MONDAY —09-May
Q. Whose
spot in the lineup did Henry Aaron take when he broke in with the Braves?
Hint: #1
He (not Aaron) led the majors in triples the last year the original eight
National League teams were at their original home cities.
Hint: #2
Ironically, he almost signed with the Dodgers.
- Ans. In 1954 Thomson broke his
ankle in spring training. Aaron broke in
and played 122 G, all but 11 in LF.
- #1 Thomson
hit 14 triples in 1952, the only serious black ink of his 15-year
MLB career. The next year the Braves
left Boston for Milwaukee. BSN became MLN.
- #2 While
at Curtis High School on Staten Island, Thomson
played for a local amateur team called the Dodger Rookies. BRO & NYG both offered him a contract, but
he grew up a Giants fan. His very name still causes discomfort in Dodger fans.
FCR - Timothy
Brownlee, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Incorrect guesses: Bill Bruton, Sid Gordon, Sam Jethroe, Tommy
Holmes, Andy Pafko
TUESDAY —10-May
Q. Which manager has
the most MLB playoff appearances without a World Series win?
Hint: #1 He’s
credited with co-inventing the high five.
Hint: #2 He was working
as a stockbroker when a former MVP convinced him to get back in the game.
- Ans. MLB managers Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa &
Joe Torre are the only ones with more postseason appearances than Baker’s 11.
- #1 Baker
hit his 30th home run of 1977 for LAD and as he completed his
HR circuit, his on deck teammate Glenn Burke held his palm over his head and Baker
spontaneously slapped his lofted hand. Baker returned the favor almost immediately
because Burke then homered himself! The
gesture caught on quickly and is now an exuberant action seen worldwide almost
every day.
- #2 He
worked as a stockbroker for a year after his playing days, but Al Rosen (the unanimous 1953 AL MVP, then SFG’s GM)
said he saw Dusty as a field manager. After some coaching assignments, the
Giants became Baker’s first managing job.
FCR - Matt Van Hoose,
Springfield, Virginia
Incorrect guesses:
TUESDAY Bis —10-May
Q. Other than Frank
Robinson, who won his Rookie of the Year and MVP in different leagues?
Hint: #1 His number
was retired 3 months before his death.
Hint: #2 No less a
player than Mike Schmidt considered him a mentor.
A. DICK ALLEN [SABR Bio]
- Ans. ROY w/PHI in 1964; MVP w/CHW in 1972.
- #1 #15, retired by PHI on 03-Sep-2020.
- #2 They were teammates in 1975 & 76. Schmidt said Allen was a gentleman,
a leader & a great teammate.
FCR - Quentin
Wittrock, Coon Rapids, Minnesota
Incorrect guesses: Mark
McGwire
WEDNESDAY —11-May
Q. Which
pitcher won the first World Series game where “Take Me Out To the Ballgame” was
played before the game?
Hint: #1
A Hall of Fame teammate called him “mule ears.”
Hint: #2
He was losing pitcher in the first night game at Sportsman’s Park.
A. ELDEN AUKER [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. He was the winning pitcher
in the 4th game of the 1934 WS, beating STL’s Bill
Walker. It was Auker’s only W in the
Series, as he, and the Tigers, lost G 7.
The song has become a staple at
baseball games at every level.
-
#1 In his autobiography “Sleeper Cars
and Flannel Uniforms”, he describes joining DET, where player/manager Mickey
Cochrane used to tease him by saying now that he, Cochrane, won’t have the
biggest ears on the team.
-
#2 1st G at Sportsmans’ Park = 14-May-1940, vs Bob Feller of the
Indians. The Browns lost 3-2.
FCR - Phillip
Ross, Denver
Incorrect guesses: Mort Cooper
MIDWEEK BONUS —11-May
Q. Which
former major leaguer was shot and killed by robbers after he cashed fellow
employees’ paychecks?
Hint: #1
He is the only player to hit a home run over the centerfield scoreboard
in Buffalo's Offermann Stadium.
Hint: #2
As reported in Sports Illustrated, he was once fined at a game in
Minneapolis for opening the gates to kids who couldn’t afford tickets.
A. LUKE EASTER [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Died 29-Mar-1979. Read the story here.
-
#1 HR on 14-Jun-1957 playing for the Bisons of Buffalo.
-
#2 It was a minor league game. The incident was recounted by Daniel Cattau
in the 09-Apr-1979 issue of Sports
Illustrated.
FCR - Elliott
Frankfother, Rock Falls, Illinois
Incorrect guesses: Lyman Bostick, Joe Hauser
THURSDAY —12-May
Q. Who was
the first catcher to homer twice in a major league inning?
Hint: #1
He was the home team’s catcher for the first major league game Vin
Scully ever called.
Hint: #2
He’s partly responsible for the rule against basemen distracting the
batter at the plate.
A. ANDY SEMINICK [SABR Bio]
- Ans. In the 8th inning on 02-Jun-1949, Seminick went deep 2
X off CIN Ps Ken Raffensberger (off whom he had already homered in the 2nd)
& Kent Peterson. Seminick, John
Boccabella & Bengie Molina are the only catchers
ever to homer twice in an inning.
-
#1 Scully’s 1st = 18-Apr-1950, BRO vs. PHI at Shibe Park. Phillies won.
-
#2 Giants player Eddie Stanky
used to like to wave his arms to distract batters. On 12‑Jul‑1950, Seminick got so sick
of it that when Giants manager Leo Durocher wouldn’t stop it, Seminick slid
into Stanky, causing a full brawl between the teams. Commissioner Frick eventually ruled players
aren’t allowed to distract the batter by waving their arms. Read the full story here.
FCR - Randall
Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee
Incorrect guesses: Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Ernie Lombardi,
Joe Pignatano, John Roseboro, Dixie Howell
FRIDAY —13-May
Q. Who is
the most recent major leaguer to debut at age seventeen?
Hint: #1
In the first inning of his first game, he struck out a player who was
named for the same person that his own high school was named for.
Hint: #2
He preceded and succeeded the same MLB manager.
A. LARRY DIERKER [B-R
Bio]
-
Ans. Debuted for the Colt 45s on 22-Sep-1964. (He turned 18 that day, but had been
on the roster earlier at 17.)
-
#1 In the 1st, he
struck out Willie Howard Mays (Jr). who was named for his father who in turn
was named for President William Howard Taft.
Dierker was at the time a very recent alum of William
Howard Taft HS in Woodland Hills, California.
-
#2 Managing HOU, Dierker collapsed
with grand mal seizure during the G on 13-Jun-1999. Bench coach Matt Galante guided the team
until Dierker’s return 23-Jul.
FCR - Victor
Piacentile, Yorktown Heights, New York
Incorrect guesses: Lew Krausse, David Clyde, Rod Miller, Bud
Black, Joe Nuxhall, Art Houtteman, Jay Dahl
SATURDAY —14-May
Q. Who
was the first player to enlist for active duty in World War I?
Hint: #1
He caught the last seventeen
innings of the only 26 inning game in regulation history.
Hint: #2
He had the most extra base hits in his team’s first World Series.
A. HANK GOWDY [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. It’s what he’s probably best
remembered
for. As a result, his
name came up on 17 rounds of BBWAA ballots for the Hall, despite relatively
unimpressive stats.
-
#1 01-May-1920, Brooklyn Robins vs
Boston Braves, Gowdy caught the last 17 innings. Both
pitchers pitched complete games (!!!). The score was 1-1, called on account of
darkness. Both runs happened before Gowdy’s stretch behind the plate.
-
#2 In 1914 when the Miracle
Braves beat the A’s. Gowdy hit a
series-best .545 and hit 2 doubles, a triple & HR. Had the WS MVP existed then, he likely would
have won it.
FCR - Elliott
Frankfother, Rock Falls, Illinois
Incorrect guesses: Chief Meyers, Rowdy Elliott, Eddie Grant
WEEKEND BONUS —14-May
Q. Who batted in the
most runs in the first American League tiebreaker playoff game?
Hint: #1 He cost a
certain Hall of Famer a lot of ketchup.
Hint: #2 Though not
a pitcher, he holds the record for the longest ball ever thrown.
A. KEN KELTNER [SABR Bio]
- Ans. In the tiebreaker G on 04-Oct-1948 for the AL pennant, he
had 3 RBI for CLE in the 8-3 win.
- #1 He
made 2 great
defensive plays that are credited with ending Joe DiMaggio’s famous 56-G
hit streak. Had the streak gone on for
one more game, DiMaggio would have received a $10,000 endorsement from Heinz.
- #2 In August 1938, he threw 12
balls off Cleveland’s Terminal Tower. At 138 MPH, only 2 were caught. The 52-story, 708-foot drop is a record.
FCR - Andrew Milner,
Bryn Mawr, PA
Incorrect guesses: Tommy
Henrich, Bobby Doerr, Lou Boudreau, Rocky Colavito
SUNDAY —15-May
Q. Who was the first
player to face Babe Ruth in a major league game?
Hint: #1 He’s the
first person inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame who was also honored
by Cooperstown.
Hint: #2 He became
the first former player to become a play-by-play announcer.
A. JACK GRANEY [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Graney led off for CLE on 11-Jul-1914 when they faced BOS. Ruth got the win, 4-3.
- #1 He was
inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, their 2nd year
of operation and he was honored by The Hall with the Ford Frick
Award in 2022.
- #2 After
retiring from baseball in 1922, he became the play-by-play
announcer for Cleveland, the first former player to do so.
FCR - Michael Green,
Las Vegas
Incorrect guesses: Waite
Hoyt, Nap Lajoie
AND FINALLY… —15-May
Q. Who
wrote and published “Baseball Briefs”?
Hint: #1
He is the only one of this week’s answers who is interred in Arlington
National Cemetery.
Hint: #2
He shares a salient feature with both of Horsehide Trivia’s founders.
A. BOB DAVIDS [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Davids wrote numerous freelance articles on
baseball for The
Sporting News between 1951 and 1965. When it reduced the baseball coverage, Davids
began his own baseball publication, Baseball Briefs.
- #1 Passed away 10-Feb-2002 and because of his three
decades plus of government service at the highest levels, was buried with other
of the nation’s heroes at Arlington.
- #2 All 3 have been know by their middle names
their entire lives: Terry Scott
Brandon, Douglas Bruce Brown and Leonard Robert (“Bob”)
Davids.
FCR - Wayne
McCombs, Claremore, Oklahoma
Incorrect guesses: Hank Gowdy
WEEKLY THEME – Non-Hall
of Famers with SABR chapters named for them
Allen............... Philadelphia
Chapter (Co-named w/Connie Mack)
Auker.............. Central Florida Chapter
Baker.............. Sacramento Chapter
Davids............ Washington DC Region
Dierker........... Houston
Chapter
Easter............. Rochester NY Chapter
Gowdy............ Columbus Ohio Chapter
Graney........... Cleveland Ohio Chapter
Keltner............ Wisconsin Chapter
Seminick........ Central Florida Chapter
Thomson........ UK Chapter
This week’s quiz was submitted by Toronto’s Sarah Grynpas.
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tues - Hank
Aaron’s outfield teammates with 200+ career HRs
- Players
who batted behind Hank Aaron
Thu - Players
with unique last names
- Players
for whom SABR chapters are named
- SABR
chapters named after players who were from the area (born there or lived there)
Fri - SABR
chapters named after local area players who played interesting and prominent
roles in baseball history
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someone who would enjoy receiving daily Horsehide Trivia questions, Have them
start by clicking here.
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here: http://horsehidetriviA. blogspot.com/
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