Q. Who was the
first player to win back to back National League Most Valuable Player Awards
not to make it to the Hall of Fame?
Hint: He played in over
2,000 major league games, but never played in a postseason game that his team won.
Hint: He posted a .800
career OPS in the stadium sharing his nickname.
- He posted a .819 OPS
mark at SD’s Jack Murphy Stadium (aka “The Murph”).
FCR - Bob Kimball, Sutton,
Massachusetts
Incorrect guesses: Tommy Davis,
Ernie Banks,
Barry Bonds, Roger Maris
TUESDAY
Q. What Red Sox batter struck out more than
any other in the franchise’s history?
Hint: He is, however, in the top five in Red Sox
history in WAR Position Players Offensive WAR, Games played, Plate Appearances,
At-Bats, Runs and Hits.
Hint: He batted out of turn in his very first
plate appearance in the majors.
- 1,643 K for BOS
- Any category where he is not the leader, it is
almost always only Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, or both, who are ahead
of him.
- As Explained by Retrosheet, “On 16-Sept-1972, Dwight Evans made his
major league debut in the bottom of the 6th inning against the CLE when he pinch ran for
Reggie Smith. BOS was leading at the
time, 9-0 and Cecil Cooper had already been placed in the game as a pinch
runner for Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz was
batting 3rd and Smith 4th in the original lineup. In the top of the 7th both Cooper
and Evans stayed in the G and 3 other defensive replacements were made by mgr
Eddie Kasko. With one out in the bottom
of the 8th, Evans batted in Cooper's spot but flew out. No protest was made by CLE. The next legal batter should have been Phil
Gagliano but Cooper came to the plate and also made an out to end the inning.
BOS went on to win 10-0. Thus, Dwight
Evans’ first major league plate appearance was out of order!”
FCR - Mark Hayne, Dumfries, Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Ted Williams,
Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, David Ortiz, George Scott,
Manny Ramirez
WEDNESDAY
Q. What onetime Blue Jays DH enjoyed three Gold
Glove seasons and three Silver Slugger seasons with the last of the former
being separated by five seasons from the first of the latter?
Hint: He was drafted with the 332nd
pick his year and yet scouts for another team laughed at what they thought he
was a foolish pick.
Hint: Few disagreed with his herpetological
nickname.
- GG in 1977, 78 & 79. SS in 1985, 65 & 90.
- Drafted by PIT w/ the 332nd pick of
the 1970 June Draft and yet CIN actually laughed at PIT for what they thought
was a wasted pick. Later Parker had 4
very productive seasons with the Reds.
- Nickname “Cobra” because when he uncoiled his ferocious swing
or potent right arm, the effect on his opponents was often deadly (to their
efforts).
FCR - David Krassin, Los Angeles
Incorrect guesses: Dave Winfield,
John Olerud, Paul Molitor
THURSDAY
Q. Whose number did
the New York Yankee retire even though, in spite of his playing with them his
entire career, he never won a World Series with the team?
Hint: For three consecutive seasons, he won both
Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.
Hint: So dominant a player was he at the height
of his career that his nickname actually IS the game.
- Mattingly’s career was precisely sandwiched
between Yankee World Series appearances.
NYY was in the WS in 1981 then next in 1996. His career was 1982 through 1995.
- GG/SS 1985-87
- “Donnie Baseball”
FCR - Dave Serota, Kalamazoo
Incorrect guesses: Thurman Munson,
Mel Stottlemyre, Bill Dickey
THURSDAY SECONDS
Q. Who is the only first baseman to win MVP
honors at the MLB All-Star Game twice?
Hint: The team he played for during a mere five
MLB seasons retired his uniform number; yet his original team —for whom he
played 14 seasons— has not.
Hint: He once said, "The difference between the old ballplayer and the new
ballplayer is the jersey. The old ballplayer
cared about the name on the front. The
new ballplayer cares about the name on the back."
Hint: In his first collegiate at-bat, he clubbed
a grand slam to right field over a hill located on the playing field and
into a river.
- - Why the Dodgers haven’t followed the Padres’
lead in retiring Garvey’s number 6 is an awkward tale that could have a
happy ending very soon.
- After the opposing pitcher walked the bases
full in the first inning, freshman Garvey quickly unloaded them
with an opposite-field blast that arced over the quirky standing hill in right field at
Michigan State’s Kobs Field and splashed down in the nearby Red Cedar River.
FCR - Jim Williams, West Allis, Wisconsin
Incorrect guesses: Dick Allen, Willie McCovey, Will Clark, Jim Thome
FRIDAY
Q. Only once in storied history of the New
York Yankee have Yankee batters with last names all starting with M hit back-to-back-to
back home runs. The middle batter’s home
run was his first in the majors. Name
him.
Hint: In the vote for rookie of the year at the
end of the following season, he missed being elected unanimously by a single,
some say misguided, vote.
Hint: He received an honor from the Yankees that
had not been given in over forty years.
- In the bottom of the 6th on 10-Aug-1969, Lew Krause served up
consecutive home runs to Bobby Murcer, Munson and Gene Michael. It was the 2nd of Stick’s 2 that
year; it was Munson’s first and only.
112 would follow over the next decade.
- Lou Gehrig became
NYY captain in 1935, Munson in 1976.
FCR - Sarah Grynpas,
Toronto
Incorrect guesses: Bobby Murcer, Gil McDougald, Tino Martinez, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris,
Don Mattingly, Tom Tresh, Kevin Maas
SATURDAY
Q. What catcher missed Hall of Fame
election by a single vote?
Hint: In his first year on the
ballot, however, he only received 3.7% of the vote.
Hint: At the time of his retirement, he led all
catchers in career hits and doubles. (Min 70% G @ C)
Hint: He had more 75-RBI seasons than any
catcher.
- Simmons received 11 votes in the 2018 Modern
Baseball Era HOF election, falling just one shy of the 12 (75%) need for
election by the 16-member committee.
- In his first year on the 1994 ballot following
retirement in the 1988 season, he received 17 out of 436 votes or 3.7%.
- Career = 483 2B & 2,472 H
- Had 13 seasons
w/at least 75 RBI. In 8 of those years
he had 90+. Mike Piazza and Yogi Berra
each had 11 seasons of 75..
FCR - Adam Balutis,
Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Yogi Berra, Bob Boone
SATURDAY NIGHT OWL SPECIAL
Q. Who made his uniform famous by
forgetting it?
Hint: He was the first lead-off batter to hit a
home run that cleared the right-field roof at Tiger Stadium.
Hint: He hit more home runs wearing uniform #1
than any other player.
- On his way to the 1985 ASG in Minneapolis,
Whitaker forgot his Tiger uniform top and glove in his car at the airport. His backup jersey was lost enroute by a
messenger service. His solution was to
wear a souvenir-store replica
jersey
with his number “1” stenciled on its back
with a felt-tip marker. He used a
Cleveland Indians batting helmet and he borrowed a glove from Cal Ripken. The Smithsonian Institution was intrigued by
this tale of forgetfulness. The Smithsonian now has his uniform in its
vast collection. Extensive research
could not, however, determine if they have the original lost one, the misplaced
delivery one or the one actually worn that day by Whitaker who went 0-2 with it.
-
244 career HR wearing #1
FCR - Robert Osman, Great Neck, New York
Incorrect guesses: Ty Cobb, Ricky
Henderson , Reggie Jackson, Ron LeFlore
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who was a teammate of both Hall of
Famers Early Wynn and Deion Sanders?
Hint: Although he pitched mostly left-handed, he
claims his right arm should be credited for his last 164 wins after he took a
year off.
Hint: While in high school, he had been recruited
by Adolph Rupp to play basketball for the University of Kentucky.
- In his first MLB year in CLE in 1963, veteran
pitcher Early Wynn was one of his teammates.
Was a teammate of Sanders with NYY in Deion’s first season in the
majors, 1989. Was a teammate of NFL HOF Sanders
on the 1989 NYY, Deion’s debut season, but John’s last. Only Nolan Ryan and Cap Anson played more
major league seasons than Tommy John’s 26.
[Further research has revealed that the
Yanks released John 30-May-1989 - one day before the LA Times says they
called up Sanders.]
- John earned 164 of his 286 wins after his
famous surgery, performed by Dr. Frank Jobe in September 1974. It was deemed necessary
after John permanently damaged his left ulnar collateral ligament. A tendon
from his right forearm was transplanted into his left elbow and the rest is
history.
- He might have
played on national championship basketball teams at Kentucky, but he did get to
play in 3 World Series, 1977, 78 & 81.
FCR - Brett Moore, Studio City, California
Incorrect guesses: Phil Niekro, Sam
McDowell
SUNDAY
Q. Who did Red Barber say was as important
to baseball as Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey?
Hint: Although he spent the bulk of his career in
the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan he never played for the Yankees, Dodgers,
Giants or Mets.
Hint: Despite strong support from former Baseball
Commissioners Bud Selig and Fay Vincent (and countless others), he still
came up short in his last attempt for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- Miller became executive director of the MLBPA
(Major League Baseball Players Association) and helped secure rights for
players never dreamed of in the previous century of the majors.
- Miller was born in the Bronx in 1917, lived
most of his life in Flatbush and died in Manhattan in 2012.
- Needing 12 of the 16 votes cast by the
Expansion Era Veterans committee in 2011, he came up just one vote shy of
enshrinement.
FCR - Patrick Roth, Chicago
Incorrect guesses: Minnie Minoso, Gil Hodges, Walter O'Malley, Judge Landis,
Mel Allen, Buck O’Neil, Bill Shea
WEEKLY THEME – Nominees on the Hall of Fame’s 2020 Modern Baseball Era ballot. A panel of 16 voters (living Hall of Famers along with a few
other executives and one or two members of the media) will be tasked with
voting for up to 4 out of the 10 candidates.
The names of these 16 voters will likely not be revealed until a week
before the actual vote is taken. In
order to be elected to the Hall, a candidate needs 12 votes (75%). The 16 members of the committee will meet at
December’s Winter Meetings in San Diego and the inductees (if any) will be
announced on Sunday, December 8th.
First Correct Respondent to Identify
Theme – Quentin Wittrock , Minnesota (after Murphy!)
Incorrect theme guesses:
Sat - Players eligible for HOF
with most WAR in the 70s and 80s that are not in the HOF.
Sun - Theme most deserving HOF members under
consideration by veterans committee
-
People that I want in the Hall of Fame but, alas
will probably not get in because of lack of knowledge.
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