Monday, June 30, 2025

2025-06-23 Active career leaders in grounding into double plays (150+)

MONDAY  — 23-Jun-2025

Q.  Who hit the only walk-off grand slam in World Series history?

Hint: #1  His first major league home run was off a pitcher who is now in the Hall of Fame.

Hint: #2  He signed a letter of intent to play for the local college team.  He knew they had won the national championship when he was fifteen years old, just a few years prior.

A.  FREDDY FREEMAN  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Freeman ended Game #1 of the 2024 WS vs, NYY with a 10th inning grand slam.

-  #1  His MLB HR #1 was on 21-Sep-2010 & came at the expense of Phillies’ ace, Roy Halladay in Halladay’s 1st year in the NL.

-  #2  Cal State Fullerton, NCAA champs in 2004, was his intended destination, but he changed course when ATL drafted him in the 2nd round in 2007, just 2 picks behind Mike (A/K/A Giancarlo) Stanton.

FCR -  Lee Dembart, Hollywood, California

Incorrect guesses:  Billy Mazeroski

 

 

TUESDAY  — 24-Jun-2025

Q.  Whose listed height was later corrected from what it showed in his rookie season?

Hint: #1  He led his league in hits four straight seasons, twice topping the majors.

Hint: #2  His accolades include, among others, Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsperson of the Year”, the Babe Ruth Award, the Lou Gehrig Award, the Hank Aaron Award, was nine-times an MLB All-Star, seven times a Silver Slugger and an American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player.

A.  JOSE ALTUVE [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Altuve’s height was shown as 5'7" when he came up to the NL Astros in 2011.  At a more accurate 5'6", he has been the shortest player in the majors for his entire career.  [Longtime Horsehide Trivia reader, Barry Nelson, a fire fighter in Guilderland, New York, had the opportunity to meet Altuve in person.  Barry reports, “Jose Altuve spent a season playing for the Astros minor league team very close to me, the Tri-City Valley Cats.  Several times the team had my fire department as special guests at games, and I got to meet, greet and eat with the players.  I am 5'7" and towered over him by 2 -3 inches.”]

-  #1  In the only 4 seasons where his hit total made it to 200, in 2014 thru 2017, he hit 225, 200, 216 & 204 hits.

-  #2   View all his professional plaudits at B-R & Wikipedia.

FCR -  Andrew Jett, Waxahachie, Texas

Incorrect guesses:  David Ortiz, Kirby Puckett, Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter, Mookie Betts

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 25-Jun-2025

Q.  Whose record for the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast Era did the Pirates’ Oneil Cruz break last month?

Hint: #1  A two-time Hank Aaron Award winner, he was the Most Valuable Player for a league he no longer competes in.

Hint: #2  He represented his home country in the World Baseball Classic in 2013 and 2017.

A.  GIANCARLO STANTON  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  On 09-Aug-2021, NYY’s Stanton hit into a double play at a blistering 122.2 MPH, tying the speed of one hit he had in 2017. But, on 25-May-2025, Cruz hit a HR at 122.9 MPH.  [Notice how many times Stanton appears on this list.]

-  #1  Stanton won the Hank Aaron Award in 2014 & 2017. He was the NL MVP in 2017 by the thinnest of margins over the Reds’ Joey Votto.

-  #2  He was on Team USA in 2017, having been born in Panorama City, California, only a few miles from the Games’ venues.

FCR -  Randall Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee

Incorrect guesses:  Shohei Ohtani

 

 

THURSDAY — 26-Jun-2025

Q.  Who is the only native of the state of Delaware to reach one hundred career home runs?

Hint: #1  His first major league hit came off a pitcher who had thrown a perfect game. The next night, he belted his first career home run off a two-time Cy Young Award winner.

Hint: #2  He was Au… you know.  His uniform really ought to be 79.

A.  PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Goldschmidt hit his most recent home run, his 370th career blast, on 19-Jun-2025.

-  #1  The H was off Matt Cain on 01-Aug-2011.  The HR was off Tim Lincecum on 02-Aug-2011.

-  #2  Chemical symbol for gold is Au.  Goldschmidt is called “Goldie” by many of his fans.  The chemical number for Au is 79.

FCR -  Jim Cochran, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Incorrect guesses:  Dave May, Kevin Mench

 

 

 

FRIDAY— 27-Jun-2025

Q.  Who holds the record for the most home runs hit in a San Diego Padres uniform?

Hint: #1  In his first full year in the majors, he led the majors in at-bats and produced an offensive explosion that threatened to break the all-time records for doubles in a season.

Hint: #2  He is the youngest player in MLB history to achieve a multi-home-run game in his first two career games.

A.  MANNY MACHADO [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  When Machado hit the 164th of his career w/SDP, he passed Nate Colbert, for the Padres’ career franchise lead.

-  #1  Machado hit 39 doubles for BAL before the ASG in July 2013.  Soi-disant prognosticators were certain he’d hit that many after the break, but he only hit 12 in the second “half’.  His 51 was impressive (tied for 2nd in BAL franchise history), just not what everyone had hoped & certainly nowhere near the 67 that Earl Webb hit for the Red Sox in 1931.  Manny had 667 AB in 2013.

-  #2  In his second-ever MLB G w/BAL on 10-Aug-2012, Machado went deep twice.  He was 20 years, 35 days old.

FCR -  Anthony Nicolo, Norfolk, Virginia

Incorrect guesses:  Dave Winfield, Tony Gwynn, Nate Colbert

 

 

SATURDAY   26-Jun-2025

Q.  Who won a Gold Glove for each of the first ten seasons he was in the majors?

Hint: #1  This was not his most impressive defensive accomplishment, nor highest honor.

Hint: #2  He has three times won his league’s home run title.

A.  NOLAN ARENADO [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Arenado was a rookie in 2013.  He was the NL GG at 3B each year 2013-2022.

-  #1  The Platinum Glove Award was a joint creation among SABR, MLB, Rawlings & fans.  It honors the (one) top defensive player in each league.  Arenado was the Platinum Glove recipient every season from 2017 to 2022.

-  #2  In 2015, 2016 & 2018 Arenado hit 42, 41, 38 HR respectively.

FCR -  Jake Bell, Baltimore

Incorrect guesses:  Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench

 

 

IN MEMORIAM — 28-Jun-2025

Q.  Which slugger earned the nickname “Cobra”?

Hint: #1  Who won an MVP award despite playing with a broken jaw.

Hint: #2  He was in the top five of MVP voting five different times.

Hint: #3  In one of those votes he was first, the first time in twelve years a player from his team had won the award.

Hint: #4  He won the first modern major league All-Star Home Run Derby.

Hint: #5  He had two consecutive-game hitting streaks of at least twenty games twice in one season.

Hint: #6  He was a three-time Silver Slugger and three-time Gold Glove winner, achieving the envied combination of MVP and Gold Glove in the same season.

Hint: #7  He won a World Series championship with a franchise in each league.

Hint: #8  He passed away today.

A.  DAVE PARKER  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  His hits were so powerful that they reminded teammates, fans & the media of a vicious snake strike as though from a Cobra, sometimes written as “The Cobra”.

-  #1  In 1978, Parker collided with Mets catcher John Stearns on 30-Jun & was left with the a broken jaw & cheekbone.  He wasn’t replaced during the play because his out ended the game.  While healing, he returned to action wearing some famously unconventional protective headgear.

-  #2  Parker finished 3rd, 3rd, 1st, 2nd & 5th in 1975, 1977, 1978, 1985 & 1986 respectively.

-  #3  Parker had all the first-place votes except 3 going to dark horse candidate, PHI’s SS Larry Bowa.  The 1966 NL MVP was Roberto Clemente.

-  #4  The Home Run Derby, as we know it today, in association with the All-Star game, for the first time in 1985.  Parker took first place.

-  #5  In 1977, Parker had hitting streaks of 20+ games 2 X in 1977.

-  #6  Parker’s Silver Slugger seasons were 1985, 1986 & 1990.  He was a Gold Glove winner 1977, 1978 & 1979.

-  #7  He was w/PIT in 1979, leading the team with a 6.7 WAR.  He was w/OAK in 1989 when they swept SFG in the “Earthquake Series”.

-  #8  Parker died today at age 73 after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease.

FCR -  Waker Arnold, Jay, Vermont

 

 

WEEKEND BONUS  — 27-Jun-2025

Q.  Who is the only player ever to score on Madison Bumgarner in a World Series game?

Hint: #1  He holds the record for most home runs in a season by a catcher.

Hint: #2  He led the majors that year too, but was forty points away from a triple crown.

A.  SALVADOR PEREZ  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Homered in Inning #7 of Game #1 in the 2014 WS:  21-Oct-2014.  Without that HR,  Bumgarner would have even more impressive WS ERA of 0.00 plus a new record once held by Babe Ruth then Whitey Ford of consecutive, scoreless WS innings—36!

-  #1  Salvi led MLB in HR in 2021 with 48 HR.  To be precise, he hit 14 of those in games where he was the DH and not catcher.

-  #2  Perez’ RBI production in 2021 was a robust 121 while batting .279.  The AL batting leader that year was HOU’s Yuri Gurriel who hit .319.

FCR -  Jim Casey, Savannah

 

 

WEEKEND EXTRA — 28-Jun-2025

Q.  Which freckle-faced former Tiger won a batting title in each league?

Hint: #1  His consistent play earned him the nickname “LeMachine”.

Hint: #2  In his first year in the American League, he had a streak of six games in a row with multiple hits, hitting .880 during that route.

A.  DJ LeMAHIEU [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  He hit .348 for COL in 2016.  He hit .364 for NYY in 2020 & led the league WAR (3.0) the same year.  Inly LeMahieu has done this in the Modern Era.   LeMahieu played for the LSU Tigers in college.

-  #1  His versatility on defense and hitting ability earned LeMahieu the nickname "LeMachine" from Yankee teammate Gary Sanchez. 

-  #2  Between 23 & 30-Jun-2019, LeMahieu had games with 3, 4, 2, 2, 4 & 3 hits, going 22 for 25 over that span.

FCR - Mischa Gelman, Pittsburgh

Incorrect guesses:  Harvey Kuenn, Rusty Staub, Miguel Cabrera

 

 

SUNDAY — 29-Jun-2025

Q.  Who made headlines when he opted out of playing  for the Red Sox and is now doing well with his National  League team on the West Coast?

Hint: #1  His twin brother who played in the Cubs’ minor league system, could have bounced him from the rolls of the Double Unique had he made it to the majors.

Hint: #2  A five-time Silver Slugger winner, he was on his country’s national team when they won the Baseball World Cup.

A.  XANDER BOGAERTS  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Bogaerts broke some hearts in Red Sox Nation when he decided to become a free agent after the 2022 season.  He signed with SDP and is central to their current success.  Check out Double Uniques.

-  #1  Brother Jair Bogaerts became a professional sports agent.

-  #2  Xander played for the Netherlands in 2011 when that team was the champion of the Baseball World Cup.  He was a Silver Slugger winner in 2025, 2016, 2019, 2021 & 2022.

FCR -  Gregory Koch, Falls Church, Virginia (before the re-send)

Incorrect guesses:  Alex Bregman, Rafael Devers, Mookie Betts, Derek Jeter, Nick Pivetta

 

 

WEEK’S FINALE  — 29-Jun-2025

Q.  Who led the league in bases on balls during the baseball’s Covid-shortened season after having led the majors in the same category a few years before?

Hint: #1  He won his first Gold Glove at age thirty-eight, after fifteen years in the majors.

Hint: #2  He has returned to the team where he first became an All-Star.

A.  CARLOS SANTANA  [B-R Bio]

-  Ans.  Santana had 47 BB w/CLE in 2020, had 113 in 2014.

-  #1  Santana had begun playing first base

-  #2  Santana played for CLE 2010-2017 & again 2019-2020.  After time with 5 other MLB teams, he is again this season with CLE, but no longer behind the plate. When he starts in the field now, it’s at first base & he can occasionally be seen DH’ing.  His last game at catcher was 25 May, 2014.  His only time on an All-Star team was 2019 when he started at first base for CLE/AL.

FCR -  James Higgins, Bethesda, Maryland

Incorrect guesses:  Andrew McCutchen, Bryce Harper

 


WEEK’S THEME – Active career leaders in grounding into double plays (150+)

 

Player                  GIDP         Team          Yrs                      WAR

Altuve................... 202........... HOU........... 15..................... 52.7

Arenado............... 198........... STL............ 13..................... 57.8

Bogaerts............... 156........... BOS........... 13..................... 40.9

Freeman............... 166........... LAD............ 16..................... 62.7

Goldschmidt......... 170........... STL............ 15..................... 64.2

LeMahieu............. 188........... NYY............ 15..................... 30.6

Machado.............. 217........... SDP............ 14..................... 60.5

Perez.................... 190........... KCR........... 14..................... 34.3

Santana................. 187........... CLE............ 16..................... 39.1

Stanton................. 154........... NYY............ 16..................... 45.0

 

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme – [The null set]

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Mon     -  Players who finished 2nd to teammates in Rookie-of-the-Year voting

 

Wed     -  Most career extra-base hits by an active player

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