MONDAY — 26-May-2025
Q. Which member of the Venezuelan
baseball Hall of Fame is also on the Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame?
Hint: #1 Only he and Barry Bonds have
career 1,400 bases-on-balls, 900 extra-base hits and 400 stolen bases.
Hint: #2 He joined a team at such
an age that the General Manager who signed him used to be his back-up on the
same team.
- Ans. Abreu made the PHI wall in 2019
& the VBHOF in 2021.
- #1 Abreu has 1,476 BB, 921 XBH & 400
SB. Bonds’s corresponding totals are 2,558,
1,440 & 514.
- #2 In 1998 on PHI, they were both outfielders, Abreu
being the starter, Ruben Amaro Jr. his backup six times in right field.
FCR - Andrew Jett, Waxahachie,
Texas
Incorrect guesses: Gary Sheffield,
Manny Trillo
TUESDAY — 27-May-2025
Q. Which outfielder prevented a
hit by throwing out the runner at first base thereby preserving the no-hitter
his teammate was pitching?
Hint: #1 The year he led the
majors in batting average, he only finished ninth in league Most Valuable
Player voting—behind two teammates!
Hint: #2 His nickname reflected
his outfield prowess.
Hint: #3 After his playing career,
he helped install the elevators in the north and the south towers of The World
Trade Center.
A.
CARL FURILLO [SABR Bio]
- Ans. On 27-Aug-1951(1), Ralph Branca had held the Pirates
hitless at Ebbets Field when, in the 3rd inning, Ralph Branca’s
no-hitter seemed broken by a one-hop shot to RF by P Mel Queen, but Carl
Furillo gunned him out at first by 2 feet.
Branca lost the no-no in the 9th, but won a full-game
shutout.
- #1 In 1953, teammate Roy Campanella was again voted
NL MVP; fellow outfielder Duke Snider finished 3rd. Brooklyn P Carl Erskine finished along side Furillo
at 9th.
- #2 During his career, he recorded 151 outfield
assists with a high of 24 in 1951 & 9 seasons with 10 or more assists each.
He was known as the “Reading Rifle” for
his hometown & rifle-like throwing arm. [Roger Kahn in “The Boys of
Summer” writes that fans came to Ebbets Field early to watch Carl Furillo
warm-up: “Others came out, thousands of others, long before the formal
competition started, to watch the warm-up throws. You could hear gasps at Ebbets Field and
sometimes, an hour before game time, bursts of applause.”]
- #3 Furillo worked for the Otis Elevator Company
who had won the contract.
FCR - John Burbridge, Seven
Valleys, Pennsylvania
Incorrect guesses: Jacoby Ellsbury,
George Shuba, Dave Parker, Roberto Clemente
WEDNESDAY — 28-May-2025
Q. Who played for the Giants in
two cities but became the first Gold Glove winner at first base for two other
National League teams?
Hint: #1 He was named to six major
league All-Star teams in just three years.
Hint: #2 He became the president
of the National League after his playing days.
A.
BILL WHITE [SABR Bio]
- Ans. White played w/NYG & SFG 1956 & ’58. He was the NL 1st base GG winner for
STL 1960-65 then for PHI in 1966.
- #1 White was an NL AS in 19591, 19592, 19601 , 19602, 19611 & 19612
during MLB’s brief 2-All-Star
Games-per-year era.
- #2 In 1989, White was unanimously elected to
succeed Bart Giamatti as president of the National League, becoming the first
Black executive to hold such a high position in professional sports. He served until 1994.
FCR - Barry Lipinski, Somerset,
New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Monte Irvin, Willie
Mays
THURSDAY — 29-May-2025
Q. Which Yankee holds the record
for the smallest home run total to lead the American League in a full season
since the end of the Dead Ball Era?
Hint: #1 That same year, he led
the league in walks, both intentional and otherwise.
Hint: #2 The year before, he had a
streak of seventeen straight games when he didn’t hit a single single. He had hits—just no singles—for more than two
weeks.
Hint: #3 As was the practice at
the time, he left his glove on the field while his team was on offense. One day in a minor league game, a candy wrapper
flew into his glove—an event noted by the media.
A.
NICK ETTEN [reddit Bio]
- Ans. Etten hit 22 HR in 1944 in 154 games.
- #1 He led the AL w/97 BB & 18
IBB in 1945.
- #2 In 1943, from 30-Jul to 15-Aug(2), Etten had 14 hits—9 doubles & 5
HR in 66 AB.
- #3 “Etten's glove fields better without Etten,” quipped
Sportswriter Dan Taylor, quoting Etten teammate Joe Trimble, who saw it happen.
FCR - Terry Sloope, Cartersville,
Georgia
Incorrect guesses: Bob Meusel, Gleyber
Torres, Wally Pipp, Babe Ruth, Graig Nettles
FRIDAY — 30-May-2025
Q. Who is the oldest player in
major league history to hit twenty home runs before the All-Star break?
Hint: #1 He was the first player
in his team’s history to hit safely six times in one game.
Hint: #2 He once homered and stole
home in the same game.
Hint: #3 A Sports Illustrated poll
voted him the second nicest major league player—after Jim Thome.
A.
RAUL IBANEZ [B-R Bio]
- Ans. In 2013, during his third stint with the
Mariners, Ibanez his 20th HR on 02-Jul, two full
weeks before that year’s All-Star Game in New York City. He had turned 41 the previous month, making
him the oldest player to hit 20 HR before the break. (He even hit 4 more before the break.)
- #1 On 22-Sep-2004, Ibanez
had 6 singles for SEA as they dominated LAA 16-6.
- #2 HR + SB/H = 12-Sep-2005. [Aren’t those the 2 hardest ways to score a
run?]
- #3 SI polled 290 major leaguers in 2017
for these results.
FCR - Mark DeLodovico, Rockville,
Maryland
Incorrect guesses: Lou Gehrig,
Wally Moses, Mel Ott, Darrell Evans
SATURDAY — 31-May-2025
Q. Which talented prospect drew
such large bonus offers to sign that major league baseball decided to institute
a draft?
Hint: #1 Ironically, he was soon
to be drafted.
Hint: #2 In 2015, he was elected
to the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
A.
RICK REICHARDT [Wiki Bio]
- Ans. Reichardt was the subject of a fierce bidding
war, eventually signed by the Angels and scout Nick Kamzic on 24-Jun-1964 for a
then-record $200,000. He debuted in the
majors just over two months later, on 01-Sep-1964. The following year, MLB instituted its first
amateur draft to prevent such costly free-for-alls.
- #1 Despite being one of college baseball’s top
hitters, Reichardt was also drafted by the NFL’s Baltimore Colts after starring
at fullback for
Wisconsin. He is said to have led the
Badgers to the Rose Bowl in 1962.
- #2 He was the first baseball player in Big Ten
history to win the conference batting title in consecutive years: .429 in 1963 & .443 in 1964.
FCR - Victor Piacentile, Yorktown
Heights New York
Incorrect guesses: JD Drew, Dick
Wakefield, Rick Monday, Paul Petit
SUNDAY — 01-Jun-2025
Q. Who was Bobby Shantz’s personal
catcher during Shantz’s Most Valuable Player season?
Hint: #1 He (not Shantz) was a
three-sport athlete at a Division 1 university.
Hint: #2 He played his first major
league game without the benefit of any minor league experience because so many
scouts saw him play in the military.
A.
JOE ASTROTH [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Astroth helped his battery mate lead the
majors in WAR (9.4) in 1952 & win the AL MVP in spite
of doing it for the lackluster (79-75-1) Philadelphia A’s. In 32 of the 33 Shantz starts & 23 of 24
of his pitching wins, it was Astroth behind the plate.
- #1 At the University
of Illinois, Astroth was a three-sport athlete, playing
baseball, football & basketball for the Fighting Illini.
- #2 Astroth joined the U.S. Coast Guard during
WWII, but was able to play enough baseball to impress not only his coach, Babe
Young, but A’s scout Tom Fleming & Hall of Famer George Sisler,
representing the Dodgers.
FCR - Harvey Hurwitz, Huntington
Woods, Michigan
Incorrect guesses: Joe Tipton, Vic
Janowicz, Gene Oliver, Clint Courtney, Billy Shantz
WEEK’S FINALE — 01-Jun-2025
Q.
Which one-time Baltimore Oriole is the last person to qualify for this
week’s theme?
Hint: #1 He holds the record for most RBI in one
inning.
Hint: #2 He was born in the most fecund of all baseball
cities.
A. FERNANDO TATIS [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. Tati played for BAL in
2006. Couldn’t ask this on Monday, could
we? Might’ve spoiled the week, eh?
-
#1 He drove in 8 RBI for STL in Dodger
Stadium on 23-Apr-1999
in the 3rd inning by hitting two grand slams, both off pitcher Chan
Ho Park—a unique accomplishment in baseball history.
-
#2 Tatis was born in San Pedro de
Macoris, Dominican Republic, population recently estimated at 218,0003, but has
produced 111 players who have made major league rosters. A baseball cradle unlike any other.
FCR -
Mark DeLodovico
Incorrect guesses: Jim Bottomley
WEEK’S THEME – Batters who came to the plate with a
chance to hit their second GS of the inning with the actual result of that AB.
Batter Game Date / Inning Wha’ happen?
Abreu........ PHI at CHC........ 24-Jul-2003/6th........... Sac fly to center
Astroth...... PHA vs WSN...... 23-Sep-1950/6th*........ Hit a two-run single
Etten.......... NYY vs CLE....... 02-May-1946/4th......... Lined to short, double play
Furillo........ BRO at CIN........ 08-Jun-1952(2)/8th....... Struck out
Furillo........ BRO at CIN........ 14-May-1955/7th......... Flied out to center
Ibanez....... SEA vs MIN........ 04-Aug-2008/7th**...... Single, man on 1st out at home
Reichardt.. LAL at CLE......... 23-Aug-1967/4th......... Flied out to center
Tatis.......... STL at LAD......... 23-Apr-1999/3rd.......... Second grand slam
White......... STL vs LAD........ 09-May-1963/5th......... Struck out
*First career HR; only HR of
that season
**The very next day,
he added 5 RBI to the 6 he had the GS day
Darryl Hamilton in
1990 and Ken Griffey Jr hit grand slams in their 2nd bases-loaded at
bat of the inning. Hamilton had hit a
run-scoring groundout the first AB; the Kid had hit an RBI fielder's choice
groundout.
First Correct Respondent identifying
theme – Randall Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee (After Furillo!)
Incorrect theme guesses:
Mon - Players with 900 extra base hits and 400 stolen bases
Wed - All Star players on World Series winners who are not in the Hall of
Fame (and just missed by a few votes.)
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