Q. Whose record for career home runs in the
National League did Willie Mays break?
Hint: #1 His batting stance had many amateur coaches scrambling to explain why that batting stance would not
get a young player into the Hall of Fame or even into the starting lineup.
Hint: #2 He once said, “Every time I sign a ball, I am
glad my name is not Coveleski, Wambsganss or Peckinpaugh.”
- Ans. Ott
played for NYG from 1926 to 1947 with 511 HR.
Mays hit his 512th in L.A. off Claude Osteen
on 04-May-1966. Vin Scully no doubt told listeners of the
milestone.
- #1 Watch
Ott’s unusual batting stance here.
(Turn on sound.)
- #2 See
sample autograph here. As opposed to this one.
FCR - Neil Cohen, Brooklyn, New York
Incorrect guesses: Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Johnny Mize, Eddie
Mathews, Ralph Kiner, Henry Aaron, Gil McDougald
TUESDAY — 11-Apr
Q. Which
Texan is the only player to be on the roster of the Boston Braves, the
Milwaukee Braves and the Atlanta Braves?
Hint: #1
He was a World Series champion on a National League team and as a member
of an American League team.
Hint: #2
He was the second batter Nolan Ryan ever struck out.
A. EDDIE MATHEWS [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Career here. BSN (1952) -> MLN (1953-1965) -> ATL (1966)
-
#1 Was on MLN when they won the 1957 WS. Was on DET when they won the 1968 WS.
-
#2 On 11-Sep-1966, Nolan Ryan entered in the top of the 6th
and hung a backwards K on the third batter, Mathews.
FCR -
Lincoln Mitchell, New York City
Incorrect guesses: Hank Aaron
TUESDAY TWICE — 11-Apr
Q. Whose
two hundred twenty-five hits were the most in a season by a forty-year-old
player?
Hint: #1
He was the first player ever to come to bat in SkyDome.
Hint: #2
He is the only player to reach first base on catcher’s interference in
an All-Star game.
-
Ans. Molitor’s birthday is 22-Aug-1956
so he was 40 at the end of the 1996 Season.
That year he banged out his personal high in hits, 225. It was the 3rd time he’d led the
league in hits. The previous high by a
quadragenarian was the 207 H collected by Sam Rice in 1930.
-
#1 Toronto ‘s SkyDome, now the
Rogers Centre, opened on the evening of 05-Jun-1989 & Molitor, playing for MIL, was the 1st
batter. He doubled off Jimmy Key.
-
#2 Pinch-hitting for Wade Boggs
in the 7th inning of the 1991 ASG, Molitor swung and clipped the edge of catcher Craig Biggio’s
mitt and was awarded first.
FCR -
Michael Schneider, Wilmington,
Delaware
Incorrect guesses: Rickey Henderson, Ichiro Suzuki, Pete Rose, Wade Boggs
WEDNESDAY — 12-Apr
Q. Whose
cap controversy resulted in a major policy decision by the Hall of Fame?
Hint: #1
He had a season with more than seventy multi-hit games, a record for his
franchise.
Hint: #2
Only he and Ty Cobb, in this order, pitched in a major league game, got
his three thousandth hit and again pitched in a major league game.
A. WADE
BOGGS [SABR Bio]
- Ans. It was reported that Boggs had been offered financial
compensation by his final MLB team, TBD, to be shown wearing their cap
on his HOF plaque. Sensing that this could
lead to avoidable controversy, the Hall decided in
2001 to change its practice of deferring to players' wishes regarding cap logo
selection & reinforced the Hall's authority to determine with which cap the
player would be depicted. Boggs is
wearing a Boston cap on his HOF plaque.
- #1 Had 72 multi-H games in 1985, best for the Red
Sox (1901-2023)
-
#2 Pitched = 8th
inning 19-Aug-1997; 3,000th H = 07-Aug-1999; pitched = 10-Aug-1999.
FCR -
Andrew Lipsett, Woburn, Massachusetts
Incorrect guesses: Rickey Henderson, Cap Anson, Pete Rose
THURSDAY — 13-Apr
Q. Whose name is exactly where he reached more
than four thousand times in his career?
Hint: #1 Twice in his first three full major league
seasons, did he place in the top three in his league’s MVP voting.
Hint: #2 No other American League outfielder has won
more Gold Gloves.
- Ans. Al
Kaline = alkaline = base. Kaline’s 3,007 base hits, 1,277 walks, 55 HBPs & 173 reached on
errors = beaucoup bases.
- #1 After
finishing 3rd in ROY voting in 1954, Kaline finished a close 2nd
in 1955 AL MVP voting & 3rd in 1956.
- #2 Kaline won 10 GG w/DET for his outfield defense. He was not equaled until 1999 when Ken Griffey,
Jr. won his 10th GG, all w/SEA. Ichiro Suzuki joined them in 2010.
FCR - Joe Cohen, Holden, Massachusetts
Incorrect guesses: Dave Winfield, David
Wells, Fred Lynn, Ichiro Suzuki, Ken Griffey, Jr., Ty Cobb
FRIDAY — 14-Apr
Q. Which one-time Baltimore Oriole designated
hitter grew up playing in the city where Madison Avenue wondered if it could
play there?
Hint: #1 He once homered in seven consecutive games.
Hint: #2 He had thirty-five or more home runs in a
season for three different major league teams.
- Ans. Thome
was born & grew up in Peoria, Illinois, considered by marketing and
advertising managers to be the most representative of any city in the U.S. As
a result, many new products and promotions proposed for nation-wide release,
seldom receive final approval unless the question, “Will it play in Peoria?”
receives a positive answer. Thome
ended his career with 3 HR & 5 2B for BAL in 2012.
- #1 7 HR in 7 G
= 25-Jun thru 03-Jul-2002. The
52 he hit that year are a Cleveland franchise record.
- #2 He
had 35+ HR for…
CLE in 1996, 1997, 2000 & 2001;
PHI in 2003 & 2004;
CHW in 2006 & 2007.
FCR - Rich Lerner, Silver spring, Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Reggie Jackson, Don Baylor, Albert Belle, Jim Gentile,
Nelson Cruz, Eddie Murray, Lee May
FRIDAY NIGHT HEIST — 14-Apr
Q. Which Cal Poly alum replaced Mel Allen?
Hint: #1 A high school teammate of his is now in the
Hall of Fame.
Hint: #2 No one at his position has won more Gold
Glove Awards.
A. OZZIE SMITH [SABR Bio]
- Ans. “This
Week in Baseball”, often played in ballparks before major league games and in
select TV markets, was narrated by veteran broadcaster Mel Allen
from 1977 until the year of his death in 1996.
After a brief interregnum, Smith was
chosen and hosted from1997 to 1998.
Smith attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.
- #1 Eddie
Murray played alongside Smith at Alain Leroy
Locke College Preparatory Academy (formerly Locke High School
in Southern California. Murray
was inducted to the Hall in 2003. Smith
was voted in the year before.
- #2 Smith
won every NL GG from 1980 to 1992. The
only SS playing in 2023 with as many as 4 GG is SFG’s Brandon Crawford.
FCR - Nick Loret de
Mola, Sacramento
Incorrect guesses: Joe Garagiola,
Boog Powell, Jerry Coleman, Phil
Rizzuto, Keith Hernandez, Jim Kaat, Reggie Jackson
SATURDAY — 15-Apr
Q. Whose first and final major league home runs
were both of the “walk off” variety?
Hint: #1 In his last season, he played for the team
that had originally brought him up to the majors.
Hint: #2 Two eventual Hall of Famers finished behind
him in Rookie of the Year voting.
A. LOU WHITAKER [SABR Bio]
- Ans. 1st
HR = 28-Jul-1978 off SEA’s Enrique Romo. His last HR = 13-Sep-1995 off MIL’s Mike Fetters. Whitaker hit an additional 6 walk-off HRs
during his career.
- #1 Whitaker
played his entire 19-year MLB career with DET.
- #2 Whitaker
won the 1978 ROY award, finishing ahead of Paul Molitor & Whitaker’s teammate Alan Trammell.
FCR - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ No
one
Incorrect guesses: Albert Pujols, Ted Williams, Wally Moon, Luis
Aparicio
WEEKEND BONUS— 15-Apr
Q. Which one-time Red Sox third baseman is still
the only National League player to have two hundred hits in a season where
exactly none of those hits was a triple?”
Hint: #1 One season he was the victim in two separate triple
plays of note.
Hint: #2 He is the first Dominican to rack up 3,000
career hits.
A. ADRIAN BELTRE [SABR Bio]
- Ans. In
2004, playing for LAD, Beltre had exactly 200
H & exactly 0 3B.
- #1 On 27-May-06, MIN turned its 1st TP of the 21st
century with Beltre the 1st out of 3. In history’s 1st 2-6-2 TP on 02-Sep-2006, Beltre was the 2nd of the 3 outs.
- #2 His
3,000th H, a double off Wade
Miley, was on 30-Jul-2017. The
only other Dominican with 3,000 is Albert Pujols who reached that mark in 2018.
FCR - Rich Klein,
Plano, Texas
Incorrect guesses: Pablo Sandoval
SUNDAY — 16-Apr
Q. Who had more career hits in the majors than
any other alum of a college in the state of Mississippi?
Hint: #1 Three of his college teammates became major
league All-Stars.
Hint: #2 Paradoxically, he was a fine fielder,
capturing three Gold Gloves yet hundreds of his plate appearances were as a
designated hitter.
A. RAFAEL PALMEIRO [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Attended
Mississippi State University & had 3,020 H in MLB.
- #1 Went to school with Will Clark, Jeff Brantley
& Bobby Thigpen.
- #2 Ended
with 3,020 H, of which 430 were as a DH.
FCR - Thomas Nester, Fort Lauderdale
Incorrect guesses: Will Clark, Buddy Myer,
Edgar Martinez
WEEK’S THEME – Highest
career WAR for position players in the BBWAA era (1932- ) who were never an MVP
Player WAR Best Etc.
Beltre............... 93.5.............. 2nd/2004............... GG X 5, SS X 4
Boggs.............. 91.4.............. 4th/1985................ BA X4, WS
Kaline.............. 92.9.............. 2nd/1955,
1963..... BA, WS
Mathews.......... 96.1.............. 2nd/1953,
1959..... WS X2, 1 team in 3 cities
Molitor............. 75.7.............. 2nd/1993............... 39 G hit streak, WS MVP
Ott.................. 110.8.............. 3rd/1942................ WS, NL HR king at 511
Palmeiro.......... 71.9.............. 5th/1999................ Doubles title, GG X 3
Smith .............. 76.9.............. 2nd/1987............... WS, 13 GG
Thome............. 73.1.............. 4th/1983................ HR, RBI, AVG titles
Whitaker.......... 75.1.............. 8th/1983................ WS, teammate longevity, ROY
First Correct
Respondent identifying theme – Sarah Grynpas, Toronto (After Mathews)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Mon - Youngest players to hit exactly 3 home runs in a game
Tues - Players who hit
500 NL home runs
-
Youngest players
to hit 100 home runs
-
- Members of the 500 home run club who batted
left and threw right
-
HOF players that
never won an MVP
-
Hall of Famers
who received MVP votes as a third baseman, but never won the award
-
HOFers who ONLY
managed one team they played for AND finished with a losing record as a manager
-
Hall of Famers
who never won an MVP award
Wed
- players
who had 3000 hits or 500 home
runs and never a MVP
Fri - Hall
of Famers with 500+ home runs
Sat - Most career hits to never win a regular-season MVP
(played whole career in MVP era).
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