Monday, June 19, 2023

2023-06-12 Hall of Famers who hit 4 doubles in one game

MONDAY  — 12-Jun

Q.  Who is the only Houston Astros player to win the National League Most Valuable Award?

Hint: #1  He had been their first Rookie of the Year as well.

Hint: #2  He was the first player in the history of the National League to receive six bases on balls in a single game.

A.  JEFF BAGWELL  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  MVP in 1994.  Astros became AL in 2013.

-  #1  Bagwell was the overwhelming NL ROY in 1991.  (One vote shy of unanimity.)

-  #2  In a 16-inning G on 20-Aug-1999, the Marlins seemed to be happy to see Bagwell get to first base, hoping he’d not go beyond that.  However, after the 1st one, he stole second base then scored.  Following the 2nd, 3rd & 5th he advanced one base each time.  HOU’s winning runs in the 16th were scored without Bagwell even coming to bat.  Final: HOU 6 – FLA 4.  On 08-May-2016, Bryce Harper tied this mark in a 13-inning G.

FCR -  Larry Farin, Plano, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Joe Morgan, Ken Caminiti, Jose Altuve, Craig Biggio, Jimmy Wynn

 

 

TUESDAY — 13-Jun

Q.  Whose record for most consecutive games with an extra-base hit did Chipper Jones tie in 2006?

Hint: #1  His well-known nickname (not Jones’s) had nothing to do with the power of his bat.

Hint: #2  No brothers had more total major league career base hits.

A.  PAUL WANER   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Waner in 1927 & Jones had extra-base hits in 14 consecutive Gs.

-  #1  Paul & his younger brother Lloyd were famously known as “Big Poison” & “Little Poison”, & they definitely did a lot of ‘poisonous’ damage to NL pitchers over their careers.  But writer Red Smith explained that the origin of these nicknames was accidental.  The word poison is Brooklyn’s pronunciation of “person”.  A fan from Flatbush watching a G, once told people he was there to see the "big person and little person" from Pittsburgh, meaning Paul and Lloyd, but his accent made person sound like poison.  The unintentional monikers caught on.

-  #2  Paul with 3,152 & Lloyd with 2,459 combined for 5,611 hits, the career record for hits by brothers.  They easily outdistanced the Alou brothers’ total of 5,094 (Felipe 2,101, Mateo/1,777 and Jesus/1,216), & the DiMaggio brothers' grand total of 4,853: Joe (2,214), Dominic (1,680) & Vince (959).

FCR -  Charles Riordan, Chevy Chase, Maryland

Incorrect guesses:  Hank Aaron, Felipe Alou, Ken Boyer, Lloyd Waner, Joe DiMaggio, Paul Wagner, Felipe Alou,, Ted Williams

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 14-Jun

Q.  Who hit his four hundredth career home run on a team with three MVPs?

Hint: #1  Other teammates that year included multiple World Series MVPs, Cy Young Award winners, Hall of Famers, World Series champions, World Series MVPs and Gold Glove winners.

Hint: #2  He and a teammate played more than two thousand games together.

A.  BILLY WILLIAMS   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  HR #400 12-Jun-1975 with the Oakland A’s.  On that squad were Reggie Jackson (1973 AL MVP); Rollie Fingers (1981 AL MVP); Vida Blue (1971 AL MVP);

-  #1  1975 Oakland A’s (too numerous to list.)

-  #2  Williams played with third baseman Ron Santo in more than 2,000 G.

FCR -  Philip Trostler, Norwich, Connecticut

Incorrect guesses:  Mike Schmidt, Frank Robinson, Alex Rodriguez, Lou Gehrig, Duke Snider, Eddie Mathews,

 

 

MIDWEEK BONUS — 14-Jun

Q.  Who was the first player to hit a home run in each of three consecutive at bats?

Hint: #1  One year he played in only 125 games but collected 147 runs batted in, on a team that won the National League pennant.

Hint: #2  He is the only player to be active for eight consecutive U.S. presidential administrations.

A.  CAP ANSON   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Taking advantage of the short left-field fence at Chicago’s Lakefront Park II, which at 180' was one of the shortest in major league history, Anson was credited with homers in 3 straight AB on 6‑Aug‑1884.  That was the only season where balls hit over that fence were counted as HRs. HRs.  Previously, balls over it were ruled 2-base hits.  1884 was the only year that Lakefront Park II hosted major-league games.

-  #1  in 1886, Anson had 147 RBI in 125 G for the Chicago White Stockings.

-  #2  In the majors for 27 years, 1871 to 1897.  The U.S. presidents during that stretch were Ulysses Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland (X 2) & William McKinley.

FCR -  Rob Diamond, New Yor City

Incorrect guesses:  Ed Delahanty, Minnie Minoso, Willie McCovey,

 

 

THURSDAY — 15-Jun

Q.  Who is the most recent player with a major league season of at least one hundred runs batted in, striking out fewer than 10 times?

Hint: #1  He was the first player to hit a leadoff home run in the top of the first inning of an All-Star game.

Hint: #2  He captained his high school basketball team to the state championship.

A.  LOU BOUDREAU   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  1948 = 106 RBI + ≤ 9 K.

-  #1  ASG HR 06-Jul-1942.  Willie Mays (1965), Joe Morgan (1977) & Mike Trout (2015) have since repeated that feat.

-  #2  Boudreau attended Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois, a school without a baseball team.  Boudreau instead became a very good basketball player, an excellent passer and playmaker.  [For fun, watch high school sophomore Boudreau (#10) in state championship game action at the following time marks of this video: fast forward to intro of Boudreau’s team: 23:09; closeup of Lou: 23:35; actual game footage 24:30 to finish 39:00.  After trailing 6-4 at halftime, Boudreau’s “Flying Clouds” stormed back to win the Illinois state title by a final score of 14-13.]

FCR -  Mike Sparks, Sarasota

Incorrect guesses:  Tommy Holmes, Tom Herr, Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, Joe Sewell, Yogi Berra

 

 

THURSDAY FOLLOW-UP

Q.  Who received his first Hall of Hall vote the same year that he last played in the major leagues?

Hint: #1  He remains the only National Leaguer to post seven consecutive seasons with forty or more doubles.

Hint: #2  He wore uniform #3 for the Yankees after Babe ruth retired.

A.  JOE MEDWICK   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Despite not being eligible, he received one vote in the 1948 balloting, the year he appeared in the final 20 games of his career.  It took an additional 10 ballots spanning 20 years before he was finally enshrined in Cooperstown in 1968.

-  #1  Medwick turned the trick 1933-1939.  Wade Boggs w/BOS matched his record in the AL 1985-1991.

-  #2  "According to the 1984 NYY Media Guide, Medwick wore #3 in Spring Training in 1945, having worn #3 for NYG the previous 2 years."

FCR -  Keith Sims, Bloomington, Indiana

Incorrect guesses:  George Selkirk, Cliff Mapes, Johnny Mize

 

 

FRIDAY — 16-Jun

Q.  Whose MVP came the year after his “Comeback Player of the Year Award”?

Hint: #1  He spent his rookie signing bonus on his father's funeral.

Hint: #2  He was history’s second designated hitter.

A.  ORLANDO CEPEDA   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  CPY = 1966; NL MVP = 1967

-  #1  His father, Pedro Cepeda a/k/a “The Bull”, a well-known baseball player in Puerto Rico, was considered one of the best players of his generation.  Called "The Babe Ruth of Puerto Rico" and “Babe Cobb” (referring to his dominance as a hitter plus his legendary hustle a la the styles of both Ruth and Ty Cobb).  Orlando was frequently called “Baby Bull”.  His signing bonus was just $500 (about $5,695 in 2023 dollars).

-  #2  The DH for BOS on 06-Apr-1973, Ron Blomberg came up to bat for NYY in the 1st & walked.  Cepeda came up in the 2nd as BOS’s DH.  He went 0 for 6.

FCR -  Lincoln Mitchell, New York City

Incorrect guesses:  Frank Robinson, Willie Stargell

 

 

SATURDAY — 17-Jun

Q.  Which All-Star Game MVP once claimed, “I can play anywhere in the infield, as long as the darned ball doesn't come to me.”?

Hint: #1  He scored the fewest runs for any player who had at least 215 hits in the same season.

Hint: #2  Thrice he was among the top three vote getters for league’s Most Valuable Player.

A.  KIRBY PUCKETT   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  After starting the game as DH, Puckett was used at 2B, SS and 3B in an extra inning victory on 10-Sept-1995.  He handled only one flawless chance at 2B during this contest.  Quoted in the Indy Star.  Original quote not available.

-  #1   In 1989 Puckett had 215 hits &reached base a total of 259 X, yet scored in only 29% of his reaches, a total of 75.  For contrast, in Joe DiMaggio’s sophomore season, he also had 215 H, but he scored 151 X.

-  #2  In 1987, he trailed George Bell & Alan Trammell.  The next year he finished behind Jose Canseco and Mike Greenwell.  In 1992 only reliever Dennis Eckersley got more votes.

FCR -  Susan Nelson, Moscow, Tennessee

Incorrect guesses:  Wade Boggs, Michael Young, Pedro Guerrero, Rod Carew, Pete Rose, Fred Lynn

 

 

SUNDAY  — 18-Jun

Q.  On 21-Sep-2002, when Brad Ausmus grounded into a double play for the 30th time that season, whose record for most GIDP by a National League catcher did he tie?

Hint: #1  He was the first catcher to start three consecutive All-Star Games for the National League

Hint: #2  It is said that he would make Cecil Fielder look like Luis Aparicio.

A.  ERNIE LOMBARDI   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Lombardi had 30 GIDP in 1938.  Ausmus’ day was better remembered (by him at least) because he got his 1,000th career H.

-  #1  AS NL starter at C 1938, 1939, 1940.  The AL’s Bill Dickey beat him by one year, his string beginning in 1937.

-  #2  Slowest list.  Actual times not available at press time.

FCR -  Michael Schneider, Wilmington, Delaware

Incorrect guesses:  Joe Torre, Smokey Burgess, Gabby Hartnett, Yadier Molina, Buster Posey, Earl Williams,  Mike Piazza, Roy Campanella

 

 

WEEK’S THEME – Hall of Famers who hit four doubles in a single game

 

HOFer                         Date                            HOF             WAR

Anson........................ 03-Jul-1883*............... 1939............. 94.3

 

Bagwell..................... 14-Jun-1996............... 2017............. 79.9

 

Boudreau.................. 14-Jul-1946(1)............. 1970............. 63.2

 

Cepeda...................... 08-Aug-1973.............. 1999............. 50.1

 

Lombardi.................... 08-May-19635(1)......... 1986............. 37.7

 

Medwick.................... 04-Aug-1947(1)........... 1968............. 54.4

 

Puckett...................... 13-May-1989.............. 2001............. 51.2

 

Waner........................ 20-May-1932.............. 1952............. 74.8

 

Williams.................... 09-Apr-1969............... 1987............. 63.6

*On 03-Jul-1883, the Chicago White Stockings beat the Buffalo Bisons 31-7.  The win featured 4 doubles each by Cap Anson & Abner Dalrymple.

 

First Correct Respondent identifying themeWarren Kent, Whitehall, Ohio (After Waner)

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Mon     -  Two HBP in a World Series game

 

Tues    -  Highest career WAR among players that never won a World Series

            -  Hall of Fame players who were teammates with another HOF player on the same team for 15 years

 

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 D. Bruce Brown


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