Monday, June 22, 2020

2020-06-15 Players with 75 stolen bases so far in the 21st century


Q.        Who is the only rookie to lead the majors in All-Star votes?
Hint:     He broke Lloyd Waner’s decades-old record for most hits in a rookie season.
Hint:     The pitcher who surrendered his first professional home run is the same one who first hit him with a pitch in a major league game.
A.         ICHIRO SUZUKI  [SABR Bio]
-  Received 3,373,035 AS votes in 2001
-  Had 242 H in 2001.  Waner had 223 in 1927.  Ichiro led the AL, Waner’s total was behind that of his MVP brother Paul, who had 237.
-  Hideo Nomo gave up Ichiro’s 1st HR on 12-Jun-1993.  Nomo was in his 4th season pitching for the Osaka Kinetsu Buffaloes and Ichiro was a playing for the Kobe Orix Blue Wave.  Nomo, pitching for BOS plunked the Mariners’ rookie 02-May-2001 in the 5th inning.
FCR -  Dan Greder, Ames, Iowa
Incorrect guesses:  Bryce Harper, Hideki Matsui, Masanori Murakami, Mike Trout, Fred Lynn, Ken Griffey, Jr., Jeff Zimmerman, Jackie Robinson, Albert Pujols, Aaron Judge, Benito Santiago, Tony Oliva, Frank Robinson, Harvey Kuenn

TUESDAY
Q.        What altitudinally-challenged Most Valuable Player is his 130+ year-old franchise’s leader in career hits and doubles?
Hint:     His high school boasts an additional five alumni who played in the majors.  All told, these 6 have accumulated two MVP Awards, a Rookie of the Year Award, a Cy Young Award runner-up finish, a total of sixteen All-Star game nods and a first-ballot enshrinement in Cooperstown.
Hint:     He became the first player in major league history to hit the first inside-the-park home run in two different parks in the same year
Hint:     He soared to the top of the Senior Circuit in swiped sacks in his second season.
A.         JIMMY ROLLINS  [BR Bio]
-  For PHI, he accumulated 2,306 H of which 479 were doubles.  The dynamic J-Roll was listed at 5’7” in a sport whose players’ heights now average 6’2”.
-  Attended Encinal High School in Alameda, California.  The other 5 MLB alums are Curt Motton, Tommy Harper, Chris Speier, Dontrelle Willis and Willie Stargell.
-  ITP HRs in Citizens Bank Park against the KCR & Petco Park vs. SDP, both in 2004.
-  Had 46 SB in 2001 to lead the NL.
FCR -  Ken Kirk, Corning, New York
Incorrect guesses:  Joe Morgan, Zack Wheat, Jose Altuve, Richie Ashburn, Willie Keeler, Jackie Jensen, Honus Wagner, Eric Davis, Eddie Gaedel

IN MEMORIAM
Q.        Whose record for the most pitching wins before turning age 23 did Dwight Gooden break in 1986?  [Sorry.  Oops!  What I really meant to ask was…Whose record for the most pitching wins before turning age 23 by pitchers who started their careers as teenagers for a New York team did Dwight Gooden break in 1986?]
Hint:     He is widely believed to have hit the 500th home run ever hit by a pitcher in the National League.  Certain, however, is that he surrendered Hank Aaron’s 500th career homer.  Can thus be forgiven his personalized license plated “MR 500”.
Hint:     He was the first Giant (New York or San Francisco) to win the Cy Young Award.
Hint:     It was the only year of his sixteen year career in the majors that he received even a single CYA vote.
Hint:     The year he led the National League in ERA, he was on two All-Star teams.  In fact in merely two seasons, he was on four All-Star teams.
Hint:     He made the All-Star team in two consecutive seasons, but was on the National League All-Star team four times.
Hint:     Even though not a Hall of Famer himself, he was a teammate with ten who were later inducted to the Hall.
Hint:     He completely skipped the minors and went straight to the majors to start his professional career.
A.         MIKE McCORMICK  [SABR Bio] [Obit]
-  Had 50 W before age 23.  Gooden topped that w/ his 51st on 29-Jun-1986 at the tender age of 21 yrs, 200 days.
-  500th HR by a NL P was most likely the one he hit in Candlestick off the Mets’ Cal Koonce 11-Aug-1968; Aaron’s 500th = 14-Jul-1968
-  CYA in 1967.  He received 18 of the 20 votes cast.
-  ERA Crown won in 1960 w/2.70.  In MLB seasons 1959-62, 2 ASGs were held each year.  McCormick was an AS in 1960 & 1961.
-  HOF teammates:  Willie Mays, Red Schoendienst, Hoyt Wilhelm, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Robin Roberts, Brooks Robinson, Luis Aparicio
-  He came to the Giants under the Bonus Baby Rule which obligated the team to keep the player on the team’s major league roster for two years.  He did play in the minors well after his debut in the majors.
FCR -  Jeff Freedman, Westwood, California
Incorrect guesses:  Jack Sanford, Johnny Antonelli, Stu Miller

WEDNESDAY
Q.        Who was nicknamed “The Perfect Storm”?
Hint:     While still in high school, he was offered a basketball scholarship at UCLA and football scholarships at Nebraska, Florida, Oklahoma and USC.
Hint:     He was so fast that he once changed teams without changing franchises.
A.         CARL CRAWFORD  [BR Bio]
-  He performed so well on the diamond and in so many disparate ways that hurt opponents that it was like a storm, yea a perfect one.  The movie “The Perfect Storm” had been released in 2000 and the saying was familiar to most Americans.
-  He chose baseball over other sports because he felt there was a better chance for a longer career.
-  Since debuting in 2002, he had played for the “Tampa Bay Devil Rays” which changed its name to the Tampa Bay Rays” following the 2007 season.
FCR -  Frank Ittner, Atlanta
Incorrect guesses:  Storm Davis

THURSDAY
Q.        What one-time Dodger and Brewer is the only man to receive the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award more than twice?
Hint:     He is the only player to have more than 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 20 triples and 20 doubles in one season since the Deadball Era.
Hint:     He has one of the best smiles in baseball.
A.         CURTIS GRANDERSON  [BR Bio]
-  Won the Miller Award in 2009, 2016,  2018 & 2019.
-  Had 23 HR, 26 SB, 23 3B & 38 2B in 2007 w/DET.  In 1911, Frank “Wildfire” Schulte , the NL’s first-ever MVP, amassed 21 HR, 23 SB, 21 3B & 30 2B with CHC.  Willie Mays and Jimmy Rollins each came within 1 triple of being included in this list.
-  Smile
FCR -  Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Incorrect guesses:  Willie Mays, George Brett, Jimmy Rollins, Gary Sheffield, Shawn Green

FRIDAY
Q.        Who is the only player to lead off a World Series Game Seven with a home run?
Hint:     He played baseball in China.
Hint:     In one sense, his abilities exceed the ambit of his name.
A.         DEXTER FOWLER  [BR Bio]
-  HR to lead off G 7 2016 WS
-  Played for Team USA in the 2008 Olympics in China.  The U.S. won bronze by defeating Japan.
-  Dexter means “right-handed” in Latin.  Our Dexter is a switch-hitter.  Dextera utebatur means “right-handed” in Latin. But our Dexter is a switch-hitter.  The nearest Latin translation for that would be something like: aequimanus pulso (ambidextrous hitter)
FCR -  Frank Ittner, Atlanta
Incorrect guesses:  Dane Iorg, George Springer, Johnny Damon, Pee Wee Reese, Mo Berg

SATURDAY
Q.        Which outfielder who played for both the Cubs and White Sox has led his league in caught stealing seven times since 2000?
Hint:     In three of those years, however, he also led the league in stolen bases.
Hint:     He did not pass Rickey Henderson, but he did steal the 1,000th base in his franchise’s history.
Hint:     He stopped Bonds from catching Ruth by, um… catching.
Hint:     He credits Japanese surgeon with helping his defensive game stay among the best.
A.         JUAN PIERRE  [BR Bio]
-  In 5 of those years, he also led the majors.
-  Stole the 1,000th base in the history of the Colorado Rockies 18-May-2001.
-  Pierre made a leaping, over-the-wall catch of Barry Bonds's drive on 09-May-2006, preventing Bonds from claiming his 714th career HR.
-  Mizuno craftsman Nori Ito (glove “surgeon” to Pierre) reworked and refurbished Pierre’s same glove every year for over a decade to keep it in tip-top major-league playing shape.  Watch here.
FCR -  Patrick Roth, Chicago
Incorrect guesses:  Jason Kendall, Lance Johnson, Al Smith

SUNDAY
Q.        Which one-time Isotope and Cyclone was the first player to thrice lead the National League in stolen bases this century?
Hint:     Amazingly, he is the only player in his franchise’s history to lead the NL in stolen bases.
Hint:     He replaced one of the most popular players in the history of a certain team.  It didn’t go well.
A.         JOSE REYES  [BR Bio]
-  He led in SB 3 consecutive seasons 2005-07.  Played for the 2011 Brooklyn Cyclones of the NY-Penn League.  Played on the 2016 Albuquerque Isotopes of the PCL.
-  No other Met has even led once.
-  Replaced Troy Tulowitzki when TOR traded Reyes to COL.  His on-field and off-the-field performances limited his sojourn with the Rockies to a mere 47 G.  They had a different story to tell.
FCR -  Mike Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses:  Dee Gordon, Carl Crawford, Billy Bruton


WEEKLY THEME – Player who have hit at least 75 triples in the 21st century.

Player                  Triples since 2000
Reyes....................... 131
Crawford................... 123
Rollins....................... 115
Ichiro........................... 96
Granderson................ 95
Pierre.......................... 94
Fowler......................... 82

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



Incorrect theme guesses:

Monday  -  NPB and MLB all stars
               -  21st century batting champs with no E in their first or last names

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