Horsehide Trivia: 2021-02-15 Players who hit two triples in one inning

MONDAY — 15-Feb

Q. Who is the only player to start a twenty-game hitting streak immediately after his forty-game streak ended?

Hint: #1 In fact, that was the first time that anyone in the majors had a forty-consecutive-game hitting streak.

Hint: #2 He once played on a team where he and two teammates all had more than forty steals in a single season.

Hint: #3 Although an excellent, steady contributor, his lack of black ink and dour-cum-feisty demeanor have kept him, so far, out of the Hall of Fame.

A. BILL DAHLEN [SABR Bio]

- Ans. 42 & 28 game streaks playing for the 1894 ancestors of the Cubs, the Chicago Colts.

- #1 His 42 in 1894 was bettered 3 years later by Willie Keeler. Keeler’s mark stood until Joe DiMaggio took the concept to a whole ‘nother level.

- #2 The pennant-winning 1904 New York Giants boasted 3 players w/40+ SB: Dahlen 47, Sam Mertes 47 & Dan McGann 42.

- #3 Dahlen’s 21-year career is consistently rated jut not quite good enough for Hall enshrinement. He was ejected 34 times as a player and another 36 times during his 4-year stint as the Superbas/Dodgers manager.

FCR - Philip Trostler, Norwich, Connecticut

Incorrect guesses: Jimmy Rollins, Wee Willie Keeler, Joe DiMaggio, George Sisler, Pete Rose, Austen McHenry, Ty Cobb

TUESDAY — 16-Feb

Q. Who was the first player to lead his league in home runs and triples in the same season?

Hint: #1 He is the only one who has done it twice.

Hint: #2 He was the first player to amass 100 career home runs.

Hint: #3 He led two different leagues in home runs.

A. HARRY STOVEY [SABR Bio]

- Ans. Stovey was a rookie in 1880 with the NL’s Worcester Ruby Legs. He led the league (Indeed the majors) in HR w/6 & 3B w/14. 11 years later, playing for Boston’s Beaneaters*, he led the NL in both categories again w/20 3B & led the majors w/16 HR. Across town, Tom Brown hit 21 3B for the Boston Reds of the AA, by a wide margin the most 3B Brown ever had in a year.

- #1 [See ans. Above]

- #2 Hit his 100^th career HR off Jersey Bakley on 03-Sep-1890. Stovey added 22 more by the time he retired and was the career leader for 8 seasons.

- #3 Stovey paced the NL 2 X & the AA 3 X & finished just 2 HR behind Players League leader Roger Connor in 1890.

*You now know them as the Atlanta Braves, but of course even that name could change soon.

FCR - John Michael Pierobon, Fort Lauderdale

Incorrect guesses: Dan Brouthers, Ed Delahanty, Roger Connor, Sam Crawford, Gavvy Cravath, Buck Freeman, Sam Thompson, Babe Ruth, Frank Baker, King Kelly, Tris Speaker

WEDNESDAY — 17-Feb

Q. When Cal Ripken played his 5,342^nd consecutive inning, whose consecutive innings record did he break?

Hint: #1 He hit the most home runs while William McKinley was President of the US.

Hint: #2 He was the first player to collect 100 RBI in a season for the Red Sox franchise.

A. BUCK FREEMAN [SABR Bio]

- Ans. Ripken overtook Freeman on 5-June-1985. Cal will continue to extend this record by playing every inning until it ended 14-Sep-1987 after 8,264 consecutive innings played. We put Freeman here because multiple sources confirm him, but this SABR article suggests it was George Pinckney, because Freeman was ejected from a game! https://sabr.org/journal/article/ripkens-record-for-consecutive-innings-played/. (I’d be comfortable wagering that anybody who answered with Pinkney looked this up before responding!)

- #1 46 HR during McKinley administration

- #2 114 RBI in 1901

FCR - Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia

Incorrect guesses: George Pinkney, Everett Scott, Bobby Lowe, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Collins, Willie Keeler

THURSDAY — 18-Feb

Q. Who is the only player besides Kirby Puckett to leave the game with two straight qualifying seasons hitting over .300?

Hint: #1 His played for the first team in major league history where nine different players had at least one hundred hits in the same season.

Hint: #2 He and Ed Taubensee come from the same small Texas town.

Hint: #3 He is an alum of one of the oldest universities in Texas.

A. CURT WALKER [B-R Bio]

- Ans. Walker hit .313 in 1929 & .307 in 1930. His career average was .304. HOFer Puckett’s numbers were even better. It appears that Joe Jackson’s last two seasons trump even Puckett’s, but the hints of course knock him out of consideration.

- #1 The 1923 Philadelphia Phillies saw 9 players check in with a 100-H year. Walker was in the middle of the pack w/148.

- #2 Both hail from 12,000 pop. Beeville, Texas. Major leaguers Lloyd Brown and Bert Gallia also called it home.

- #3 Attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. Southwestern University in its current form (and name) was established in 1875. Despite its murky historical origins, it still claims to be the oldest university in The Lone Star State. However, Baylor contends that it, not SWU, is the oldest continuously operating college in Texas while conceding that the now defunct Rutersville College was actually the oldest. Other sources agree with Baylor’s claim that the earlier charters of Southwestern belonged to earlier, differently named, bankrupt organizations so it seems like fudging a little bit for SWU to claim them when vying for the honor of the state’s “oldest”. (Baylor also thinks it should be #1 instead of Gonzaga.)

FCR - Thomas Hablitzel, Hudson, Ohio

Incorrect guesses: Will Clark, Rudy Jaramillo, Rogers Hornsby, Max Bishop

FRIDAY — 19-Feb

Q. Who, according to writer Steven A. Riess, was the first coach in the history of the Cincinnati Reds?

Hint: #1 Bill James ranked him among the top 100 catchers of all time.

Hint: #2 His nickname is from his drinking partner, his diet, his ethnicity and a teammate.

Hint #3 He was not famous for his speed afoot, but was well-known for his quick wit.

A. HEINIE PEITZ [Wiki Bio]

- Ans. This is found in Riess’s Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball Clubs.

- #1 In 2003, he was ranked as the 82^nd best catcher of all time by Bill James in The New Bill James Historical Abstract.

- #2 While catching for the 1893 Browns, Peitz teamed up with left-handed pitcher Ted Breitenstein. They were sons of German immigrants and St. Louis natives. The nickname reportedly developed when the pair were drinking beer and eating pretzels after a game when a fan noticed them and yelled, “Look, it’s the pretzel battery!” Enough people heard and that’s how they were known until Peitz left for CIN after the 1895 season.

#3 In March 1905, The Pittsburgh Press reported: “He is already one of the most popular men on the team. Peitz may not be the fastest man in the world on his feet, but he can go some with his tongue. The Cincinnati German is the speediest man by far on the team at repartee.”

FCR - Warren Kent, Whitehall, Michigan

Incorrect guesses: Will Clark, Joe Jackson, Rudy Jaramillo, Pop Snyder, Peanuts Lowrey, Ernie Lombardi, Jimmy Wilson

T.G.I.F. SPECIAL — 19-Feb

Q. Who replaced Joe DiMaggio in the 1948 All-Star Game?

Hint: #1 He had a ten-season major league career, but only received MVP votes and an All-Star nod one time each. Those honors happened in the same season.

Hint: #2 He played alongside Ted Williams for four years and was later asked by Williams to help coach the team that Williams went on to manage.

A. AL ZARILLA [SABR Bio]

- Ans. DiMaggio entered the G in B4, batting for RF Pat Mullin. He hit a line-drive fly ball, driving in Birdie Tebbetts from 3B (Under the Sacrifice Fly rules that were in effect from 1940-1953, Joe D. did get credit for a RBI, but not a SF. He also was charged with an AB.)

- #1 In 1948, playing for SLB, he ended up 18^th in the MVP voting (Boudreau) and made the AL All-Star team.

- #2 Zarilla played for BOS 1949-50, 1952-53. After the All-Star Game in 1971, Zarilla became a coach for WSA, enabling him to accrue the 90 days of major-league service he needed to double his pension. The Sporting News 24-Oct-1970, p.28 elucidates, “Ex-major leaguer Al Zarilla reportedly will join the Senators' coaching staff under Ted Williams next year. Williams is said to have promised the job to his former Red Sox teammate, who needs only a few months to be eligible for the pension.”

FCR - Jesse Asbury, Norman, Oklahoma

Incorrect guesses: Hoot Evers, Vern Stephens, Dom DiMaggio, Jackie Jensen, Larry Doby, Johnny Pesky

SATURDAY — 20-Feb

Q. Whose league-leading run total helped the Beaneaters capture the flag for the first time with that team name.

Hint: #1 He stole the first base ever stolen against the Giants.

Hint: #2 His nickname was based on an exclamation of his made after he had excelled in the field.

Hint: #3 He worked as a major league umpire for five years after his playing days.

A. JOE HORNUNG [Wiki Bio]

- Ans. Had a total of 107 R in 98 G in 1883.

- #1 Stole 2^nd base 01-May-1883 against the team then known as the New York Gothams in their 1^st G ever.

- #2 He liked to call out “ubbo ubbo” when he made a good defensive or on offensive play so that became his nickname. (Hard to tell if it was said “Oobow Oobow” or “Uhbow Uhbow”. Full points will be given to the researcher who can verify that.)

FCR - Ken Kirk, Corning, New York

Incorrect guesses: Bob Ferguson, Hugh Jennings, Ezra Sutton, Sam Crawford, Patsy Dougherty, Billy Hamilton, Harry Stovey, Bill Dinneen

WINTRY WARMER — 20-Feb

Q. Who was the starting shortstop on the American League’s very first pennant winner?

Hint: #1 He didn’t finish that inaugural season after he paid the consequences for punching an umpire.

Hint: #2 One season, he tied the notorious Herman Long for the most errors by a shortstop.

A. FRANK SHUGART [B-R Bio]

- Ans. Shugart was at 6 for the 1901 champion CHW, playing 107 of their 136 games. It was the final of his 8 seasons in the majors (see #1 below).

- #1 On 21-Aug-1901, Shugart punched umpire Jack Haskell after a disputed ball four call. The police intervened and arrested Shugart who was subsequently suspended for 23 games and ultimately blacklisted from baseball after the season.

- #2 1892, Shugart and Long both made 99 errors at shortstop. Long is MLB’s career record holder for most errors committed at any position, with 1,096.

FCR - Ken Kirk, Corning, New York

Incorrect guesses: Freddy Parent, Candy LaChance

WEEKEND BONUS — 21-Feb

Q. Who has the most at bats in a season batting .500 or better?

Hint: #1 He hit a home run off Satchel Paige during one of Bill Veeck’s creative promotions – a “basketball-baseball doubleheader”.

Hint: #2 He had the first hit in the history of the current Baltimore Orioles.

Hint: #3 As a brash rookie, he competed against the fastest player in the American League in a foot race in another Veeck promotion.

A. GIL COAN [SABR Bio]

- Ans. For WSN in 1947, Coan had hits in exactly half of his 42 at bats. Only a handful of players have ever hit .500+ in at least 20 ABs.

- #1 The dual-sport doubleheader featured the Harlem Globetrotters in front of nearly 14,000 on 31-Aug-1953 as Veeck’s SLB fell to WSH. Coan hit his solo HR off Satch in the 6^th.

- #2 On 13-April-1954, Coan claimed the first hit in current Orioles history, a single in the 1^st off Detroit’s Steve Gromek.

- #3 In a pre-game promotion, 12-Aug-1946, Coan took on 6-time AL SB champ George Case in a 100-yard dash and lost to him by just one stride.

FCR - Bob Charkovsky, Ashton, Maryland

Incorrect guesses: Herman Long, George Case

SUNDAY — 21-Feb

Q. Who is the only outfielder in modern major league history to total four sacrifice hits in a single game?

Hint: #1 He was one of the Toddlers.

Hint: #2 He shares his post-playing career with a former teammate.

A. CORY SULLIVAN [Wiki Bio]

- Ans. 4 SH on 14-June-2006. CF Sullivan is one of only 6 major leaguers since 1900 to lay down 4 in 1 G.

- #1 During some of COL’s lean years in the early 2000s, Sullivan was one of their promising youngsters who helped make up part of its team nickname “Todd and the Toddlers”. Veteran star Todd Helton served as an important transitional figure between them and their strong 90-win playoff teams later that decade.

- #2 Sullivan and Ryan Spilborghs are TV analysts for the Colorado Rockies, their former team

FCR - Warren Kent, Whitehall, Michigan

Incorrect guesses: Frank White, Ken Griffey, Jr.

WEEK’S FINALE — 21-Feb

Q. Which harmonica player was the Kansas City Cowboys’ first manager?

Hint: #1 He was born in one of the great power centers of 17^th century Europe.

Hint: #2 He played for nine different teams in three different leagues in ten cities during his six seasons in the majors.

Hint: #3 Six of his teammates became Hall of Famers.

A. HARRY WHEELER [SABR Bio]

- Ans. After starting the franchise 0-4, he was replaced. The Union Association lasted one year as a major league. KCC finished 16-63 and folded along with the league after the season.

- #1 Rather his city of birth, Versailles, Indiana was named FOR that great city. It’s a small town in Ripley County in the southeastern part of the state, not far from the Ohio and Kentucky state lines.

- #2 He made his living in the uniforms of =>

National League

1. PRO 1878

2. CIN 1879-80, 82

3. CLE 1880

American Association

4. CIN 1882

5. COL 1883

6. STL 1884

Union Association

7. KCC 1884

8. CPI 1884 (2 cities)