Monday, March 31, 2025

2025-03-24 Walked 6 X in 1 game in the Modern Era + Finished in the top 2 in MVP voting in the only season they ever received MVP votes

MONDAY  — 24-Mar-2025

Q.  Which Hall of Famer was the first to hit pinch-hit grand slams in both leagues?

Hint: #1  He led the majors in home runs in four seasons but led his league in strikeouts seven times.

Hint: #2  He has the fifth-highest WAR for any player born in the state of Maryland.

A.  JIMMIE FOXX  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Hit a GS for PHA in the 7th off DET’s Tommy Bridges on 21-Sep-1931 pinch-hitting for C Joe Palmisano.  Fourteen years later, hit a GS for PHI in the 8th off STL’s Ken Burkhart on 18-May-1945 pinch-hitting for P Andy Karl.

-  #1  Led MLB in HR 1932 (58); 1933 (48); 1935 (36); & 1939 (35).  Led AL in Ks in 1929 (70); 1930 (66); 1931 (84); 1933 (93); 1935 (99); 1936 (119); 1941 (103).

-  #2--- Babe Ruth---------- 162.2

--------- Lefty Gove---------- 113.2

--------- Cal Ripken----------- 95.9

--------- Al Kaline-------------- 92.7

--------- Foxx-------------------- 92.2

FCR -  Anderson Adams, Peachtree Corners, Georgia

Incorrect guesses:  Dick Allen, Willie McCovey, Jim Thome, Frank Robinson

 

 

TUESDAY  — 25-Mar-2025

Q.  Who was the first Houston (National League) player to score thirty runs in a calendar month?

Hint: #1  A Vietnamese native surrendered his four hundredth career home run.

Hint: #2  He received the Role Model of the Year Award from the county where he grew up.

A.  JEFF BAGWELL  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Scored 30 X in Jun-1994, before the labor troubles canceled the rest of the season.

-  #1  Hit his 400th HR on 20-Jul-2003 off Danny Graves who was born in Saigon.

-  #2  Received the Middlesex County, Connecticut RMYA for 1999.

FCR -  Brad Clark, Madison, Wisconsin

Incorrect guesses:  Bob Watson, Carlos Beltran, Jose Altuve, Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio, Adam Dunn

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 26-Mar-2025

Q.  Who is the most recent player to win a second National League MVP?

Hint: #1  He led all of junior college baseball in both homers and RBI at the age of seventeen.

Hint: #2  He was drafted first overall as a catcher.

A.  BRYCE HARPER  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Harper won NL MVPs in 2015 (Unanimous) & 2021.

-  #1  Harper got his GED after his sophomore year of HS so he could play J.C. baseball in 2010.  Going into the Junior College World Series, Harper was hitting .442/.524/.986 with 29 HR, 89 RBI, 88 R & 18 SB in 62 G.

-  #2  Picked #1 by WAS in 2010.  He wad scouted as a catcher but announced as a fielder.

FCR -  Gabe Kinstlinger, Reisterstown, Maryland

Incorrect guesses:  Dale Murphy, Albert Pujols

 

 

MIDWEEK BONUS  — 26-Mar-2025

Q.  Who was the last Cleveland Indians player to hit for the cycle in the twentieth century?

Hint: #1  He won the Roberto Clemente Award but then missed the entire next season.  Good fortune soon returned, however, when he eventually he won the Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Hint: #2  His hometown and his nickname have atmospheric implications.

A.  ANDRE THORNTON  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Cycle = 22-Apr-1978.  Travis Hafner, Rajai Davis & Jake Bauers have done it for CLE since 2001.

-  #1  A severe knee injury cost him all of 1980 & he only played 69 G in 1981.  In 1982, he had 32 HR, 116 RBI &109 BB, earning him The Sporting News “Comeback Player of the Year Award”.

-  #2   Thornton’s sobriquet was “Thunder” and he was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, home to the famous flying Tuskegee Airmen of World War II fame.

FCR -  Kanya Honoki, Nara, Japan

Incorrect guesses:  Tony Horton, Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Jim Thome, Mark Teixeira

 

 

THURSDAY  — 27-Mar-2025

Q.  Who set a record when he hit home runs from both sides of the plate in one game, four times in one season?

Hint: #1  Only he has switch-hit home runs in a game three times in a week.

Hint: #2  He had the names of his daughters tattooed on his chest.

A.  KEN CAMINITI  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Dates in 1996              Pitchers, (Hand), Inning

01-Aug-................ Terrell Wade (BLTL) 3rd & Brad Clontz (BRTR) 8th.

21-Aug-................ Ugueth Urbina (BRTR) 1st & Omar Dahl (BLTL) 7th.

28-08-................... Mark Clark (BRTR) 7th & John Franco (BLTL) 9th.

11-Sep-................ Francisco Cordova (BRTR) 5th & Matt Ruebel (BLTL) 7th.

The record of 4 was tied by new Blue Jay Anthony Santander when he was with BAL in 2002.

-  #1  Actually, thrice in a 4-day span:  16-, 17- & 19-Sep-1995.

-  #2  A 1999 Sports Illustrated article mentions, “His most prominent tattoo, on his chest, bears the names of his three daughters, on whom he dotes.”  No photo available

FCR -  Mark DeLodovico, Rockville, MD

Incorrect guesses:  Carlos Baerga, Chipper Jones, ,Ken Singleton, Eddie Murray, Jeff Bagwell, Carlos Beltran

 

 

FRIDAY  — 28-Mar-2025

Q.  Who is the only catcher to steal home in a World Series game?

Hint: #1  Two years later he led the majors in triples.

Hint: #2  As a broadcaster, he was repeatedly doused with ice water by Deion Sanders during the Braves' 1992 NLCS clubhouse celebration, to show Sanders' displeasure with the broadcaster's criticism of him during the playoffs.

A.  TIM McCARVER  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  WS SB = 1964 WS, G 7, 4th inning, in a double steal w/Mike Shannon who sent 1st to 2nd base.

-  #1  With 13 in 1966, McCarver led the majors in triples.

-  #2  Shown here.

FCR -  Waker Arnold, Jay, Vermont

Incorrect guesses:  Ted Simmons

 

 

SATURDAY  — 29-Mar-2025

Q.  Who, before Alfonso Soriano in 2000, was the last player to hit only home runs for each of his first three major league hits?

Hint: #1  An All-Star and Silver Slugger, he spent his entire twelve-year major league career with the same team.

Hint: #2  He broke his leg playing in Japan.

A.  MIKE GREENWELL  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Greenwell’s 1st 3 MLB hits were HR on 25-Sep-1985, 26-Sep-1985 & 01-Oct-1985, only the last one as a starter.

-  #1  From 1985 through 1996, Greenwell played only for BOS.  He wad an All-Star in 1988 & 1989.  He earned Silver Slugger status in 1988.

-  #2  In 1997, he signed with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s NPB—but his stint ended after a mere 7 G when he fractured his foot & returned stateside, saying he’d had enough.  He was replaced on their roster by Darnell Coles, playing the last professional baseball season of his career.

FCR -  Andrew Jett, Waxahachie, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  Tuffy Rhodes

 

 

SUNDAY  — 30-Mar-2025

Q.  Who tied a teammate for most games played the games played in the majors the same year that he finished second in Most Valuable Player voting behind a future teammate who himself went on to be a first-round Hall of Famer?

Hint: #1  This Angelino once played for the Angels.

Hint: #2  He once had his jaw broken during a game where the same pitcher had broken his teammate’s hand earlier in the same game!

A.  AL COWENS  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  In 1977, Cowens played 162 G, tied with Halk McRae, but also even w/NLers Garvey & Rose.  IN AL MVP voting, he received 217 votes to MIN’s Rod Carew’s 273.  Cowens and Carew played together on the Angels in 1980.

-  #1  Cowens played for CAL for 34 games in 1980.

-  #2  In the game on 08-May-1979 in Arlington, Texas, Rangers’ P Ed Farmer hit Cowens in the jaw during the , costing him to miss 19 games.  Farmer had broken KCR’s AS 2nd baseman Frank White’s wrist with the first pitch of the game.

FCR -  ¯\_()_/¯  [Too obscure?]

Incorrect guesses:  Eddie Murray 

 

 

 

WEEK’S THEME – Batters who walked six times in a game in the Modern Era.

 

Bagwell...................... 20-Aug-1999...................... 79.9

Foxx........................... 16-Jun-1938....................... 92.9

Harper........................ 08-May-2016...................... 50.9

Thornton..................... 02-May-1984...................... 24.2

Also qualified, but in a previous era.

Walt Wilmot................ 22-Aug-1891...................... 14.3

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme – Adam Foldes, New York City (after Bagwell!)

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Mon     -  First basemen who were MVP

 

Tues    -  HOF first basemen with most walks in a game

 

Wed     -  Players with double consonants in both first and last names

 

 

WEEK’S #2 THEME – Players who finished in the top two in MVP voting in the only season they ever received MVP votes

 

Player                Team                   Year                   Place                           WAR

Caminiti................ SDP.............. 1996..................... 1st....... 33.4

McCarver............. STL............... 1967..................... 2nd...... 28.3

Greenwell............. BOS.............. 1988..................... 2nd...... 25.8

Cowens................ KCR.............. 1977..................... 2nd...... 15.2

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme – Nobody even tried.


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