Horsehide Trivia

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 Answer Notes

WEDNESDAY

Q. Who was the last National League second baseman to hit more than fifty doubles in a season?

Hint: He was the “batting star” on the losing side of David Cone’s perfect game.

Hint: He was Washington’s first second baseman after Tom Ragland.

Hint: He was the last Montreal Expo to start an All Star Game.

Twint: He is the Montreal Expos’ all-time leader for second basemen in games played, plate appearance, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, home runs, total bases, extra base hits, RBIs, walks, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, OPS+, runs created and WAR, most by a very large margin.

A. Jose Vidro

FCR - Mark Hayne, Dumfries, VA

Notes on JOSE VIDRO

Jose Vidro hit 51 doubles in 2000, just after Craig Biggio’s back-to-back seasons of 50+ in 1998 and 1999. Since then Brian Roberts has accomplished this feat three times and Alfonso Soriano and Dustin Pedroia once each in the American League. Vidro didn’t play any other positions in 2000 nor did he ever pinch hit or DH so all 51 doubles came while in the lineup as a second baseman. This was found with the Baseball-Reference Play Index sorting by doubles for players with at least 75% of their games at second base.

Vidro was the only Expos’ starter who didn’t strike out in Cone’s perfecto. No Expo ran the count to three balls and only five at bats resulted in Cone throwing as many as two balls; Vidro was involved in two of those at bats with three other batters doing it once each.

Ragland was the second baseman for the Senators on 30-Sep-1971 in their last game before moving to Texas. Vidro was the National’s second baseman on 04‑Apr‑2005 in their first game after moving from Montreal.

Vidro started the 2003 All Star Game, playing second base and batting ninth. He struck out twice before being replaced by Luis Castillo in the bottom of the fifth inning. Fellow Expo Rondell White later appeared as a pinch hitter, grounding into a 6-4-3 double play while batting for Barry Bonds. Livan Hernandez was the only Expo All Star in their final season of 2004 but he didn’t get into the All Star game.

Vidro is 8^th in triples (Delino DeShields leads), second in strikeouts (DeShields), 3^rd in hit by pitch (Ron Hunt), 6^th in sacrifices (Hunt), 11^th in steals (DeShields), 8^th in caught stealing (DeShields) and 3^rd in on base percentage (Hunt).

This was found with the Baseball-Reference Play Index sorting by various categories for Montreal Expos second basemen from 1969 through 2004.

WEDNESDAY X 2

Q. Excluding active players, who is the only non-Hall of Famer with a career batting average over .300 with more than 200 home runs and over 200 stolen bases?

Hint: He has the highest career on base plus slugging percentage of anyone who completed this trifecta.

Hint: In addition to his hitting prowess he was good on defence, winning seven Gold Gloves.

Twint: He was driven home by the double Gary Carter hit in Carter’s last career at bat.

Twint: This was the only run in a 1-0 victory.

A. Larry Walker

FCR - Bob Elliott, Mississauga, ON

Notes on LARRY WALKER

Walker retired with a .313 batting average, 383 home runs and 230 stolen bases. This combination was also accomplished by Hall of Famers Paul Molitor (.306/234/504), George Brett (.305/317/201), Hank Aaron (.305/755/240), Willie Mays (.302/660/338) and Roberto Alomar (.30023/210/474). Alex Rodriguez (.30025/647/318) and Derek Jeter (.313/255/348) are the active players who have also done this, although A-Rod is barely above the mark in batting average and if 2013 is similar to 2012 he’ll drop off the list. Barry Bonds (.298 batting average), Jeff Bagwell (.297) and Barry Larkin (.295 and 198 home runs) just missed making it.

Walker accomplished this in far fewer plate appearances than anyone else. He only batted 8,030 times, over 2,000 times fewer than the next lowest total of 10,400 by Alomar. Walker’s OPS was .965. Next on the list is A-Rod at .945 through 2012 then Mays (.941) and Aaron (.928). If Bonds had been able to lift his final batting average by two points his career OPS of 1.051 would have been the best.

Walker won National League Gold Gloves as an outfielder in 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002. http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/gold_glove_nl.shtml

Here is the box score and play-by-play from the Montreal Expos’ 1-0 win over the Cubs on 27‑Sep‑ 1992. This was the Expos’ last home game of the season and it was the last game in which Gary Carter. After a ground out and a strike out in his first two plate appearances, Carter came up in the seventh inning following a two-out walk to Larry Walker. Mike Morgan got ahead 0-2 then Carter hit a double to right/center field. Walker scored, Carter doffed his hat and backup catcher Tim Laker came in to pinch run, ending Carter’s Hall of Fame career.

WEDNESDAY X 3

Q. Which former major leaguer is now a coach for the Delfines de Ciudad Del Carmen in the Mexican League?

Hint: He played professional baseball in three different countries in cities that each hosted the Olympics.

Hint: He also played in the Olympics, three years after his last major league game.

Hint: His first major league home run tied a long-standing record.

Twint: He was traded twice within two weeks by the same two teams.

A. Rob Ducey

FCR - Scott Crawford, St. Mary’s, ON

Notes on ROB DUCEY

Ducey joined the Delphines’ (Dolphins) coaching staff for their inaugural season in the Mexican League in 2012. Fellow major league alumnus Felix Fermin, the manager, and Jose Escobar, the third base coach, are also on the staff. Here is a link to the Dolphins’ roster from their website: http://www.delfinesdelcarmen.com/index.php/roster

Four Major League cities have hosted the Summer Olympics: St. Louis (1904), Los Angeles (1932 and 1984), Montreal (1976) and Atlanta (1996). Minor League cities Calgary (1988), Salt Lake City (2002) and Vancouver (2010) hosted Winter Olympics. Tokyo (1964), Mexico City (1968) and Seoul (1988) hosted Summer Games and Sapporo (1972) the Winter Olympics and all are home to professional baseball teams. LA, Montreal and Atlanta also had minor league franchises before getting Major League teams.

Ducey played for the Montreal Expos in 2001. Earlier in his career he spent two years in Japan with the Nippon Ham Fighters of Sapporo. Ducey also spent part of the 1992 season with the California (now Los Angeles) Angels, who play in Anaheim. Although Anaheim is separate from Los Angeles, the Anaheim Arena did host the wrestling competition in the LA games of 1984. Here is the article: http://www.lasports.org/lafacilities/display.php?s=Arena&id=4

Pitcher Elias Sosa is the only player to have appeared for Major League teams in all four of the Summer Olympic cities. If we include the California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels we can add Andres Galarraga to the list, with special bonus points for his two seasons with the Calgary Expos at the start of his minor league career.

There are other players who also appeared for teams in Olympic cities in three or more countries and this clue isn’t meant to imply that Ducey was the first or only player to accomplish this. Another player who did it is Denny Gonzalez who played for the AAA Vancouver Canadians in 1987, the Yomiuri (Tokyo) Giants of the Japan Central League in 1991 and the Mexico City Reds of the Mexican League in 1994. Here is his Minor League record: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gonzal001den

A case could be made for Julio Franco doing this in four countries. He played with the Atlanta Braves for six seasons, the Mexico City Tigers in 1999 and 2001, the Chiba Lotte Orions in 1995 and 1998 (Chiba City is 25 miles from Tokyo, as close as Anaheim is to Los Angeles) and the Samsung Lions from Daegu in the Korean Baseball Organization (150 miles from Seoul but host to some preliminary soccer matches in 1988). Here is a link for more information on the Daegu stadium: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daegu_Civil_Stadium

Ducey pinch hit in one game and was the designated hitter in two others for team Canada at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, at age 39. Here is his record from those games: http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/du/rob-ducey-1.html

On 14-Sep-1987 Ducey’s first career home run was the Blue Jays’ eighth home run of the game, tying a single game team record first set by the Yankees on June 28, 1939 and matched 6 times leading up to this game. Three batters later Ernie Whitt hit the Jays’ record-breaking ninth home run of the game and Fred McGriff hit number ten in the next inning, a record that still stands. No other team has even hit nine. This is the box score and play-by-play of the ten home run game:

On 26-Jul-2000 the Philadelphia Phillies traded Ducey to Toronto for John Sneed then on 07‑Aug‑2000 Toronto sent him back to the Phillies for Mickey Morandini. These transactions are shown on this site on the dates 26‑Jul (Ducey to Toronto), 31‑Jul (Sneed to Philadelphia), 04‑Aug (Ducey designated for assignment to make room for newly acquired Dave Martinez), 06‑Aug (Morandini to Toronto), 07‑Aug (Ducey back to Philadelphia): http://www.oocities.org/blue_jay_fan88/transactions.html. (PS –look at the transaction on 19‑Jul: The Jays sent Michael Young to Texas for Esteban Loaiza).

Jayson Stark wrote an entertaining article reviewing the transactions: http://assets.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark_jayson/679879.html

WEDNESDAY X 3

Q. Which former major leaguer is now a coach for the Delfines de Ciudad Del Carmen in the Mexican League?

Hint: He played professional baseball in three different countries in cities that each hosted the Olympics.

Hint: He also played in the Olympics, three years after his last major league game.

Hint: His first major league home run tied a long-standing record.

Twint: He was traded twice within two weeks by the same two teams.

A. Rob Ducey

FCR - Scott Crawford, St. Mary’s, ON

Notes on ROB DUCEY

Jayson Stark wrote an entertaining article reviewing the transactions: http://assets.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark_jayson/679879.html

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Tuesday, January 1, 2013 Answer Notes

TUESDAY

Q. Who was the last player to hit a grand slam in a game in which he hit for the cycle?

Hint: Despite being on the losing team of the 2010 World Series he still received a championship ring.

Hint: He and his brother were teammates in another World Series.

Hint: He won two gold gloves, only second best within his family.

Twint: Not exactly a speedster, he once hit a home run and was pinch run for before he made it to second base.

A. Bengie Molina

FCR - J.J. McCoy, Washington, DC

Notes on BENGIE MOLINA

This has only been accomplished nine times, and only four times since the end of the 1933 season. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats16d.shtml

Molina’s big game: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS201007160.shtml

Molina started the 2010 season with the National League Champion San Francisco Giants, who traded him to the American League Champion Texas Rangers on July 1. He played in four games for Texas in their World Series loss. Others who also played for both World Series teams in the same season are:

2. Jack Kramer in 1951. He started the season with the Giants, was released on May 19 then picked up on May 28 by the Yankees, who released him on August 30. He therefore didn’t play in the series.

3. Johnny Schmitz in 1952. He started the season with the Dodgers then was selected off waivers by the Yankees on August 1. On August 28 he was traded with three other players to Cincinnati for Ewell Blackwell therefore he didn’t get into the series.

4. Sid Monge in 1984. He began the year with the Padres and then was purchased by the Tigers on June 10. He remained with the Tigers the rest of the season but he didn’t make it in to any of their postseason games.

5. Lonnie Smith in 1985. Smith started year with the Cardinals then was traded on May 17 to the Royals where be became their regular left fielder for the rest of the season. That October he became the first player to appear in a World Series against a team for whom he played earlier that same season. The player going the other way in the trade, John Morris, didn’t make his major league debut until the following season.

6. Jim Bruske in1998. The journeyman relief pitcher played for three teams in 1998. He had played for the Padres in 1997 but the Dodgers claimed him off waivers right after the season ended. He got into 35 games in LA then was traded back to the Padres on July 23. One month later, after only 4 appearances, San Diego traded him to the Yankees. He got into 3 games in New York, including starting the last game of the year, but that was to be the end of his Yankee career. He wasn’t put on the postseason roster then was released during training camp the following spring. The three other players involved in the trade between the Padres and the Yankees never appeared in the major leagues.

7. In 2010 Bengie Molina became the second player to appear in a series against the team with whom he started the season.

8. Chris Ray in 2010. Relief pitcher Ray was one of the two players the Rangers sent to the Giants for Bengie Molina (the other was minor leaguer Michael Main). He saw action in 35 games for Texas and another 28 for the Giants but he didn’t play in the post season.

9. Arthur Rhodes in 2011. Rhodes began his 20^th and last season in the majors with the Rangers, going 3-3 with 1 save in 32 games before being released on August 8. The Cardinals picked him up three days later and he got into 19 more games before the end of the season. He appears in games 1, 2 and 7 of the World Series against his former team, retiring the one batter he faced in each of his appearances.

10.

More information about these players can be found in this article: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-henson_arthur_rhodes_world_series_ring_101811

Nobody played for both the Tigers and Giants in 2012. In fact, Aubrey Huff was the only player on the Giants’ World Series roster who had ever played for the Tigers (40 games in 2009) and none of the Tigers had ever played for the Giants.

This happened in 2002 for the Angels when Bengie Molina started all 7 games of the series. His brother Jose Molina came in to catch in games 1 and 6 after Bengie was pinch hit for and in game 5 to catch the last inning of a blowout loss. Box scores and statistics from this series can be found here:

Bengie won the American League Gold Glove for catchers in 2002 and 2003. Jose has been shut out but Yadier Molina won the National League Gold Glove each year from 2008 to 2011. These pages list all Gold Glover winners:

On 26-Sep-2008, about a month after instant replay was first used on home run calls, Molina hit a ball that the umpires initially ruled to be in play. While Molina waited on first base for a decision Emmanuel Burriss came out of the Giants’ dugout to pinch run. Upon review the umpires ruled the hit a home run but Molina wasn’t allowed to be reinserted into the game. Burriss completed the turn around the bases; getting credit for the run scored, and was then replaced by Steve Holm behind the plate. Here is a recap of the game: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=280926126

Note that the Baseball-Reference.com play-by-play doesn’t show Burriss’ pinch running appearance, although Burriss’ and Molina’s career totals show that Burriss scored this run and not Molina: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN200809260.shtml

TUESDAY X 2

Q. Who was his team’s starting pitcher in an upset win over the USA at a World Baseball Classic?

Hint: His first four major league starts were against former Cy Young Award winners.

Hint: That year he also started against three additional pitchers who each eventually won 200 games.

Hint: Despite the stiff competition he still finished his rookie season with a .500 record.

Twint: Stan the Man and The Babe are good role models for him.

A. Adam Loewen

FCR - Scott Crawford, St. Mary’s, ON

Notes on ADAM LOEWEN

Adam Loewen started and pitched into the fourth inning of Canada’s 8-6 win over the USA on March 8, 2006. Here is a recap of the game; Loewen’s start is mentioned about half way through the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/09/sports/sportsspecial/09usa.html

Loewen’s first two major league appearances were in relief, including the game that was Jered Weaver’s debut on 27-May-2006. He moved to the Orioles’ starting rotation in June and matched up against former Cy Young winners Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay (two games) and Tom Glavine on June 3, 8, 13, 18 2006. Loewen went 0-2 with a 7.40 ERA while pitching 20.2 innings in these four games.

Loewen also started against Mike Mussina (05-Aug, Mussina took the loss that day, coming in with 237 of his 270 wins), David Wells (11-Aug, with Wells getting the 228^th of his 239 wins) and Tim Wakefield (30-Sep, Wakefield took a no decision after coming into the game with 151 of his 200 wins).

Loewen finished 2006 with a 6-6 record in 19 starts and 3 relief appearances. He was 1‑3 with 3 no decisions in his 7 starts against the Cy Young recipients and 200-game winners and he went 5-3 against the rest of the field. Here is Loewen’s game log from 2006: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=loewead01&t=p&year=2006

Adam Loewen was a first round draft choice and made it to the big leagues as a starting pitcher but several stress fractures forced him to give up his mound duties. He signed with the Blue Jays then returned to the low minors to try to become an outfielder. He achieved his goal and made it back to the majors on 07-Sep-2011 when he was the Blue Jays’ starting right fielder:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR201109070.shtml

Like Loewen Stan Musial and Babe Ruth started their professional careers as pitchers and later converted to the outfield. Ruth’s early pitching prowess is well documented. Musial was exclusively a pitcher in 1938 and 1939 before splitting 1940 between the mound (18-5, 2.62 ERA in 223 innings) and the outfield (57 games, .311 batting average). Here is Musial’s minor league record: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=musial001sta

TUESDAY X 3

Q. Who has the highest career slugging percentage in the expansion era for players under 5'10" tall (minimum 500 plate appearances)?

Hint: At the time of his retirement he was the National League’s oldest player.

Hint: He hit home runs for eleven different franchises, but he didn’t homer for the teams for whom he played his first and last games.

Twint: While still an active major leaguer he was a hockey coach in the off season.

A. Matt Stairs

FCR - Scott Crawford, St. Mary’s, ON

Notes on MATT STAIRS

Matt Stairs (5’9” - .47675) beat Kirby Puckett (5’8” - .47667) by a narrow margin. If Puckett had had one more total base or Stairs had had one more unsuccessful at bat they would have switched positions. Ivan Rodriquez, Dustin Pedroia and Miguel Tejada are next on the list. Stairs has the eighth highest slugging percentage all time for shorter players. Hack Wilson (.545), Earl Averill (.534) and Mel Ott (.533) are the top three.

Stairs was the oldest National Leaguer in 2011 but American Leaguers Tim Wakefield and Omar Vizquel were the oldest major leaguers. In 2010 National League pitchers Jamie Moyer and Trevor Hoffman were older than Stairs. In 2009 pitchers Moyer, Hoffman, Randy Johnson, Doug Brocail, John Smoltz and Tom Gordon were older, but no position players were older.

Stairs hit home runs for Boston (1), Oakland (122), Chicago Cubs (17), Milwaukee (16), Pittsburgh (20), Kansas City (39), Texas (3), Detroit (2), Toronto (32), Philadelphia (7) and San Diego (6).

Stairs debuted as a Montreal Expo (no home runs in 19 games in 1992 and 1993) and finished up as a Washington National (none in 56 games in 2011).

Stairs was the assistant hockey coach at Bangor, Maine’s John Bapst High School. http://bangordailynews.com/2008/11/26/sports/world-title-changes-stairsamprsquo-life/

Monday, December 31, 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012 Answer Notes

MONDAY

Q. Who was the first player to hit a grand slam in his first home game as a Yankee?

Hint: He set the Major League record for the most consecutive games played at the start of a career.

Hint: The streak was ended by an injury sustained in a game that didn’t count in the streak.

Hint: He was nicknamed after a huge movie star of the 1950s and 1960s.

Hint: For most of his career he wore a number in honour of professional baseball’s all-time home run king.

Twint: He announced his retirement just this past weekend.

A. Hideki Matsui (David’s research notes on all answers will be given at the end of the week, but will also appear during the week on the Horsehide Trivia blog page. They’re extensive and impressive. We will also retain the order of questions as he submitted them whether or not they follow our typical increasing-difficulty format.)

FCR - Arieh Siegel, Austin, TX

Notes on HIDEKI MATSUI

Matsui was signed by the Yankees in December 2002 after playing ten seasons in Japan. The Bombers started 2003 with a six-game road trip through Toronto and Tampa before Matsui made his Yankee Stadium debut on 08-Apr. After a ground out and a walk he batted in the fifth inning. An intentional walk to Bernie Williams that loaded the bases with one away proved unsuccessful when Matsui homered to right on a 3-2 pitch from Joe Mays for his first Major League home run, a grand slam that gave the Yankees a 7-1 lead. The second paragraph of this story confirms Matsui as the first Yankee to hit a salami in his home debut:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=230408110

He set the Major League record for the most consecutive games played at the start of a career.

Matsui played in 518 straight games to start his major league career. This set a record, confirmed in the attached report from SABR’s Baseball Records Committee. It is the 13^th item in the list of Regular Season Batting Records Set in 2006: http://sabr.org/cmsFiles/Files/DEC2006.pdf

The streak was ended by an injury sustained in a game that didn’t count in the streak. The rules for these streaks are listed at this site under “Determining player performance streaks": http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp “A consecutive-game playing streak shall be extended if the player plays one half-inning on defense or if he completes a time at bat by reaching base or being put out. A pinch-running appearance only shall not extend the streak. If an umpire ejects a player from a game before he can comply with the requirements of this rule [10.23(c)], his streak shall continue.”

On 11-May-2006, after Kevin Youkilis lead off the top of the first by reaching on an error, Mark Loretta blooped a ball to left and Matsui broke his wrist in an unsuccessful attempt to make the catch. Since Matsui’s injury took him out of the game in the top of the first inning before three outs were recorded and before he came to bat this 519^th game didn’t count in the streak. Here is a recap of the game:

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260511110&teams=boston-red-sox-vs-new-york-yankees

He was nicknamed after a huge movie star of the 1950’s and ‘60’s. Matsui’s nickname is Godzilla. Godzilla first appeared in the movies in 1954 and he was pretty huge, ranging in stature from 50 to 100 meters (164 to 328 feet). Here is the IMDb listing for Godzilla’s first movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047034/

Matsui’s player page on Baseball-Reference.com confirms his nickname: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/matsuhi01.shtml

As noted in the first paragraph of the following article, the nickname was given to Matsui because of skin problems he suffered as a child and not his own large stature: http://www2.gol.com/users/jallen/column/20021121.html

The two Godzillas once shared the silver screen. Matsui had a cameo in 2002’s Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (Gojira tai Makegojira). Open the “Full Cast and Crew” link in this article to find him: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314111/

For most of his career he wore a number in honour of professional baseball’s all-time home run king. “Matsui was given uniform number 55, highly symbolic in that it stood for the single-season home run record held by Sadaharu Oh, a mark that everyone fully expected Matsui to challenge one day.” Robert Whiting, The Samurai Way of Baseball, (2004), p. 235.

Matsui wore 55 while playing in Japan then with the Yankees, Angels and Athletics. When he joined Tampa in 2012, 55 was already taken by Matt Moore so he wore 35 instead.

Oh hit 868 regular season home runs in Japan, as confirmed in the second paragraph of this article: http://www.500hrc.com/800-hrc-articles/sadaharu-oh-salutes-hideki-matsui-for-combined-500-hrs-in-japan-mlb-2.html

This is generally considered to be the professional record although Josh Gibson is credited with “over 800” in the Negro Leagues. This is noted in the second to last paragraph of this article: http://www.500hrc.com/800-hrc-articles/the-man-known-as-the-black-babe-ruth-josh-gibson.html

Barry Bonds (762 regular season home runs, 9 in the post season and another 20 in the minor leagues for a total of 791) and Hank Aaron (755 regular season, 6 post season and 31 minor league for 792 total plus whatever he hit in his 3 months with Indianapolis in the Negro Leagues in 1952) are Oh’s closest competition for the professional record.

MONDAY X 2

Q. Who hit the second of the Yankees’ record breaking three grand slams 25-Aug-2011?

Hint: He spent part of his childhood in Paris.

Hint: He was named after a bebop legend.

Hint: He honoured his mother on his jersey.

Twint: He had a custom mouthpiece created to help stop his chewing tobacco habit.

A. Russell Martin

FCR - Blake Sherry, Dublin, OH

Notes on RUSSELL MARTIN

The Yankees set a record that day, becoming the first major league team to hit three grand slams in one game. Robinson Cano hit the first one in the fifth inning off the As’ Rich Harden and Fautino de los Santos surrendered Martin’s in the sixth. Curtis Granderson hit the team’s third in the eighth inning off Bruce Billings in a Yankees’ 22-7 victory. Here is a recap of the game, with the second paragraph mentioning that this was the first time the feat had occurred: http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310825110&teams=oakland-athletics-vs-new-york-yankees

Russell Martin went 5 for 5 with 2 HR and a double, driving in 6 and scoring 3. The Yankees had 16 plate appearances with the bases loaded that day. Besides the 3 home runs they hit 3 singles, had 2 walks and hit a sacrifice fly while making 7 other outs. In total the Yankees had 21 hits, 13 walks and 1 hit batter. It was only the ninth game in the expansion era in which a team had 35 or more base runners in a nine inning game. Here is the box score and play-by-play of the game: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA201108250.shtml

The list of other games with 35 base runners can be found on Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index, Team Batting Game Finder, searching for Times on Base without reaching on error and filtering for games with nine innings or less.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/

Martin lived in Paris from ages 8 to 10.

His full name is Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin Jr., and his fourth name is in honour of saxophonist John Coltrane. His father Russell Sr. is a sax player. This, and his childhood in Paris, are mentioned in this article:

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Russell-Martin/biography/

In 2009 he added the letter “J” to his jersey, J. Martin, in honour of his mother’s maiden name, Suzanne Jeanson. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Russell-Martin-orders-up-a-J-in-honor-of-his-m?urn=mlb-138943

Martin started wearing the mouthpiece at the 2009 World Baseball Classic. More information can be found here: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090312&content_id=3976480&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la

MONDAY X 3

Q. Who ended Ichiro Suzuki’s eleven-year streak of leading the Seattle Mariners in stolen bases?

Hint: He’s known as “The Condor”.

Hint: He has used a 60-ounce bat in batting practice.

Twint: He was his team’s right fielder at the Beijing Olympics.

Twint: This is a position he rarely plays in the majors.

A. Michael Saunders

FCR - Alan Work, White Plains, NY

Notes on MICHAEL SAUNDERS

Beginning with his first year in the American League in 2001, Ichiro lead the Mariners in steals outright nine times and tied for the team lead twice: with Mike Cameron in 2002 and Chone Figgins in 2010. Ichiro had stolen 15 bases and was leading the team when he was traded to the Yankees on July 23, 2012 but Michael Saunders was right behind him with 14. Saunders caught up by mid-August and ended the year with 21 stolen bases. No other Mariner stole more than 13.

He’s known as “The Condor”. Mariners’ play-by-play man Dave Sims gave Saunders the nickname. http://fanhub.me/people/detail/2953/Michael-Saunders

Saunders used an extra-heavy bat during 2012 training camp to help speed up his swing. Here is a link to a video showing the bat in action: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2017512979_watch_michael_saunders_swing_h.html

Saunders played full games in right field in six of team Canada’s seven games in Beijing. In the other game he split time between right and center fields. Here is his game-by-game record from Beijing: http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sa/mike-saunders-1.html

Before Ichiro was traded to the Yankees Saunders had never played a major league game in right field. Through 2012 he has played 173 games in center field, 150 in left and only 5 games in right field. His first game in right field was on August 31, 2012, the 321^st game of his career. Saunders’ fielding records can be found on his Baseball-Reference player page.