MONDAY POST SUPER BOWL
Q. After Honus Wagner,
which Pittsburgh Pirate won the most batting titles?
Hint: He beat out 2nd
place finisher Koufax for MVP in the lefty’s final Major League season.
Hint: Koufax said of him,
“He's the strangest hitter in baseball. Figure
him out one way and he'll kill you another.”
A. ROBERTO CLEMENTE
- Wagner led his league 8 times to Clemente’s 4 titles.
- 1966 NL MVP Vote had
Clemente over Koufax by a scant 10 points - 218 to 208.
FCR - Mark Jones Birmingham, AL
Incorrect answers: Bill Madlock (He won 2 w/PIT, 2 w/CHC),
Matty Alou, Dick Groat, Bill Virdon
TUESDAY
Q. Who was the first
National League MVP winner to have also won - specifically - National League
Rookie of the Year?
Hint: He had the highest
total WAR of any player from 1950-1969.
Hint: In his next-to-last
season he was traded for a relief pitcher and $50,000
A. WILLIE
MAYS
- 1951 NL ROY, 1954 NL MVP. Jackie Robinson won ROY, but
there was no NL ROY at that time. Newcomb ROY 1949, MVP 1956 after Mays
won both. Question did not require simultaneous, same-year awards.
- 1950-1969 WAR of 142.9 despite not having played in 1950 and
most of 1952-3 since he enlisted in the war (no pun intended).
- Traded 11-May-1972 for Charlie Williams of
NYM. Mays retired after the 1973 WS.
FCR - Michael Campos, Redmond, WA
Incorrect answers: Don Newcombe
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who is the only
Brave to win league MVP the same year his team won the World Series?
Hint: He still leads the
franchise for most games played, hits, singles, doubles and a few other
offensive categories.
Hint: He is the only
player to top Barry Bonds for most 20 home run seasons.
A. HANK
AARON
- 1957 WS Champs Milwaukee Braves, Aaron was NL MVP - his only MVP
season.
- Braves Career leader for
HR and RBI (of course), as well as WAR (position players and offense), Slugging
%, OPS, AB, PA, Runs scored, Total Bases, Extra Base Hits, Sacrifice Flies,
Intentional Bases on Balls, GIDP, as well as other metrics.
- 20 seasons with 20 or more HR. Bonds has 19, Frank Robinson
and Willie Mays 17 each.
FCR - Morris Buenemann, Florissant,
MO
Incorrect answers: Chipper Jones
THURSDAY SOLO SHOT
Q. Who was the first
Rookie of the Year to also lead his league in runs scored?
Hint: He was the first
slugger to hit both his 400th and 500th homer in an Orioles uniform.
Hint: In his first at bat
as player-manager, he hit an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall—with Rachel
Robinson in attendance.
A. FRANK
ROBINSON
- 1956 ROY, 122 R
- 400th HR off Jim Kaat 09-Sep-1967, 500th
off Fred Scherman 13-Sep-1971.
- 08-Apr-1975 b1, solo
shot. As the first black MLB manager, Rachel Robinson - his namesake -
attended the game. Jackie passed away 1972.
FCR - Rick Zucker, St.
Louis, MO
Incorrect answers: Eddie Murray, Jackie Robinson
FRIDAY FUN DAY
Q. Who is the only
Giants-franchise rookie to ever lead his league in doubles?
Hint: A few years later
he led in homers and runs batted in, with the batting title going to a fellow
US Territory native.
Hint: He was awarded the
NL League MVP a year after the very same player.
Hint: He was the first
designated hitter to play 140 games in a season.
Hint: He was signed
expressly for that purpose to the team that he had beaten to win his only WS
ring.
A. ORLANDO
CEPEDA
- 38 doubles in 1958. Buddy Kerr (31, NYG 1944) and George
Burns (37, 1913 NYG) were the only other Giants rookies to hit even 30.
- 1961 NL leader 46HR,
MLB leader 142 RBI, BA .311. Clemente’s .351 NL BA crown.
- 1967 NL MVP. Clemente NL MVP 1966
- 1973, first year of the DH, 142 G, all at DH, and considered the first “full-time”
DH.
- BOS DH, he was with STL when they won the 1967 WS over the Red
Sox.
FCR - “FIREFIGHTER” Barry Uznitski Nelson, Guilderland, NY
Incorrect answers: Chili Davis, Will Clark
SATURDAY SCREAMER
Q. Which former Expo
has the most seasons with 200 hits?
Hint: He is the only
player to ever appear in more than 162 games in a season and lead the majors in
runs scored.
Hint: He was born 10
years after the only other player and manager from his high school to play in a
World Series.
Hint: And they both won
multiple rings.
A. Pete Rose
- 1984 played in 95G with MON. He and Ichiro are tied with
the most seasons (10) with 200 hits. Cobb has 9.
- 1974: 163 G, 110 R. He also led the majors with 771
PA, and the NL with 45 doubles.
- He and Don Zimmer - both were players and managers - went to Western Hills High School in their native town of Cincinnati, OH. Zimmer won
two rings. Rose three.
FCR - Charles Vascellaro Baltimore, MD
Incorrect answers: Tim Raines, Rusty Staub, Andre Dawson,
Vladimir Guerrero, Al Oliver, Larry Walker
SUNDAY FINALE
Q. Who is the only man
to play in all three World Series for the 1960’s Cardinals and be awarded a
Gold Glove?
Hint: He was the first
outfielder to win 7-straight Gold Gloves yet not make the Hall of Fame.
Hint: His only hit in his
first two seasons was a homer in his final at bat that came off the pitcher
that holds the World Series single game record for most strikeouts by a relief
pitcher.
Hint: It was said of him
and his actions: “The
national pastime is clearly better because of that. But more important, so is
the nation, because it has learned one more lesson about the foolishness of
fearing freedom.”
A. CURT
FLOOD
- 7 GG, 1963-9. Tim McCarver, Mike Shannon and Lou Brock also appeared in those three WS, but none won a GG.
- Clemente and Mays, each with 12 consecutive GG, were the
first OF with 7 straight.
- His second season as a September call-up, he hit a 9th inning HR
off Drabowski, Moe 25-Sep-1957.
Moe struck out 11 in 6.2in relief 5-Oct-1966 for BAL
against LAD.
- A couple of years before
Flood died, George Will wrote “He lost the 1970 season and lost in
the Supreme Court, but he had lit a fuse. … Six years later – too late to
benefit him – his cause prevailed. The
national pastime is clearly better because of that. But more important, so is the nation, because
it has learned one more lesson about the foolishness of fearing freedom.” From
SABR bio.
FCR - Bob Kimball Sutton, MA
Incorrect answers: Lou Brock,
WEEKLY THEME – Players who batted .300+ in 5 or
more seasons in the 1960’s “Decade of the Pitcher” (must qualify for batting
title).
First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – no one
Player Number of
.300+ Seasons
Clemente 9
1960-7, ‘68-9 (all but 1968)
Aaron 7
1961-5, ‘67, ‘69
Robinson 6
1961-2, ‘64, ‘66-7, ‘69
Cepeda 6
1961-4, ‘66-7
Rose 5
1965-9
Flood 5
1963-5, ‘67-8
Mays 5
1960-3, 1965
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