Q. What Yankee
slugger had a candy bar named for him?
Hint: He was
famous for hitting three home runs in a single World Series game.
Hint: He once
played for the Baltimore Orioles.
Hint: He once led
the American League with 41 home runs for the Yankees but finished second in
the MVP that year.
- Hit 41 HR for NYY in 1980 but finished
way behind George Brett for reasons that soon becomes obvious when you look at
Brett’s batting average that year.
FCR - Dennis Bartel,
La Verne, California
Incorrect guesses: Babe
Ruth
TUESDAY
Q. Who was the
first Yankee slugger to have a candy bar named for him?
Hint: He was
famous for hitting three home runs in a single World Series game.
Hint: He once
played for the Baltimore Orioles.
Hint: He once led
the American League with 41 home runs for the Yankees.
- Most historians believe it way too great a
coincidence that a candy bar one letter different from the most popular icon of
the day at the point where he became an international celebrity (1920) was not
named for him. A sham P.R. campaign by
the Curtis Candy Company reached back into the 19th century and
found the popular but by then little-referenced daughter of President
Cleveland, Ruth Cleveland, for a plausible name sake. A 12-year-old girl, dead from diphtheria 16
years previously, is hardly a credible eponym for a new confection. Keep in mind, this was the same gullible
public who accepted that Abner Doubleday had invented baseball.
- Hit 41 HR for NYY in 1923 but DID win the MVP that season. It was his only MVP because of a rule that
was concocted specifically to prevent him from winning it additional
times. Judging by WAR alone, he could
have won it easily an additional 9 times before even accounting for charisma or
additional tickets sold.
FCR - Dan Greder, Ames, Iowa
Incorrect guesses: Reggie Jackson
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who was good enough to take Vin Scully’s
breath away?
Hint: His father was born in a country that no
longer exists.
Hint: Since his last at-bat over a half century
ago, only Tony Gwynn has finished with a higher career batting average.
Hint: At the time of his retirement, his totals
of times at bat, hits and runs scored were second only to those of Ty
Cobb. His career RBI total was exceeded
only by those of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig but were #1 in the National
League. At that time he also held the
major league record with 1,377 extra-base hits.
- "How good was Stan Musial? He was good enough to take your breath
away." ~ Vin Scully
- Father born in Austro-Hungary, now Poland.
- Finished with a career b.a. of .331. (Gwynn’s is .338)
- Musial retired after the 1963 season with a
career batting average of .331. At the
time of his retirement, his totals of times at bat (10,972), hits (3,630), and
runs scored (1,949) were 2nd only to those of Cobb. His RBI total was 1,951 was bested only by
the Babe and the Iron Horse but were all records for the NL (since surpassed). His major league record of 1,377 extra-base
hits was broken by Hank Aaron in 1973 and Barry Bonds in 2006.
FCR - Dr. Charlie Fouché, Dalton, Georgia
Incorrect
guesses: Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente,
Larry Miggins, Minnie Minoso, Willie Mays
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. Which former Saluki is the only
centerfielder to win a Gold Glove after his 39th birthday?
Hint: He was met by his 13-year-old son, Austin
at home plate after hitting his 300th career homer.
Hint: By doing so, he entered the uber-exclusive
300/300 club.
Hint: He and Reggie Sanders each hit his 250th
career home run in the same game.
- Finley was 39 in 2004 when he won the last of
his 5 GG. He is an alum of Southern Illinois University.
- Only 8 players have accumulated 300 HR &
300 SB in their careers.
FCR - Joe O’Neil, London, ON
Incorrect
guesses: Jim Edmonds, Brady Anderson,
Junior Griffey
THURSDAY
Q. Who was the last player to come to bat
in a major league game Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium?
Hint: He grounded into a double play to end that
game which contributed to his being the all-time leader in grounding into
double plays.
Hint: That is one of his records that has been
broken.
Hint: Teaming with his kid brother, he turned 287
double plays.
- He broke Hank Aaron’s record of 328 GIDP ending
with 350. Albert Pujols is the current
record holder w/394.
- Billy Ripken played w/Cal 1987-91 & 1996. They played in 663 games together, 634 times
when both were starters.
FCR - Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia
Incorrect
guesses: Brooks Robinson, Billy Ripken, Travis
Fryman
FRIDAY
Q. Who led his league in home runs more seasons
than anybody except Babe Ruth?
Hint: His franchise single-season home run record
was set during his first MVP year and then broken by a player in his
only MVP year.
Hint: His alma mater university is famously said
without a leading article.
- Led the NL in HR 8 X. Ruth led the AL an amazing 12 X.
- Schmidt hit 48 HR in 1980, his first of three
MVP seasons. In 2006, during his sole MVP year, Ryan Howard shattered that
record by 10 in finishing up with 58.
- He attended Ohio University, not “The” Ohio
University. (and certainly not “The Ohio State University”)
FCR - Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas
Incorrect
guesses: Gavvy Cravath, Ralph Kiner, Barry
Bonds
TGIF FRIDAY EXTRA
Q. Who is the only Dominican-born second
baseman ever to register a WAR of at least 7.0 in a season in the majors?
Hint: He did it four times.
Hint: He can no longer be called a Mariner.
Hint: He has garnered MVP honors in the MLB
All-Star game and in the World Baseball Classic.
- Year - WAR
2010 - 8.1
2012 - 8.4
2013 - 7.8
2016 - 7.3
- Traded from SEA to NYM after the 2018 season
FCR - Michael Craig, Gilbert, Arizona
Incorrect
guesses: Alfonso Soriano, Roberto Alomar
SATURDAY
Q. Who was the next player since Ted
Williams did it to have an on‑base percentage greater than .475 in consecutive
seasons?
Hint: He founded "Operation Gumby" to
assist children with bed wetting issues.
Hint: He was Jesse Orosco’s, John Burkett’s and Kelvim
Escobar’s 1,000th strikeout victim.
(One K of Ks!)
- .476 OBP in 2000, .477 in 2001
FCR - Benjamin Chase, Huron, South Dakota
Incorrect guesses: Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Tony Gwynn, Wade
Boggs, George Brett, Eddie Yost, Frank Thomas
WEEKEND BONUS
Q. Who was the 27th out of Len
Barker’s perfect game?
Hint: He led the onslaught when the Blue Jays set
the still-unsurpassed (and un-tied) record of ten team home runs in a single
major league game.
Hint: I have eaten at his Mother’s.
- On 14-Sep-1987, TOR manhandled BAL pitching to the tune of 10 HR. Whitt hit 3, each off a different pitcher.
- Whitt was in an ownership group that bought a
restaurant chain called Mother’s.
Comparable to Shoney’s and you could feed the whole family for a
reasonable price. The chain was
purchased out of receivership by Little Caesars pizza in 1989. (I ate at several of them during my time in
Canada in the 1980s.)
FCR - Dr. John Rickert, Terre Haute
Incorrect
guesses: George Bell, Alvis Woods, Buck
Martinez, Lloyd Moseby, Cito Gaston
SUNDAY
Q. Who is the only pitcher in the modern era
to hit three home runs in one game?
Hint: Two years later, he threw a no-hitter, prevented
from being a perfect game by a future Hall of Famer.
Hint: He hit the only home run in his no-hitter.
- 3-HR G 13-May-1942.
Since 1910, 70 pitchers have hit 2 HRs in a game, but only Tobin has a
game w/3.
- The only player to get on base in Tobin’s
no-hitter on 27-Apr-1944 was Paul Waner who symmetrically
walked as the first batter of the game and then again with two out in the 9th.
- Led off the bottom of the 8th w/ a
solo HR.
FCR - Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Incorrect
guesses: Rick Wise, Babe Ruth, Warren
Spahn, Tony Cloninger, Jim Lemon, Earl Wilson
WEEKLY THEME – By position, oldest
players to hit 3 home runs in a game. (Theme suggested by Larry Hayes of San
Francisco)
Position Player, team Age (yrs.days) Box
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Patrick Ray, Paradise Valley, Arizona (after Giambi)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Tuesday - Home
run hitters who had food products named after them
- Players who
have hit home runs clearing the roof of Tiger Stadium (or Briggs Stadium or
Navin Field, the Detroit Tigers home field at the corner of Michigan and
Trumbull until 1999).
Wed - Had
a three homer game after turning 39
- Hitting
3 home runs after turning 39
- Oldest
guys to hit three taters in a game
- Catholic's
who won both World Series & were multiple All -- Stars
Thurs - Former
“Baltimore Orioles” who have hit at least 300 dingers
Sunday - # 1 All-Star
at a position in a decade
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62674782/230071.jpg.0.jpg){kind=link}
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46744684/GettyImages-72538654.0.jpg){kind=link}
