MONDAY – 23-Mar
Q. Who is the
only member of the 500 home run club to hit a grand slam as a teenager?
Hint: He is the
only player to drive in at least 125 RBI while batting below .250 that same
season.
Hint: He hit more
home runs in the 1960s than any other major leaguer.
A. HARMON
KILLEBREW [SABR
Bio]
- GS 21-Jun-1956 at age 19 yrs 358 days
- 1962 = 126 RBI/.243
- 393 HR 1960-69. (H. Aaron was next w/375)
FCR - Steve Newton,
Newcastle, Delaware
Incorrect guesses: Henry
Aaron, Alex Rodriguez, Mel Ott, Mickey Mantle, Willie McCovey,
Ken Griffey, Jr., Gary Sheffield, Dave Kingman, Eddie Matthews, Willie
Mays
TUESDAY – 24-Mar
Q. Who managed
the most successful National League team of the “Gay 90’s”?
Hint: His youth
movement eventually prompted the rechristening of a group of orphans into a
team whose nickname has now endured for more than a century.
Hint: A Hall of Famer himself, in his sixteen-year managing
career, no fewer than thirteen (13!) future Hall of Fame players plied their
trade under his watchful eye.
Hint: His hirsute labium
superius oris was the stuff of legend.
A. FRANK
SELEE [SABR
Bio]
- Selee managed the Boston Beaneaters from 1890
to 1901 at a .607 clip, taking the league pennant 5 times.
- When Selee was named the manager of the NL’s Chicago
Orphans in 1902, his usage of several younger players, including the first
full-time combination of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance, caused
his team of “baby bears” to morph its nickname into the Cubs.
- Selee was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, 90 years
after his death. HoFers under Selee in Boston 1890-1901:
Kid Nichols and
Then in Chicago 1902-05,
he had the above-mentioned
Chance plus
There were a few more of
his charges who, in the opinion of many, ought to receive serious Hall consideration,
e.g., Harry Stovey, Frank Schulte & Johnny Kling, Fred Tenney, Bill Dineen, Ed Ruelbach and Chick Stahl.
That stable of quality
players certainly had something to do with his winning percentage.
- Selee’s mustache, even for that era, was, you
know… industrial strength, weapons grade, the best, setter of trends.
FCR - James Trout, Louisville, Tennessee
Incorrect guesses: Ned Hanlon, Cap Anson, John McGraw, Jim
Mutrie, Hughie Jennings, Albert Spalding, Bobby Cox, Wilbert Robinson, Garry Street
WEDNESDAY – 25-Mar
Q. Who was jokingly rumored to be so fast
that he was called out while sliding into second base once because he was
struck by the same line drive that HE himself had just hit?
Hint: Paul Simon recorded a song with his name in
it.
Hint: His birth name was James Thomas Nichols.
Hint: He was the third player from the Negro
Leagues voted into the Hall of Fame who had never played in the majors.
A. COOL PAPA BELL [SABR Bio]
- It was often said that there was no one faster
in all the Negro Leagues.
- Simon’s song is titled “Cool
Papa Bell”
but it has some R-rated lyrics of the most poetic kind (Meaning I don’t
understand them.)
- Bell, originally a pitcher, earned the
nickname “Cool” after he struck out the legendary Oscar Charleston in one of his first Negro National
League mound appearances. Bell’s manager
Candy Jim Taylor later added “Papa”. (No reason given.)
- HOF in 1974.
Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard became Hall of Famers in 1972.
FCR - David Johnson, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Incorrect
guesses: Joe DiMaggio, Satchell Paige,
Josh Gibson
THURSDAY – 26-Mar
Q. Who is the only slugger to lead his
league in home runs for seven consecutive seasons?
Hint: In all but the first of those, he also led
the majors.
Hint: Only once in those years did his team
finish above .500.
Hint: He had signed with that team BECAUSE of
their lack of talent.
A. RALPH KINER [SABR Bio]
- Led NL in HR 1946-52
- Led majors 1947-52
- PIT reached .500 only in 1948 during that stretch
- Kiner signed with the perennial second
division-dwelling PIT right out of high school figuring he’d have a faster path
to The Bigs with them rather than with the talent-rich NYY, who had also
expressed interest in him. His choice
proved to be a wise one as he spent just a little over two years in the Bucs’
minor-league system.
FCR - Jeff Cohen, Wantagh, New York
Incorrect
guesses: Gavvy Cravath, Babe Ruth, Frank
Howard
THURSDAY AGAIN – 26-Mar
Q. Which pitcher is the only man to give up
200 home runs in the National League and then another 200 home runs in the American
League?
Hint: He is only hurler who managed to surrender
home runs to all three Alou brothers. (Not in the same game. That would be a record!)
Hint: Since expansion, he is the only National
League pitcher to lead the league in home runs surrendered three years running.
A. FERGIE JENKINS [SABR Bio]
- He surrendered 273 HR w/PHI & CHC and a
total of 211 w/TEX & BOS.
- Brothers Felipe (25-Apr-1968), Matty (05-Sep-1971) & Jesus (23-Jul-1967 & 31-May-1973) all took Fergie deep.
- Jenkins coughed up league-leading gopher ball
totals three years in a row in 1971 (29), 1972 (32) and 1973 (35). He also led his leagues in HRs allowed 4 other
seasons
FCR - Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas
Incorrect
guesses: Jim Bunning, Bert Blyleven,
Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry, Jamie Moyer, Robin Roberts, Don Sutton, Zack
Greinke
IN MEMORIAM – 27-Mar
Q. Of whom did Future National League President
Bob Watson say, “He's something else. I
mean, I look at that little man and I feel ashamed of myself.”?
Hint: He was the first Houston Astro to hit thirty
home runs in one season.
Hint: He was their first to collect 1,000 career
hits for the Houston Astros.
Hint: He was their first to hit 200 career
doubles for the Houston Astros.
Hint: He was their first to hit 200 career home
runs for the Houston Astros.
Hint: In his best home run season, he was only
two behind league leader, Hank Aaron.
Hint: He is the only player to hit two home runs
in a game off each of Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan.
Hint: He was the first post-expansion player to
reach base in fifty straight games.
Hint: He is the only National Leaguer to bat
below .210 and still draw over 100 walks in a season.
- Wynn’s relatively diminutive stature,
generously listed at 5’10”, but probably slightly less, and only 160 pounds,
belied his extraordinary strength. He
did NOT care for his nickname “The Toy Cannon” nor did he ever want to be
called Jimmy, as the media kept insisting on doing.* Bob Watson after a fine career as a player
was not actually NL President, but MLB's VP in charge of discipline and VP of
rules and on-field operations.
- Hit 37 HR in 1967.
- Had 1,291 H for HOU 1963-73.
- Hit 228 2B for HOU 1963-73.
- Hit 223 HR for HOU 1963-73.
- Hit 37 HR in 1967. Aaron hit 39.
- HR X 2 off Ryan 30-Aug-1970; off Carlton 24-Aug-1976
- In 1976, playing for ATL, elicited an MLB-leading
127 walks from NL pitchers in spite of an anemic .207 batting
average. That number is misleading,
however, since his OBP was .377, 57 points higher that the NL’s (and his team’s) that year.
FCR - Jim Murphy, Mesa, Arizona
Incorrect
guesses: Joe Morgan
*After Jim Wynn’s In
Memoriam question and answer, reader Rob Sheinkopf, now living in Las Vegas,
wrote us with this very personal information about Wynn. This is printed for you with his permission:
“Bruce
–
Jimmy
(JIMMY) was a close personal friend.
I’ve known him since 1992, we stayed in touch all these years, our
families vacationed together years ago, etc., we always called him Jimmy, never
heard him say he preferred ‘Jim’, nor did he object when called ‘the Toy Cannon’
by people who approached him in my presence, and that happened a lot. Really don’t know where you got those
misconceptions. But he was a wonderful
human being, never rude or mean to his fans, so maybe that’s it, just let it
slide.
Jimmy
once brought me up to ‘his seat’ in the upper deck of the Astrodome,
which was almost never open due to crowd size. I’m sure you know there were 3 seats with
players numbers. I think Jimmy’s seat
was fairly close to one with Eric Anthony’s number, if I’m not mistaken, and
the other was in right field. I don’t
recall whose that might have been. But
we sat there for a full inning all alone, watching what looked like a game
going on a mile away and marveled that someone could hit a ball that far. Apparently the TV producer noticed us and
showed Jimmy talking to ‘a friend’ (me) about that mammoth home run, and for a
guy 5’8” (he was my height) he had incredible power. I heard all about the TV broadcast the next
day from my colleagues at the University of Houston.
He
was a very kind and generous man.”
~ Rob
FRIDAY – 27-Mar
Q. Who was the first unanimous Rookie of
the Year Award winner in the American League?
Hint: He once walloped a home run that hit a
synagogue.
Hint: At the time of his retirement, he held the
records for most games played and for most home runs hit by a player at his
position.
Hint: He led the league in triples one year and
the following season didn’t hit a single triple—no not one!
A. CARLTON FISK [SABR Bio]
- ROY 1972
- In his first of three plate appearances on a
rehab assignment with the South Bend White Sox in 1992, he hit a 3-run homer
that struck a synagogue down the left field line, just outside the ballpark.
(The synagogue was renovated this past year and was
then made into the merchandise hub for the Silver Hawks. On a nearby fence,
there is a plaque commemorating the Fisk shot.)
- His record for Gs played at catcher was 2,226
but was passed by Ivan Rodriguez in 2009.
The record is now 2,427. His
record for HR by a catcher was 351 but was passed in 2004 by Mike Piazza and is
now 396.
- 1972 led the AL in 3B as a rookie w/9. In 1973, with 51 more at-bats, he hit exactly
…zero.
FCR - Bill Deane, Cooperstown
Incorrect
guesses: Cal Ripken, Ken Griffey, Jr.,
Al Kaline
SATURDAY – 28-Mar
Q. Who was the first qualifying player
since the Hoover administration to average at least .360 for three consecutive
seasons?
Hint: He was the first National League player to
collect an extra-base hit in six plate appearances in a row.
Hint: He has won the prestigious Tip O’Neill
Award a record nine times.
A. LARRY WALKER [SABR Bio]
- He hit .366 in 1997, .363 in 1998;
& .379 in 1998, the last two leading not just the NL, but all
MLB. Last accomplished before Walker by Al
Simmons in 1929-1931.
- On 21- & 22-May-1996, he clobbered a double, a triple,
home run, a second double, a second triple and finally, a
third triple against Pittsburgh pitching at his home park in Denver. He
also homered in first-inning AB on 21-May, but this dinger wasn’t part of the
streak as he lined out in his next (3rd-inning) PA before starting
his record stream of successive XBHs.
- Tip O’Neill Award is awarded by the Canadian Baseball
Hall of Fame to that Canadian-born ballplayer judged to have excelled in
individual achievement and team contribution while adhering to baseball's
highest ideals. It was first presented
in 1984 to Terry Puhl and is named after James Tip O'Neill, one of the first Canadian standouts in
Major League Baseball.
FCR - Adrian Fung, Toronto
Incorrect
guesses: Tony Gwynn, Albert Pujols, Wade
Boggs, John Olerud, Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, Al Simmons
WEEKEND BONUS – 28-Mar
Q. Who was a rookie with the Phillies just two
year after another Phillies rookie had won the franchise’s first ever Rookie of
the Year Award?
Hint: The organization traded that ROY to a team
across the country and had high hopes that in this rookie they had again found
someone who could perform at that level.
Hint: As a result, they played him in 152 of
their scheduled 154 games in his rookie season.
Hint: He rewarded them with one of the most
unusual careers ever in the majors.
Hint: He became Hall of Fame worthy a little later.
A. SPARKY ANDERSON [SABR Bio]
- Jack Sanford won the NL ROY in 1957 playing for PHI. Anderson played for PHI in 1959 but received
no ROY votes.
- Sanford was traded to SFG in December of ’58.
- Anderson is the only player to play 150 G in
one season and not play a single G in any other major league season. The player the Phillies got to replace
Anderson at 2nd, played for them at that position for the next 17
years: Tony Taylor.
- Anderson’s MLB managing got him to the Hall of
Fame. One example - He was the 1st mgr to lead a team
to a WS championship in each league.
FCR - Dr. Fred Worth, Arkadelphia, Arkansas
Incorrect
guesses: Richie Ashburn, Ryan Howard,
Dick Allen
SUNDAY – 29-Mar
Q. What umpire, born within 40 miles of Cal
Ripken’ birthplace was in 2,532 consecutive major league games?
Hint: He worked the first All-Star Game in
Chicago.
Hint: He was an umpire in eight World Series.
Hint: A man very familiar with the strike zone
once said, ““He was one of the sharpest guys with balls and strikes I ever saw.
I’d say he was probably 99.9 percent right.”
Hint: He ejected Pete Gray the only time Gray was
ever ejected from a game.
Hint: He was one of the record seventeen (17!)
future Hall of Famers to participate in a single regular season game.
A. BILL McGOWAN [SABR Bio]
- Born in Wilmington, Delaware. Ripken was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
- 1st ASG – 1933 in Chicago.
- On 19-Sept-1945 after one-armed
outfielder Pete Gray was called out at
first base by McGowan on a bang-bang play, Gray kept on arguing so vehemently
that the ump finally lost patience and tossed Gray.
- On 24-May-1928 at Shibe
Park
in Philly, McGowan and fellow HOF umpire Tom Connolly officiated the game between Miller Huggins’ visiting NYY line-up, starring:
2 additional NYY
HOFers, Herb Pennock and Stan Coveleski ,
were on the bench but didn’t get into the game.
Connie Mack’s PHA team on the field saw
The Yanks won 9-7, but
this was only the first game of a double header. In the nightcap, won by Philly 5-2, Hoyt for NYY and Collins, Foxx,
Grove and Simmons for PHA watched from the dugout.
The had the same umpire
crew, positions rotated.
FCR - Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: Jocko Conlan, Babe Pinelli,
Bill Dineenn, Bill Klem, Al Barlick.
WEEKLY THEME – Lone
native representatives of their states or provinces in the Baseball Hall of
Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.
Anderson........ South Dakota
Bell................. Mississippi
Fisk................ Vermont [Note:
“native” does not necessarily mean “from” & vice versa.]
Killebrew........ Idaho
Kiner............... New Mexico
Jenkins........... Ontario
McGowan....... Delaware
Selee.............. New Hampshire
Walker............ British Columbia
It could be interesting to speculate on the
ways this list could be altered. Here are
a few scenarios. Feel free to suggest
others:
A. It is likely that Joey Votto will kick
Jenkins off.
B. Curt Schilling and his native Alaska might one
day join.
C. Dave Parker is the most likely to join Bell
and take Mississippi from this list.
D. Many believe New Mexico’s Vern Stephens
could join Kiner.
E. t cetra
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Mark Hayne, Dumfries, Virginia (after
Selee)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Monday - People
that (sic) played in 1965 World Series
-
Tuesday - All-time
leaders in RBI
-
Wed - Hall
of Famers with double letters in their name
- Hall
of Farmers who were either mentioned or portrayed in movies
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