MONDAY — 24-Jul
Q. Who
hit the last three home runs of his twenty-two year career, all in the same
game?
Hint: #1
The batter whose style he most admired was Joe Jackson.
Hint: #2
A true speedster, he stole home ten times.
- Ans. Ruth
hit HRs #712, 713 & 714 while playing for the Boston Braves on 25-May-1935 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. His final career G was in Philadelphia 6
days later.
- #1 Ruth
got advice from Jackson when he began playing
every day.
- #2 Ruth
had 123 total SB in his career including no attempts or steals in his 1st
4 seasons.
FCR - Mary
Shea, Milwaukee
Incorrect guesses: Ty Cobb, Paul Waner, Albert Pujols, Shohei Ohtani
TUESDAY — 25-Jul
Q. Who was the first
American League catcher to hit .300 with twenty-five home runs in consecutive
seasons?
Hint: #1 The only
season where he got some black ink (indicating league leader) in an
offensive category, was the year he led in intentional bases-on-balls.
Hint: #2 He received
a substantial fine and suspension after breaking an opponent’s jaw during an
on-field brawl in a July 4th game.
A. BILL DICKEY [SABR Bio]
- Ans. In 1937 & 1938, Dickey hit 29 & 27 HR & batted .332
& .317. Those were his only seasons
with more than 25 HR, but his batting average was north of .300 11 times.
For his 17-year career in the majors, he batted .313 & hit 202 HR.
- #1 In 1933, the 26-year-old rookie was walked
intentionally 9 times, tied with Jimmie Foxx for AL honors. On defense, however, Dickey led the AL in
various categories many times.
- #2 In the G of 04-Juyl-1932(1), tensions rose between
the Yankees & Senators and... The
entire incident is well detailed here.
FCR - Kevin Epstein,
San Antonio
Incorrect guesses: Yogi
Berra, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Cochrane, Carton Fisk, Rudy York
TUESDAY TWICE—
25-Jul
Q. Who holds the
record for most Opening Day starts for the 21st century New York Metropolitans?
Hint: #1 He was
nicknamed "Captain America" after his performance in the World
Baseball Classic
Hint: #2 He is a
seven-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, a two-time Silver
Slugger Award winner, led the majors twice in sacrifice flies, received MVP
votes in six separate seasons and is a member of the 30–30 club.
- Ans. Started on Opening Day for NYM 12 times:
2005-2014. Wright had one more OD start
for the Mets than did Tom Seaver & Bud Harrelson at 11 each.
- #1 He
led all Team USA batters in the 2013 WBC tournament w/10 RBI & a .438 BA.
- #2 AS 2006-2010, 2012 & 2013; a 2 X Silver
Slugger Award winner. 2007-2008; led MLB in sac flies in 2008 (11)
& 2020 (12); got MVP votes in 2005-2008, 2010 & 2012;
& in 2007 hit 30 HR & stole 34 bases.
FCR - Eric Savage, Short
Hills, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Howard
Johnson, Tom Seaver, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter
WEDNESDAY — 26-Jul
Q. Which starting pitcher,
undefeated at the time of a trade, finished that season undefeated, but with
five more victories for the new team, the same one he had broken in with
eighteen years earlier?
Hint: #1 He was the
last pre-expansion National League pitcher to strike out four batters in one
inning.
Hint: #2 He was the youngest
player in the majors as a rookie then was twice in the top ten oldest in his
final two years.
- Ans. In 1962, the Angels traded winless Nuxhall (&
his 10.13 ERA over 5.1 innings), to CIN, where he had in debuted 1944 and
played for 10 years.
- #1 In the top of the 6th inning on 11-Aug-1959, he retired Eddie
Mathews, Joe Adcock, Del Crandall & Johnny Logan on strikes. Crandall reached on his dropped 3rd strike.
- #2 At 15 years, 316 days on the day of his debut
10-Jun-1944, he became the
youngest player in recorded major league history, which he remains today. He was 38 years, 64 days at the time of his
last G 02-Oct-1966, he was among the most
superannuated then playing in the majors.
FCR - Susan Nelson, Moscow,
Tennessee
Incorrect guesses: Hoyt
Wilhelm
MIDWEEK BONUS— 26-Jul
Q. Which
four-time Silver Slugger third baseman had a three-home-run game for the first
time in his eleven-season major league career, just last month?
Hint: #1
Has been an All-Star five times, twice as a starter.
Hint: #2
The MLB-leading doubles he hit in second full season is the 14th
all-time total in history.
Hint: #3
The Athletic refers to him as, “…perhaps the sport’s most
unheralded headliner.”
A. JOSE RAMIREZ [B-R
Bio]
-
Ans. Hit 3 HR on 08-Jun-2023 off BOS’s Matt Dermody
& Cory Kluber. They were his 199th,
200th & 201st major league career round-trippers. Won the AL 3rd baseman’s Silver
Slugger Award in 2017, 2018,2020 & 2022.
-
#1 Starting AL 3B AS in 2017 & 2018, then on the AL team
in 2021, 2022 & 2023. This was all during a time when the AL had
some outstanding performers at 3rd base: Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, Alex
Bregman, Josh Jung, Joey Wendle & Mike Moustakas without mentioning the
current load of talent at that position in the NL.
-
#2 He his 56 doubles in 2017.
- #3 His teammates, however, understand completely.
(The Athletic is a paid
subscription, but it has a wealth of information & quality writing in
baseball alone. Look here then consider
subscribing.
FCR - Harry Setrakian, San Francisco
Incorrect guesses: Josh Donaldson, Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado,
Matt Carpenter
THURSDAY — 27-Jul
Q. Which
one-time Diamondbacks starter was the only Milwaukee Brewers pitcher to lead the
majors in strikeouts per nine innings for the first half century of the Brewers’
franchise’s existence?
Hint: #1
He was the first Kansas City Royals pitcher to hit a home run since the introduction
of the designated hitter in 1973.
Hint: #2
Hall of Famer George Brett helped him adjust to life as a major leaguer.
Hint: #3
His wife is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and film and television
actress.
A. ZACK GREINKE [B-R
Bio]
-
Ans. In 2011,Greinke’s 10.5379
K per 9 innings pitched was the best in baseball, breaking a 3-year hold on
that title by Tim Lincecum. The Brewers
spent their first season., 1969, in Seattle as the Pilots. MIL pitcher Corbin Burns matched the feat in
2021 when his K/9IP of 12.6
led all qualifying pitchers in the Bigs, ergo 2 Brewers have now done it.
-
#1 HR 10-Jul-2005, playing for an AL
team, but playing an NL team in an NL park.
Greinke would hit 8 more in his career, the 9th and final off
his former LAD rotation mate, Clayton Kershaw.
-
#2 To help alleviate some of his
anxiety and solitude, young Greinke was allowed by the Royals to live with
Brett, who never suffered from these issues.
Depression and agoraphobia have dogged Greinke for most of his career.
- #3 Greinke met Emily Kuchar in high school. They married in 2009 & now have 3 sons who are seen
frequently at major league ball parks.
FCR - Jaime
Aron, Dallas
Incorrect guesses: Marty
Pattin, Ben Sheets, Bret Saberhagen
FRIDAY —
28-Jul
Q. Whose
most iconic home run was surrendered by Kirk McCaskill?
Hint: #1
He was in the top five of Most Valuable Player voting for five out of six
straight seasons.
Hint: #2
His fifteen career grand slams tie him with Ryan Howard and Richie
Sexson for fourteenth place on the all-time career list.
-
Ans. On 14-Sep-1990, playing for SEA, Ken
Griffey Jr’s went deep off CAL’s Kirk McCaskill, immediately following that of his
father (Ken Griffey [‘Sr’ here is implied, but not necessary], also off McCaskill,
setting a unique circumstance in major league history. Father would homer once more before retiring.
“Junior” had 594 more HRs waiting for
him in MLB action.
-
#1 From 1993 through 1998, Junior
captured enough AL MVP votes to finish 5th, 2nd, ~, 4th,
1st & 4th in the final count.
-
#2 Why would you pitch to him
with the bases loaded? Is 1 run not
fewer than 4? Oh, well…
FCR - Barry Nelson, Guilderland, New York
Incorrect guesses: Cal
Ripken, David Ortiz, Alex Rogriguez, Ernie Banks, Barry Bonds
SATURDAY — 29-Jul
Q. Who was the batter who hit the fastest pitch ever thrown that was
hit for a home run?
Hint: #1
For each of the past five seasons, he has led all players in his league
at his position, in errors.
Hint: #2
He was the first batter to
be called out on a pitch-clock violation.
A. RAFAEL DEVERS [Wiki Bio]
-
Ans. In 2017, Devers turned around a 102.8 MPH Aroldis
Chapman fastball for the fastest pitch to be hit out of any ballpark measured
during the Pitch-Tracking Era (from 2008).
-
#1 From 2018 through 2022, Devers
committed 24, 22, 14, 22 &
14 mis-cues. He already has 12
this far in 2023 & leads MLB. Still,
s great hitter, so… DH maybe?
-
#2 View the Opening Day 2023 miscalculation here. Devers was in the box by the eight-second mark (as required
by this year’s new rules) but didn’t appear “alert” until about seven or six
seconds. Since the count at that time was 1-2, umpire Lance Barksdale rang up
Devers for strike three.
FCR -
Joe Cohen, Holden, Massachusetts
Incorrect guesses: Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Nick Castellanos, Freddy Patek
SUNDAY— 30-Jul
Q. Who
holds the American League record for number of times hit-by-pitch in a rookie
season?
Hint: #1
He played for two reptilian organizations.
Hint: #2
During all ten seasons he spent in the majors, no major leaguer stepped
into a batter’s box or threw a pitch from the mound, who shorter than he is.
A. DAVID ECKSTEIN [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Was HBP 21 X in 2001
to lead the AL. That tied WSH’s Bucky Harris, who had set the AL record in
1920. The following season, Eckstein's 27
led the majors. The NL rookie record is
held by WAS’s Victor Robles who had 25 in 2019. The all-time major league
record is held by Tommy Tucker, who got plunked 29 times for BAL of the AA in
1887.
-
#1 In college, Eckstein played
for the University of Florida Gators & in the majors; he
was a Arizona Diamondback rattlesnake for one season in the majors, 2008.
- #2 Programs,
yearbooks, scorecards & Baseball-Reference all list(ed) him at 5’6” as they
did also with Donnie Sadler & Danny Herrera.
FCR - John
Rickert, Terre Haute, Indiana
Incorrect guesses: Dustin
Pedroia, Albie Pearson, Miller
Huggins
MONDAY — 31-Jul
Q. Who
was the first player to win the Most Valuable Player Award unanimously the same
season it was the first time he qualified for the batting title?
Hint:
#1 Over the past half century of major league
baseball, he is one of just seven pitchers to hit a home run in the first
inning of a game.
Hint:
#2 He has never once beaten his own mother at a game in her sport
of choice.
A. SHOHEI OHTANI [Wiki Bio]
- Ans. In the 2021 season, Ohtani played as if
he were trying to get called up to a higher league ! : 46 HR, 100
RBI, 26 SB as a batter; 9-2 W-L, 3.18 ERA with 156 strikeouts in just 130.1 IP
as a pitcher.
- #1 Ohtani hit his 1st-inning HR
on 04-Apr-2021. The others were
Carlos Zambrano (2X; 2-July-2006 & 17-Sept-2006), Robert Person
(2-June-2002), Tyler Green (23-Aug-1995), Dwight Gooden (21-Sept-1985), Randy
Lerch (17-May-1979) and Rick Rhoden (30-July-1977).
- #2 Both
of Ohtani’s parents came from athletic backgrounds: father Toru Otani (last
named spelled with no “h”) was a baseball player, having played the outfield
for a corporate-sponsored non-professional baseball team. Mother Kayoko was a serious competitive
badminton player. To this day, Shohei
says he has never beat his mother in a badminton match.
FCR - Leonard Epstein, Dallas
Incorrect
guesses: Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Al
Rosen
TUESDAY — 01-Aug
Q. Who
is the youngest player
to hit a home run in a major league game?
Hint:
#1 He is one of the seven living players
who had played for the Dodgers in Brooklyn.
Hint:
#2 He once set a record, getting on base in twenty consecutive
plate appearances.
A. TOMMY BROWN [SABR Bio]
- Ans. One of the players who came up during
WWII, Brown went deep on 20-Aug-1945, aged a mere 17 years, 257
days old, breaking the record then held by Mel Ott at 18 years and 138 days.
- #1 Tommy will turn 96 on 06-Dec of this
year. The other Trolley Dodgers still
with us are Bob Aspromonte, Carl Erskine, Jim Gentile, Fred Kipp,
Bobby Morgan & Sandy Koufax. Morgan,
at 97, is the oldest.
- #2 The streak occurred in the minors in
1958, playing for the AA Nashville Volunteers. In a 3-game series in New Orleans, Brown went 4-for-4, 3-for-3, 3-for-3 & mixed in 6 BB. Then, in his 1st G in Sulphur Dell, his home ballpark, he walked 4 more straight times. Reaching base in 20 consecutive PAs, he set the
Southern Association record.
FCR - Dennis Walls, Orrington, Maine
Incorrect
guesses: Bob Aspromonte, Bobby Morgan
WEDNESDAY — 02-Aug
Q. Who was the first player to homer from each
side of the plate in the same game for the Toronto Blue Jays?
Hint:
#1 He and another standout player were
teammates on three different MLB teams.
Hint:
#2 His first career hit in the majors
was off Nolan Ryan.
.A. ROBERTO ALOMAR [WIKI Bio]
- Ans. On
10-May-1991 in Toronto, Alomar homered off lefty Bobby
Thigpen in the 9th & then off righty Scott Radinsky in the 11th.
- #1 Joe
Carter & Alomar were teammates on SDP (1990); TOR (1991-1995); & BAL (1998). They
both also played for CLE, not however, at the same time.
- #2 In
the bottom of the 1st inning in his debut, 22-Apr-1988, Alomar singled off Ryan exactly as
leadoff-batter, Tony Gwynn, had just done.
1st PA, so… batting 1.000!
FCR - Mark Hayne, Dumfries, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: Tony Fernandez, Alfredo Griffin,
Jim Gentile, Shawn Green, Jose Cruz Jr, Devon White
THURSDAY
— 03-Aug
Q. The bobblehead of
which player had to be hand-painted since the original run didn’t contain his
tattoos?
Hint:
#1 A heavy-footed catcher kept him from
immortality.
Hint:
#2 He may have been the only player to
clear the over-sized Coca Cola bottle replica in San Francisco’ major
league ballfield.
-
Ans. The Reds pay especially
close attention to every detail of their bobbleheads. In Latos’ case, it was important for them &
Mat that the statuette include his tattoos. Finding out that tattoo stickers didn’t work
on the 30,000 dolls, Mat’s “ink”
was then hand-painted on an assembly line.
- #1 On 13-May-2010, Matos
spun a 1-H gem vs. SFG in The City. Only Eli Whiteside’s sixth-inning infield single that deflected off Latos’ glove
& wrist, dampened the celebration of what might well have become a perfect
game.
- #2 No
one has ever reached the Coca Cola bottle simulation at Oracle Park* in SF,
located 501' feet from home plate, with a batted ball. The story goes that Latos was jogging off the
field near the warning track one day & flipped a ball underhanded with such
force that it disappeared over the
bottle,
took a bounce on the concourse behind it & smashed into the car of Giants
announcer Dave Flemming, shattering its sunroof. Matos claimed, “I'm sorry it happened and I'll
be responsible for it. But I didn't know
there was a parking lot back there. I
wasn't trying to throw it out of
the stadium.” Waxing slightly pedagogical, Latos opines, “When you
throw a ball in the stands, throw it to the guy in the first row.”
*Previously
named Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park & AT&T Park, the stadium's current
name was purchased by the Oracle Corporation in 2019.
FCR - John Wilson, Mesa
Incorrect
guesses: Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds, Sean Manea
FRIDAY — 04-Aug
Q. Of the nineteen men who have managed in the current
Milwaukee Brewers franchise, which manager has the most wins?
Hint:
#1 He attended college in the town of
his birth.
Hint:
#2 His preferred walk-up music was Jimi
Hendrix’ version of “All Along the Watchtower”.
A. CRAIG COUNSELL [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Counsell’s
674 W leads all other managers.
- #1 Born
in South Bend, Indiana, he attended & played for Notre Dame.
- #2 Lyrics and info on “All Along the Watchtower”.
FCR - Evan Thompson, Mesa
Incorrect
guesses: Nes Yost, Phil Garner
SATURDAY — 04-Aug
Q. Whose last name serves as a handy predictive baseball
research backronym?
Hint:
#1 Without the benefit of a stunt game, he
appeared in every possible role of a player on the field in major league
games—all nine positions, pinch-hitter, pinch-runner & as a designated
hitter.
Hint:
#2 His favorite memory from his playing
days occurred when he belted a walk-off single in the bottom of a 15th
inning.
A. BILL PECOTA [Wiki Bio]
- Ans. Nate
Silver, then writing for Baseball Prospectus, coined this highly
accurate projection system twenty years ago.
It was named in honor of Pecota. Supposedly,
Silver wanted to name it after the most average player possible. Officially, PECOTA is the acronym for Player
Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm.
- #1 Pecota is one of just six players to have
played every possible position in their career without the benefit of a stunt
game (playing all positions). The others
are Cookie Rojas, Eduardo Escobar, Steve Lyons, Don Kelly & Jake Elmore. Here are his career total Gs by position:
Pos. Gs
3B............. 272
SS............ 176
2B............. 158
PH............ 109
PR.............. 91
1B............... 28
RF.............. 19
LF............... 13
DH.............. 10
CF................ 2
P................... 2
C.................. 1
Total: ..... 881
- #2 On 17-July-1991, Pecota plated George Brett with his extra-inning base hit
to end a wild 9-8 victory, “I had a base hit up the middle and Brett scored
from second. It was pretty hilarious. I ran to first and stopped. Me and Lynn Jones, our first-base coach, are
yelling 'Go George! Go George! When he slid in safe, we all went wild. We actually were jumping around a little bit. Back in the day you never did that."
FCR - Sean Hogan, Springfield, Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Bert Campaneris, Cesar Tovar, Jose Abreu, Jamie
Quirk
SUNDAY — 06-Aug
Q. Which rookie was so impressive that before his
initial season was over, he had replaced two platooning veterans as their
team’s starting catcher?
Hint:
#1 He became one of the major’ best catchers
over his first five seasons.
Hint:
#2 He faced a pitcher with his same
first and last name four times in the regular season and was retired four times. In the postseason, however, the batter had
better luck.
A. WILL
SMITH [Wiki
Bio]
- Ans. In
2019 the LAD coaches had Austin Barnes & Russell Martin sharing the team’s
catching assignments. C Rocky Gale also
had a sip of LAD coffee that year. Smith
averaged 4 G per month for May, June & July. When his potential was seen and certified, he
became the full-time C the team was looking for. Smith started 28 of the last 40 G of the
season, helping LAD win the NL West.
- #1 His
WAR is at 14.0 after 2 full and 3 partial seasons with LAD & his OPS+ of
130, his OPS, HR & RBI and finally being selected to the NL All-Star team
would indicate that he’s a keeper.
- #2 Relief
pitcher Will Smith of SFG and ATL handled Will Smith the catcher during the
season, but young Will managed to take his namesake deep in the 6th inning
of G
5 of the 2020 NLCS.
FCR - Chris Betsch, New Albany, Indiana
Incorrect
guesses: Vance Wilson
WEEKS’ THEME – Major
leaguers whose youthful countenances lasted longer than most and did so well
into their careers—not just as rookies.
Bill Dickey was the inspiration for this one. Purposefully eliminated are those who grew
facial hair during the MLB tenure to look more mature.
Brown..................................
-2.1
Alomar................................. 67.0
Cain..................................... 29.1
Counsell............................... 22.4
Devers.................................
17.2
Dickey.................................
56.3
Eckstein..............................
20.9
Greinke...............................
76.9
Griffey................................
83.8
Nuxhall...............................
30.3
Ohtani.................................
30.9
Ruth.................................. 183.6
Sizemore.............................. 27.8
Smith................................... 14.0
Whitaker.............................
75.1
Wright................................ 49.2
Additional faces, er… names considered:
Eddie Mathews
Miguel Cabrera
Grady Sizemore
Buster Posey
Juan Soto
& several
others.
Bill Dickey and Will Smith set the bar very
high. Suggestions welcome.
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Nary a soul, baby-faced or otherwise.
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Mon - Most
innings pitched in a season without allowing a home run
Tues - Single-digit numbers retired by the Yankees
- Retired Yankee #s
- Hall of Fame (or
select) players who have hit a Grand Slam in two consecutive games
- Players who have made All-Star teams
Sat - Select players with multiple All Star Game
selections who debuted in MLB before age 22
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