Q. Who holds the record for most runs batted in during
a rookie season?
Hint: #1 In each of his first eight major league
seasons, he never scored fewer than one hundred twenty times.
Hint: #2 The fact that he led his league in doubles
twice, is often overlooked.
- Ans. Williams
led the majors w/145 RBI in 1939.
Walt Dropo challenged his teammate’s rookie mark with 144
RBI in 1950. In the last 2 games in the
season, he had more 2 H, but no more RBI.
- #1 In
1939-1942 then 1946-1949, Williams scored, on average, 135 R, leading MLB 4X
and the AL another 2X.
- #2 Williams
had 44 & 39 2B in 1948 & 1949.
FCR - Ira Levinton, Bordentown, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Joe Medwick, Albert Pujols, Fred Lynn, Ichiro
Suzuki, Walt Dropo
TUESDAY — 04-Apr
Q. Who
is the only player to win a league MVP playing for a last-place American League
team?
Hint: #1
For three different teams, he had seasons of 125 runs and 125 runs batted
in.
Hint: #2
He won $1 million for a fan by hitting for the cycle on the right day.
A. ALEX RODRIGUEZ [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. In 2003, TEX finished last
in the AL West with a record of 71-91.
A-Rod won the AL MVP with 47 HR and a WAR of 8.4.
-
#1 Did the 125/125
combo for SEA on 2000, for
TEX in 2001 & 2002 & for NYY in 2007.
-
#2 On 05-Jun-1997, visiting Detroit, A-Rod won Pamela Altazan $1,000,000 because her name had been drawn in
a radio contest for the unlikely event that a Mariner player would hit for the
cycle.
FCR -
Dennis Walls, Orrington,
Maine
Incorrect guesses: Mike Trout, Cal Ripken, Hank Sauer, Rocky Colavito
WEDNESDAY — 05-Apr
Q. Which
player had but a single run batted in during his final season after having at
least one hundred such in each of the previous thirteen campaigns?
Hint: #1
The first base he stole in a major league game was of the five-sided variety.
Hint: #2
It is entirely fitting that his final resting place is Valhalla.
-
Ans. His average RBI production
per season 1926-1938 was 147 (average!).
During that 13-year run, he led MLB 4 X & the AL once. Four of those totals are among the top 12
all-time. In 1931 his 185
RBI, set the all-time AL record for a season.
-
#1 In his 3rd season
(but 1st full season), in a game Washington, D.C., on 24-Jun-1925, in the 7th inning, off Allen Russell / Muddy Ruel,
Gehrig walked, moved to 3rd on a single by teammate Wally
Shang then, for the 1st SB of the 102 in his career, stole home as
part of a double steal.
-
#2 Gehrig is buried in the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, NY. In Norse mythology, Valhalla
represents the final resting pace of the most valiant slain warriors. Considering his career & untimely
passing, it seems quite likely that Odin
would enthusiastically welcome him in.
FCR -
Joe Cohen, Holden, Massachusetts
Incorrect guesses: Babe Ruth
MIDWEEK BONUS — 05-Apr
Q. Which multiple MVP slugger was born in
Maryland, but never played a single major league game in Baltimore?
Hint: #1 He was the first major leaguer to hit a
pinch-hit grand slam in the American League and in the National League.
Hint: #2 He had the most hits in the same year of
anyone who also hit 50 home runs in a season.
A. JIMMIE FOXX [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Foxx
was born in Sudlersville in 1908 and played in the major leagues from
1925 through 1945.
- #1 PHGSs = 21-Sept-1931(2)
& 18-May-1945.
- #2 His
213 H with his 58 HR in 1932 is a mark that has not been equaled.
FCR - Terry Sloope, Cartersville, Georgia
Incorrect guesses: Babe Ruth
THURSDAY — 06-Apr
Q. Who is the only* batter to average more than sixty home runs per season over any four-year
span?
Hint: #1 He joined Ernie Banks’s for having an RBI
total one season that exceeded the next teammate’s total count by ninety or
more.
Hint: #2 He once sat next to the U.S.’s First Lady
during the State of the Union Address.
A. SAMMY SOSA [SABR Bio]
- Ans. From
1998 to 2001, Sosa leapt out of the batter’s box 66, 63, 50 &
64 times for a total of 243. (OK,
perhaps he didn’t leap every time he homered, but you cannot deny the image
that immediately came into your head when you read that line.)
* Sharper eyes than mine caught this: Mark
McGwire also averaged more than 60 HR over a 4-year span: 245 from 1996-99.
- #1 In
1959, Banks led the majors with 143 RBI, 91 more than teammate
Bobby Thomson’s 52. In 2001, Sosa’s
MLB-leading 160 RBI put a distance of 94 more than teammate
Rickey Gutierrez’ 66.
- #2 In
January of 1999, Sosa was seated next to Hillary Rodham Clinton during her
husband’s State of the Union address to Congress in
recognition of Sosa’s humanitarian contributions.
FCR - Dave Wise, Hyde Park, New York
Incorrect guesses: Barry Bonds Josh Gibson, Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols
FRIDAY — 07-Apr
Q. Who
was the first major league
player to hit at least twenty-five home runs in a season in each league?
Hint: #1 In one season in the heart of his career, he
and three teammates all reached the two hundred hit level.
Hint: #2 One of his
team’s co-owners sang a song about him with him.
Hint: #3 He only
needed a single digit to express his birthday.
A. HANK GREENBERG [SABR Bio]
- Ans. He
hit 25+ HR in each of 7 AL seasons then exactly 25
in 1947, his only NL season & his last one as a player.
- #1 The
1937 Detroit Tigers sported these players, each with at least 200 H that
year: Gee Walker (213); Charlie
Gehringer (209); Pete Fox (208); & Greenberg (200).
- #2 Listen to Pirates’ co-owner Bing Crosby, along with
Groucho Marx and Greenberg himself belt out the tune “Goodbye, Mr. Ball, Goodbye”.
- #3 Born
1-1-11 in NYC.
FCR - Bob
Trostler, Norwich, Connecticut
Incorrect guesses: Babe Ruth, Johnny Mize
SATURDAY — 08-Apr
Q. Which one-time
Braves outfielder/infielder had exactly 3,000 total bases tallied at the end of
his first ten big league seasons?
Hint: #1 He also
batted .300 or better in each of his first eleven seasons.
Hint: #2 He was the first batter with four hits in a
single All-Star Game.
A. JOE MEDWICK [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. Medwick menaced NL pitchers with a slash line of .332/.370/.542
between 1932-1941. He played 66 G in LF
& at 1B for BSN in 1945.
- #1 Had
.300+ batting averages each year 1932-1942, qualifying
for the batting crown in every one of them after the first one.
- #2 In
the 1937 All-Star Game in Griffith
Stadium in Washington DC, Medwick doubled off Tommy Bridges in the
4th; singled off him in the 6th; doubled off Mel Harder
in the 7th; & singled off Harder in the 9th.
FCR - Steven Wright, Naperville, Illinois
Incorrect guesses: Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Rico Carty, Dale Murphy, Andruw
Jones, Al Simmons,
Wally Berger, Ralph
Garr
SUNDAY — 09-Apr
Q. Who is the only player to hit two home runs each
on Opening Days in two separate calendar millennia?
Hint: #1 He once won an MVP for a season where he did
not make the All-Star team.
Hint: #2 He stepped into the batter’s box to the sounds of the “Imperial
March”, Darth Vader's theme music.
A. JUAN GONZALEZ [SABR
Bio]
- Ans. Playing
for TEX in 1993, Gonzalez helped inaugurate the 2nd ever Opening Day at Camden Yard by homering off starter Rick Sutcliffe
& reliever Alan Mills. Playing for CLE,
he homered off CHW’s David Wells & Antonio Osuna to help launch their 2001
season.
- #1 In
1996, Gonzalez edged Alex Rodriguez by one of the thinnest of margins for AL MVP, but did not represent his league in the ASG.
- #2 Gonzalez’
look & his “ownage” of AL pitchers made Lord Vader a more than
apt comparison. Enjoy the first 50
second here, conducted here by composer John Williams himself.
FCR - Tom
Nealis, Baltimore
Incorrect guesses: Derek
Jeter, Albert Belle, Jason
Giambi, Kirk Gibson,
Gary Sheffield, Barry Bonds, Chipper Jones, Mark McGwire,
WEEK’S THEME – Players
with more than 150 RBI in an MVP season
Year MVP RBI WAR
1927........................... Gehrig.............................. 173....... 113.6
1932........................... Foxx................................. 169......... 93.1
1933........................... Foxx................................. 163......... 93.1
1935........................... Greenberg....................... 168......... 55.5
1936........................... Gehrig.............................. 152....... 113.6
1937........................... Medwick........................... 154......... 54.5
1938........................... Foxx................................. 175......... 93.1
1949........................... Williams........................... 159....... 122.0
1998........................... Sosa................................. 158......... 58.6
1998........................... Gonzalez......................... 157......... 38.7
2007........................... Rodriguez........................ 156....... 117.6
First Correct Respondent identifying theme – Nick Loret de Mola, Sacramento
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Mon - Most
Career Home Runs by players who hit left-handed and threw right-handed
Wed - Players who have hit more than 17 grand
slams in a career
- Players with
the most career grand slams
- Most career grand slams
- Players with 8 or more consecutive seasoned
played with at least 100 runs scored
Thur - They all led the league in total bases 2 years in a row
Fri - Players with at least 140 RBIs in two seasons
and a career total of at least 1600 RBIs
Sun - Players
with season with at least 150 RBIs and at least 10 intentional bases on balls
(IBBs)
-
Players
who had the most RBIs at the All Star break.
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