Sunday, March 17, 2024

2024-03-11 American League Dead Ball ERA season leaders under 1.50

MONDAY  — 11-Mar

Q.  Which Modern Era righty is the only pitcher to hit more than two hundred batters in his career on a major league mound?

Hint: #1  He had thirty-eight pitching victories where the final score was one to zero.

Hint: #2  Of his twelve season strikeout crowns, eight were in consecutive seasons.

A.  WALTER JOHNSON   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Johnson is the owner of 205 HBP.  Eddie Plank & Randy Johnson are tied for 2nd at 190.

-  #1  He also lost 27 G by a score of 1-0.

-  #2  Won the AL K crown 1912-1919.

FCR -  Matt Dicker, Chicago

Incorrect guesses:  Don Drysdale, Lefty Grove, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Bob Gibson, Bob Feller, Pedro Martinez

 

 

TUESDAY  — 12-Mar

Q.  Who is the most recent pitcher to rack up forty wins in a single season?

Hint: #1  His career earned run average would have won a season ERA crown one hundred eight times since the beginning of the Expansion Era.

Hint: #2  He is the only American Leaguer to pitch two complete-game victories in one day and then repeat that performance three years later.

A.  ED WALSH   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Walsh won 40 G playing for CHW in 1908.  Hard to imagine what the team’s 88-64-4 record that year might have been without him.  Only 1 other P won 40+ in the Modern Era—Jack Chesbro won 41 in 1904 for NYY.

-  #1  Walsh’s ERA of 1.84 is the best all-time.

-  #2  In the G on 26-Sep-1905(1), Walsh came in to relieve Doc White after White had surrendered a hit  and pitched 9 complete innings.  Next G, same place, same teams 26-Sep-2905(2), Walsh started and pitched the whole G.  On 29-Sep-1908(1) & 29-Sep-1908(2), he started and finished both games.

FCR -  Steve Berman, Bergenfield, New Jersey

Incorrect guesses:  Jack Chesbro, Hoss Radbourne

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 13-Mar

Q.  Which Hall of Famer pitcher is the only one ever to throw a perfect game against a team whose starter won forty or more games that season?

Hint: #1  Statistics show his WHIP to be the best of all-time.

Hint: #2  He was a sports writer in the off-season.

Hint: #3  His Double-Unique status remains intact still, more than one hundred twenty years later.

A.  ADDIE JOSS   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  On 02-Oct-1908, in his penultimate start of a watershed season, Joss kept Ed Walsh from celebrating his 40th W of the year by throwing a perfect game against the White Sox.  It was a G emblematic of the Deadball Era, lasting just 1:40 as 2 of the finest moundsmen of any era faced off against each other.  Joss threw a total of 74 pitches.

-  #1  WHIP (Walks+ Hits/Innings Pitched) is naturally better when it’s low & now pitcher’s career number is lower than Joss’s 0.968.

-  #2  Off the field, Joss worked as a newspaper sportswriter in Cleveland from 1906 until his death.

-  #3  No other “Addie”; no other “Joss” ever in the majors, measured since his debut in1902.

FCR -  Andy McCue, Riverside, California

Incorrect guesses:  Cy Young, Urban Shocker, Nolan Ryan

 

 

THURSDAY  — 14-Mar

Q.  Which lantern-jawed pitcher’s record for strikeouts in an American League season did Nolan Ryan break in 1973?

Hint: #1  He (not Ryan) was the first pitcher to lead his league in strikeouts for six consecutive seasons.

Hint: #2  He threw the first Immaculate Inning ever recorded in the American Leagued.  It was also the first in the Modern Era.

A.  RUBE WADDELL   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Waddell’s record of 349 K in 1904 was the major league record until broken by Sandy Koufax’ 382 in 1965.  It wasn’t until Ryan’s eye-popping 383 in 1973 that Waddell’s record fell.

-  #1  Wadell led the AL in K in 1902, pitching for PHA, w/210.  He then led the majors for the next five straight years w/302, 349, 287, 196, 232.

-  #2  On 01-Jul-902 in the 3rd inning, Waddell fanned Billy Gilbert, Harry Howell & Jim Cronin of the Baltimore Orioles.  He threw only 9 pitches, all strikes, 3 apiece.

FCR -  Lincoln Mitchell, New York City

Incorrect guesses:  Christy Matthewson, Bob Feller, Sam McDowell, Walter Johnson, Amos Rusie, Lefty Grove, Eddie Plank

 

 

FRIDAY — 15-Mar

Q.  Who was the ace of their pitching staff when the Boston Red Sox won the first World Series of the four they would win that decade?

Hint: #1  He also won the first, fourth, eighth and final game of that World Series.

Hint: #2  His son later played for the Red Sox.

A.  SMOKY JOE WOOD   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Wood had a pitching record of 34-5 in 1912.  No BOS pitcher has ever won more in 1 season.  Cy Young is 2nd (33), 3rd (32), 4th (28) & 5th (26) on that list.  BOS won the WS in 1912, 1915, 1916 & 1918.

-  #1  In a best-of-9 WS, Wood quieted the bats of NYG in G 1, 4 & 8.

-  #2  His son, Joe Wood, had a brief 3-G career w/BOS during WWII.

FCR -  Julian Keifetz, New York City

Incorrect guesses:  Dutch Leonard, Bill Dineen, Curt Schilling, Herb Pennock

 

 

SATURDAY — 16-Mar

Q.  Which former major league pitcher owned extensive California vineyards?

Hint: #1  He became a hero to Japanese Americans.

Hint: #2  His pitching records are well-documented, but he collected records outside of baseball too.

A.  DUTCH LEONARD   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Raised in Fresno, California, Leonard returned there after his playing days & ran a profitable enterprise for many years.  Fellow Fresno HS alum Tom Seaver was also a successful vintner.

-  #1  His humane approach to previously interned Japanese American during and after WWII is a story worth reading.

-  #2  Leonard collected vinyl records too, amassing as many as 150,000 at his home in Fresno.  For his baseball records, it's hard to beat his all-time best ERA in 1914 of 0.96 (Not a typo.)

*Perfect game

FCR -  Steve Riach, Southlake, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Hideo Nomo, Tom Seaver, Lefty O’Doul, Joe Blanton

 

SUNDAY  — 17-Mar

Q.  Which young hurler had an unmatched start to his major league career, when, in the first ten starts of at least seven innings, he surrendered two runs or fewer?

Hint: #1 He is a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

Hint: #2  He is the last one qualifying for this week’s theme.

A.  HARRY KRAUSE   [Wiki Bio]

-  Ans.  Krause’s 1909 for PHA feat has not been matched since then, but CIN’s Johnny Cueto in 2014 started the year with 9 such starts , putting Krause’s name prominent in the news for the first time in a century.

-  #1  Krause won a total of 249 games in the PCL over 16 seasons.

-  #2  See below.

FCR -  Steve Riach, Southlake, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Fernando Venezuela, Steven Strasburg, Lefty Gomez, Von McDaniel, Mike Mussina, Vean Gregg

 

 

WEEK’S THEME – AL Dead Ball ERA season leaders under 1.50

 

Waddell.......... 1905............ 1.48.............. PHA............... 58.4

Joss............... 1908............ 1.16.............. CLE............... 45.3

Krause........... 1909............ 1.39.............. PHA................. 8.7

Walsh............. 1910............ 1.27.............. CHW............... 65.9

Johnson........ 1912............ 1.39.............. WSH............. 165.1

Johnson........ 1913............ 1.14.............. WSH............. 165.1

Leonard......... 1914............ 0.96.............. BOS............... 37.0

Wood............. 1915............ 1.49.............. BOS............... 40.1

Johnson........ 1918............ 1.27.............. WSH............. 165.1

Johnson........ 1919............ 1.49.............. WSH............. 165.1

 

First Correct Respondent identifying themeKen Kirk, Corning, New York (after Wood)

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Tues    -  Pitchers with the most games won by the score of 1-0

            -  Pitchers on Strat-o-Matic’s original American League Hall of Fame A team

            -  Pitchers whose career batting averages (times 10) were higher than their ERA's

            -  Pitchers with more than 10 shutouts in a season

 

 

Thur     -  Hall of fame pitchers with the lowest career ERA

-   Lowest career ERA for a pitcher, modern era

-   Pitchers with highest career percentage of Starts that were Shutouts

 

Fri        -  Career franchise leaders in ERA for original American League teams

-   Deadball Era pitchers with sub 2 ERAs

 

If you know someone who would enjoy receiving daily Horsehide Trivia questions, they need only drop an email message to horsehidetrivi@aol.com.

 

This site has this week’s quiz compete with incorrect guesses as well.  Scroll back and you’ll find quizzes that were sent out as early as 2010.  Qualification exam will be waived.

 

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