSON  [SABR Bio]
-  Coached at Dartmouth, Harvard & Yale.  Had 485 CG compared to 451 CG in MLB 2014-19.
-  Billy Sunday said, “Clarkson could put more turns and twists into a ball than any pitcher I ever saw.”  Hall of Famer Sam Thompson, famed outfielder with Detroit and Philadelphia, said, “I faced him in scores of games and I can truthfully say that never in all that time did I get a pitch that came where I expected it or in the way in which I guessed it was coming.”
-  He spent much of the last four years of his life in mental hospitals and was accused of the brutal murder of his wife.
FCR -  David Gordon, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Incorrect guesses:  Christy Mathewson, Tim Keefe, Smoky Joe Wood, Ewell Blackwell, Jack Taylor, Ed Walsh, Cy Young, George Earnshaw


WEEKLY THEME – Hall of Fame pitchers who lost no-hit bids with two out in the ninth inning or later.

Pitcher            Date                     Hit Notes
Clarkson......... 26-May-1892...... 1B by Hugh Jennings
Young............. 23-Jul-1896 ....... 1B by Ed Delahanty
Pennock......... 14-Apr-1915........ 1B by Harry Hooper.......... Beat E. Shore 2-0
Alexander....... 05-Jun-1915....... 1B by Arthur Butler
Vance............. 17-Jun-1923....... 1B by Sammy Bohne
Lyons............. 19-Sep-1925....... 1B by Bobby Veach.......... Won 17-0
Seaver............ 24-Sep-1975....... 1B by Joe Wallis............... Also pitched 10th
Martinez......... 05-Jun-1995....... 1B Bip Roberts.................. 9 perfect innings, pulled after hit in 10th
Halladay......... 27-Sep-1998....... HR by Bobby Higginson.... 2nd career start
Mussina.......... 02-Sep-2001....... PH 1B by Carl Everett

First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeSarah Grynpas, Toronto (After Halladay)

Incorrect theme guesses:

Tuesday -  300 game winners with career era under 3.00
               -  Hall of Famers with the highest career winning percentage
               -  World Series starting pitchers
               -  Pitchers with over 60 shutouts
            -           25+ game winners who lost a world series game the same season

Wed        -  Pitchers who lost no-hit bids in the bottom of the ninth
               -  Pitchers who lost no-hit bids in the bottom of the ninth in the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs
               -  Hall of Fame pitchers (or maybe just Hall of Famers depending on how the week plays out) who went by names other than their given first names (i.e. George Thomas Seaver, Denton True Young, Harry Leroy Halladay, etc.)

Sunday   -  Players with the best World Series WHIP's








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