MONDAY
Q. Who
won an unprecedented seven Cy Young Awards with four different teams?
Hint: He
was the most recent starting pitcher to be voted American League Most Valuable
Player before Justin Verlander in 2011.
Twint: He
was recently acquitted of perjury charges.
Twint: Mike
Piazza, needless to say, is not his best friend.
A. Roger Clemens (Won CYA w/Red Sox 86, 87,
91; Blue Jays 97,98; Yankees 2001; Astros 2004; MVP 1986; Acquittal
18‑Jun‑2012; Clemens
beaned Piazza (some say intentionally) and that same season threw a jagged
broken bat at him in Game 2
of the 2000
World Series.)
FCR - Ira Kotel, Short Hills, NJ
TUESDAY
Q. Who
is the all-time career pitching leader in strike outs and bases on balls?
Hint: He
holds the record for the lowest career number of hits per nine innings pitched
(minimum 1,000 IP).
Hint: He
was elected to the Hall of Fame with one of the highest percentages ever.
Twint: He
pitched in the majors longer than anyone.
Twint: In
his only World Series appearance, he earned a save with the 1969 Mets.
A. Nolan Ryan (5,714 K, 2,795 BB, 6.5553
H/9IP; HOF 1999 w/98.8% of
the votes; 27 seasons in the Bigs; Game 3
’69 WS pitched 2.1 scoreless innings to preserve a 5-0 Mets win)
FCR - Frank
DiPrima, Morristown, NJ
WEDNESDAY
Q. What
Hall of Famer was named after President Warren Harding?
Hint: He
went 3-2 in consecutive World Series against the Yankees.
Hint: The
three wins he pitched were all complete games, including two 10-inning
victories.
Twint: Teammate
Eddie Mathews homered in the bottom of the 10th for the first of his
10-inning walk off World Series victories.
Twint: Mathews
drove in Johnny Logan who scored the winning run.
A. Warren Spahn (B. 23‑Apr‑1921, a month
after President Harding’s
inauguration; ’57 WS 1-1, ‘58 WS 2-1; G 4 ’57 WS included
Johnny
Logan doubling in tying run and Mathews
walk-off HR bottom 10th; ‘58 WS G 1 CG
10 innings, G 4 CG
SHO.)
FCR - Alan Chen, Denver,
CO
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Which
Hall of Famer won his only Cy Young Award with a 22-10 record at age 39?
Hint: It
was the only year he got even a single Cy Young vote.
Hint: The
same year, his team lost the World Series.
Twint: He
had exactly 300 career victories when he retired in 1963.
Twint: He
admitted he wore coveralls to his first professional tryout.
Twint: He was widowed at age 22, left with an infant son.
FCR - Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, RI
THURSDAY
Q. Who
threw a shut out at age 46, making him then the oldest player to do so at that
time?
Hint: He
was the last active player to play with the Milwaukee Braves.
Hint He
was also the last active player born in the 1930s.
Twint: His father taught both his broth and him to
throw a knuckleball.
Twint: In
1967 he led the National League with an ERA of 1.87 but didn’t get a single Cy
Young Award vote.
A. Phil Niekro (CG SHO 06‑Oct‑1985
NYY vs. TOR, 8-0; B.
01‑Apr‑39, Final G 27‑Sep‑1987;
Father Joe Niekro, Sr, brother Joe Jr.;
1967
NL CYA)
FCR - Chuck Durante, Dove, DE
FRIDAY
Q. What
pitcher won the clinching game that gave the New York Yankees their first ever
World Series championship?
Hint: He
was a teammate of Babe Ruth on both the Red Sox and the Yankees.
Hint: He
is one of three pitchers to win a game in his teens and in his forties.
Twint: He
was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in 1948, having passed away
earlier that year, perhaps the first to “benefit” from his own demise.
A.
Herb Pennock (1923 WS G 6;
W/Ruth 1915-17, 19 BOS & ’23-33 NYY; 3-3 age 18-19 with the 1912-13
Philadelphia A’S; 2-0 w/BOS in 1934; D. 30‑Jan‑1948,
HOF 1948).
FCR - John
Robertson, Cambridge, ON
SATURDAY
Q. Who
pitched for the Dodgers in consecutive World Series losses to the Yankees, then
three years later pitched for the losing Yankees against the World Series-winning
Dodgers?
Hint: He
once committed three errors in one play, thought to be the only such occurrence
in the history of the major leagues.
Hint: Despite
that, he went on to win that game 16-3, Yankees over the Brewers.
Twint: He was quoted as saying: "When they
operated, I told them to put in a Koufax fastball. They did, but it was Mrs. Koufax's."
Twint: He won
20 games in a season three times after the surgery, having reached only 16 wins
once in the prior 12 seasons.
A. Tommy John (1977 WS, 1978 WS, 1981 WS;
3 E one play 27‑Jul‑1988
v Brewers).
FCR - David Krassin, New York, NY
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who,
with a 216-216 record, had the most wins for a .500 pitcher?
Hint: His
fastball was so unimpressive that the Dodgers decided to make him a
knuckleballer.
Hint: In
his major league debut, however, he managed—to everyone’s surprise especially
the batter’s—to end the game with the bases loaded by striking out Willie
Stargell with a fastball.
Twint: He
was born in Hawaii before it became a state.
A. Charlie Hough (B. 05‑Jan‑1948 Honolulu,
HI, statehood cam 21-‑Aug‑1959; taught the knuckler by Goldie Holt prior to 1970 season;
Debut 12‑Aug‑1970).
FCR - Jim Lovelace, Kent, OH
SUNDAY
Q. What
player chosen by the Oakland A’s as the fourth pick in the draft, played 13
years and 248 games before achieving a winning season of 14-10?
Hint: His
.431 winning percentage is the lowest career mark of any pitcher with 400
starts.
Hint: Despite
this, he lasted 22 seasons in the majors.
Twint: Despite
a weak 1-0 record regular season record with the 2001 Diamondbacks, he played in
all three post-season series with an ERA of 0.00 in the World Series.
A. Mike Morgan (1978
Draft; 14-10 WL 1991; 2001 WS
4.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 single)
FCR - David Krassin, New York, NY
WEEKLY THEME
– Pitchers who surrendered home runs to batters who weren't born at the time of
the pitcher's debut.
Home Run Batter Birthdate Pitcher Debut
23‑Sep‑1933 Mel Almada 07‑Feb‑1913 Pennock 14‑May‑1912
25‑May‑1934 Hal Trosky 11‑Nov‑1912 Pennock 14‑May‑1912
21‑Aug‑1962 Boog Powell 17‑Aug‑1941 Wynn 13‑Sep‑1939
28‑Sep‑1962 Joe Pepitone 09‑Oct‑1940 Wynn 13‑Sep‑1939
21‑Jun‑1964 Rusty Staub 01‑Apr‑1944 Spahn 19‑Apr‑1942
30‑Apr‑1965 Tony Perez 14‑May‑1942 Spahn 19‑Apr‑1942
31‑Aug‑1965 Alex Johnson 07‑Dec‑1942 Spahn 19‑Apr‑1942
13‑Jul‑1986 Ruben Sierra 06‑Oct‑1965 Niekro 15‑Apr‑1964
13‑Sep‑1986 Jose Canseco 02‑Jul‑1964 Niekro 15‑Apr‑1964
05‑Jul‑1988 Ruben Sierra 06‑Oct‑1965 John 06‑Sep‑1963
22‑Jun‑1990 Ken Griffey 21‑Nov‑1969 Ryan 11‑Sep‑1966
19‑Sep‑1990 Ken Griffey 21‑Nov‑1969 Ryan 11‑Sep‑1966
26‑Apr‑1991 Carlos
Baerga 04‑Nov‑1968 Ryan 11‑Sep‑1966
28‑Jul‑1991 Travis
Fryman 25‑Mar‑1969 Ryan 11‑Sep‑1966
26‑May‑1992 Ivan
Rodriguez 27‑Nov‑1971 Hough 12‑Aug‑1970
27‑Aug‑1992 Kevin
Koslofski 24‑Sep‑1966 Ryan 11‑Sep‑1966
22‑Jun‑2002 Vernon Wells 08‑Dec‑1978 Morgan 11‑Jun‑1978
21‑Jun‑2007 Troy
Tulowitzki 10‑Oct‑1984 Clemens 15‑May‑1984
18‑Aug‑2007 Cameron
Maybin 04‑Apr‑1987 Clemens 15‑May‑1984
First Correct Respondent
to Identify Theme – No
one
