MONDAY — 15-Jan
Q. Who was the first
post-designated hitter pitcher to hit a home run for the Royals?
Hint: #1 When he was
first called up to the Big Leagues, he asked his AAA manager if he could be
sent down instead to become a shortstop.
Hint: #2 Since pitch counts have been officially
tracked, he is one of only four pitchers to throw fewer than five pitches to
start a game and get a loss.
A. ZACK GREINKE [B-R Bio]
- Ans. Post-DH KCR P HR = 10-Jun-2005 5th inning.
- #1 His manager said, “No, this is the big leagues, It’s your dream! Greinke calmly replied, “Oh, ok.” More here.
- #2 Greinke started and threw just 4 pitches
while taking the L on 07-July-2012. The other three: Jamie McAndrew (4 pitches
28-Aug-1995), Tyson Ross (4 pitches 19-May-2011) and Pablo Lopez (ONE pitch 2-July-2021). Pitch counts have
been fully recorded since 1990.
FCR - Matt
Clairmont, New Minas, Nova Scotia
Incorrect guesses: Ken Brett, Steve Busby
TUESDAY — 16-Jan
Q. Which pitcher
holds the Dodgers’ record for the most career strikeouts?
Hint: #1 His career
WAR as a Dodger is the highest, pitcher or position player.
Hint: #2 For seven
straight seasons, he finished in the top five Cy Young Award vote getters.
A. CLAYTON KERSHAW [B-R Bio]
- Ans. Kershaw passed HOF Don Sutton for franchise
Ks thrown in a Dodger uniform in 2021 & remains the all-time leader with 2,944,
only a few starts away from the vaunted 3,000 K club.
- #1 Kershaw’s WAR is 79.9. Other WAR ranks, earned as a Dodger
(or as a Brooklyn Dodger, Brooklyn Robin, Brooklyn Superba, Brooklyn
Groom, Brooklyn [!] or Brooklyn Bridegroom) are Gil Hodges (48.2), Don Drysdale
(67.1), Dazzy Vance (59.2) or Zach Wheat (59.9)
- #2 Kershaw’s CYA vote placements 2011-2017 were 1st,
2nd, 1st, 1st, 3rd, 5th
& 2nd.
FCR - Evan Thompson,
Mesa
Incorrect guesses: Don
Sutton, Sandy Koufax, Orel Hershiser, Don Drysdale
WEDNESDAY — 17-Jan
Q. Which former two-time
Tiger had the highest major league salary in 2023?
Hint: #1 For seven
straight seasons, he finished in the top five Cy Young Award vote getters.
Hint: #2 His wife
once threw out the jersey he had worn while pitching a no-hitter.
A. MAX SCHERZER [B-R Bio]
- Ans. Scherer’s pay, between NYM & TEX was
$43,333,333.33, one third of his 3-year contract. His 2023 salary was a scant 33¢ more than former
teammate Justin Verlander, whose 2-year contract called for exactly
$43,333,333.00 in compensation for 2023. Scherzer had
pitched for the University of Missouri
Tigers &, from 2010 to 2014 for the Detroit
Tigers.
- #1 Scherzer’s CYA vote placements 2013-2019 were
1st, 5th, 5th, 1st, 1st, 2nd & 3rd.
- #2 The jersey looked like a dirty, ripped rag to her, but he rescued
it. It was what he wore when throwing
his 2nd no-hitter on 20-Jun-2015.
FCR - Ronn Tarter, Cary,
North Carolina
Incorrect guesses: Justin
Verlander, Shohei Ohtani
MIDWEEK BONUS — 17-Jan
Q. Who
has twice finished second in MVP voting when he might have tied Frank Robinson
as an MVP winner in each the National League and the American League?
Hint: #1
In both cases, he had the superior WAR.
Hint: #2
He provides the voice for Markus Bestie.
A. MOOKIE BETTS [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Betts was the runaway AL MVP
winner in 2018 when he helped BOS win
their 4th WS this century. Since
joining the NL Dodgers, he has twice finished 2nd in the MVP voting,
2020 & 2023 when, reality, it
turned out he had little chance at best.
-
#1 In 2020’s shortened season, Betts’s
WAR was 3.6 to Freeman’s 3.3. In
2023, his 8.3 edged Acuna’s 8.2.
-
#2 Betts is the voice of human cartoon
character Markus Bestie in the Disney animated children’s TV series Puppy Dog Pals.
FCR - Harry
Setrakian, The City
Incorrect guesses: Orlando Cepeda
THURSDAY — 18-Jan
Q. Which
pitcher joined a major league performance “club” so unique that it had contained
only one other major leaguer since Mickey Mantle’s first Triple Crown?
Hint: #1
He joined a different highly elite group a little more than a decade
later when he .was, for the second time, on a World-Series-winning squad.
Hint: #2
He was the first twenty-first century rookie to earn fifteen pitching
wins in his team's first one hundred twenty-five games.
A. JUSTIN VERLANDER [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. In 1956, when Mantle won his
1st AL MVP & only Triple Crown, the Dodgers’ Don Newcombe,
who had already been named the majors’ 1st pitcher to Rookie of the
Year, won the league MVP & became the 1st-ever
Cy Young Award winner, then the only person to win all 3. Verlander joined Newk in 2022 when, having
already been named ROY in 2006, was the AL’s CYA (unanimously) & MVP. 2 w/3.
-
#1 in 2022, Verlander became only
the 3rd MLB pitcher with multiple CYAs, World Series rings & no‑hitters,
joining Sandy Koufax & Tim Lincecum as the pitchers who had accomplished each
of the 3 feats at least twice.
-
#2 Verlander earned his 15th
W in the 2006 DET’s 125th G, 21-Aug-2006.
FCR - Obrey Brown, Tallassee
FRIDAY — 19-Jan
Q. Which
piscine seraph finished as runner-up in league MVP voting four times in a
seven-year stretch?
Hint: #1
He finished even closer an additional three other times.
Hint: #2
He was the twenty-fifth player drafted his year, but no player drafted
ahead of him has since played as many major league games.
A. MIKE TROUT [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. From years 2012 through
2018, Trout placed 2nd in AL MVP voting in 2012, 2013, 2015 & 2018.
- #1 He won the AL MVP in 2014, 2016 & 2019.
- #2 Trout’s 1,489 G since the 2019 Draft easily tops 2nd-highest
Randall Grichuk’s 1,141.
FCR - Terry
Sloope, Cartersville, Georgia
Incorrect guesses: Yogi Berra, Rod Carew, Miguel Cabrera
SATURDAY — 20-Jan
Q. Which
infielder, though a World Series veteran, is remembered more for a time when he
prevented a team from going into the postseason?
Hint: #1
In seems as though in an effort to bask in SoCal to match of his family’s
name with his school’s name, he ended up a Dirtbag.
Hint: #2
The same year he played for Team USA, he was the Player of the Year as a
Biscuit.
A. EVAN LONGORIA [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. In 2011 Longoria hit a HR that
tied then hit another that won the G that put TBR into the AL Division
Series, but also eliminated BOS from postseason (with help from
BAL who beat BOS that same day).
-
#1 Longoria Beach State in
California (Sorry—“Long” Beach State) baseball players are the Dirt Bags, not the current name/mascot for all other athletic teams
at the school, “The Beach”, a change
from “Fortyniners”, but that moniker was voted out of favor amid claims that
California’s 1849 Gold Rush hurt the area’s indigenous peoples.. The name Longoria can trace its roots to
the Basque region of Pyrenees Europe, some of France but mostly in
northeast Spain.
- #2 Longoria played for the Montgomery Biscuits in of the AA Southern
League in 2006 & in 2007, was honored as POY. He was added to Team USA during spring training of 2009.
FCR - John
Salvino, Denver
Incorrect guesses: Jason Kipnis, Joe Morgan, Bill Buckner, Chase
Utley, Aaron Boone, Fred Merkle, Dick Nen, Jason Kipnis
SUNDAY— 21-Jan
Q. Which
BLTR National League MVP first baseman played on the Canadian National Team?
Hint: #1
He spent his entire major and minor league career with one franchise.
Hint: #2
He is a huge fan of Ted Williams.
He even grew up with a poster of Williams on his bedroom wall.
Hint: #3
His minor league experience ran the table.
A. JOEY VOTTO [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. He’s a Toronto native, plays 1st base, bats L & throws R &
won the NL MVP in 2010. Votto represented
Canada at the 2009 & 2013 World Baseball Classics. He also won the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s athlete of
the year in 2010 & 2017.
-#1: All
21 of Votto’s MLB and MiLB seasons have been in the service of the Cincinnati
Reds. He did have 2 off-seasons with the
unaffiliated Leones del Escogido of the Dominican
Winter League.
- #2 Watch Votto’s interview with MLB TV’s Brian Kenny & hear how deeply Votto valued Williams’ revised version of his
seminal 1970 book The Science of Hitting.
- #3 Votto played in the minors on affiliated teams
in leagues labeled Rookie 2X, A, A+ 2X, AA & AAA.
FCR - Doug
Christy, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses: Todd Helton, John Olerud
SUNDAY SPECIAL
— 21-Jan
Q. Which BLTR National League MVP first baseman played
on the Canadian National Team?
Hint:
#1 He has led the National League in
doubles four times, three of those also leading the majors.
Hint:
#2 No slouch on defence (and defense), he
flashes some excellent leather at first base.
A. FREDDIE FREEMAN [B-R Bio]
- Ans. Both
of Freeman’s parents are Canadian and he has spent quite a lot of time in Canada
throughout his life. Many of his
relatives and much of his heritage is there.
One of his minor league stops was in Pearl, MS. He is one of the few people who has lived in Mississauga
and Mississippi. He played on the Canadian
National Baseball Team in 2017 & 2023.
- #1 His
23 2B in 2020; his 47 in 2022: & his 59
in 2023 were MLB bests. He also led the
NL in doubles with his 44 in 2018.
- #2 Gold Glove winner
in 2019, Freeman won twice the Wilson
Defensive Player of the Year Award.
FCR - Terry Sloope, Cartersville, Georgia
Incorrect
guesses: Joey Votto, Larry Walker
WEEK’S
FINALE
— 21-Jan
Q. Who is first in the first state in career WAR?
Hint: #1 He’s been an All-Star seven times, but he has
received MVP votes in nine different seasons, four times finishing in
the top five vote getters.
Hint: #2 Apparently, he didn’t project as well as he
has performed because he wasn’t drafted until the forty‑ninth round by the
Dodgers.
A. PAUL
GOLDSCHMIDT
[SABR Bio]
- Ans. Goldschmidt’s
robust 61.67 career WAR tops all other major leaguers born in Delaware, “The First State”. Delaware claims this title because its
delegates were the first to
ratify the new U.S. Constitution, signed in session on 17-Sep-1887. Ratification was concluded
later that year, with Delaware eagerly, chronologically, the first to do
so.
- #1 Was
an NL AS in 2013,
14,
15,
16,
17,
18
& 22. He earned NL MVP votes in 2013,
15,
16,
17,
18
& 22.
- #2 One
thousand four hundred & fifty-two (1,452) players
were drafted ahead of him in the MLB June Amateur Draft.
FCR - Rick Tharp, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Mike Piazza
WEEK’S THEME – MLB players, active
in 2023, with a career WAR of 55.0+ (Top 10)
Player Years Age WAR Honors
Betts........................... 10.......... 30......... 64.5........... 2
MVP, 7 AS, 2 WS, 6 GG, 6 SS,
Freeman.................... 14.......... 33......... 55.7.......... MVP,
7 AS, WS, GG
Goldschmidt............. 13.......... 35......... 61.7........... MVP, 7 AS, 4 GG
Greinke...................... 20.......... 39......... 77.5........... CYA,
6 AS, 6 GG, 2 SS
Kershaw..................... 16.......... 35......... 79.9........... MVP,
10 AS, WS, 3 CYA, TC, GG
Longoria..................... 16.......... 37......... 58.6........... ROY,
3 AS, 3 GG
Scherzer..................... 16.......... 38......... 75.0........... 3
CYA, 8 AS, 2 WS
Trout.......................... 13.......... 31......... 85.2........... ROY,
3 MVP, 11 AS, 9 SS
Verlander................... 18.......... 40......... 80.9........... ROY,
MVP, 9 AS, 2 WS, 3 CYA, TC
Votto.......................... 17.......... 39......... 64.4........... MVP,
6 AS, GG
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Warren Kent, Whitehall, Michigan
(after Betts)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
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