Q. Who is the
youngest infielder ever to hit a triple in modern World Series history?
Hint: He is the only
shortstop to win a Silver Slugger Award in consecutive seasons for the Red Sox.
Hint: In his first
six full seasons in the majors, he was twice an All-Star, three times a Silver
Slugger and garnered MVP votes two times.
- SS in 2015-16 also
2019
FCR - Mary Shea, Milwaukee
Incorrect guesses: Nomar
Garciaparra, Rico Petrocelli, Rafael Furcal, Vern Stephens
MONDAY MONDAY
Q. Who had more
hits than anyone else in a Montreal Expos uniform?
Hint: He was Steve
Carlton’s 3,000th major league strike out.
Hint: He hit the
first ever home run against the Florida Marlins.
Hint: His
teammates called him Eli.
- He had 1,694 H playing for MON. He is
also (and will always be) their leader in games (1,767), plate appearances (7,174),
at-bats (6,529), outs made (5,115, doubles (360), RBIs (905) not to mention
Total Based (2,728).
- K by Lefty = 29-Apr-1981.
Carlton would go on to strike out over 1,000 more = [4,136,
4th all-time.]
FCR - Rick Gross, Miami
Incorrect guesses: Ellis Valentine, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines
TUESDAY – Apr-21
Q. Who was the first National League player
to be a designated hitter in a regular season game?
Hint: He is still the only player to hit a home
run onto the roof of a building near Wrigley Field.
Hint: He was a bat when the National League got
its first 40/40. And much happiness and rejoicing
was had by all throughout the land.
- He was SFG’s DH during the majors’ 1st
regular-season interleague game, playing TEX in Arlington on 12-June-1997.
- His blast
on 11-May-2000 landed on top of the 5-story
residential building across the street from Wrigley at 1032 W. Waveland Ave. The 18-mph wind blowing out to left that
afternoon probably gave it a bit of a friendly nudge.
- On 27-Sept-1996 in Colorado, Hill was at the plate with a 2-0 count, when
teammate Barry Bonds stole his 40th base of the
season which, when coupled with his 42 HRs that year, made Bonds just the
second player to earn entry into an imaginary and highly exclusive 40HR/40SB club.
FCR - Mary Shea, Milwaukee
Incorrect guesses: Andres Galarraga, Dave Kingman, Orlando
Cepeda, Alfonso Soriano, Ron Swoboda, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds
TUESDAY TUICE
Q. Who is the only player to hit home runs
from each side of the plate in a game for four different major league teams?*
Hint: This one-time Yankee switch-hit home runs more
times than Mickey Mantle did.
Hint: Halfway through the last season of his nineteen-year
career, he hit into a double play and a triple play in the same game then
helpfully explained that it had been a “bad biorhythms day” for him.
- Switch-hit HR for SFG, CAL, MIN & KCR.*Further
research shows that Carlos Beltran AND Nick Swisher have passed Davis and
homered from both sides in a game for 5 teams:
Beltran’s five games - 1st G the feat was accomplished with
each team:
KCR 29-June-2000, HOU 01-July-2004, NYM 30-July-2006, STL 30-Sept-2012 and NYY 20-June-2015. Swisher did it with OAK, CHW, NYY CLE &
ATL.
- Played for NYY 1998-99. Had 11 career Gs w/switch-hit HR. Mantle had 10.
FCR - R. D. Lerner, Silver Spring, Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Carlos Beltran, Ruben Sierra, Mark Teixeira,
Eddie Murray, Nick Swisher, Bernie Williams
TUESDAY THRICE
Q. Who was the first pitcher to win the
Baseball Digest Rookie of the Year Award?
Hint: He and his brother each pitched a shutout
in their respective major league debuts.
Hint: He was one of the first pitchers to win the
Labatt's Pitcher of the Year Award.
Hint: He went to the postseason with the
Phillies, the Yankees and the A’s.
- BD ROY 1975
- Labatt’s is the Canadian brewer who once was
the owner of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Underwood won the award in the 3rd yeas of the history of
that franchise, 1979.
FCR - David Krassin, Los Angeles
Incorrect guesses: Rick Reuschel, Bobby Shantz, Dizzy Dean, Don
Newcombe
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who was a 1,216,000,000-to-1 shot to
reach the major leagues?
Hint: His mother felt doubly blessed and was
proud to say so.
Hint: An elite defender as an amateur, he caught
the eye of a future Hall of Fame shortstop.
- He was the first player born on the continent
of Africa, population 1.216 billion people, to reach the majors.
- His mother’s story of her son’s birth (“a
gift from God”) inspired her to name him Gift twice. Once in her native Sotho tongue—'Mpho’—and
again in English so “white men would know too.”
- In 2008, he went to Italy for the MLB European Academy where guest instructor
Barry Larkin (HOF 2012) took notice of Gift’s gifts. Shortly thereafter, PIT eagerly signed Ngoepe
for a $15,000 bonus.
FCR - Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Incorrect
guesses: Mike Piazza, Dummy Hoy, Jim
Abbott, David Eckstein
WEDNESDAY AGAINSDAY
Q. Who played for the Yankees before the
Empire State Building was erected but later played for the Skyscrapers?
Hint: He was born outside the United States, but
was a U.S. citizen before he turned twelve.
Hint: His first major league manager was in the
American League and was a no-doubt Hall of Famer. His last team was in the National League, but
managed by the same man!
Hint: The season he pitched for the Angels, his
ERA was a respectable 2.51.
- Born in Salt Lake City, Utah 26-Jul-1885. Utah was granted statehood 04‑Jan‑1896.
- Clark Griffith was his manager with
NYY and in CIN, neither being his longest stint as a manager in the
majors. The Old Fox managed WSH from 1912 to 1920.
FCR - Gregg Pericich, Torrance, California
Incorrect
guesses: Lefty Gomez, Jack Quinn
THURSDAY
Q. Who played shortstop for the Cubs after Ernie
Banks moved to first base?
Hint: He recorded the last putout at Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum.
Hint: A stadium bearing his name was erected for
him in his home country.
Hint: He was the first player from his country to
make it to the majors yet he still holds nearly every offensive record among
players from his country.
- Playing 1B for CHC on 20-Sep-1961 at the Coliseum, Rodgers caught the toss from P Barney Schultz for the 2nd
out of the 13th inning. A
walk-off single ensued to win the game for LAD.
- The original Andre Rodgers National Baseball
Stadium was erected in 1966 but razed in 2006.
Its replacement is under construction
and scheduled to re-open by 2021.
- Five other Bahamian players totaled 12 seasons
in MLB.
FCR - Chuck Durante, Dover, Delaware
Incorrect
guesses: Jerry Kendall, Hiram Bithorn,
Don Kessinger, Gene Baker
THURSDAY THOROUGH
Q. Who was the WAMCO lead-off?
Hint: He won seven Gold Gloves using the exact same
glove.
Hint: He is the only one-time National League
Milwaukee Brewer to have won three World Series championships.
- The heart of Toronto’s 2nd World
Series win team in 1993 was the first 5 batters in the line-up: White-Alomar-Molitor-Carter-Olerud,
i.e., WAMCO. (Rickey Henderson, Tony Fernandez
and an outstanding pitching staff might have had a hand in it too.)
* Since 2003, he has used
the original spelling of his name, Devon Whyte.
FCR - Jason Hammon, Arlington, Texas
Incorrect
guesses: Paul Molitor, CC Sabathia,
Rickey Henderson, Sal Bando
THREESDAY
Q. Which pitcher hit his first two major
league home runs off the same pitcher merely a week apart?
Hint: These two blasts represented fully a third
of his entire 16-year, 732 plate appearance, major league home run production.
Hint: His hair style evolved from a shoulder-length
semi-mullet to corn rows during his career, but it was more his unusual
delivery style that pitching couches focused on.
Hint: He taught Kevin Millar how to play guitar
and they recorded songs together.
Hint: His wind up was unique and seemed to bother
umpires and hitters alike.
- Not only did he record with Millar, but
Arroyo, Johnny Damon and Lenny DiNardo sang backup vocals on
the Dropkick Murphys’ punk-revival of the
1904 Bosox fan song “Tessie” that became the anthem of Red Sox Nation all over
again in 2004. The newer version recounts how the singing of the original
"Tessie" by the Royal Rooters fan club helped the Boston Americans
win the first World Series in 1903.
- Bronson’s delivery had excellent location, but
his unique windup was always interesting to watch.
FCR - Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Incorrect
guesses: Tim Lincecum, Carlos Zambrano,
Dontrelle Willis, Luis Tiant
IN MEMORIAM
Q. On whom was the “Bull Durham” character Ebbie
Calvin LaLoosh said to be based?
Hint: His fastball was nicknamed “White
Lightening” and was believed by some baseball insiders to be as fast a 110
miles per hour.
Hint: He was on the Topps 1963 Rookies card, but
never made it to the majors.
Hint: In the minors, he played nine seasons,
laboring for teams in levels D (short-season), D, C, B, A, AA, and AAA.
Hint: Fourteen of the sixteen teams he pitched
for in the minors were part of the Baltimore Orioles farm system.
Hint: Ted Williams stepped in against him in a
batting practice for one pitch and said he didn’t even see the ball.
Hint: Adding to the anxiety of batters who faced
him, he wore thick prescription glasses.
- We know that character better as Nuke LaLoosh
as he earned his nickname during the film.
Dalkowski also had blazing speed, but erratic ability to hit the strike
zone.
- No accurate radar guns were in existence in
Dalkowski’s time, but very few people who saw him pitch believe that his
fastball was anything less than 100 mph.
FCR - Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Incorrect
guesses: Ryne Duren, Ron Guidry, Steve
Howe
FRIDAY
Q. What promising Baltimore Oriole rookie
was unceremoniously released a year and a half after he had led the league in
shutouts and complete games?
Hint: After more than two decades after breaking
in, he is still a double unique.
Hint: The Yankees picked him up to make some
emergency starts in the wake of Chien Ming Wang's foot injury.
Hint: He was suspended or released more than once
for his misbehavior off the field.
- Finished tied for 5th in ROY voting
in 1998.
Finished tied for most ShO in the AL in 2004 with Jeremy Bonderman and
Tim Hudson w/2 each. His 5 CG tied him
with Jake Westbrook and Mark Mulder.
- The NYY got him 19-Jun-2008 after he had been
released by TEX.
- With infractions too numerous to enumerate,
Ponson is now viewed by most as a talent out of control.
FCR - Rich Ottone, Sykesville, Maryland
Incorrect
guesses:
T.G.I.F.BONUS
Q. Which speedy catcher broke his thumb during
his first Major League season but returned to full time duty within two seasons
transformed into a standout center fielder?
Hint: He once made an error that loomed much
larger because it was in the postseason.
Hint: He and a teammate once stole more than
fifty bases each in the same season.
- Broke his thumb after 6 G in 1908, but by 1910
was a regular and had 100+ H in each of the next 5 seasons.
- In 1911 teammate Josh Devore stole 61 bases while Snodgrass added 51. Even Devore didn’t lead the NL as Bob Bescher of CIN had 81 SB. Nevertheless, NYG in 1911 did set and still
hold the modern season team record for most SB w/347.
FCR - Mark Hayne, Dumfries, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: Craig Biggio, Jake Westbrook,
Dale Murphy, Willie Wilson, John Wathan, Fred Merkle
SATURDAY
Q. What righty reliever made his only
All-Star team the year he led the league in games finished?
Hint: He has no other black ink in any
major stat in his ten year career with 500+ appearances.
Hint: He’s also a double-unique.
Hint: Chris Berman would have introduced him
with, “____________ if you’ve got ‘em.”
- “Slocumb if you’ve got ‘em.” – a take-off on
the phrase, “Smoke ’em if you’ve got ‘em,” heard in every army movie made before
1972 (or so).
FCR - Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: John Smoltz, Don McMahon, Aurelio
Lopez, Keith Foulke
SUNDAY
Q. What young pitcher had more victories
than any other on the Red Sox the season before they got Lefty Grove?
Hint: He also had more losses.
Hint: He pitched a no-hitter for West High School
with a Yankees scout in the stands.
Hint: The Los Angeles Times once
called him “…the outstanding young pitcher in the country this season.”
Hint: He died in the same California town where,
eight years later, Jeff Kent was born.
- Quote is from Bob Ray of the L.A. Times.
- Died in the Los Angeles County city of Bellflower,
California 22-Mar-1960; Kent was born there 07-Mar-1968.
FCR - Leonard Levin, Providence
Incorrect
guesses: Red Ruffing, Smoky Joe Wood
WEEK’S FINALE
Q. Who is the only major leaguer born in
the country of Peru?
Hint: He considers himself Venezuelan but grew up
in the United States.
Hint: He underwent Tommy John surgery before even
reaching the majors.
Hint: The high school he attended is famous for
reasons outside of sports.
- Born in Lima, Peru. Both parents are from Venezuela but moved to
Florida when Jesus was a mere one year old.
- He attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland
Florida. Life there was shattered when a
gunman shot and killed 14 students and 3 school staff members
while wounding 17l others in February 2018.
FCR - Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: Tom Lynch
WEEKLY THEME – Select natives
of places mentioned in Beach Boys songs.
Player Place Song
Hill Santa
Cruz Surfin’ USA
(Hey! Click a link—give a listen. Anthems of a generation.)
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Background for Ngoepe: These alternative Surfin’ Safari lyrics were seldom used
as The Beach Boys opted to go with one slightly different stanza that was
included on the 45 rpm version used for this record’s widespread radio
airplay.
Maybe heightening of
U.S. racial tensions at that time contributed to why they chose to sub in:
They're anglin' in
laguna in Cerro Azul
They're kicking out in
Dohini too
I tell you surfing's
mighty wild
It's getting bigger
every day
From Hawaii to the
shores of Peru
instead of:
Surfin' is big in
Sunset Beach
They do it in South
Africa too
They're all getting
stroke on this surfin' craze
From Hawaii to the
shores of Peru
After all, the origin of the Swahili word safari (journey)
is African!
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Monday - Players
who are nicknamed for famous actors
Tuesday - Players
who managed in Albuquerque
- HR
leaders with “ALL” in their last name
Thurs - Players
who were born outside the United States who are in the Hall of Fame
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