Sunday, December 6, 2020

2020-11-30 Player who hit the 10,000th home run for NL teams

 MONDAY

Q.        Who is the only player to hit fifty home runs in each of four straight National League seasons?

Hint:     He also drove in one hundred runs in each of nine consecutive years.

Hint:     He was once traded for a former MVP then later was voted MVP himself.

Hint:     His first career home run was off Roger Clemens.

A.         SAMMY SOSA  [SABR Bio]

-  From 1998 through 2001, he hit 66, 63, 50 & 64 HR for CHC.  He just missed the next year with 49 HR in 2002.

-  Hit the 100 RBI mark every year 1995-2003.

-  On 30-Mar-1992 e was traded with Ken Patterson from CHW to CHC for George Bell (AL MVP 1987).  Sosa was NL MVP in 1998.

-  Playing for TEX, he took Clemens deep 21-Jun-1989.  It was the only HR he hit for TEX in the 20th century.  He hit 21 for them at the end of his career in 2007.

FCR -  Alan Lefkowitz, Washington, New York

Incorrect guesses:  Mark McGwire, Ralph Kiner      


TUESDAY

Q.        Which one-time Arizona Diamondback is the only player in major league history to have a six-hit game where four of those hits were home runs.

Hint:     He holds the Los Angeles Dodger record for the most doubles in a season.

Hint:     He donated a portion of his original signing bonus to help feed children in the city whose team he had just joined.

A.         SHAWN GREEN  [B-R Bio]

-  On 23-May-2002 playing for LAD, Green had a career day at the plate against Milwaukee Brewers‘ pitching in beautiful Miller Park, a venue barely a year old, with a single, a double and four home runs.  19 total bases!  Never been done—before or since.  He played for ARI in 2005-06.

-  Green hit 49 2B in 2003.  Only Johnny Frederick’s 52 in 1929 are more for the Dodger franchise.  The only time Green led the league in 2B, however, was when he hit 45 of them in 1999 for TOR.

-  He was drafted by TOR as their 1st round pick (16th overall) in the 1991 MLB June Amateur Draft & received a bonus of $725,000, opting out of his scholarship to Stanford.  Green donated a chunk of his signing bonus to the Metropolitan Toronto Housing Authority Breakfast Club which provides breakfast for kids who would otherwise have gone to school hungry.

FCR -  Jerry Miller, Liberty Hill, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Steve Finley, J.D. Martinez, Mike Cameron, Luis Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Mark Whiten, Matt Williams, Yasmani Grandal

 

WEDNESDAY

Q.        Who is the only former Met and Yankee to lead his league in doubles and triples?

Hint:     In his eighteen-year career in the majors, he won a Silver Slugger  and a Gold Glove, one each, in consecutive seasons.

Hint:     Among Venezuelans natives, only Andres Galarraga struck out more times in the majors.

A.         BOBBY ABREU  [B-R Bio]

-  Played for NYY 2006-08; for NYM 2014.  Led the NL in 3B for PHI in 1999 w/11.  Led in 2b w/50 in 2002.

-  SS in 2004; GG in 2005, both for PHI        

-  Galarraga had 2,003 K, Abreu had 1,840.

FCR -  Preston Salisbury, Starkville, Mississippi

Incorrect guesses:  Carlos Beltran, Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano

 

MIDWEEK BOUS

Q.        Which catcher holds the record for doubles in a National League Championship Series?

Hint:     For his performance in that LCS, he was named MVP and help put his team back in the World Series as they were the then current title holders.

Hint:     In the last year of his 15-year career, he was teammates with a young fellow countryman pitcher whose first and last names matched his.

A.         JAVY LOPEZ  [SABR Bio]

-  Lopez had 5 2B in the 1996 NLCS for ATL when they beat STL.

-  ATL won the WS in 1995.  Lopez was MVP of the 1996 NLCS.

-  Although teammates with BOS in 2006 for about a month, catcher Javier Torres Lopez (goes by “Javy”) and fellow Puerto Rican Javier Alfonso Lopez, a left-handed reliever, never appeared together in a game (opportunity missed).

FCR -  Rob Sheinkopf, Las Vegas

Incorrect guesses:  Ivan Rodriguez, Javier Lopez, Tony Pena, Johnny Bench, Carlos Ruiz, Scott Servais, Gene Tenace, Eddie Perez, Jerry Grote, Javier Vasquez, Yadier Molina

 

THURSDAY

Q.        Which journeyman catcher did the Reds sell to the Royals for $1.00?

Hint:     He had a home run taken away by a Jim Edmonds catch that was and still is, according to many who were there to witness it, one of the finest catches ever made.  It was on a beautiful evening at The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, directly in front of a crowd that contained several hundred SABR conventioneers.

Hint:     He had his career ended as a result of an on-field brawl.

A.         JASON LaRUE  [Bio]

-  On 20-Nov-2006, LaRue was traded to the KCR for a player to be named later.  Since a player could not be agreed upon, the Royals opted to send the Reds cash considerations in the amount of one dollar.

-  In a game on Friday, 16-Jun-2004, LaRue hit what many thought was going to be a home run with nobody out in the bottom of the 9th with the home team down 2 runs.  LaRue had already homered in the 6th.  You can see it here:  Edmonds’ catch.

-  As a back-up catcher for STL in the game on 10-Aug-2010, LaRue left the bench to defend his teammates as a fight on the field escalated, but he got the worst of it.  Details here.

FCR -  Jori Grossman, New York City

Incorrect guesses:  Joe Nolan, David Howard, Adam Dunn, Brad Ausmus, Dann Bilardello, David Howard, Clint Courtney

 

FRIDAY

Q.        Which Stanford teammate was the Best Man at John Elway’s wedding?

Hint:     His son pitched for the university where John Elway’s father had been the football coach.

Hint:     This one-time Cleveland Indian was the only A's player other than Mark McGwire to play fifty games in a year at first base between 1987 and 1993?

Hint:     He capped  off his playing career with a World Series championship.

Hint:     He has been a coach in the majors for twelve seasons.

A.         MIKE ALDRETE  [B-R Bio]

-  Elway married Stanford Swim Team member Janet Buchan in 1984.  Aldrete was in the wedding party.

-  Son Michael Aldrete played baseball briefly at San Jose State University.  Jack Elway, John’s father was the football coach there 1979-83.

-  Aldrete appeared in 59 G at 1B for the 1993 Athletics while McGwire was suffering from nagging foot injuries.

-Got into 32 G for the Champion NYY in 1996. He grounded out in his only career WS AB.

-  Coach w/OAK since 2015.

FCR -  Dave Jackson, Irving, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Carney Lansford, Aaron Boone

 

SATURDAY

Q.        Who was the first Pittsburgh Pirate batter to hit a home run that landed in the Allegheny River on the fly?

Hint:     He is the second player ever to hit twenty home runs in an MLB season without hitting one before July.

Hint:     His cousin is a broadcaster for the Cubs.

Hint:     He ended his playing career with the Giants.

A.         GARRETT JONES  [B-R Bio]

-  Wet HR = 02-Jun-2013

-  Blasted 21 HRs between 02-July and 28-Sept-2009

-  Former MLB player Ron Coomer, is an analyst on the Cubs Radio Network.

-  Garrett played for 2 years (2016-17) for the Yomiuri Giants of the Japan Central League after his 8 seasons in the majors.

FCR -  Blake Sherry, Dublin, Ohio

Incorrect guesses:  Willie, McCovey, Daryle Ward, Barry Bonds, Lance Blankenship, Honus Wagner, Josh Bell

 

SUNDAY

Q.        Whose name might imply he was trying to intimidate Earth’s grandest satellite?

Hint:     During a lunar eclipse, he struck out in his only career World Series at bat.

Hint:     Excluding the battery, he had played every position on the diamond at the major league level.

Hint:     He and Nelson Cruz attended the same high school.

A.         HECTOR LUNA  [Wiki]

-  “Hector” = To talk to in a bullying way.  “Luna” = the moon.

-  K’d during the eclipse that occurred in G4 of the 2004 WS.

-  Illustrating his positions by percent of total games played results in this graph:

2B    36.9%

SS   19.4%

3B    16.8%

LF    10.8%

RF     8.6%

1B      6.5%

DH     2.5%

CF     1.1%

-  High school alumnus of Monte Cristi in the town of Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic.

FCR -  Elliott Frankfother, Rock Falls, Illinois

Incorrect guesses:  Guillermo Luna

 

 

WEEKLY THEME – Player who hit the 10,000th home run for National League franchises.

 

Team                    Player                   Date                  Career HRs

Giants................... Aldrete................. 10-Jul-1988.................. 41

Cubs..................... Sosa.................... 17-Aug-1995.............. 609

Braves.................. Lopez................... 05-Jun-1997............... 260

Reds..................... LaRue.................. 20-Jun-2001................. 96

Dodgers............... Green................... 24-Jul-2001................ 328

Phillies................. Abreu................... 07-Aug-2001.............. 288

Cardinals.............. Luna..................... 03-May-2006................ 15

Pirates.................. Jones................... 02-Sep-2009.............. 122

 

Here are the totals (through 2020) for those franchises that have yet to reach the 10,000 mark

 

Franchise          HR Total          HR/Yr Avg.       #10,000 year (est.)

SEP/MIL........... 7,910.............. 152................. 2034

NYM.................. 7,757.............. 131................. 2038

MON/WSH........ 6,951.............. 134................. 2043

SDP.................. 6,490.............. 125................. 2049

COL.................. 5,013.............. 179................. 2048

MIA................... 3,946.............. 141................. 2063

ARI.................... 3,851.............. 167................. 2057

 

 

First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemePatrick Ray, Paradise Valley, Arizona (After Abreu)

 

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Monday  -  Players with 500 career HR not in the HOF

               -  Players from the Dominican with 3 HR games

 

Tuesday - Players who have hit 3 or more homers in a game against the Brewers

               -  Players to hit more than 3 HR's in a game that played right field

               -  Players who set a franchise record for home runs but did not lead the league

 

Wes        -  They all hit hr #10,000 for their respective franchises

               -  Mets right fielders

               - 

 

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