MONDAY — 06-Jul-2026
Q. Who
holds the major league record for most lifetime runs-batted-in?
Hint: #1
He was the first player to win a Gold Glove Award and a batting title in
the same season.
Hint: #2
He once said, “I really consider the triple the most exciting hit in
baseball.”
A. HENRY AARON [SABR
Bio]
-
Ans. Aaron’s 2,297 career RBI total
averages 99.87 for each of 23 seasons.
He had 80+ RBI for 17 consecutive seasons.
-
#1 In 1959, Aaron’s .355 BA
led everybody. He earned his 2nd
of his 3 straight GGs that season.
-
#2 Quoted in Baseball Digest,
Dec. 1999. Aaron hit 98 3B in his career,
thrice in double digits.
FCR - Cliff
Beiser, Kissimmee, Florida
Incorrect guesses:
TUESDAY — 07-Jul-2026
Q. Who was the first National Leaguer to hit
more than fifty home runs in separate seasons?
Hint:
#1 The state where he was born had only
been a state for a decade and he is still its only native Hall of Famer.
Hint:
#2 He was the General Manager of the San
Diego Padres after his playing days.
A. RALPH KINER [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Kiner
hit 51 HR in 1947 & 54 in 1949.
- #1 Kiner
was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico 27-Oct-1922.
Statehood was bestowed on New Mexico 12-Jan-1912, the 47th
to enter the Union. Santa Rita, BTW, no longer
exists.
- #2 Kiner
was the GM of the PCL‘s SD Padres 1956-1960,
a time when among others, Rocky Colavito, Mudcat Grant, Bob Lemon, Larry
Doby & Gary Peters played for them.
FCR - Richard Nicholson, Richmond, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: Mel Ott
WEDNESDAY
— 08-Jul-2026
Q. Which one-time Oakland A’s slugger,
unanimously voted Rookie of the Year, posted a one-season qualifying batting
average higher than any other player at his position? (Reasonable minimums apply.)
Hint:
#1 During his sixteen-year career, he
played for five major league teams, won ten Silver Slugger Awards and was
selected to twelve All-Star Games. He
played for OAK in 2007.
Hint:
#2 Among his eight times receiving league
MVP votes, half resulted in top five, never, though he never took the top spot.
A. MIKE PIAZZA [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Piazza
was NL ROY in 1993, receiving all 28 1st-place votes. In 1997, he hit .352 for LAD, behind Tony
Gwynn (.372) & Larry Walker (.366). Only Joe Mauer among full-time catchers had a
higher season BA with .365 in 2009, his MVP year. (Min. 130 G; 90% at C. He only exceeded 130 G once, but not in 2009.)
- #1 Played
for LAD, FLA, NYM, SDP & OAK.
- #2 IN
NL MVP voting, Piazza was 4th in 1995, 2nd in 1996, 2nd in 1997 w/LAD & 3rd
in 2000 w/NYM.
FCR - David
Sloan, Florissant, Missouri
Incorrect
guesses: Nick Swisher, Mark McGwire, Jason
Kendall, David Justice.
MIDWEEK
BONUS 08-Jul-2026
Q. Who is the only major leaguer to accumulate all
the following awards:
- Rookie
of the Year,
- Most
Valuable Player,
- Home
Run Derby Champion,
- Major
League Home Run Title (twice)
-
Major League Runs-Batted-In title (thrice)
- League
Championship Series Most Valuable Player,
- The
Sporting News Player of the Year
-
World Series ring
Hint:
#1 He hit the most home runs in a
sophomore season.
Hint:
#2 Became a Banana Ball coach.
A. RYAN HOWARD [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Demonstrable
of an outstanding career:
2006 HRD Champ
MLB HR titles (58 in
2006 & 48 in 2008)
MLB RBI titles (149 in
2006, 146 in 2008 &141 in 2009
2009 NLCS MVP when PHI beat LAD 4-1.
Drove in 8 runs in the series & set a MLB post-season record by driving in
runs in 8 consecutive post season games.
WS in 2008. (Did not win WS MVP—not a typo!) Taylor Swift sang the national anthem.
- #1 Howard
sailed past Mike Schmidt’s PHI 1980 franchise record of 48, hit 58 in 2006, now the standard for most HR in a player’s 2nd
MLB season.
- #2 On 09-Oct-2025,
was named the "primetime coach" of the new Indianapolis Clowns, the 6th team in the Banana Ball Championship
League.
FCR - Mark Manuel, Kenai, Alaska
Incorrect
guesses: Albert Pujols, Jose Canseco,
Bryce Harper, Ken Griffey Jr, Shane Victorino, Shohei Ohtani, Johnny Bench
THURSDAY
— 09-Jul-2026
Q. Who was the most recent player to retire with
a National League batting average of .350?
Hint:
#1 The year he led the league in both
hit and walks his final batting average was over .400.
Hint:
#2 He once summed up his career saying, “I
don't like to sound egotistical, but every time I stepped up to the plate with
a bat in my hands, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the pitcher .”
A. ROGERS HORNSBY [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Hornsby’s
19-season NL BA was .359. His .299 in 5 years in the AL brought his career MLB mark
to the more familiar .358.
- #1 Symmetrically,
Hornsby hit .424 in 1924. He
also led the NL in runs (121), walks (89), slugging (.696)
& on base % (.507). He led
the majors in WAR (12.5) & hits (227). The player who kept him from the MLB lead in
those other 4 categories was Babe Ruth.
- #2 He’s
also given us a few other gems, viz:
“I don’t
want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I
want someone else to go chase it.”
“Any
ballplayer who doesn’t sign autographs for kids isn’t an American. He’s a communist.”
“I don’t
believe there’s any such thing as a good loser.”
“The big
trouble is not really who isn’t in the Hall of Fame, but who is. It was established for a select few.”
“I’d rather
have him (Grover Alexander) pitch a crucial game for me drunk than anyone I’ve
ever known sober.”
FCR - Rick Fink, Edison, New Jersey
Incorrect
guesses: Bill Terry, Cap Anson
THURSDAY
Bis — 09-Jul-2026
Q. Which native Hoosier played one game at third
base for the Brooklyn Dodgers before joining the Marines?
Hint:
#1 It would be another fourteen years
before he was stationed again at third, and only then for two games there that
year.
Hint: #2 He still holds the all-time one-season record
for sacrifice flies.
Hint: #3 He was a miraculous manager. Some say “the” miraculous manager.
A. GIL HODGES
[SABR Bio]
- Ans. It
was his only MLB game before leaving to
serve his country in 1943. He drew a
walk. Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana 04-Apr-1924.
- #1 In
1957 he was at third for two games in the Dodgers’ last week before moving to
Los Angeles.
- #2 Hodges
had 19 sac flies in 154 games in 1954. That’s still the most, even though a regular
MLB season is now 8 games longer.
- #3 Hodges
guided the formerly downtrodden NY Mets to a World Series championship
in 1969. They’ve never been able to
slough off their “Miracle Mets” nickname.
You’ll even hear the occasional sportscaster refer to them simply as
“The Miracles”.
FCR - Chris Betsch, Albany, Indiana
Incorrect
guesses:
FRIDAY — 10-Jul-2026
Q. Who was the first player to hit two home runs
in an inning twice?
Hint:
#1 In his MVP season, his intentional
bases-on-balls total exactly matched his league-leading home run total.
Hint:
#2 Two opposing managers, both now in
the Hall of Fame, gave some telling observations. The one who faced him the most said, “He doesn’t
hit any cheap ones. When he belts a home
run, he does it with such authority it seems like an act of God. You can’t cry about it.” Another top manager opined, “If you pitch to
him he’ll ruin baseball. He’d hit 80
home runs. There’s no comparison between
him and anybody else in the league.”
A. WILLIE McCOVEY [SABR Bio]
- Ans. HR/inning
= 2… 12-Apr-1973, (4th inning); 27-Jun-1977, (6th inning).
- #1 In 1969, the first season
after MLB lowered the official height of the pitchers’ mound
by 5", pitching coaches around the NL were compelled to admit that it was
wiser to walk “Stretch” than to risk pitching to him. Thus, his 45 HR total was equaled by
his 45 IBBs. Ted Williams,
the all-time record holder in career on base %, was purposely walked
in 1957, 33 times & that was the MLB season record going into
1969. The chants of “Pitch to -----!”
would not be heard for another generation.
- #2 Quotes
by Walter Alston Sparky Anderson.
FCR - Madison McEntire, Bryant, Arkansas
Incorrect
guesses: Fernando Tatis Sr, Barry Bonds,
Ken Williams
SATURDAY— 11-Jul-2026
Q. Which MVP wore uniform numbers 2211112, er… ,
I mean 2, 21, 11, 12 variously for his six teams during his seventeen years in the
majors?
Hint:
#1 An alumnus of a Bay Area university,
he led the league in sacrifice flies for a Bay Area major league team.
Hint:
#2 A Hall of Fame player, yet only twice
did he lead his team in WAR for a season:
Once with his first team and once with his last team.
- Ans. Kent
for TOR (#10); NYM (#39, 12); CLE (# 12, 2;); SFG/HOU (#21); LAD (#12).
- #1 Kent attended the University io California
at Berkeley (“Cal” to most) & playing for SFG, led the NL in Sac Flies with
10 in 1998 & 13 in 2001.
- #2 He
led the Mets in 1995 with a 3.2 WAR and led
the Dodgers in 2005 w3.8.
FCR - Steve Charick, Ocean, New Jersey
Incorrect
guesses:
SATURDAY
SPECIAL — 11-Jul-2026
Q. Who hit more home runs in the majors than any
other player born in the Dominican Republic?
Hint:
#1 One might be justified in supposing
that he fashioned his defensive posture from Jeff Bagwell’s batting stance,
but his Gold Glove wins reinforce his approach.
Hint:
#2 He finished in the top three in
league Most Valuable player voting eight (8!) times in his first decade in the
majors.
A. ALBERT PUJOLS [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Pujols
retired with 703 career HRs. Sammy Sosa (609)
& Manny Ramirez (555) are #2 & #3 on that list.
- #1 Click
here or here to see his solid approach
to defense.
- #2 Pujols’
NL MVP voting finishes with STL:
2001 4th
2002 2nd
2003 2nd
2004 3rd
2005 1st
2006 2nd
2007 9th
2008 1st
2009* 1st
2010 2nd
2011 5th
FCR - Gregory Koch, Falls Church, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero
WEEKEND
BONUS — 12-Jul-2026
Q. Who was the last native of Alabama to hit a home
run for the National League in an All-Star game?
Hint:
#1 He was the first ever right-handed
batter to hit more than thirty home runs on the road in one season.
Hint:
#2 The first time he led the majors in
RBI, his team won the World Series in four games.
A. GEORGE FOSTER [SABR Bio]
- Ans. HR
off Catfish Hunter in the 3rd inning of the 1976 ASG.
- #1 In
his MVP year of 1977, Foster hit 31 of his
52 HR somewhere other than Riverfront Stadium.
NOTE: This question was written
in 1997. Since then, right-handers Aaron
Judge & Mark McGwire hit 32
home runs in away games in 2022 and 1998.
- #2 In 1976,
CIN swept NYY 4-0 in the WS. Foster led both leagues in RBI w/121. His teammate Joe Morgan was 2nd
w/111.
FCR - Walt Cherniak, Woodbine, Maryland
Incorrect
guesses: Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Cal
Raleigh, Frank Thomas
SUNDAY — 12-Jul-2026
Q. Who was the first player to hit World Series home
runs for three major league teams.
Hint:
#1 He was the first player to hit two doubles
in the same World Series inning.
Hint:
#2 In the city where he was born, its
elevation in feet exceeds the total population.
A. MATT WILLIAMS [SABR Bio]
- Ans. HR
in 1989 for SFG, off Dave Stewart in 2nd inning of game #3;
In 1997 for CLE off Jay Powell
in the 8th inning of game #3.
In 2001 for ARI off Roger
Clemens in the 1st inning of game #2.
- #1 Two
doubles in the 3rd inning of game 6 of the 2001 WS off Andy Pettitte
& Jay Witasick.
- #2 Williams
was born in Bishop, California, pop. 3,819 in
2020. Elevation 4,150.
FCR - Randal Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee
Incorrect
guesses: Jacoby Ellsbury, Lonnie Smith
WEEK’S
FINALE — 22-Mar-2026
Q. Who hit the last triple in a game at the Los
Angeles Memorial Coliseum?
Hint:
#1 One season he hit forty-five home
runs without ever hitting ten in any calendar month.
Hint:
#2 Had this player’s question been nearer
the front of the week, more people would have guessed the theme.
A. ERNIE BANKS [SABR Bio]
- Ans. Banks’s
triple was on 19-Sep-1961.
- #1 His HR distribution in 1959, his second hm run season was:
5 - April
7 - May
9 - June
8 - July
9 - August
7 - September
45 - Total
- #2 Banks was well-known for his grand slams.
FCR - Gary Sarnoff, Alexandria, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: Frank Howard, Willie Kirkland
THEME: National League grand slam leaders
Batter GSs WAR
McCovey... 18............. 64.5
Aaron......... 16........... 143.2
Howard...... 15............. 14.5
Hodges...... 14............. 43.8
Piazza........ 14............. 59.6
Pujols........ 13........... 101.2
Foster........ 13............. 44.2
Kent........... 13............. 55.4
Hornsby.... 12........... 127.4
Banks......... 12............. 67.8
Kiner.......... 12............. 48.1
Williams..... 12............. 46.6
First
Correct Respondent identifying theme – Warren Kent, Whitehall, Michigan
Incorrect
theme guesses:
Sat - NL
players with batting average .300 and 40 home runs and 100 RBI in a season
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