MONDAY — 08-Dec
Q. Who was the first
Cleveland Indian to have a thirty-home-run/one-hundred-RBI season before the
age of twenty-three?
Hint: #1 He was the
first American League rookie to have a year with at least one hundred forty
runs batted in.
Hint: #2 He was the
first player to steal home in the sixteenth inning.
A. HAL TROSKY [SABR Bio]
- Ans. In 1934, at age 21, Trosky’s 1st
full (Rookie) season, he hit 35 HR and had 142 RBI. Two years later he would top both those
totals. [1936 42 HR, 162
RBI)
- #1 In 1934, Rookie Trosky had 142 RBI for CLE.
- #2 On 11-May-1944, Trosky, in only his 18th
G back from 2 seasons off with debilitating migraine headaches, stole home in the 16th
to help secure victory his visiting team (CHW).
FCR - Andrew Milner,
Philadelphia
Incorrect guesses: Al
Rosen, Manny Ramirez, Lou Boudreau, Rocky Colavito, Earl Averill, Joe Ramirez,
Larry Doby, Rudy York, Joe Charboneau
TUESDAY — 09-Dec
Q. Who came the
closest to Don Mattingly’s record of most grand slams in a single season?
Hint: #1 He does not
dislike his portmanteau sobriquet.
Hint: #2 He had a
candy bar named after him during his most successful season.
A. TRAVIS HAFNER [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Hafner TIED Mattingly’s 1987
record when he hit six (6!) grand slams in 2006. Counterintuitively, Hafner’s WAR that year
did not quite get into MLB’s Top Ten.
- #1 Nickname “Pronk” explained by Hafner himself.
- #2 The candy bar “Pronk” was sold in the
Cleveland area in 2006. Produced by
Cleveland confectioner Malley’s in 2006, the bar
consists of milk chocolate with crisped rice.
FCR - Obrey Brown,
Tallassee
Incorrect guesses: Reggie
Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Richie Sexson
WEDNESDAY — 10-Jan
Q. Whose record for
career home runs hit by a National League player did Rogers Hornsby break?
Hint: #1 He was the first
Major Leaguer player to hit fifteen home runs in a calendar month.
Hint: #2 He came off
the bench to fill in for a player who had just been ejected for the only time
in the seventeen years of that Hall of Fame player’s career.
A. CY WILLIAMS [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Through 1929, the year of his last 1,
Williams had hit 251 HR. In that same
season, Hornsby hit his 252nd on 29-Jun-1929. There were a couple of crossover weeks,
perhaps reminding one of the career strikeout record by pitchers, contested and
shared briefly with Steve Carlton before Nolan Ryan left everybody in the Alvin,
Texas dust.
- #1 Williams hit 15 HR in May 1923. Babe Ruth broke that record when he hit 17 in
September of 1927.
- #2 On 24-Jul-1930,Chuck
Klein was ousted by home plate umpire
Lou Jorda. Klein was ejected by Jorda
along with Thompson, Hurst, & manager Shotton for arguing that Klein had
been interfered with on strike 3. Williams
would only play in 9 more G before his career was over.
FCR - John
Haeussler, Hancock MI
Incorrect guesses: George
Kelly, Gavvy Cravath, Buck Freeman, Rogers Hornsby
MIDWEEK BONUS — 10-Jan
Q. Who
trails only Jeff Bagwell for the best slugging percentage in one season by a
Houston Astros batter?
Hint: #1
He also trails only Lance Berkman for best season producing extra-base
hits for the Houston franchise.
Hint: #2
He was the first Astro to hit a grand slam on Opening Day.
Hint: #3
He was the last player to be hit by a pitch three times in one game in
the twentieth century.
A. RICHARD HIDALGO [Wiki Bio]
-
Ans. In 2000, Hidalgo slugged at
a .636 rate. Excellent, but far from Bagwell’s
.750 in 1994.
-
#1 In his tremendous year 2000,
Hidalgo had 89 XBH. That was the Houston
Astros franchise record for one season & it only held for 1 season as Lance
Berkman had 94 in 2001.
- #2 On 04-Apr-2000,
Hidalgo homered off PIT’s Jason Schmidt in the 6th inning with 3
teammates on base.
- #3 On 19-Apr-2000, LAD’s
Orel Hershiser didn’t have his usual control.
Hidalgo was hit by a pitch 2 X from Hershiser & 1 X by Matt
Herges. Hershiser also plunked Jeff
Bagwell 1 X & P Shane Reynolds 1 X.
FCR - Lee
Dembart, Hollywood, California
Incorrect guesses: Craig Biggio, Cesar Cedeno, Jim Wynn, Glenn
Davis, Kevin Bass, Bob Watson,. Ken Caminiti, Ken Williams
THURSDAY — 11-Jan
Q. Which
Cincinnati player regularly earned the nickname his teammates gave him as “The
best dressed Red”?
Hint: #1
He’s the first outfielder to throw out two baserunners in an inning.
Hint: #2
He was once un-selected by the Commissioner. (De-selected?)
A. WALLY POST [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Post’s well-justified
reputation as long-ball home run hitter was cemented as some of the balls he
hit reached the very top of the Superior Towel and Linen Service building which formed the backdrop beyond left field in
Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. Most fans referred to the building as “The
Laundry”. A huge advertising sign
crowned the top of the building. Siebler Suits rented the right side of the
sign, declaring, “Hit this sign – win a suit.” Wally Post became
the best-dressed ballplayer in Cincinnati as he hit the sign 11 or 16 times
depending on who's doing the counting. In its 20 years of existence, the sign
was struck over 150 times.
-
#1 In the 1st inning on
28-Jun-1959,
Post threw out Orlando Cepeda & Leon Wagner at Seals Stadium in San
Francisco.
-
#2 When Commissioner Ford Frick
found out why so many Cincinnati Redlegs players had voted to start the 1957 All-Star game,
he declared foul play and removed some of
the players in favor of more obvious selections. As a result, Post was out. Hank Aaron was in. More details here. For Post, it was the closest he ever came to
being named an All-Star over his entire 15-year career.
FCR - Mark
DeLodovico, Rockville, Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Dave Parker, Edd Roush, Gus Bell, Bobby
Tolan, Pete Rose
FRIDAY — 12-Jan
Q. Who was
the first American League player to hit a walk-off grand slam for his third
home run of that game?
Hint: #1
All he realized at the time was that it was his first grand slam, his
first three0home run game and his first walk-off hit.
Hint: #2
He did not play as well in the Mexican League as he had in the majors.
Hint: #3
He had a warm spot in his heart for Justin Verlander.
A. KHRIS DAVIS [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. On 17-May-2016, Khris
Davis had as good a day in as anyone could ever want in baseball. Read the details here. The only other players with a days like that with days like
that were fellow ALer Manny Machado (18-Aug-2017) & National Leaguer Joey Votto (13-May-2012).
-
#1 Davis had played in 357 MLB G,
had come to the plate more than 1,000 times & had already hit 68 HR. Yet, on that day, he accomplished 3 big
firsts.
-
#2 His stat slash line in the
Mexican League 12 games was .119/.213/.167 with 2 RBI. He was released by the Diablos Rojo del Mexico on 18-May-2022 bringing an end to his career as a
professional player.
- #3 Only 5 other players have hit more HR off
Verlander than Davis’ 4.
FCR - Steve
Riach, Southlake, Texas
Incorrect guesses: Joey Votto, Nomar Garciapara, Roy Sievers,
Pablo Sandoval, Mickey Cochrane
SATURDAY — 13-Jan
Q. Which
former Cavalier struck out more times in a single season than anybody else in
major league history?
Hint: #1
That same season, he also posted a career high WAR and received his only
MVP votes.
Hint: #2
He has the second lowest career WAR of any qualifier in this week’s
theme.
A. MARK REYNOLDS [Wiki Bio]
-
Ans. In 2009, his 3rd
year in MLB, Reynolds struck out a record-setting 223 X. He’s an alum of the University of Virginia.
-
#1 His WAR in 2009 was 3.3. He also posted his bests in his 13-year
career: HR (44); RBI (102); doubles (30);
hits (150); stolen bases (24); slugging (.543); OPS (.892); OPS+ (127)
& total bases (314).
Unfortunately, all this production on earned him 6.0 paltry MVP votes or
20th
place along those receiving votes.
-
#2 Reynolds’ career WAR = 6.8.
FCR - Obrey
Brown, Tallassee
Incorrect guesses: Rob Deer, Ryan Zimmerman
SUNDAY — 14-Jan
Q. Which
Silicon Valley product and one-time Yankee lumbered along in Oakland with a
3-year combined batting average of .214 then burst out with his new team to
lead the majors with 212 strikeouts?
Hint: #1
In August of that same year, he was named Player of the Week.
Hint: #2
He later led the league in home runs and strikeouts in the same season.
-
Ans. He was traded to HOU before
the 2013 season. Other players were included
in the trade. Carter was born in Redwood
City, California & played for NYY in 2017, his final season in the majors.
-
#1 Carter was the Player of the
Week for the AL for the week ending 17-Aug-2014, his team’s only batter thus
honored that entire season
-
#2 In his one season with MIL , 2015, Carter led the
NL, tied with COL’s Nolan Arenado, with 41 HR. His 206 Ks led the NL all by themselves. The 41 home runs Carter hit is the
single-season record for a player who played just 1 year for either a team or a
league.
FCR - Steve Riach, Southlake, Texas
Incorrect guesses: Dave Kingman, Khris Davis
WEEK’S THEME – Players
who had a 40 HR season but have never in their careers been selected as an MLB
All-Star. Suggested by Scott Brandon.
Player Season HRs Pre-ASG HRs Career
WAR
Carter........................ 2016................. 41......................... 22................................... 2.6
Davis......................... 2016................. 42......................... 19................................... 10.8
Davis......................... 2017................. 43......................... 24
Davis......................... 2018................. 48......................... 21
Hafner........................ 2006................. 42......................... 25................................... 24.8
Hidalgo...................... 2000................. 44......................... 23................................... 19.2
Post........................... 1955................. 40......................... 19................................... 18.2
Reynolds................... 2009................. 44......................... 24................................... 6.8
Trosky....................... 1936................. 42......................... 20................................... 29.9
Williams.................... 1923................. 41........................... ~................................... 37.4
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Joe Cohen, Holden, Massachusetts I(After Hidalgo)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Mon - First
basemen who were part of 4 triple plays defensively
Tues - Cleveland Indians players who had 100 RBI
seasons before they were 22
Wed - Non-HOFers who are HR leaders for specific states
-
Players not in the Hall of Fame with more than 200 home runs more
than 700 RBIs and hitting over 270
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