Sunday, March 31, 2024

2024-03-25 The 9 batters whose lone hit defined each of Nolan Ryan’s American League one hitters

MONDAY  — 25-Mar

Q.  Who is the first former Little League player to be elected to the Hall of Fame?

Hint: #1  He was the tenth baseball player to win the prestigious Hickok Belt.

Hint: #2  He hit ten or more home runs in every full season of his twenty-three year career.

A.  CARL YASTRZEMSKI   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  20 others have made it since, but Yaz was the first—a Hall of Famer on the first vote in 1989.  Yaz was the 10th baseball player to win, but it had been won 10 times before he did.  Sandy Koufax won twice.

-  #1  The Hickok Belt is award annually to an outstanding professional athlete.

-  #2  From 1961 through 1983, Yaz racked up 452 HR, only once with a season of HR in single digits, his first one, when hit 7 in 91 G.

FCR – Fred Worth, Arkadelphia, Arkansas

Incorrect guesses:  Stan Musial, Rusty Staub, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Cal Ripken,

 

 

TUESDAY  — 26-Mar

Q.  Who was the first American League catcher to win the Rookie of the Year Award?

Hint: #1  He was the third catcher in his franchise to be voted Most Valuable Player.

Hint: #2  He was a handball champion in college.

A.  THURMAN MUNSON   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  AL ROY in 1970.  The 1968 NL ROY winner, Johnny Bench, was the only C who did it prior.

-  #1  NYY MVP C = Yogi Berra (1951, 54, 55); Elston Howard (1963); Munson (1976).

-  #2  He won several handball titles while attending Kent State University.

FCR -  George Alfano, Redlands, California

Incorrect guesses:  Bill Freehan, Elston Howard, Carlton

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 27Mar

Q.  Which former Baltimore Oriole was the first Hall of Famer to play in two perfect games?

Hint: #1  He didn’t win his first Silver Slugger Award until he was thirty-four years old.

Hint: #2  He attended college on a football scholarship.

A.  REGGIE JACKSON   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  When OAK teammate Catfish Hunter threw a perfect G on 08-May-1968, Jackson played RF.  In 1984, playing for CAL on the last day of the season, Jackson DH’ed while teammate Mike Witt throw a perfecto at TEX.  Jackson played for BAL in 1976.

-  #1  Won SS in 1980 & 1982.

-  #2  His football coach at ASU relented & allowed Jackson to play baseball as well.

FCR -  Barry Lipinski, Somerset, New Jersey

Incorrect guesses:  Doug DeCinces, Jim Thome, Don Baylor, Eddie Murray, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, Nick Markakis

 

 

MIDWEEK BONUS — 27-Mar

Q.  Which one-time Baltimore Oriole won every American League stolen base title in the 1980s except those won by Rickey Henderson?

Hint: #1  He was on teams that won championships in the state of Oregon in multiple sports.

Hint: #2  He attended the same university as Tony Gwynn and Steven Strasburg.

Hint: #3  He is a winner of the Roberto Clemente Award.

A.  HAROLD REYNOLDS   [Wiki Bio]

-  Ans.  Reynolds led the AL in SB w/60 in 1987.  Henderson won all the rest.

-  #1  He starred in football & basketball as well as baseball at Corvallis High School.  He was a member of the state championship (AAA) football team in 1978, graduated in 1979, and was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.  He was also a member of the Corvallis' American Legion Baseball team that won state & regional titles in 1978.

-  #2  Reynolds went to San Diego State University.

-  #3  The Clemente Award is perhaps the most prestigious in baseball.

FCR -  Michael Schneider, Wilmington, Delaware

Incorrect guesses:  Al Bumby, Brady Anderson, Willie Wilson, Tim Raines

 

 

THURSDAY  — 28-Mar

Q.  Who is the only player to win a batting title in the majors as a California Angel?

Hint: #1  He didn’t win by much.

Hint: #2  Thanksgiving dinner at his house included an All-Pro running back.

A.  ALEX JOHNSON   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Johnson hit .329, his career best, in 1970.

-  #1  His .32899 was just a skosh ahead of Carl Yastrzemski’s .32862.

-  #2  Ron Johnson, his brother, younger by 5 years, was an All-American football halfback for Michigan & All-Pro for the New York Giants, the first Giants player to rack up 1,000 rushing yards in one season.

FCR -  Michael Schneider, Wilmington, Delaware

Incorrect guesses:  Mike Trout, Rod Carew, Lyman Bostock, Brian Downing

 

 

FRIDAY — 29-Mar

Q.  Which one-time Baltimore Oriole was the first post-expansion player to hit thirty home runs in each of his first two seasons?

Hint: #1  He was a regular golfing partner of Billy Pierce.

Hint: #2  His neck was broken in the first professional game he ever played.

A.  RON KITTLE   [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Kittle hit 35 in 1983 & 32 in 1984.  Played for BAL in 1990.

-  #1  Pierce and his wife socialized with many ex-White Sox players.  Kittle was among the most frequent guests.

-  #2  In Kittle’s own words, “I made it out of spring training and went to the Midwest League with the Clinton Dodgers.  In my first official game and my first at bat, I hit a double.  I scored on a single by Mike Scioscia.  As I was sliding across home plate, a late and high throw came in.  The catcher jumped to catch the ball and landed on me.  What I would later learn, he broke my neck.

FCR -  Steve Berman, Bergenfield, New Jersey

Incorrect guesses:  Leon Wagner, Jim Gentile, Eddie Mathews, Frank Robinson

 

SATURDAY — 30-Mar

Q.  Which  BBTR catcher played for six different major league franchises between 1969 and 1980?

Hint: #1  He was the first major leaguer to attend the university that has since produced an additional thirty major leaguers plus more than one hundred sixty players who have played baseball at the professional level.

Hint: #2  Not that he would brag about it now, but he went to work for Boeing after his playing days.

A.  BOB STINSON   [Wiki Bio]

-  Ans.  Stinson caught for LAD, STL, HOU, MON, KCR & SEA.

-  #1  Miami Dade College has also produced 21 All-American baseball players since 1971.

-  #2  He also played on the Boeing team & volunteers coaching baseball teams of several leagues in the greater Seattle area.

FCR -  John Salvino, Denver

Incorrect guesses:  Ted Simmons, Ray Fosse, Ron Karkovice, Alan Ashby

 

 

WEEKEND EXTRA — 30-Mar

Q.  Who is the only player in the Expansion Era to hit two bases-loaded, bases-clearing triples in one game?

Hint: #1  He has a particular fondness for a certain Cy Young Award winner and fellow broadcaster.

Hint: #2  He is half of one of the most respected baseball announcer teams in the game.

A.  DUANE KUIPER   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  In the 1st & 5th innings of the G on 27-Jul-1978(2), Kuiper cleared the bases with triples as CLE beat NYY 17-5 in Yankee Stadium.

-  #1  In a 1-0 count, on 29-Aug-1977, Kuiper hit the only home run of his 12-year & 3,379-AB major league career off Cy-Young-Award-winner-to-be Steve Stone.

-  #2  Paired with former Giants’ pitcher, Mike Krukow, they make the SFG TV broadcasts come alive.  [They were both part of the Giants’ team that lost 100 games in a season, the only such season in that franchise’s 130 years of operation.]

FCR -  Susan Nelson, Moscow, Tennessee

Incorrect guesses:  Rick Dempsey, Randy Hundley, Bob Uecker, Tim McCarver

 

SUNDAY  — 31-Mar

Q.  Who spoiled no-hitters in the ninth inning twice in a calendar week?

Hint: #1  In his ten-year career in the majors, he played for six teams and played alongside nine men who are now in the Hall of Fame.

Hint: #2  He played exactly one game for the Dragons, going oh-for-four.

A.  NELSON LIRIANO   [Wiki Bio]

-  Ans.  On 23-Apr-1989 as  the 1st batter in the 9th inning, Liriano tripled off TEX’s Nolan Ryan for TOR’s only H of the G.  Then 5 days later, Liriano hit a double as the 1st batter of the 9th inning, again TOR’s only H, this time victimizing CAL’s Kirk McKaskill.

-  #1  Hall of Famers on the same team as Liriano:  Fred McGriff, Phil Niekro, Kirby Pucket, George Brett, Jim Leyland, Eddie Murray, Mike Piazza, Todd Helton & Larry Walker not to mention Jim Thome in the minors

-  #2  Liriano, in 1999, played in a single G for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

FCR -  Jim Casey, Savannah

Incorrect guesses:  Jim Qualls, Horace Clarke, Cesar Tovar

 

WEEK’S THEME – The 9 batters whose lone hit defined each of Nolan Ryan’s American League onehitters.  He had three more in the NL, tying Bob Feller’s MLB mark.

 

Yastrzemski................ 09-Jul-1972.............. (1st inning, 1 out single)............................................ 96.5

Jackson....................... 13-Jul-1979.............. (9th inning, 1 out single)............................................ 74.0

Munson....................... 29-Aug-1973............. (1st inning, 1 out single)............................................ 46.1

Reynolds..................... 03-Jun-1989............. (1st inning, 0 out single)............................................ 15.9

Johnson...................... 27-Jun-1974............. (1st inning, 2 out single)............................................ 10.0

Kittle............................ 26-Apr-1990............. (2nd inning, 0 out single)............................................. 4.7

Stinson........................ 15-Apr-1977............. (5th inning, 1 out single)............................................. 4.3

Kuiper......................... 05-May-1978............ (6th inning, 0 out single)............................................. 4.0

Liriano......................... 23-Apr-1989............. (9th inning, 1 out triple)............................................. 3.0

 

First Correct Respondent identifying themeSteve Berman, Bergenfield, New Jersey (After Kittle)

 

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Tues    -  Red Sox players whose names begin with C

 

Thur     -  They all played in 1978 American League East tie breaker game

-   MLB all stars who also starred in football in college

 

Fri        -  On-time category winners

 

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This site has this week’s quiz compete with incorrect guesses as well.  Scroll back and you’ll find has this week’s quiz complete with incorrect guesses as well.  Scroll back and you’ll find Horsehide Trivia quizzes posted back to 2010. Quizzes before that may also be available upon request.

 

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