2023-12-25 Veterans who retired after playing the first season of a 1960s expansion franchise

MONDAY  — 25-Dec

Q.  Which player racked up more hits than any other in the decade 1950-1959?

Hint: #1  He helped his team stay respectable even if they didn’t reach the playoffs but once during that span.

Hint: #2  His reward for winning one of his franchises' first-ever team MVP served as a metaphor for its inaugural season.

A.  RICHIE ASHBURN   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Ashburn led MLB in H in the decade w/1,875.  He led in 1951 (221) & 1958 (215) & led the NL in 1953 (205).  Over the course of his entire career (1948-1962), no player had more total hits than his 2,574 during this specific 15-season span (Stan Musial was 2^nd with 2,549).

-  #1  The 1950 PHI won 91 G, the NL pennant & played NYY in the WS.  The Phillies’ aggregate W-L% for the 1950s was a mediocre .498, but that far surpassed its marks for the preceding three decades of futility: 1940s (.380 W-L%), 1930s (.381) & 1920s (.370).

-  #2  Ashburn was voted team MVP for the woeful expansion 1962 NYM who finished with a Modern Era record 120 losses.  For his efforts, he was gifted a motorboat which sank soon after Ashburn launched it.  The boat never made it out of the harbor.

FCR -  Tom Cleary, Macungie, Pennsylvania

Incorrect guesses:  Nellie Fox, Stan Musial, Willie Mays

 

 

TUESDAY  — 26-Dec

Q.  Which pitcher holds the major league* record for highest winning percentage in a season?  (Min13 decisions)

Hint: #1  Trevor Hoffman broke his record for most career relief appearances for one club.

Hint: #2  Following his baseball career, he served as the carpentry foreman at a psychiatric hospital.

*American League/National League

A.  ROY FACE   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Face’s record in 1959 was 18-1, .947.

-  #1  Face had 775 relief appearances for the PIT from 1953-68.  Hoffman ended with 1,035 for SDP, passing Face in 2006.

-  #2  He was head carpenter at the Mayview State Hospital in South Fayette Township, Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh.

FCR -  Art Mugalian, Minneapolis

Incorrect guesses:  Vern Law, Pete Ladd, Bruce Sutter, Goose (sic) Gossage, Mike Marshall, Phil Reagan, Spud Chandler, Bob Friend

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 27-Dec

Q.  Which righty led the majors in ERA and ERA+ in his rookie season but was only tied for fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in his own league?

Hint: #1  That season was the start of nine consecutive years with at least ten wins.

Hint: #2  Approaching his next-to-last season in the majors, he sliced off the tip of his pitching index finger & also underwent an emergency appendectomy.

A.  MIKE GARCIA   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  After a 2-inning sip of coffee in 1948, Garcia had an ERA of 2.36 & ERA+ of 170 to go with his 14-5 record.  He received only a single ROY vote.

-  #1  From 1949 through 1957, Garcia averaged more than 15 W per season with a high of 22 W in 1952.

-  #2  Along with those health issues, a line drive that broke his leg & his advancing age, he turned in 2 very mediocre seasons at the end.

FCR -  Mike McCroskey, Sugar Land, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Felix Hernandez, Wally Bunker, Mike Mussina, Jamie Moyer, Bob Feller, Dean Chance, Billy Loes

 

 

THURSDAY  — 28-Dec

Q.  Who is the only Brooklyn Dodger pitcher to win the deciding game of a postseason series?

Hint: #1  Six years after the above heroics, he led all qualifying pitchers in the National League with a win-loss percentage of .783.

Hint: #2  Embracing the local culture, he was poolside at his hotel in Los Angeles when he met his wife-to-be.

A.  JOHNNY PODRES   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  In the the1955 WS, Podres won G #7 , a complete G shutout.  He was also the winning P in G #3 that year.  By the next time the team won a deciding postseason game, a game, they had become, of course, the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Incidentally, Podres was the starter of that G.,

-  #1  His record was 18-5 in 1961, the best of his career.

-  #2  Podres and professional ice skater Joan Taylor were married in 1966.  She continued to skate & performed for ten years for the Shipstad and Johnson Ice Follies.

FCR -  Lincoln Mitchell, New York City

Incorrect guesses:  Carl Erskine. Don Drysdale, Padres,

 

 

FRIDAY — 29-Dec

Q.  Who was the first person to catch a perfect game wearing the uniform of the Oakland A’s?

Hint: #1  It was not, however, the first time he caught a no-hitter in the majors.

Hint: #2  His name, eventually pronounced correctly by a famous Italian-American broadcaster, caused pronunciation issues later on for the same announcer.

A.  JIM PAGLIARONI   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Catfish Hunter’s perfect game on 08-May-1968 had Pagliaroni behind the plate.

-  #1  Pagliaroni caught the no-hitter of Red Sox teammate Bill Monbouquette on 01-Aug-1962.  More than 60 catchers have caught more than one no-hitter.

-  #2  Phil Rizzuto at the mic for NYY eventually became comfortable with the last name of his fellow Italian-American, Pagliaroni.  However, when Mike Pagliarulo joined NYY in 1984, Scooter struggled at first.

FCR -  Anthony Biats, Willoughby, Ohio

Incorrect guesses:  Gene Tenace, Chris Canizzaro Jim Payton, Ray Fosse, Phil Roof, Rene Lachemann, Dave Duncan

 

 

SATURDAY — 30-Dec

Q.  Who was the first player to homer in the same game he received four intentional walks?

Hint: #1  He homered twice in his first World Series game.

Hint: #2  His middle name was Bernard, but everyone knew him by his nickname.

A.  TED KLUSZEWSKI   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans. 4 IBB + HR = 07-Sep-51.  Then, ½ century later, add Manny Ramirez 05-Jun-2001.  Both of these games were 18-inning affairs.

-  #1  In G #1 of 1959 WS, hit HR in 3^rd & 4^th innings.

-  #2  He was “Klu” or “Big Klu” to everyone.

FCR -  Gary Moore, Walker, Michigan

Incorrect guesses:  Barry Bonds, Willie Aikens

 

 

SUNDAY — 31-Dec

Q.  Who is the only Modern Era player to win a batting title and lead the majors in batting and have a WAR that year of less than 3.0?

Hint: #1  He was the first Red Sox player to receive any Rookie of the Year votes.

Hint: #2  Following retirement from baseball he went to work at his wife’s antiques store.  It was conveniently located just

A.  BILLY GOODMAN   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Goodman led MLB in avg in 1950 w/.354.  His WAR was 2.7.  He played 73 G for BAL in 1957.

-  #1  A rookie in 1948, Goodman finished tied for 4^th in MLB’s 2^nd-ever ROY vote.

-  #2  The antiques store had opened in Sarasota,  FL, the spring training home of BOS during his decade with them.  The store was fortunately close to BOS’ Payne Park, site of their spring training facilities at the time.

R -  Rich Lerner, Silver Spring, Maryland

Incorrect guesses:  Pete Runnels, Carl Yastrzemski

 

 

WEEK’S FINALE (YEAR’S too!) — 31-Dec

Q.  Which one-time Pirates’ sidearm relief pitcher began and ended his major league career on different teams in the same city in the same league?

Hint: #1  He missed out on the chance for a twenty-win season one year by being ejected from his last start.

Hint: #2  He earned one of the first official saves in baseball history.

A.  DAVE WICKERSHAM   [Wiki Bio]

-  Ans.  KCA & KCR are, of course, both AL teams.  Wickersham pitched in 11 G for PIT in 1968.

-  #1  Pitching for DET vs. NYY on 01-Oct-1964(1), he was ejected by 1^st base umpire Bill Valentine.  Details.

-  #2  Earned KCR’s 1^st-ever save on 12-Apr-1969, pitching for KCR vs. NYY.  Only 5 other AL pitchers had earned saves before Wickersham's.

FCR -  Bill Deane, Cooperstown

Incorrect guesses:  Kent Tekulve, Pete Mikkelsen

 

 

 

WEEK’S THEME – Veterans who retired after playing the first season of a 1960s expansion franchise.  Their dawn/his sunset.

 

Veteran        Expanding Team                   Record              Career WAR

 

Ashburn............1962   New York Mets............... 40-120............................. 64.3

 

Face.................1969   Montreal Expos.............. 52-110............................. 20.6

 

Garcia............. 1961   Washington Senators..... 61-100............................. 30.4

 

Goodman........ 1962   Houston Colt 45s............. 64-96............................. 27.2

 

Kluszewski...... 1961   Los Angeles Angels........ 70-91............................. 31.4

 

Pagliaroni........ 1969   Seattle Pilots.................. 64-98-1............................. 15.8

 

Podres............. 1969   San Diego Padres.......... 52-110............................. 29.8

 

Wickersham.... 1969 Kansas City Royals.......... 69-93............................. 7.5

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme – Ken Kirk, Corning, New York (After Face)

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Mon     -  Offensive HOFers with the fewest career home runs

 

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