MONDAY
Q. What
catcher helped lead the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates to their first postseason play
in two decades?
Hint: He
replaced Jorge Posada.
Hint: He
played ball for the same college as did Joey Bats.
Twint: One
of his middle names is homage to a famous saxophone player.
A. Russell Martin (2013 Pirates;
Replaced Posada on the Yankees in 2011;
Chipola College also Alma Mater of Jose Bautista;
Full name: Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin, Jr [John Coltrane])
FCR - Philip
Hochberg, Rockville, MD
MONDAY MÁS
Q. What
reliever converted an unbelievable 84 consecutive save opportunities?
Hint: He
was the pitching coach for the French national baseball team for the 2013 World
Baseball Classic.
Hint: He
once hit a triple in the same game where the opposing pitcher did as well.
Twint: He
only played one season after he was named in the Mitchell Report.
A. Eric Gagne (84 saves in a row 2002-04; France
failed to win a game and did not qualify for the main BCS tournament; Triples
on 21‑Aug‑2001
It was the first of Brad Penny’s
career. It was the only triple of
Gagne’s career.)
FCR - Richard
Nicholson, Richmond, VA
TUESDAY
Q. Who
was the first player since Hank Aaron in 1963 to finish in the top two in both
home runs and steals?
Hint: That
same year, he led the National League in runs, home runs and RBI but lost the
MVP Award to Ryan Braun.
Twint: Some
credited his improved performance to the fact that he was no longer dating Rhianna.
A. Matt Kemp (Finished behind Michael
Bourn’s 61 SB w/40, tied with Emilio
Bonifacio, Cameron
Maybin & Drew Stubbs,
finish 1st in HR w/39; 2011)
FCR - Tommy
Garber, Austin, TX
TUESDAY ENCORE
Q. Who
is the highest-paid player on the Washington Nationals?
Hint: It
was well-earned. In 2013 as he finished
in the top ten in the league in home runs, slugging and OPS.
Twint: His
baseball bloodlines are strong.
A. Jayson Werth ($16,000,000 in 2013; 25
HR, .532 SLG, .931 OPS; Bloodlines: His
mother, Kim Schofield Werth, competed in the U.S. Olympics Trials in the long
jump and 100 meter dash. His father, Jeff
Gowan, played a year in the minor
leagues and was a standout
wide receiver at Illinois State.
His grandfather, Dick
"Ducky" Schofield, played 19 years in the majors and his uncle, Dick
Schofield, played 14 years in the majors.)
FCR - Alan Work, White Plains, NY
WEDNESDAY
Q. What
manager has two World Series championships with his current team, but garnered
his only Manager of the Year Award with a different team?
Hint: In
his twelve years as a major league manager, his teams have won six division
titles.
Twint: He
is the only person to both play for and manage the San Diego Padres.
A. Bruce Bochy (WS 2010, 12, MOY
1996 w/SDP; Played for SDP 1983-87, mgr 1995-2006)
FCR - Jeff Fink, Howell, NJ
WEDNESDAY WARBLER
Q. Who
holds the rookie record for consecutive games with a hit?
Hint: He
still holds that record for his franchise.
Twint: He
hit the first-ever home run for the Florida Marlins.
A. Benito Santiago (34-game hitting streak
for the Padres in 1987; HR 12‑Apr‑1993
in the team’s 7th [!] G)
FCR - David Krassin, New York, NY
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Who
led Blue Jays batters in bases-on-balls in 2013?
Hint: He’s
been in the top four in home runs in the majors each of the past two season.
Hint: He
was the starting first baseman for the team that won the 2013 World Baseball
Classic.
Twint: He
had a five-RBI inning in July of this year.
A. Edwin Encarnacion (82 BB; Dominican
Republic National Team; 5 RBI 26‑Jul‑2013
7th inning)
FCR - Bob Elliott, Mississauga, ON
THURSDAY
Q. Who
would have been Rookie of the Year but for the advent of Jose Canseco?
Hint: He
was nicknamed after a fictional theme park.
Twint: He
was a collegiate teammate of Rick
Aguilera.
Twint: Brandon
Phillips attended the same high school.
A. Wally Joyner (1986
ROY voting; “Wally World”, the vacation destination of the Griswold family
in the 1983 movie Vacation;
FCR - Charlie Vascellaro, Baltimore, MD
THURSDAY ECHO
Q. Who
was the last player to score five runs in a game in the 1980s?
Hint: He
and two other Phillies were the first trio of teammates to get one hundred
bases‑on‑balls apiece in the same season.
Hint: After
a ten-year career in the majors, he collected a single off an All-Star pitcher,
walked off the field, shook hands with his teammates in the dugout, descended
into the clubhouse, retired for good.
Hint: He
was replaced in that game by the reigning league MVP and a certain‑to‑be Hall
of Famer.
Twint: He
led the Phillies in HR, RBI, hits and runs during the 1991 season.
Twint: He
once said, "I would think I drive
most hitting coaches crazy. During one single at-bat I used six different
stances on six pitches. Oh yeah, I also struck out. So what do I know?”
A. John Kruk (5 R 10‑Aug‑1989;
100+ BB 1993 w/Darren
Dalulton [117], Lenny
Dykstra [129] & Kruk [111]; Retirement single against Scott
Erickson 30‑Jul‑1995;
Replaced by Frank
Thomas)
FCR - David Krassin, New York, NY
THURSDAY THRICE
Q. Who
was the first National League player to collect 200 hits in a season without
hitting a triple?
Hint: He
made up for it with his league-leading 48 home runs.
Hint: He
has received MVP votes each of the last three seasons.
Hint: He
will very likely receive MVP votes again in 2013.
Twint: He
was one of the record six players who hit grand slams on 21‑May‑2000.
A. Adrian Beltre (200 H, 0 3B in 2004); GS
21-May-2000)
FCR - Richard
Tharp, Gaithersburg, MD
FRIDAY
Q. What
switch-hitting former Dodger and former Padre is a cousin of Kanekoa Texeira?
Hint: He
was the MVP of the International League, playing for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Red Barons.
Hint: In
addition to his four Gold Glove Awards, he has also won the Lou Gehrig Memorial
Award in and the Branch Rickey Award.
Twint: He
owns two World Series rings both earned playing for red-clad teams.
Twint: His
home-team fans serenaded him during the World Series, hoping to boost his
spirits (and batting average).
Twint: Only
he and Jim
Thome have hit multiple postseason grand slams.
A. Shane Victorino (Texeira; IL
MVP 2005; GG 2008-10 & 2013, LGMA 2008, BRA
2011; WS 2008
Phillies, 2013
Red Sox; Fans’ song: Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds”,
which begins with the lyrics, “"Don't worry about a thing, Cause every
little thing gonna be all right.” It was
also Victorino’s walk-up song during the season; Thome’s GS G 6 ALCS 13‑Oct‑1998
& G 2 ALDS 07‑Oct‑1999,
Victorino’s’ GS G 2 NLDS 02‑Oct‑2008)
FCR - Blake Sherry, Dublin,
OH
WEEK-ENDER
Q. Who
was the first second baseman since World War II to collect 200 hits, 20 home
runs, 100 RBI and hit .300 for two seasons in a row?
Hint: He
was the first batter to come to the plate to "The Macarena".
Twint: He
was the first infielder to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the
same inning.
Twint: Quoth
Berman, “One if by land, two if sea, three if ___________________.
A. Carlos Baerga (Stats 1992-93; Macarena
1995); Switch-hit HRs 08‑Apr‑1993,
7th inning
FCR - Thomas Hablitzel,
Hudson, OH
WEEKENDER
Q. What
former Atlanta Brave was the first native of Venezuela to manage in the major
leagues?
Hint: He’s
seventh all-time in career Total Zone Runs at Shortstop, but two of the players
ahead of him are fellow Venezuelans.
Twint: He’s
one of a very few people with a Manager of the Year Award, a Gold Glove and a
World Series ring (as a manager).
A. Ozzie Guillen (Mgr first in 2004 [Managerial
debut: 05‑Apr‑2004; Al Pedrique
managed the Diamondbacks later that same year.], played for ATL 1998-99; TZR
rating 99, #4 Luis
Aparicio 149, #5 Omar Vizquel
134; Award combo also done by Davey Johnson
& Joe Torre)
FCR - Paul Hirsch, San Diego, CA
SATURDAY
Q. Who
was the first player to retire with more than 1,000 strikeouts and fewer than
1,000 hits?
Hint: He
was the first player to hit 20 home runs in a season in which he batted under
.200.
Hint: The
high point of his career was a game-tying
home run on Easter Sunday.
Twint: Five
times in his career he was signed as a free agent.
A. Rob Deer (853 H, 1,409 K, since joined
in this special club by Russell Branyan;
1991 25 HR batting .179; Easter HR 19‑Apr‑1987
to give the MIL
their 12th straight win to start the season; Signed as a free
agent w/ DET
1990, w/ CAL
1995, SDP
1995 [2X] & SDP
1996)
FCR - Charlie Vascellaro, Baltimore, MD
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. What
Texas Ranger outfielder went over the fence for what many baseball observers
consider the best ever home-run-robbing catch?
Hint: He
won his team’s MVP award that same year.
Hint: In
his one All Star Game appearance, his fellow teammate hit a game winning homer
and was named MVP.
Twint: His
father, also a major league All-Star, played in the majors under the very same
name.
A. Gary Matthews, Jr. (“The Catch” 01‑Jul‑2006
off batter Mike
Lamb. It would have been Lamb’s 2nd
HR of the G and 4th hit; ASG PNC Park 11‑Jul‑2006,
HR by Michael
Young; Father Gary
Matthews)
FCR - David Krassin, New York, NY
SUNDAY
Q. Which
player hit his 40th home run of the season on his 30th birthday?
Hint: That
same season, he led his league in hits and led the majors in doubles, batting
average, slugging, OPS and OPS+.
Hint: Before
his professional baseball career, he turned down a basketball scholarship offer
from the University of North Carolina.
Twint: His
father served as the Cubs' Pacific Rim coordinator from for five years.
Twint: His
uncle was in the majors for eight seasons with the Cards, Padres, Indians and
Dodgers.
A. Derrek Lee (HR 06‑Sep‑2005;
Father Leon worked for Cubs 1998-2002; Uncle Leron Lee
FCR - Rod Nelson, Detroit, MI
WEEKLY THEME
– Notable players who spent part of their minor league careers playing for Las
Vegas.
Player Team Years
Encarnacion 51s 2010
First Correct Respondent
to Identify Theme – Louis
Schiff, Deerfield Beach, FL (after Werth Q.)
Horsehide Trivia blog has the
questions and answers from this week as well as from previous weeks: http://horsehidetrivia.blogspot.com/
Horsehide Trivia home page: https://sites.google.com/site/tnfotobbpics/home/horsehide-trivia
