Q. Who was the
first player to complete a cycle in extra innings for his then 86-year-old
franchise with a triple?
Hint: He did it
against the reigning World Series Champions.
Hint: He was the
first player to hit for the cycle after his team moved cities.
Hint: For his
dependable, reliable, predictable and trustworthy performance over his nine-year
career, he was rewarded with one of baseball’s most boring nicknames.
Hint: The college
he attended turned coed, but long after he was gone.
- On 07-May-1970
vs. NYM, Parker doubled in the
2nd; homered in the 7th; singled in the 8th;
then tripled in the 10th off Mets pitcher Jim McAndrew
knocking in the go-ahead runs then scoring the game’s final run himself.
- Nickname: “Mr. Steady”
- Attended Claremont McKenna
College, a private liberal
arts college in Claremont, California. They
began accepting women enrollment in 1976, nearly two decades after his time
there.
FCR - Kevin Mix,
Chicago
MONDAY-MONDAY
Q. Who was the
first shortstop to win the vaunted Platinum Glove Award?
Hint: He has
played the second most major league games of any native of his home country.
Hint: Two of his
teammates rank #1 & #2 in career WAR among all active players.
- Born in Curacao and has 1,030 G under
his belt, but nevertheless has an outside chance to catch fellow countryman Andruw Jones’s196
G.
FCR - Dr. Frank
Stephenson, Rome, Georgia
Incorrect guesses: Manny
Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Omar Vizquel, Francisco Lindor, Luis Aparicio
TUESDAY
Q. Who was the
first Oakland A’s batter to hit for the cycle in Oakland?
Hint: The first
three of his hits were off a Hall of Fame pitcher.
Hint: He led the
American League in walks two years after winning the Silver Slugger Award.
Hint: He once
broke up a perfect game with 2 outs in the ninth inning.
- SS in 2002; 95 BB in 2004
FCR - Dan Schoenholz, Walnut Creek, California
Incorrect guesses: Tony Phillips, Bert Campaneris, Bruce
Froemming, Rickey Henderson
WEDNESDAY
Q. Who was the last player to hit a home
run off of Denny McLain.
Hint: He also made history twice by striking out.
Hint: He studied in the seminary for five years,
planning on a career as a priest.
- He was the 3,000th career strikeout
victim for two different Hall of Fame pitchers:
- “I liked it at seminary, but I really wanted
to be a ballplayer and I knew if I went on to become a priest that would never
happen,” he once said.
FCR - Barry Lipinski, Somerset, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Greg Luzinski, Mickey Mantle
WEDNESDAY FURTHER
Q. After Jim Spencer, who was the next
Angel to win a Gold Glove at first base?
Hint: He was the first player at first base to
win a Gold Glove at that position in both leagues.
Hint: He homered in his first career World Series
game to extend his team’s lead, one they wouldn't relinquish.
Hint: One day in May, six major leaguers hit a
grand slam. He was one of them.
- GG for CAL in 1995, 96. GG for SFG in 1997, 98, 99 & 2000.
- On May 21, 2000 Brian Hunter, Jason Giambi, Adrian Beltre, Shawn Green, Garret Anderson & Snow all hit grand slams. Beltre & Green did it for LAD in the same
game.
FCR - Frank DiPrima, Morristown, New Jersey
Incorrect guesses: Wally Joyner, Albert Pujols, Darin Erstad,
Will Clark
MIDWEEK BONUS
Q. What slick gloveman is the current minor
league assistant hitting coach and outfield coordinator for the Texas Rangers?
Hint: He was once part of an outfield that some writers called the
best in baseball.
Hint: Many give him much of the credit for
turning a journeyman outfielder who had bounced around with five teams in the
majors, into a superstar slugger by changing his swing.
Hint: He began in compassion but in the end was
swallowed up.
- He teamed with Rickey Henderson and Mike Davis
for the A’s in 1983 & 84. Perhaps
those writers were referring to defensive prowess. Nevertheless…
- Was born in Merced, California (compassion or
mercy in Spanish). He final professional
game was as a Yakult Swallow in Japan.
FCR - Matt Clairmont, New Minas, Nova Scotia
Incorrect
guesses: Lloyd Moseby, Ellis Valentine
THURSDAY
Q. What former Milwaukee Brewer was the manager
of the St. Louis Cardinals when they last won a National League pennant?
Hint: He now leads a team that has never won a
National League pennant.
Hint: A concussion curtailed his playing career,
but not until after he’d broken the record at his position for fielding
percentage of his 121-year old franchise.
Hint: He had an even better fielding percentage
at his position with a previous team.
- Retired after 2006, following two seasons w/SFG. SFG catchers’
fielding record of .999 set in 2005.
FCR - Mark Pattison, Washington, DC
Incorrect
guesses:
FRIDAY
Q. Who replaced Willie Mays in centerfield?
Hint: He received his first National League MVP
votes the next season.
Hint: He began growing his beard to protect his
face from damage his skin received from exposure to chemicals during his
service time in Viet Nam.
- Played 91 G in CF in his rookie season 1972 for SFG. Mays played 14 G in CF before being traded to NYM on 11-May.
- Joined the army because he was not happy with
the size of the signing bonus the Giants offered after drafting him in 1968. He served in the Army from 1968 to 1970,
including a year in Vietnam, before receiving a hardship discharge so he could
help support his ill father.
FCR - R. D. Lerner, Silver Spring, Maryland
Incorrect
guesses: Ken Henderson, Bobby Bonds,
Cleon Jones, Rusty Staub
TGIF BONUS
Q. What one-time Tigers’ Gold Glover played
for more than a decade in the majors but had to wait until this century to
garner his World Series ring?
Hint: A Hall of Fame teammate once said,
"When people ask me what I'll miss about the game, I tell them I'll miss
being able to stand on the field and watch [him] play defense.".
Hint: A son of his plays in the NFL and another son
is a soap opera star.
- Comment from Reggie Jackson, Pettis’ teammate on
CAL 1982-86. SI article on Pettis and his
fielding and base running exploits.
- Second son Kyler stars on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives. Youngest son Dante plays wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers and set the NCAA record
for most career punt return touchdowns while at the University
of Washington.
FCR - Jesse Asbury, Norman, Oklahoma
Incorrect
guesses: Curtis Granderson, Lou Whitaker,
Ian Kinsler, Pudge Rodriguez, Alan Trammell
SATURDAY
Q. Who collected the first ever RBI that
the San Diego Padres pitching staff gave up?
Hint: His nickname, though volucrine, was
actually piliferous in origin.
Hint: Doc surrendered his first career hit.
Hint: He only played for expansion teams, then
managed two more and was the hitting coach for a sixth.
- 1st SDP G 08-Apr-1969.
It was a single off the Padres’ Dick Selma the Astros’ only run that day
as the Padres won their franchise opener 2-1.
- He was called “Rojo” and “The Red Rooster”
because of his red hair.
- The Houston Astros (Est. 1962)
- The San Diego Padres (Est. 1969)
- The Toronto Blue Jays (Est. 1977)
- The Texas Rangers (Est. 1961)
- The California Angels (Est. 1961)
- The Florida Marlins (Est. 1993)
FCR - Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island
Incorrect
guesses: Phil Regan
SUNDAY
Q. What outfielder, sufficiently talented
there that he would go onto win multiple Gold Gloves, was pressed into service at
shortstop and promptly helped his team win the pennant AND the World Series at
his new position?
Hint: That same year he scored twice in an inning
in a World Series game.
Hint: Once, after suffering a strikeout at the
hands of baseball’s all-time strikeout king, he said "Those
were the best pitches I ever heard."
Hint: He played professional softball after
retiring from the majors.
- He became a shortstop during the last few days
of the 1968 season for DET, including in all seven games of the 1968 World Series. ESPN rated
Manager Mayo Smith's decision to move Stanley to shortstop for the 1968
World Series as #4 of the 10 greatest coaching decisions of the 20th
century.
- Quote is from Nolan Ryan’s 2nd no-hitter 15-Jul-1973 vs. DET. Stanley supplied 2 of Ryan’s 17 Ks that
Sunday afternoon.
- After retiring from baseball, Stanley signed
with the Detroit Caesars professional
softball club in 1979. He played part-time as the team advanced to the APSPL
World Series but lost to the Milwaukee Schlitz. The Caesars folded after the
season, and Stanley continued his career with the Detroit Auto Kings in their only
season (1980). The Auto Kings won the Eastern Division of the North American
Softball League and advanced to the league finals, where they also lost to the
Schlitz.
FCR - Steven Harmon, Sacramento
Incorrect
guesses: Tommy Leach
WEEKLY THEME – Players
who won at least four Gold Gloves but never made an All-Star team.
Player______ Pos__ #
of GG Years____________
Chavez.......... 3B............ 6......... 2001,
02, 03, 04, 05 & 06
Geronimo...... CF............ 4......... 1974, 75, 76, 77
Maddox......... CF............ 8......... 1975,
76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81 & 82
Matheny......... C............. 4......... 2000,
03, 04 & 05
Murphy.......... CF............ 6......... 1980,
81, 82, 83, 84 & 85
Parker............ 1B............ 6......... 1967,
68, 69, 70, 71 & 72
Pettis............. CF............ 5......... 1985,
86, 88, 89 & 90
Rader............ 3B............ 5......... 1970,
71, 72, 73 & 74
Simmons*..... SS............ 4......... 2013, 14, 17 & 18
Snow............. 1B............ 6......... 1995,
96, 97, 98, 99 & 2000
Stanley.......... CF............ 4......... 1968,
69, 70 & 73
First
Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Sam Bass, Decatur, Georgia (After
Simmons!)
Incorrect theme
guesses:
Monday - Best
defensive players by each position
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