MONDAY —05-Dec
Q. Who
was the last left-handed pitcher to win thirty games in a season in the majors?
Hint: #1
He led his league in ERA a record nine times, but only once did he lead
the majors.
Hint: #2
He helped his team capture the World Series in consecutive seasons.
- Ans. In
1931, Grove won 31 G for PHA.
- #1 In
ERA, he led the AL in 1926 (2.51), 1929 (2.81); 1930 (2.54);
1931 (2.06); 1932 (2.84); 1935 (2.70); 1936 (2.81);
1938 (3.08); & 1939 (2.54).
- #2 PHA
won the WS in 1929 & 1930. They won the AL flag in 1931, but were bested by
STL in the Fall Classic that year.
FCR - Mikel
Mattsey, Sacramento
Incorrect guesses: Dizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez, Steve Carlton,
Warren Spahn
TUESDAY —06-Dec
Q. Which former
Tigers star won an MVP toiling for a volucrine squad?
Hint: #1 The year he
won his first Silver Slugger Award, he led the majors in runs scored.
Hint: #2 Three
fourths of his games played in the field during his first Major
League season, were at catcher.
- Ans. Played for the Auburn
University Tigers 2005-2007. He won the AL MVP in 2015 playing for TOR. Mike Trout was the only other player
receiving first place MVP votes.
- #1 Won his SS in 2015 & had 122
R. He repeated w/122 in 2016 which left
him tied for 2nd w/Mookie Betts behind Mike Trout’s 123.
- #2 Played 9 G in the field in 2010, 2 at 1st
& 7 at C. After 3 G in June of his 2nd
season, he has never suited up in catcher’s gear again in MLB.
FCR - Tom Lee,
Nashville
Incorrect guesses: Dale
Murphy, Lance Parrish, Craig Biggio, Mickey Cochrane, Charley Gehringer,
Pat Dobson, Joe Torre
WEDNESDAY —07-Dec
Q. Which
one-time Seattle Mariner utility player scored his first three runs in the
majors without benefit of an at-bat?
Hint: #1
Toby Harrah replaced him twice as manager.
Hint: #2
The man who became his father-in-law, surrendered what has been called
baseball’s most famous home run.
A. BOBBY VALENTINE [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. W/LAD in 1969, Valentine all 5 of
his G that year as a pinch-runner.
Finished his playing career w/SEA in 1979.
-
#1 Harrah took Valentine’s place
as manager of TEX in July 1992, then
later replaced him in his next managerial
assignment as skipper of the AAA Norfolk
Tides beginning with the 1995 season.
-
#2 Valentine married Mary Branca, daughter of Dodger pitcher Ralph Branca, although they
divorced a year ago.
FCR - Eric
Savage, Short Hills, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Lou Piniella
MIDWEEK BONUS —08-Dec
Q. Which
multiple-World-Series-winning second baseman with eight Gold Gloves and ten
All-Star appearances still required a vote by the Veterans Committee to get
into the Hall of Fame?
Hint: #1 No second baseman has participated in more
career double plays.
Hint: #2
His franchise’s record for home runs in a season by a second baseman
lasted fifty-six years.
A. BILL MAZEROSKI [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Won the WS w/PIT in 1960 & 1971. On the HOF ballot 15 X 1978-92, he made it in
2001 by a vote of the Veterans’
Committee.
-
#1 His number of 1,706 DPs still
tops those of any other second baseman.
-
#2 His 19 HR in 1958 was his best
year, but the record was finally broken when Neal Walker hit 23 in 2014.
FCR - Chris
Betsch, New Albany, Indiana
Incorrect guesses: Bobby Richardson, Joe Gordon, Red
Schoendienst, Lou Whitaker, Robby Alomar, Bobby Doerr, Fred McGriff, Joe Morgan,
Dave Johnson
THURSDAY —08-Dec
Q. Who was
the first player to lead the majors in batting average in consecutive seasons after
the pitcher’s mound was created and set at its current distance?
Hint: #1
He was the only player to collect a hit against Addie Joss in Joss's major
league debut.
Hint: #2
During one eight-year stretch during the middle of his career, he
averaged more than 214 hits per season.
A.
JESSE BURKETT [SABR Bio]
-
Ans. The pitching mound was
established at 60’6” in 1893. Burkett
hit .410 and .405 in 1894 & 1895 for the NL’s
Cleveland Spiders.
-
#1 Joss debuted for CLE on 26-Apr-1902 with a complete G
shutout.
-
#2 From 1894 thru 1901, Burkett
averaged 214.125 H a year, twice leading the majors.
FCR - Steven
Wright, Naperville, Illinois
Incorrect guesses: Ed Delahanty, Willie Keeler, Rod Carew, Nap
Lajoie, Ty Cobb, Dan Brouthers
FRIDAY —09-Dec
Q. Which
ex-Pirate infielder was the last National League player to wear #42 in the
majors?
Hint: #1
He was voted Most Valuable Player in the season where his WAR was
exactly half that of his league’s Cy Young Award winner.
Hint: #2
His MVP season was the year he won his Silver Slugger Award, led the
league in RBI and made his first MLB All-Star team.
-
Ans. Playing for NYM, Vaughn was
allowed to keep uniform #42 because that had been
his number before April 1997 when it was retired for all teams. He wore it until his retirement in May 2003.
-
#1 Vaughn’s 4.3 WAR was far behind
Randy Johnson’s 8.6 in 1995. In
college, Vaughn played for the Seton Hall
Pirates.
-
#2 Playing for BOS in 1995… a.) His
126 RBI led the AL; b.) He won the SS award & his AL AS team
were overpowered by the 3 solo HR from Craig Biggio*, Mike Piazza & ASG MVP
Jeff Conine. Vaughn entered the
All-Star Game on defense, replacing AL 1B starter Frank Thomas, whose 2-R
HR in the 4th represented all of the AL’s scoring that day.
*Seton
Hall Alum
FCR - Tom
Missett, Southington, Connecticut
Incorrect guesses: Andrew McCutchen, Arky Vaughan, Dick Groat, Bill
Madlock, Bobby Bonilla
T.G.I.F.SUPPLEMENT —09-Dec
Q. Which
BRTL Dirt Bag pitcher made it to the majors, is enshrined in his state’s sports
Hall of Fame and played college football after his time in the majors?
Hint: #1
He spent his time in the majors pitching for two expansion teams in
spite of his deformed right hand.
Hint: #2
Where did he go to high school?
You know.
Hint: #3
He now teaches and coaches at his alma mater.
A. CHAD BENTZ [ASHOF
Bio]
-
Ans. Batting right (somehow) and
throwing left, Bentz attended Long Beach State in California. After his baseball career ended in 2009, he
played a season of college football at NCAA D3 Castleton University in Vermont. In high school, he
earned varsity letters in football, baseball & rack.
-
#1 Bentz pitched in 36 G for MTL
in middle relief in their last season in Canada. In Miami, his next year in the Bigs, he began
with 2 brief scoreless outings, but got clobbered in his final 2 appearances in
the majors, surrendering 7 ER in 1⅓ innings over 2 G.
-
#2 “You know”?? Oh, I’m sorry, that’s Juneau-Douglas High
School in Alaska’s capital.
- #3 In 2013, Bentz was named pitching coach for
the Castleton State baseball program. Click
this link JHS. You’ll be glad you did.
FCR - Joe
O’Neill, London, Ontario
Incorrect guesses: Jim Abbott, Preacher Roe
SATURDAY —10-Dec
Q. Which former Aggie led the Pacific League
in pitching wins in consecutive seasons?
Hint: #1 He replaced Bret Boone as the manager
of the Seals.
Hint: #2 His first team in the majors won the
World Series that same year.
Hint: #3 He was a teammate of Hall of Famer
Pedro Martinez on two different teams.
-
Ans. Gross played in MLB
1990-1993. In 1994, he was purchased
from LAD by the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japan Pacific League. His success there was punctuated by leading the
league in victories 1995 & 1996. He
had played for the Murray State JC (Oklahoma) Aggies.
-
#1 Boone took the job a manager
of the Victoria Seals of the short-lived independent Golden
Baseball League in March 2010, but resigned after 5 games. Gross, then the pitching coach was elevated
to interim manager & guided the team in its final season.
-
#2 Gross pitched a scant 6⅓
innings for the 1990 Cincinnati Reds & was not on the postseason roster. He made 29 appearances in 1991,finishing with
a 6-4 record, yet won a ring and was awarded a full player’s share.
-
#3 Pedro & Kip were teammates
on LAD in 1992-1993 & BOS in 1999.
FCR - Mike
Sparks, Sarasota
Incorrect guesses:
SUNDAY —11-Dec
Q. Which
right-handed starting pitcher from the Texas Panhandle was chosen four spaces
ahead of Jacob deGrom in the 2010 Draft?
Hint: #1
He (not deGrom) played for five different teams all based in cities in
the state of Maryland.
Hint: #2
In his second game in the majors, he surrendered a grand slam to Daniel
Murphy and was optioned to the minor leagues after the game.
A. PARKER BRIDWELL [B-R Bio]
-
Ans. Bridwell was the 268th
player chosen, deGrom the 272nd,
in that year’s MLB June
Amateur Draft 9th round.
-
#1 Bridwell’s Maryland stops in
BAL’s system:
- Short-season A (Aberdeen);
- A (Delmarva);
- Advanced A (Frederick);
- AA (Bowie);
- MLB (Baltimore).
-
#2 Pitching for BAL on 24-Aug-2016, in mop-up duty, got WSN
3 up, 3 down in the 8th, but gave up 3 H and a BB in the 9th,
including Murphy’s GS.
FCR - Willis
Kern, Bloomington, Illinois
Incorrect guesses: Steven Strasburg
WEEK’S FINALE —12-Dec
Q. Which BBTR one-time
Toronto Blue Jay was born just a short distance south of the Canada/U.S. border?
Hint: #1 He was
signed by the Mets and Yankees, but only played for one of them.
Hint: #2 Only played
in 110 games in the majors for a total of three franchises, but played with six
Hall of Famers, five former Rookies of the Year; five World Series MVPs and no
fewer than 57 who were (or would be) All-Stars.
A. CHRIS LATHAM [Wiki
Bio]
- Ans. Born in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho., about 100 miles
south of the British Columbia border.
Played for TOR in 2001. Switch-hits & throws right.
- #1 March 27-Mar-2002: Selected off waivers by
NYM from TOR; 02-Oct-2002: Released by NYM; 04-Dec-2002: Signed as a Free Agent
with NYY; & 24-Apr-2003: Released by NYY.
- #2 Latham played for MIN 1997-99, for TOR in
2001 & for NYY in 2003. Hall of Famers
Latham played with: Paul Molitor, David
Ortiz, Gregg Olson, Roy Halladay, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera & Mike
Mussina. His Rookie of the Year teammates
were Chuck Knoblauch, Raul Mondesi, Marty Cordova & Jeter. World Series MVP winners who played alongside
Latham are Molitor (1993), Rivera (1999), Jeter (2000), Hideki Matsui (2009) & Ortiz (2013).
FCR - Joe Cohen, Holden
Massachusetts
Incorrect guesses: Danny
Ainge
Bentz............................... Juneau.................... Alaska................................. -0.8
Bridwell.......................... Hereford................. Texas................................... 1.2
Donaldson....................... Pensacola................ Florida................................ 46.7
Gross............................... Scottsbluff.............. Nebraska............................. 0.7
Grove.............................. Lonaconing............. Maryland.......................... 106.8
Latham........................... Coeur d’Alene......... Idaho................................... -1.0
Mazeroski....................... Wheeling................ West
Virginia..................... 36.5
Valentine......................... Stamford................. Connecticut.......................... 2.0
Vaughn........................... Norwalk.................. Connecticut........................ 27.1
Scott
Fletcher................. Fort
Walton Beach............ Florida.................... 32.0
Johnny
James................ Bonners Ferry................... Idaho....................... -0.5
Joe Mather..................... Sandpoint.......................... Idaho....................... -2.5
Bob
Robertson............... Frostburg........................... Maryland.................. 9.4
Sam
Perlozzo................. Cumberland....................... Maryland................. -0.1
Jack Fisher..................... Frostburg........................... Maryland.................. 4.4
Jake Rogers................... Canyon.............................. Texas....................... 0.5
Red Barkley.................... Childress........................... Texas...................... -0.3
Hugh
Willingham............ Dalhart............................... Texas...................... -0.2
Ray Barker..................... Martinsburg....................... West Virginia.......... -0.2
Scott
Bullett.................... Martinsburg....................... West Virginia.......... -0.7
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Richard Giovanoni, Morton Grove,
Illinois
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Mon - Pitchers
with the most career strikeouts as a batter
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