MONDAY —07-Nov
Q. Before
Barry Bonds did it in 2002, who was the last Giant to lead the National League
in batting?
Hint: #1
He found out he was being called up to the majors between features at a movie
theater.
Hint: #2
In his youth, he was trained in the cleaning and pressing skills needed
in a laundry.
- Ans. Mays
led the NL and MLB in batting average, hitting .345 in the season
of his first MVP, 1954.
- #1 In
May 1951, Mays's team, the AAA Minneapolis Millers, had an off day before
playing an exhibition G in Sioux City, Iowa.
At the movies, between films of a double feature, the house lights went
on & the theater manager announced, “If Willie Mays is here, would he
please immediately report to his manager at the hotel.”
- #2 His
family needed income from all sources so his extended family worked together
and helped each other make it during the immediate aftermath the Great
Depression.
FCR - Bob
Trostler, Norwich, Connecticut
Incorrect guesses: Bill Madlock, Kevin Mitchell, Buster Posey, Will
Clark, Mel Ott, Bill Madlock, Freddy Sanchez, Matty Alou
TUESDAY —08-Nov
Q. Who secured the
highest qualifying single-season batting average of the twentieth century?
Hint: #1 He had a solid
season that year, winning the Triple Crown and leading the majors in nine
offensive categories.
Hint: #2 He was also
the first American League player to hit for the cycle.
- Ans. He hit .426 in 1901 for his new manager at
PHA in the AL’s inaugural season.
- #1 In 1901, he had 14 HR & 125 RBI. He led the majors in R, H, 2B, hit .426, OBPB
SLG, OPS, OPS+, TB & SLG.
- #2 During his fantastic season, he hit for the
cycle on 30-Jul-1901. His teammate Harry Davis is listed as having
done the trick 3 weeks earlier on 10‑Jul‑1901. However, a thorough check of multiple
box scores does not credit Davis with a cycle… ever.
FCR - Anthony Hughes,
Woodbridge, Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Ty
Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler, Sam Crawford, Ted Williams, Miguel Cabrera
WEDNESDAY —09-Nov
Q. Who
was the first Latin American player to win a National League batting title?
Hint: #1
He had a base hit in every World Series game he played in.
Hint: #2
He suffered from an arthritic neck, wrenched spine and insomnia
throughout his career, all resulting from a car accident.
A. ROBERTO CLEMENTE [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. NL batting title = 1961 w/.351. The next 3 he won 1964, 65 & 67, all led
the majors. He didn’t lead the majors in
1961, however, because DET’s Norm Cash, with a BA 75 points higher than his own
next-best year, batted an amazing .361, the highest BA of the
1960s.
-
#1 Had 9 H in 1960 & 12 H in 1971. The top WS hitting streak is 17 games by Hank Bauer
of NYY (7G-1956, 7G-1957, 3G-1958).
-
#2 Imagine if he’d played free of
pain!
FCR - Jeff
Fink, Howell, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Matty Alou, Bobby Avila, Ted Williams, Lew
Fonseca
MIDWEEK BONUS —09-10-Nov
Q. Who
was the first player to reach base in a modern All-Star Game?
Hint: #1
He is the last American League player to hit sixty doubles in a season.
Hint: #2
He was the first player in the Modern Era to hit an inside the park home
run and grand slam in the same game.
A. CHARLIE GEHRINGER [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. He got a base on balls from NL
starter Bill Hallahan in the bottom of the 1st in the inaugural
All-Star Game in 1933. Gehringer
stole 2nd, but was stranded.
-
#1 Had 60 2b in 1936 to
lead the AL. 60 doubles in a season is rare
(only done 6 times). Joe Medwick set the NL record that same
season w/64 to lead the majors.
-
#2 IPHR and GS = 04-Aug-1930, both off Hall of Fame
pitcher Ted Lyons. The GS was a 12th inning walk off.
FCR - Michael
Schneider, Wilmington, Delaware
Incorrect guesses: Lou Gehrig, Luke Appling
THURSDAY —10-Nov
Q. Who
trails only Yogi Berra in number of World Series rings won?
Hint: #1
In his first MVP season, he drove in more runs than the number of games
he played in.
Hint: #2
He married an actress Dorothy Arnold after meeting her during the
filming of a bit part in a Hollywood-produced movie that, in spite of its name,
was filmed in the Bronx.
A. JOE DiMAGGIO [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Yogi got 10 WS rings. Joe DiMag won 9 = 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1947, 1949, 1950 & 1951. Only in 1942 did he play in a WS
that NYY lost.
-
#1 In 1939, DiMaggio had 126 RBI
in only 120 G and he won the AL MVP by a comfortable
margin. In 3 additional seasons, he had
more RBI than G played: 1937 (151/167); 1940 (132/133); & 1948 (153/155).
-
#2 Joltin’ Joe turned his lonely
eyes to 21-year old Dorothy
Arnold, singer,
dancer & actress, after they met on the 1937 set of the long-forgotten film
Manhattan
Merry-Go-Round. In it, DiMaggio plays
himself, but is mistaken for a famous singer, propped up in front of a
microphone & forced to croak out the song "Have You
Ever Been Lonely?” All agreed that
Joe had, in fact, not, missed his calling. Arnold’s part was barely more than his as she
was only an uncredited
dancer.
FCR - Jerry
Miller, Liberty Hill, Texas
Incorrect guesses: Mickey Mantle, Phil Rizzuto, Lou
Gehrig, Bill Dickey
THURSDAY ENCORE —10-Nov
Q. Whose
record for most grand slams in a season did Don Mattingly break with only four
games left in the season?
Hint: #1
The Texas native Hall of Famer did not play baseball at high school for
the simple reason that his school did not have a baseball team.
Hint: #2
He set a record one day when he recorded twenty-two putouts in a single National
League regular season game.
A. ERNIE BANKS [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. On 29-Sep-1987, Mattingly took Bruce
Hurst deep for his 6th GS that year*, moving ahead of Banks’s 5, hit
in 1955. In 1961, BAL’s Jim Gentile tied
Bank’s mark, hitting 5 GS**. Travis
Hafner/CLE tied Mattingly’s record in 2006.
-
#1 Banks attended Booker T.
Washington High School in Dallas, now the Booker T. Washington
High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. The building was built in 1922 as the first
African American high school in Dallas.
In 1955 additional
space was added. Banks did
play baseball (semi-pro) during his HS years but just not for his school. During that time, he also played fast-pitch
softball for a church team where he was discovered.
-
#2 On 09-May-1963, playing 1st
base, Banks recorded 22 putouts behind the 1-R CG pitching of future All-Star Dick Ellsworth. Banks was tied 20 years later by another Cub,
Bill Buckner.
FCR - Brett
Moore, Studio City, California
*In no other season of his 14-year major league
career did Mattingly hit even one (1) grand slam.
**Adding some panache, Gentile hit 2 of his
slams in the same game! 09-May-1961
Incorrect guesses: Will Clark, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Johnny
Mize, Frank Robinson, Dale Long, Jim Northrup, Willie McCovey, Gil Hodges
FRIDAY —11-Nov
Q. Which
outfielder made it to the majors on a team that had what many baseball
historians still consider to be the one of the best outfields of all time?
Hint: #1
The Detroit Tigers offered Ty Cobb in a trade for him but his team was not
interested.
Hint: #2
It took more than a half century after his retirement for him to be
voted into the Hall of Fame.
A. ELMER FLICK [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Flick was a rookie on the 1898
PHI. From 1891-1895 PHI had 3 HOF
players in the outfield: Ed Delahanty
(LF), Sam Thompson (RF) & Billy Hamilton (CF). Hamilton was gone by ’98 and Flick filled in
for the injured Thompson and became a starter right way.
-
#1 DET HOF manager Hughie
Jennings tried to trade Cobb for Flick in 1907, the year of their first pennant. “No deal,” snapped the Naps.
-
#2 Flick’s last season = 1910. Induction = 1963 at age 87, the oldest living
player ever voted into the HOF.
FCR - Phillip
Ross, Denver
Incorrect guesses: Ross Youngs, Billy Hamilton, Harry Heilmann,
Harry Hooper, Tris Speaker, Kiki Cuyler, Earle Combs
END-OF-THE-WORKWEEK BONUS —11-Nov
Q. Who is
still the only player to hit forty doubles, twenty triples and thirty home runs
in the same season?
Hint: #1
He was the first player to emerge from a team's minor league farm system
to win a major league MVP playing for that team.
Hint: #2
He was the antepenultimate player/manager of the St. Louis Browns.
A. JIM BOTTOMLEY [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. In 1928, Sunny Jim had 42
2B, 20 3B & 31 HR. It earned him the NL MVP.
-
#1 After signing with Cardinals’
scout Charley Barrett in 1919, Bottomley played for D-level Mitchell Kernels
& the A-level Sioux City Packers in 1920; for the A-level Houston Buffaloes
in1921; and the AA-level Syracuse Stars and major league STL in 1922. He was the NL MVP in 1928.
-
#2 Bottomley ended his major
league career as player/manager for the 1937 Browns. Luke Sewell then performed player/manager duties for 6 G
in 1942 and Marty Marion was the Browns’ player/manager in their years just before
moving to Baltimore.
FCR - John
Salvino, Denver
Incorrect guesses: Rogers Hornsby, Luke Sewell, Al Simmons, George
Sisler, Ken Williams
SATURDAY —12-Nov
Q. Whose
record for most hits in a season for the Yankees did Don Mattingly break in 1986?
Hint: #1
He is the first Hall of Famer from his state.
Hint: #2
He was one of the few to pinch-hit for Lou Gehrig during Gehrig’s famous
streak.
A. EARLE COMBS [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Combs had 231 H in 1927 for
NYY. Mattingly had 238 in 1986.
-
#1 First Hall of Famer elected
from Kentucky: 1970. 3 other
HOFers from KY = Happy Chandler (1982); Pee Wee Reese
(1984); & Jim Bunning (1996).
-
#2 PH = 15-Sep-1932. Gehrig had already played 4 innings of that
G, the 1,189th of his streak.
5 others pinch-hit for Lou before the streak was over: Aaron Ward, Fred Merkle, Myril Hoag, Ernie
Johnson and Ben Paschal (3 different times).
Combs was actually the 5th to do it.
FCR - Jason
Winston, Riverside, California
Incorrect guesses: Joe DiMaggio, Tony Lazzeri,
WEEKEND BONUS —12-Nov
Q. Which
second baseman, a Hall of Famer and a Double Unique, hit more than ten percent
of his career home runs off Christy Mathewson?
Hint: #1
He is the last Hall of Famer with 1,000 or more career hits to have over
85% of them be singles.
Hint: #2
He was the Yankees’ manager in the three seasons prior to winning their
first pennant.
A. MILLER HUGGINS [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Of Huggins’ 9 career HR, the
one on 19-Jun-1907 was off
Mathewson. It was also a lead-off
HR. All 9 HR were of the
inside-the-park variety. Miller Huggins has been a Double Unique since his debut on 15-Apr-1904.
-
#1 1,269 of 1,474 career H were
singles, 86.1%. Willie Keeler was higher
at 85.7% (2,513/2,932 H). Only those 2
HOFers stopped at 1st base that frequently.
-
#2 Huggins managed NYY
1918-1920. He continued managing them
for their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th pennants 1921-1928. Included therein were their 1st, 2nd & 3rd WS championships.
FCR - Benjamin
Chase, Huron, South Dakota
Incorrect guesses: Roger Peckinpah, Rabbit Maranville, Eddie
Collins, Johnny Evers, Frank Chance
SUNDAY —13-Nov
Q. Who is the first
player to record two hits in the same inning in a World Series Game?
Hint: #1 He is often
credited with teaching Mel Ott the finer points of playing right field at the
Polo Grounds
Hint: #2 Legend has
it that he gave the nickname "Smokey Joe" to Negro League star Joe
Williams after Williams no-hit hm and him in 1917. Other theories explain it differently.
A. ROSS YOUNGS [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Playing for NYG in G3 of the 1921 WS, Youngs hits a double and a triple in
the bottom of the 7th inning, setting a WS record 8-run inning,
later broken
- #1 Apparently Ott was Aptt, student-wise… what.
- #2 No-hitter = Sorry Such apocryphal events are difficult to
document. (Just play along if you know what’s
good for you.)
FCR - Leonard
Epstein, Dallas
Incorrect guesses: Casey
Stengel
WEEKLY THEME – Hall of
Fame players who hit three (3!) triples in a single game.
HOFer Date WAR
Banks......................... 11-Jun-1966.................. 67.7
Bottomley................... 15-May-1923................. 35.8
Clemente.................... 08-Sep-1958.................. 94.8
Combs........................ 22-Sep-1927.................. 44.7
DiMaggio.................... 27-Aug-1938................. 79.2
Flick........................... 06-Jul-1902................... 52.7
Gehringer................... 05-Aug-1929................. 84.8
Huggins...................... 08-Oct-1904.................. 35.4
Lajoie......................... 13-Jul-1904................. 106.9
Mays........................... 15-Sep-1960................ 156.1
Youngs....................... 11-May-1920................. 32.7
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Warren Kent, Whitehall, Michigan
(after Flick)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Wed - First
players to get 3000 hits
- Players
with at least 3000 hits and 140 triples lifetime
Thur - Former
League MVP winners voter Greatest of all time at their position
-
League Batting Champions voted MVP
Fri - Hall
of Fame inductees elected by different methods (ballot #, committee,
posthumously, etc.)
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