Monday, May 20, 2024

2024-05-13 Non-Hall of Famers who played in the majors in 4 different calendar decades and pitched at least once

MONDAY  — 13-May

Q.  Who is the only pitcher who has surrendered home runs to more different major leaguers than has Bartolo Colon?

Hint: #1  He won the Branch Rickey Award, Lou Gehrig Memorial Award and was named The Sporting News #1 Good Guy.

Hint: #2  He was released by six different teams and granted free agency another 7 times.

A.  JAMIE MOYER   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Colon was taken deep by 307 different major leaguers.  Moyer?  332 !

-  #1  [Multiple references]

-  #2  Ref.  BB-Ref.

FCR -  Michael Craig, Gilbert, Arizona

Incorrect guesses:  Hoyt Wilhelm, Mike Morgan, Carl Hubbell , Frank Tanana, Jim Kaat, George Brunet, Todd Stottlemyre, Bill Dickey

 

 

TUESDAY  — 14-May

Q.  Who kept Cal Ripken from joining a special “club” currently  occupied by only Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson?

Hint: #1  He is one of only seven people at his position to be named World Series Most Valuable Player.

Hint: #2  His seasons with the Yankees, Dodgers and Brewers were unremarkable, at best.

Hint: #3  His once thriving brew pub was no match for the Covid Pandemic.

A.  RICK DEMPSEY   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Only Brooks and Frank Robinson have been a.) MVP; b.) WS MVP; & c.) ASG MVP.  Cal Ripken has 2 of the 3, but Dempsey was WS MVP of the only WS Cal ever played in.  (In reality, Cal did not distinguish himself and a dozen other Orioles would have won it before he would have even been considered.)

-  #1  WS MVP catchers:

1972    OAK    Gerne Tenace

1976    CIN      Johnny Bench

1981    LAD     Steve Yeager

1982    STL     Darrell Porter

1983    BAL     Dempsey

1992    TOR    Pat Borders

2015    KCR    Salvador Perez

-  #2  Played for NYY 1973-76 OPS+ 89; For LAD 1988-90 OPS+ 95; For MIL 1991 OPS+ 60

-  #3  Located within the Camden Yards complex, Dempsey’s Brew Pub opened in 2012 & was a favorite pre- & post-game spot.

FCR -  Barry Gogel, Baltimore

Incorrect guesses:  Boog Powell

 

 

TUESDAY TWICE  — 14-May

Q.  Who is the only pitcher aside from Walter Johnson to win a season strikeout title for the Washington Senators?

Hint: #1  Four times in a row he led the majors in Games Started.  In four different seasons, he led his league in pitching losses.

Hint: #2  He is the only pitcher with a season of an ERA above 5.00 and a strikeout total above 225.

A.  BOBO NEWSOM   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  In a tie with BOS’s Tex Hughson, Newsom had 113 K.  Johnson led the  AL in K 12 X, including 8 in a row 1912-19.

-  #1  Newsom led the majors in GS in 1936 w/38; in 1937 w/37; in 1938 w/40; & in 1939 w/37.

He led the AL in losses in 1934 w/20; in 1935 w/18; in 1941 w/20; in 1945 w/20.

-  #2  In 1938 for the next-to-last place St. Louis Browns, Newsom struck out 226 & had an ERA of 5.08.

FCR -  Tal Smith, Montgomery, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Camilo Pascual, Pedro Ramos, Early Wynn, James McJames, Max Scherzer, Juan Pizarro, Joe Dobson, Wes Farrell

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 15-May

Q.  Who was the first left-handed pitcher to win two hundred career games without ever winning twenty games in a season?

Hint: #1  The year he led the majors in shutouts, he got the only Cy Young Award votes of his twenty-two year career.

Hint: #2  He was the only pitcher to play for all four 2005 LCS teams before 2005.

A.  JERRY REUSS   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  From 1969 to 1990, Reuss amassed 220 pitching wins.  His highest total for a single season was 18 which he accomplished in 1975, 1980 & 1982.

-  #1  In 1980, Reuss finished 2nd to Steve Carlton in the CYA voting.

-  #2  Reuss pitched for STL in 1969-71; HOU in 1972-73; CAL in 1987; & CHW in 1988-89.

FCR -  Dylan Meek, Collinsville, Illinois

Incorrect guesses:  Orel Hershiser, Jamie Moyer, Jim Kaat, ,Tom Glavine, Kenny Rogers, David Wells,

 

THURSDAY  — 16-May

Q.  Not regarding the National Association as a major league, which catcher’s record for most years in the majors did Nolan Ryan break?

Hint: #1  He (not Ryan, ironically enough) inserted a slab of round steak into his mitt whenever he had to catch a certain fastballer.

Hint: #2  He managed a team that was eliminated by the National League.

A.  DEACON McGUIRE   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  McGuire played in 26 major league seasons: 1884-1908, 1910& 1912.*  Nolan Ryan’s MLB career covered 27 seasons.

-  #1  McGuire caught Hank O’Day when they were both rookie teammates on the 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings.  McGuire later said, “He threw the heaviest and hardest ball I ever caught!”

-  #2  The 12-team NL decided it had spread itself too thin & in 1899 erased the franchises in Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville & McGuire’s Washington Senators.

*Horsehide Trivia regards the N.A. to be a major league and its records to be legitimate.  This would have made Cap Anson the longest tenured major leaguer at 27 years.

FCR -  Steve Riach, Southlake, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Wilbert Robinson, Jim O’Rourke, Muddy Ruel, King Kelly, Alan Ashby, Buck Ewing, Jeff Torborg, Connie Mack

 

 

THURSDAY TWICE — 16-May

Q.  Who was the manager of baseball’s most notorious team?

Hint: #1  He got his appellation from the Appalachians.

Hint: #2  His first manager was baseball’s first manager.

Hint: #3  He was well regarded everywhere he played and managed.

A.  KID GLEASON   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  In Gleason’s rookie season of management, he guided the 1919 Chicago White Sox to the AL pennant.  He was never suspected of being involved in the plot of some of his players to purposely lose the WS that they were favored win.

-  #1  Gleason had spent time in Pennsylvania’s coal mines and was still slight of build (5’7”, 150#) by the time he threw his 1st pitch in the majors at age 22.  Gleason’s father and brothers all were employed in the coal mines.  His brother Harry played in parts of 5 seasons in the majors.

-  #2  HOF  Harry Wright managed the 1888 Phillies where Gleason began his major league playing career.

-  #3  Among the five thousand who attended his funeral were managers John McGraw & Connie Mack in addition to Commissioner Landis.

FCR -  Barry Gogel, Baltimore

Incorrect guesses:  Miller Huggins, Casey Stengel, John McGraw, Al Spalding, Harry Wright, Gabby Hartnett.

 

 

FRIDAY — 17-May

Q.  Who pitched in more major league games than any other person?

Hint: #1  He was very generous at spreading the wealth around.

Hint: #2  He got rings from teams on each coast.

A.  JESSE OROSCO   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Orosco holds the career mark for pitching appearances at 1,252.

-  #1  He pitched for nine teams in his 24 MLB seasons.

-  #2  Orosco famously was the Mets pitcher on the mound at the end of  the 1986 WS.  He played an important part for the Dodgers in their WS winning campaign of 1988.

FCR -  Michael Schneider, Wilmington, Delaware

Incorrect guesses:  Dan Plesac, Cy Young

 

 

SATURDAY — 18-May

Q.  Who is both the oldest pitcher to start a World Series game and the oldest pitcher ever to finish a World Series game?

Hint: #1  The country he was born in is a different country today, notwithstanding the fact that his natal country still exists.

Hint: #2  He played the real-life role of when corny announcers say, ”Give that fan a contract!”  He signed his first professional contract when a manager saw him return a foul ball hit into the stands.

A.  JACK QUINN   [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Quin started G 4, of the 1929 WS at 45 years, 3 months, 7 days old.  The following year,  he came into G 3 of the 1930 WS at _(even older)_.

-  #1  Born in Stefuró, Hungary (modern-day Štefurov, Slovakia), Quinn emigrated to the U.S.as an infant with his parents Michael Pajkos & Maria Dzjiacsko in 1884.

-  #2  While watching a semi-pro game in Connellsville, the 14-year-old Quinn threw a foul ball back from the stands to the catcher, hitting his mitt right in the middle.  The visiting manager, from the nearby town of Dunbar, was impressed by the throw & offered Quinn a contract.

FCR -  Mary Hums, Louisville

Incorrect guesses:  Rex Barney, Satchel Paige

 

 

SUNDAY — 18-May

Q.  Who was the first first-round draft pick to make his major league debut for a his team the same year he was drafted?

Hint: #1  His leg was broken by a foul ball in a dugout in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

Hint: #2  He surrendered a record-tying, home run of considerable significance.

A.  MIKE MORGAN  [Wiki Bio]

-  Ans.  Morgan was drafted 4th overall in the 1978 draft and debuted in the majors 11-Jun-1978 w/OAK.

-  #1  Morgan did some coaching in the small central Utah town of Peasant Grove.

-  #2  Morgan surrendered Mark McGwire’s 61st HR of the season in 1998.

FCR -  Victor Piacentile, Yorktown Heights, New York

Incorrect guesses:  David Clyde, Jack Billingham, Ariel Prieto, Mike Adamson, Randy Johnson

 

 

SUNDAY  — 19-May

Q.  Whose last name could be intuited by listening to the music of R.E.M., Radiohead, The Cure, Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers and similar bands?

Hint: #1  He pitched for a team that won its World Series in only its sixth season of existence. 

Hint: #2  He handled thirteen fielding chances in one game

A.  NICK ALTROCK  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  These popular bands specialized in a genre referred to as “Alt Rock”.

-  #1  Altrock played for the 1906 CHW.  The team originated with the AL in 1901.

-  #2  On 06-Aug-1904, pitching for CHW, he handled the ball on defense 13 X.  He also went 9 innings & only gave up 1 R.

FCR -  Jim Williams, West Allis, Wisconsin

Incorrect guesses:  Hunter Cervenka , Pat Rapp, Livan Hernandez

 

WEEK’S THEME – Non-Hall of Famers who played in the majors in 4 different calendar decades and pitched at least once.

 

Player                   MLB career                WAR

Altrock................. 1898-1933...................... 9.1

Dempsey............... 1969-1992.................... 25.1

Gleason................ 1888-1912.................... 41.8

McGuire............... 1884-1912.................... 24.5

Morgan................ 1978-2002.................... 26.2

Moyer................... 1986-2012.................... 49.8

Newsom................ 1929-1963.................... 47.8

Orosco.................. 1979-2003.................... 23.2

Quinn................... 1909-1933.................... 58.7

Reuss.................... 1969-1990.................... 35.1

 

 

First Correct Respondent identifying themeChaunce Venuto, Tooele, Utah (after Morgan)

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Mon     -  Pitchers who gave up a lot of home runs

            -  Oldest players to have an RBI

 

Tue      -  World champions who played on more than 7 teams

-   Played in four decades

-   Players who played for the most teams over four decades

Wed     -  Players NOT in the HOF who played for four decades

-   Players NOT in the HOF who played for four decades since 1900

 

Fri        -  Pitchers and catchers who played 20+ years and had WARs under 60 played in both leagues and for 6 or more teams

 

Sun      -  Pitchers and catchers who played in four decades and are not in the Hall of Fame

-   Pitchers and catchers that played in four decades and are not in the Hall of Fame and had a WAR of under 40

-   4-decade non-HOFers who played for 7 or more teams

-   A's pitchers

-   20+ years in the majors with 6 or more teams

 

 

 

 

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