Sunday, March 15, 2026

20-26-03-09 Body part nicknames

MONDAY  — 09-Mar-2026

Q.  Who is the Lion from the Rock?

Hint: #1  As a manager, he won 500 games with three different teams in the same league.

Hint: #2  He once opined, “I never questioned the integrity of an umpire.  Their eyesight?  Yes.”

A.  LEO DUROCHER  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  [Translation in Latin then French of his name]

-  #1  Durocher was the Dodgers’ manager for 9 seasons from 1939-1948 (suspended in 1947), winning 738 games & 1 pennant (1941).  In 5 of those years, he was a player/manager.  He was the skipper for the Giants from 1948-1955, winning 637 games, 2 pennants (1951,1954) & 1 World Series (1954).  He ran the Cubs from the dugout for 7 years (1966-1972) & won 535 games.

-  #2  Click here for more gems from Mr. Durocher.

FCR -  John Burbridge, Timonium, Maryland

Incorrect guesses:  Dick Williams

 

 

TUESDAY  — 10-Mar-2025

Q.  Five major leaguers have hit home runs in each of four consecutive Opening Day games.  Who was the only one to do it for a team domiciled outside the United States?

Hint: #1  He was the first player in his franchise’s history to hit at least twenty home runs in each of four consecutive seasons.

Hint: #2  He is the only catcher to win the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game more than once.

A.  GARY CARTER  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Carter’s OD HRs =  09-Apr-1977,

07-Apr-1978,

06-Apr-1979 &

11-Apr-1980, all for the Montreal Expos.

The others with 4 consecutive opening-day HRs

          Yogi Berra (1955-58) for NYY,

          Todd Hundley (1994-1997) for NYM,

          Jack Hannahan (2008-2009, 2011-2012) for OAK & CLE [in the minors in 2010] &

          Tyler O'Neill (2020-2025) for STL, BOS & BAL, six (6!) straight years & counting.

-  #1  Playing for MON, Carter, in these same 4 seasons, hit 30, 20, 22 & 29 HR respectively.

-  #2  Carter was MVP of the mid-summer classic in 1981 & 1984.  The other multiple winners are Mays (1963, 68); Garvey (1974, 78); Ripken (1991, 2001) & Trout (2014, 15).

FCR -  Scott Byrne, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Incorrect guesses: 

 

 

WEDNESDAY  — 11-Mar-2025

Q.  Who hit more doubles on one season that any other National Leaguer?

Hint: #1  He was the first player to hit home runs in the All-Star game and World Series in the same season.

Hint: #2  He was Yogi Berra’s hero.

A.  JOE MEDWICK  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Medwick had 64 2B in 1936 in 677 plate appearances.

-  #1  In the 1st of his 10 All-Star appearances, 1934, Medwick homered in the 3rd inning off Lefty Gomez.  On 03-Oct, he homered in the 5th inning of the 1st game off Detroit’s General Crowder.

-  #2  When advised to lay off bad pitches, Berra replied, “Joe Medwick's still my hero.”  Yogi grew up in St. Louis in the heyday of the Cardinal’s Gas House Gang.

FCR -  George Curcio, DeLand, Florida

Incorrect guesses:  Stan, Musial, Bill Terry, Bill Dickey, Frank Crosetti, Earl Webb, Joe DiMaggio, Roy Campanella, Pepper Martin

 

 

MIDWEEK BONUS  11-Mar-2025

Q.  Which Hall of Fame player was the home plate umpire in a regular season game his team was playing?

Hint: #1  He is also in the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

Hint: #2  As a player, he once hit exactly nineteen triples in each of five consecutive seasons but never led the league in any of the five.  The leader was different in each of those seasons.

Hint: #3  Just the year before that streak began, he led his league in triples.  It’s the only black ink in his twenty-season major league career.

A.  JAKE BECKLEY  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  On Sunday, 06-Sep-1906(2), Beckley worked the plate in a seven-inning game between his Cardinals & CIN.  Additional recorded instances of Beckley umpiring are confusing & conflicting.

-  #1  Along with Roberto Clemente, Honus Wagner, Willie Stargell and others, Beckley entered the Pirates Hall of Fame with the inaugural class in 2022.  He entered the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2014 with Ken Griffey Jr & Dave Parker.

-  #2  19 3B = 1891-1895.  The league leaders in triples were:

1891–  Tom Brown 22 (AA) [Harry Stovey 20 (NL)]

1892    Ed Delahanty 21 (NL)

1893    Perry Werden 29 (NL)

1894    Henry Reitz 31 (NL)

1895    Kip Selbach 22 (NL)

For the 5-year period, however, no major leaguer totaled more than Beckley’s 95 triples.

-  #3  In 1890, Beckley led the Players League in triples w/22.

FCR -  Brian Barris, Oneida, New York

Incorrect guesses:  Bid McPhee, Edd Roush, Bill McKechnie,

 

u  — 12-Mar-2025

Q.  Which right-handed starting pitcher went directly from high school to pitch for the Cleveland Indians as a teenager?

Hint #1  He holds the record for hitting the most major league home runs in games when he pitched.

Hint: #2  Less than a quarter of his fifteen-year career in the big leagues was spent with the Red Sox, yet he is in the Red Sox Hall of Fame.

Hint: #3  He once made the same All-Star team his older brother did, but only his brother got into the  game.

A.  WES FERRELL  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Ferrell did play some minor league ball after his 1-inning, 3-earned-runs inauspicious CLE debut.  He came up for good the following year after a 20-8 season with the B-Class Terre Haute Tots for whom he also homered twice.

-  #1  No major league pitcher has hit more career home runs than Wes Ferrell’s 37.  (He hit 1 HR as a pinch-hitter.)  In 1934, he had two 2-HR games:13-Jul & 22-Aug.

-  #2  He was inducted in the BOS HOF in 2008, 13 years after his brother who played with BOS for 5 seasons.  Rick Ferrell was born in 1905, Wes in 1908.

-  #3  In MLB’s 1st ASG, 1933, Wes sat while Rick was never replaced behind the plate.

FCR -   Michael Green, Las Vegas

Incorrect guesses:  Rick Ferrell, Joe Nuxhall, Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Dick Radatz, Smokey Joe Wood, David Clyde, Ken Brett, Lefty Grove

 

 

FRIDAY  — 13-Mar-2025

Q.  Who broke Pete Rose’s MLB record for most plate appearances in a season only to have his record broken by Jimmy Rollins?

Hint: #1  He once stole more than 100 bases in a 139-game minor league season.

Hint: #2  Three of his uncles played professional hockey.

A.  LENNY DYKSTRA  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Rose: 771 in 1974; Dykstra: 773 in 1993; Rollins 778 in 2007.

-  #1  In 1983, for the Level-A Lynchburg Mets, Dykstra played in 136 of his team’s 139 games & stole 105 bases.  It was his highest season total at any level & 3 X his best MLB season (37 in 1993 w/PHI).

-  #2  Lenny Dykstra’s name at birth was Leonard Kyle Leswick.  His uncles,  JackPete & Tony Leswick, played in the National Hockey League1934-58.

FCR -  Barry Nelson, Guilderland, New York

Incorrect guesses:  Willie Wilson, Paul Molitor, Billy Hamilton, Ichiro Suzuki, Juan Samuel

 

 

T.G.I.F.SPECIAL  — 13-Mar-2025

Q.  In honor of which strikeout king did 3,436 fans (including 46 women) shave their heads before a game one year?

Hint: #1  He hit more home runs than all but two other major leaguers 1995-1997 inclusive.

Hint: #2  Costanza felt (adamantly!) that he never should have been traded.

A.  JAY BUHNER  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  The “Bald-In” honored Buhner on 17-Jul-1997.  It was his only All-Star season, but he also led everybody in K’s with 175., a total that would not even have placed him in the Top Ten in 2025.

-  #1  Buhner out-homered, among others, his HOF outfield mate during those three years.  Here are the top 5:  Marl McGwire 149, Albert Belle 128, Buhner 124, Griffey 122, Galarraga 119.

-  #2  See “Seinfeld”, “The Caddy” Season 7, Episode 12.  It was Frank Costanza, George’s farther, who was in high dudgeon over the Buhner trade.

FCR -  Paul Heally, Tracy, California

Incorrect guesses:  Danny Tartabull

 

 

SATURDAY  — 14-Mar-2025

Q.  Which New York City native was a short shortstop, born during the administration of president Zachary Taylor and considered the second-best player at that position in professional baseball’s earliest era?

Hint: #1  He indirectly helped cause the creation of the National League.

Hint: #2  He worked for the Otis Elevator Company for 35 years after his retirement from baseball.

Hint #3:  An unsubstantiated accusation of illegal activity followed him for much of his life.

A.  DAVY FORCE  [Wiki Bio]

-  Ans.  Force was born 27-Jul-1849 (Taylor was POTUS 04-Mar-1849 – 09-Jul-1850) was listed at 5'4", 130 lbs.& had a reputation on defense just behind that of HOF George Wright.

-  #1  Force had signed with different clubs and ironing out his case led to the foundation of the NL.  Read more here.

-  #2  Much like baseball, that business has its ups and downs.

-  #3  Force was thought to have shot a killed a fellow baseball player in a bar fight in San Francisco.  It was found to be a case of two mistaken identities.

FCR -  Terry Walters, Wabasha, Minnesota

Incorrect guesses:  George Wright, Dickie Pearce,

 

 

SUNDAY  — 15-Mar-2025

Q.  Which American League Baltimore Orioles player was the first player in the twentieth century to symmetrically hit twenty triples in a season?

Hint: #1  One fielding play he made was alleged to be “historically” bad, but those so reporting were not without blatant bias.

Hint: #2  He qualifies twice for this  week’s theme.

A.  BILL KEISTER  [SABR Bio]

-  Ans.  Keister hit his 20th 3B on 08-Aug-1901.  He hit his league-leading 21st later in that same.  It seems clear he didn’t feel any obligation toward the Keystone-he only racked up 20 doubles that same season.  Honus Wagner hit 22 triples in 1900, the last year  of the 19th century.  Keister’s own teammate, Jimmy William caught up and tied for the AL & MLB lead when he hit his 20th & 21st triples on 23-Sep-1901.

-  #1  Read about Keister’s throw from 2nd to John McGraw at 3rd on 25-May-1901, here, but be warned, the account there unsubstantiated and contradictory claims.

-  #2  Obvious, no?

FCR -  ¯\_()_/¯

Incorrect guesses:  Brian Roberts, George Stone, Al Bumbry, John McGraw, Heinie Manush

 

THEME:  Players whose nicknames call to mind human body parts, some better known than others.

 

 

Player___________ Nickname________ WAR

Beckley..................... “Eagle Eye".................. 61.2

 

Buhner...................... “Bone".......................... 23.0

 

Carter........................ “Teeth"......................... 70.1

 

Durocher................... “The Lip”........................ 4.1

 

Dykstra...................... “Nails".......................... 42.2

 

Farrell........................ “Cheek"*....................... 60.1

 

Force......................... “Tom Thumb”............... 17.1

 

Keister....................... “Wagon Tongue".......... 11.0

 

Medwick.................... “Muscles"..................... 54.4

 

Additional qualifiers –

Jeff Beliveau.............. “Belly”............................ -0.2

Andy High.................. “Knee".......................... 12.5

Don Mossi.................. “Ears"........................... 23.5

Bill Ramsey................ “Square Jaw"................ -0.3

Walt Williams............. “No neck"....................... 2.4

*Actual middle name

 

 

First Correct Respondent identifying theme –  ¯\_()_/¯

 

 

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