MONDAY — 28-Jul-2025
Q. Which
Hall of Fame pitcher was the first to make two All-Star teams as starting
pitcher and two as a reliever?
Hint: #1
He is the first relief pitcher with at least forty saves in each of four
separate seasons.
Hint: #2
He twice had qualifying seasons where he had more saves than hits
allowed.
A. DENNIS ECKERSLEY [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Eck made the AL All-Star
team as a starter for BOS in 1977 & 1982 then as a reliever for
OAK in 1988, 1990, 1991 & 1992.
-
#1 He topped 40 saves in 1988 (45),
1990 (48), 1991 (43) & 1992 (51).
-
#2 In 1989 he had 33 saves and he
gave up only 32 hits all season. In 1990
his 48 saves easily exceeded the 41 hits that year.
FCR - Jaime Aron, Dallas
Incorrect guesses: John Smoltz, Mariano Rivera, Rich Gossage,
Lee Smith
IN MEMORIAM — 29-Jul-2025
Q. Whose
performance in one game in his MVP year was so outstanding that fans still
refer to that game by his name?
Hint: #1 His Most
Valuable Player Award, bestowed after that season, fell just two individual
single votes shy of being unanimous.
Hint: #2 He is the only second baseman to lead either
league outright in home runs in the last one hundred years.
Hint: #3 He won the Baseball
Digest “Player of the Year” award in the 1980s and again in the 1990s.
Hint: #4 His highest
assist total by a second baseman in one season was the best in over fifty
years.
Hint: #5 He was an All-Star
ten times, won nine Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers, was the league Player
of the Week seven times and received MVP votes six times.
Hint: #6 He was the
first second baseman to exceed thirty home runs in consecutive seasons.
Hint: #7 He was
named after a major leaguer, removing that player from the rolls of the
Double Unique.
A. RYNE SANDBERG [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. That afternoon contest at
Wrigley Field on 23-Jun-1984, has become famously
known as “The Sandberg
Game.” Video clip.
-
#1 The NL MVP voting
in 1984 was nearly unanimous for Sandberg—he received 22 of 24
first-place votes. The others went each to Tony Gwynn & Keith Hernandez.
-
#2 Sandberg’s 40 HR as a
second baseman in 1990 led the NL outright—no other second baseman has done so
in the past century.
- #3 Sandberg was Baseball Digest’s Player
of the Year in 1984 & 1990. Only
George Brett (1979, 1980) & Barry Bonds (1993, 2001, 2002) have also won
the award in 2 different decades. Joe
Morgan (1975, 1976) is the only 2nd baseman to win twice.
- #4 His 571 assists by a second baseman in 1983 (4th
most all-time) was the highest total since the Browns’ Oscar Melillo had
572 in 1930.
- #5 Full
account of honors and acknowledgements listed here.
- #6 He hit 30 HR in 1989 & 40 in 1990.
- #7 Sandberg was named after Ryne Duren, MLB pitcher
& notable Double Unique. Duren had been doubly unique for 9,837 days
before Sandberg debuted. That removed Duren
from D-U status by honoring him in name.
FCR - David
Chapin, Lebanon, New Hampshire
Incorrect guesses: Rogers Hornsby
TUESDAY — 29-Jul-2025
Q. Who
is the only pitcher since the Dead Ball Era to win thirty games in a season for
a National League team?
Hint: #1
He played high school baseball, even though he had dropped out of school
in the 4th grade.
Hint: #2
After winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award he was the
runner-up in each of the next two seasons.
A. DIZZY DEAN [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Dean’s record was 30-7
for WS champion STL in 1934.
-
#1 Quoth he, “I got as far in
school as the Second Reader, only I didn't learn it all.”
-
#2 MVP in 1934; 2nd on the
ballot in 1935 (to CHC’s Gabby
Hartnett) & 1936
(to NYG’s Carl Hubbell)
FCR - ¯Mark
Pattison, Washington, DC
Incorrect guesses: Carl Hubbell
WEDNESDAY — 30-Jul-2025
Q. Which
Hall of Famer replaced Casey Stengel as Dodgers manager?
Hint: #1
He (Not Stengel.) is the first pitcher to surrender a World Series home
run to another pitcher.
Hint: #2
In thirteen of his nineteen seasons pitching in the majors, he threw
more than two hundred innings, thrice leading the league, once leading the
majors in that statistical category.
A. BURLEIGH GRIMES [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Stengel managed BRO 1934-36. After pitching from 1916-1934, Grimes was the
Dodgers skipper 1937-38.
-
#1 In the 4th inning of G #5 of the 1920 WS (10-Oct-1920), CLE’s Jim Bagby hit a 3-run HR off
Grimes following an IBB to catcher Steve O’Neill. It was the first home run ever hit by a
pitcher in World Series play. Final
score: CLE 8, BRO 1.
-
#2 Grimes exceeded 200 IP 1918,
1920-1931, leading in 1923 (327), 1924 (310⅓) & 1928 (330⅔).
FCR - Robert Casey, Wadsworth, Ohio
Incorrect guesses: Zac Wheat
MIDWEEK BONUS — 30-Jul-2025
Q. Who
pitched for the Cubs, Red Sox and Angels franchises in seasons when each won a
World Series championship?
Hint: #1
He pitched for a fourth team that won its division twice, but didn’t
reach the World Series either time.
Hint: #2
He is the only pitcher to start a World Series game on his birthday in
his rookie season.
Hint: #3
He tied for fourth in Rookie-of-the-Year voting shortly thereafter.
A. JOHN LACKEY [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Pitched for WS champs ANA in 2002, BOS in 2013 & CHC in 2016.
-
#1 Pitched for STL in 2014 & in 2015.
-
#2 Lackey turned 24 on
23-Oct-2002. He started & threw 5
innings in a no-decision in a loss on G #4 of the WS vs. SFG.
-
#3 AL ROY was TOR’s Eric Hinske that year in 2002.
FCR - Mike
Clark, Cincinnati
Incorrect guesses: Troy Percival, Jon Lester, Juan Soto, Josh
Beckett
THURSDAY — 31-Jul-2025
Q. Which
one-time Cincinnati Reds player was the first National Leaguer to pitch in a
World Series in his first and last major league seasons?
Hint: #1
Pitching one season, he lost twenty-five games for his team, but the loss
leader that year lost even more.
Hint: #2
He was the starting and winning pitcher in the All-Star Game where Carl
Hubbell got his only All-Star save.
A. PAUL DERRINGER [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. As a rookie, Derringer was
fortunate to a member of a nascent powerhouse in St. Louis as the Cards played
in their 4th WS in 6 seasons.
In 1931, they beat PHA 4-3. His 15th & final season was 1945 when his Cubs lost to
the Tigers in the WS.
-
#1 MLB pitching loss leader in
1933 was Derringer himself, who had lost 2 additional games before he was
traded to the Reds. 25 L is the most by
any CIN pitcher in the Modern Era.
-
#2 Derringer was the winning
pitcher in the 1940 ASG.
FCR - Andrew
Milner, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Incorrect guesses: Tom Seaver, Eppa Rickey
FRIDAY — 01-Aug-2025
Q. Which
one-time All-Star played on multiple teams within the same state for two
different states?
Hint: #1
He has pitched for major league teams in three other states where he
could double up in any of them with one move.
Hint: #2
Among pitchers native to his country, he is the career statistical
leader in, among others, total seasons, pitching victories, innings pitched and
strikeouts.
A. JOSE QUINTANA [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Quintana, an All-Star w/CHW
in 2016, has pitched for
CHW (2012-17) & CHC (2017-2020) in Illinois
and pitched for
LAA (2021) & SFG (2021) in California.
He’s halfway there in Missouri, Pennsylvania
& New York…
- #1 He
has played for STL in Missouri
(but not KCR), for
NYM in New York
(but not NYY) & for
PIT in Pennsylvania
(but not PHI).
- #2 Quintana
now has 14 years as a major leaguer, has 109 W, 2,052.0 IP & 1,782 K, most
among all Columbian natives.
FCR - Ross
Retterer, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Incorrect guesses: Bartolo Colon, Dennis Martinez
SATURDAY — 02-Aug-2025
Q. Who played
for a team from Spain in the Little League World Series and then pitched in the
postseason for five major league teams?
Hint: #1
He set a single-season franchise record for saves record when he played
for Colorado.
Hint: #2
In his time with Colorado, he saw his fastball speed rise after he used
a now-banned substance.
A. DAVE VERES [Wiki
Bio]
-
Ans. He played in the 1978 Little
League World Series for a team based in Spain, representing Torrejón Air
Base, a U.S. Air Force installation 15 miles northeast of
Madrid. The base was active 1943–1945,
1947–1949, and 1954–1992. Veres was only
the 2nd future big leaguer to appear for a non-US team in a Little League WS, following Hector Torres by 20 years.
-
#1 His 31 saves in 1999 was also a career best. COL’s record 1s now 43, set by Wade Davis in
2003.
-
#2 In 1998, w/COL, Veres
reportedly used androstenedione, a substance now
banned, to enhance his physical strength.
He saw an increase in his fastball velocity, from below 90 mph to 92-93
mph.
-
#3 Veres broke in with the Astros
in May 1994, just 3 months before the season ended prematurely due to labor
strife.
FCR - Bruce
Duncan, Niceville, Florida
Incorrect guesses: Enrique Hernandez, Brian Fuentes, Daniel Bard
SUNDAY — 03-Aug-2025
Q. Who threw the first no-hitter for the
Brooklyn Dodgers?
Hint:
#1 In his major league debut, he pitched
hitless ball until the sixth inning.
Hint:
#2 He was the first twentieth-century pitcher
to surrender home runs to each of the first two batters in a game.
A. TEX CARLETON [SABR Bio]
- Ans. On
Tuesday, 30-Apr-1940, the 2nd game of his
final season, he no-hit CIN. Previous
players for the same franchise had thrown no-hitters, but this was the 1st
for the team called the “Brooklyn Dodgers”. Others occurred when they had been known as
the Superbas & the Robins.
- #1 On 17-Apr-1932, he also issued a career-high 9 walks in 8 innings
& lost the game, 4-1.
- #2 On 06-Aug-1937(1), Carleton, pitching
for CHC, started the game facing BSN’s Roy Johnson & Rabbit Warstler, owners of 57 & 10 career HR. They both trotted across home plate before
the 1st out was recorded. Carleton
was pulled before the end of the 2nd inning, but CHC prevailed 12-6. For both batters, it was their penultimate
round-tripper.
FCR - Terry Walters, Wabasha, Minnesota
Incorrect
guesses: Tom Lovett, Mal Eason
WEEK’S
FINALE — 03-Aug-2025
Q. Which one-time Diamondbacks pitcher led the
league in losses and home runs surrendered for a Cardinals team that won the
World Series the same year?
Hint:
#1 He had won the National League’s
Silver Slugger Award for pitchers the previous season.
Hint:
#2 He was the ace of the pitching staff
for Israel in the World Baseball Classic.
- Ans. Had
a rough year while in 2006, leading the majors in ER surrendered (136)
pitching for the Cardinals who went on to defeat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series that October.
- #1 He
was awarded the Silver Slugger bat for 2005, only the 2nd Cardinal hurler
ever to win it. Starting 32 games that
year as a pitcher, Marquis came to the plate 91 X and had 27 hits, 8 doubles,
one triple & one home run, scoring 10 times & hitting .310, slugging .460
& putting up an OPS of .
- #2 He
pitched for Israel in the 2017 WBC. His
grandparents were Holocaust survivors and he was raised in a conservative
Jewish household in Staten Island, New York.
FCR - Michael Landman, Wilmington ,Delaware
Incorrect
guesses: Dan Haren, Edwin Jackson, Jeff
Suppan, Rick Ankiel
WEEK’S THEME
– Men who played in the postseason for both the Cubs and Cards
Pitcher Cubs Cards
Eckersley........................ 1985-1986.......................... 1996-1997
Grimes............................ 1932-1933................ 1930-1931, 1933
Dean............................... 1938-1941................ 1930, 1932-1937
Lackey............................ 2016-2017.......................... 2014-2015
Derringer........................ 1931-1933.......................... 1943-1945
Quintana......................... 2017-2020.................................. 2022
Veres................................... 2003............................... 2000-2002
Marquis.......................... 2007-2008.......................... 2004-2006
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme –
Incorrect
theme guesses:
Mon - Most
consecutive innings without allowing a hit by a pitcher
Tues - Pitchers
in the Hall of Fame with lowest career wins
Wed - Hall of Fame pitchers who played for both the Cardinals and Cubs
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