2020-12-14 Pitchers who gave up ten home runs each to Babe Ruth

 MONDAY  —  Dec 14

Q.        Who surrendered Babe Ruth’s 400^th career home run?

Hint:     It was also the 44^th of the sixty Ruth hit in 1927.

Hint:     Along with teammates Lefty Grove and George Earnshaw, he won twenty games in 1931.

Hint:     Twenty-four years after his death, he was inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame.

A.         RUBE WALBERG  [SABR Bio]

-  HR #400/44 = 02-Sep-1927

-  Grove (31), Earnshaw (21), Walberg (20) for PHA.  It’s interesting to note that a year after the majors, cumulatively, hit .300, 1931 was the only season in A’s franchise history that they had three 20-game winners until the 1973 team in Oakland.

-  Passed away in 1978.  Inducted into the Philly BWOF in 2002.

FCR -  Bob Heckman, Alexandria, Virginia

Incorrect guesses:  Ernie Nevers, Rube Waddell, George Earnshaw, Ed Rommel, Herb Pennock

TUESDAY  —  Dec 15

Q.        Which righty holds the American League record for fewest hits surrendered in back-to-back starts?

Hint:     It was his record for most strikeouts in a single World Series game that Carl Erskine broke when he struck out fourteen Yankees in game three of the 1953 Fall Classic.

Hint:     For each of the three full seasons he was employed by the Red Sox, he received MVP consideration.  Those were his only complete years with them and the only years of his fifteen-year career when MVP voters acknowledged his contribution.

Hint:     His gem of a 1-0 shutout lasted one hour and thirteen minutes and is the quickest game ever pitched against a team with Babe Ruth in the lineup.

A.         HOWARD EHMKE  [SABR Bio]

-  On Friday, 07-Sep-1923 Ehmke no-hit his future team, PHA in Shibe Park, their home stadium.  4 days later, Tuesday, 11-Sep, he allowed a single to Whitey Witt, NYY’s first batter, then threw 9 scoreless, hitless innings for his 18^th W of the year.

-  Erskine’s 14 Ks trumped the 13 that Ehmke racked up vs. CHC in G 1 of the 1929 WS.

-  Ehmke received MVP votes in 1923, 1924 & 1925.

-  On 08-Aug-1920, Ehmke struck out 8 NYY batters, allowed 3 H, but no R, for DET.  Ty Cobb scored the G’s lone R.  BTW, during the second game of a 26-Sept-1926 doubleheader, NYY was also involved in the shortest G by time ever played in the AL (55 minutes).  However, with the Yankees having already clinched the pennant, Ruth did not play in the record-quickest nightcap.

FCR -  Andy McCue, Riverside, California

Incorrect guesses:  Johnny Vander Meer, Carl Mays, Allie Reynolds, Wes Farrell

 

WEDNESDAY  —  Dec 16

Q.        Who holds the career pitching Won-Loss mark for most games under .500?

Hint:     He’s the only pitcher to finish his career with nine straight losing seasons of 100+ IP.

Hint:     His first major league roommate was Lou Gehrig.

Hint:     He once tossed a fourteen-hit shutout.

A.         MILT GASTON  [SABR Bio]

-  Over his 11-year career, Gaston compiled a 97-164 record, a whopping 67 G under .500.  Next worst at -64 was Si Johnson (101-165).

-  Career-ending losing streak set from 1926-1934.

-  Roommates w/Gehrig in Gaston’s rookie season of 1924.  (Lou’s 2^nd season.)

-  His 10-July-1928 whitewash of CLE is the MLB record for most H allowed in a SHO.

FCR -  Joe O’Neill, London, Ontario

Incorrect guesses:  Lefty Grove, Bobo Newsom, Herb Pennock

 

MIDWEEK BONUS  —  Dec 16

Q.        Which pitcher faced the most batters in the history of the Detroit Tigers franchise?

Hint:     He was the pitcher who stopped George Sisler’s streak of ten hits in ten straight plate appearances.

Hint:     He and Hall of Famer Chuck Klein are from the same hometown.

A.         HOOKS DAUSS  [SABR Bio]

-  Faced 14,192 batters.  Mickey Lolich is the career runner-up with 13,980.

-  On 15-Aug-1921, after giving up a single to Sisler in the 1^st inning, Dauss induced him to ground out in the 4^th, breaking the streak.  Sisler then homered off him in the 6^th.  Sisler had gone 5-for-5 and 4-for-4 in his two previous games.

-  Dauss & Klein are from Indianapolis, but never met in a game in the majors because Dauss pitched only for DET in his 15-year career and Klein never left the NL.

FCR -  Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas

Incorrect guesses:  Wild Bill Donovan, Dizzy Trout, George Mullin, Tommy Bridges, George Uhle, Hal Newhouser, Schoolboy Rowe, Elmer Brown, Early Wynn

 

THURSDAY  —  Dec 17

Q.        Which Modern Era pitcher has the highest lifetime batting average?

                        (minimum 1,000 AB)

Hint:     Some credit him with the invention of the slider.

Hint:     No other pitcher hit more batters in major league games for his primary franchise.

A.         GEORGE UHLE  [SABR Bio]

-  .289 with 1,513 PA in 722 G in 17 seasons

-  With DET in 1930, he began experimenting with a new pitch released off his middle finger.  When asked about his new curveball by teammate Harry Heilmann, Uhle responded, “That’s not a curve.  That ball was sliding!”

-  Plunked a franchise career-most 95 during his 11 years with CLE.

FCR -  Bill Deane, Cooperstown

Incorrect guesses:  Don Drysdale, Chief Bender, Bob Gibson, Walter Johnson, Waite Hoyt, Red Ruffing, Bob Lemon

 

FRIDAY  —  Dec 18

Q.        Who surrendered Hank Greenberg's first career home run?

Hint:     He also gave up Earl Averill’s first career home run.

Hint:     He is the only left-handed pitcher to win twenty games in a seasons for the American League’s Washington Senators.  (And he only did it once.)

Hint:     He hit Lou Gehrig in the head and nearly knocked him out in the 1,217^th game of Gehrig’s record-setting consecutive-games-played streak.

A.         EARL WHITEHILL  [SABR Bio]

-  Greenberg HR 06-May-1933.  Greenberg went on to hit 330 more in his career.

-  Averill’s 1^st HR came on his 1^st at-bat in the majors: It was the 1^st inning of Opening Day 1929.  Averill would hit another 237 4-baggers during his 13 big league seasons.  Averill was only the 2^nd AL batter to go deep in his 1^st AB.  Luke Stuart was the first on 08-Aug-1921 when he hit an inside-the-park job for the only hit of his three game major league career.

-  Whitehill’s finest season was 1933, his 1^st year w/WSH after 10 years w/DET.  His record that year was 22-8 and he led the majors in G started w/37.

-  Gehrig actually finished the game on 23-Apr-1933.

FCR -  Elliott Frankfother, Rock Falls, Illinois

Incorrect guesses:  Lefty Grove, Tom Zachary, General Crowder, Urban Shocker, Lefty Stewart, Dutch Leonard, Garland Braxton

 

SATURDAY  —  Dec 19

Q.        Who was the only left-handed pitcher to win twenty games in a season for the St. Louis Browns?

Hint:     A burst appendix had nearly taken his life in the offseason following his first full year in the majors.

Hint:     His fifteen-year career ended with him playing for a team whose city matched his middle name.

Hint:     Seven times he gave up the second home run to a player who had already homered off him earlier that afternoon.

A.         LEFTY STEWART  [B-R Bio]

-  20-12 in 1930 for SLB.  Note:  Toad Ramsey won 23 for the American Association Browns in 1890.

-  Appendix rupture in the winter of 1927.

-  Born Walter Cleveland Stewart. Went 6-6 with a 5.44 ERA in 1935 for CLE. 

-. 2 X HR:  Babe Ruth.................. 25-Aug-1929

                  Urbane Pickering....... 20-May-1931*

Billy Rogell................. 23-May-1932

Earl Averill.................. 05-Sept-1932

Jimmie Foxx............... 20-April-1933

2X Lou Gehrig............ 22-June-1932 & 05-July-1934

*2 of Pickering’s 11 career HR, but 33% of his homers that month!

FCR -  Steven Wright, Naperville, Illinois

Incorrect guesses:  Lefty Gomez, Ned Garver, Urban Shocker, Pete Alexander, Bobo Newsom

 

SUNDAY  —  Dec 20

Q.        Which Baltimore native was part of The Wrecking Crew?

Hint:     He was the last White Sox pitcher to complete 24 games in three consecutive seasons.

Hint:     He and a fellow “Castle” alumni “dialed” 411.

A.         TOMMY THOMAS  [SABR Bio]

-  Born in Baltimore in 1899, Thomas was on the 1933 WSH team that won the AL pennant by 7 G over NYY.  Washington Post sportswriter Shirley Povich called the team the “Wrecking Crew” by the way their lineup, featuring 4 Hall of Famers, dominated AL pitching that summer.  Early Whitehill and Lefty Stewart were also on that staff.  It was the 3^rd and final pennant the Senators would win.

-  Thomas had exactly 24 CGs in each season from 1927-1929.

-  Tommy Byrne is the only other major leaguer to attend Baltimore’s City College High School, known as the “Castle on the Hill”.  Although separated by 20 years, both he and Thomas enjoyed 10 seasons in the majors and each finished with identical career ERAs of… 4.11.

FCR -  Tom Lee, Nashville

Incorrect guesses:  Pete Vuckovich, Lefty Stewart, Wilber Wood, Maurice Mc Dermott, Ted Lyons, Ed Walsh

 

 

WEEKLY THEME – Pitchers who surrendered more than ten home runs each to Babe Ruth.

 

Pitcher     HRs by #3

Dauss          14

Ehmke         13

Gaston        13

Stewart        13

Thomas       11

Uhle             12

Walberg      17

Whitehill      11

 

 

 

First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Bob Charkovsky, Ashton, Maryland (after Gaston.)

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Monday  -  Pitchers who won 20 games in a season while walking more than they struck out in that season

               -  Pitchers who surrendered the most career home runs to all time MLB HR leaders

               -  Pitchers who surrendered the most career home runs to batters who hit 60+ home runs in a season

 

Tuesday -  Players who played for four different managers who made it to the Hall of Fame

               -  Pitchers with Swedish ancestry

               -  20 game losers for the Red Sox

               -  Last pitchers to start a WS game for Connie Mack

 

Wed        -  Pitchers who gave up notable homers by Babe Ruth

               -  Pitchers who surrendered multiple home runs to Babe Ruth in his 60-HR season of 1927

               -  Pitchers who gave up the first eight home runs to Babe Ruth in his record breaking 1927 season

               -  Pitchers who had no-hitters broken up with 2 out in the ninth

               -  At least 20 losses in a season

               -  Faced Babe Ruth in key at bats

 

Sunday   -  AL pitchers of the 1920s who pitched the most innings with losing records

 

 

 

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2020-12-07 Players to be named later

IN MEMORIAM  —  Dec 07

Q.        Which player appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated during 1972 with a mustache & mutton chop sideburns, juggling three baseballs?

Hint:     He was the first player to win the Baseball Digest Player of the Year Award the same year he won the American League MVP award.

Hint:     He was the first post-expansion player to hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game.

Hint:     He was the most successful of three brothers who played in the majors.

Hint:     He was involved in the 7-player trade that led Curt Flood to challenge the reserve clause.

Hint:     He was once traded for the same journeyman catcher twice in a six month span.

Hint:     Also involved in that trade was the player that Dale Murphy credits with his conversion to Mormonism.

Hint:     In Spring Training, he would purposely not swing at pitches until there were two strikes, so he could prepare himself when it really mattered.  He would also take batting practice at 6:00 A.M. every day through Spring Training, so nobody was around to distract him.

Hint:     His manager resigned, mid-season, citing this player’s lack of discipline.

Hint:     His career OPS+, while not as good as those of Pete Browning or Dave Orr, exceed those of Hank Aaron, Joe DiMaggio and Frank Robinson.

A.         DICK ALLEN  [SABR Bio] [Obit]

-  SI cover 12-Jun-1972

-  1972 POY & MVP

-  2 ITP HR = 31-Jul-1972, both off future HOF Bert Blyleven

-  Dick’s brothers Hank and Ron combined for almost 400 G in the majors

-  Allen and Flood were the headliners of the 7-Oct-1969 swap, but Flood refused to report to PHI, setting in motion a series of events that would have enormous impact on baseball.

-  On 03-Dec-1974 he was traded by the CHW to the ATL for a player to be named later and cash.  ATL sent Jim Essian to the CHW to complete the trade.  Then on 7-May-1975, the Braves sent Allen and Johnny Oates to the Philadelphia Phillies for Barry Bonnell, $150,000 and ... Jim Essian.

-  The Braves’ Barry Bonnell was the devout LDS player that Murphy cites as the player responsible for his conversion.

May 7, 1975: Traded by the Atlanta Braves with Johnny Oates to the Philadelphia Phillies for Barry Bonnell, Jim Essian and $150,000.

-  Regarding those unorthodox habits he said, "You can keep your mind in that little box without all the camaraderie and laughing."

-  Mgr. Bob Skinner left PHI on 07-Aug-1969 just before a team road trip.  Skinner’s future managerial prospects did not benefit as after this his managing of an MLB team was limited to 1 G w/SDP, a Sunday afternoon W over HOU on 28-May-1977.  He did coach for another 11 years in the majors.

- Career OPS+ (This improved stat takes a player's on-base plus slugging percentage and normalizes the number across the entire league. It accounts for external factors like ballparks. It then adjusts so a score of 100 is league average, and 150 is 50 percent better than the league average.)  Check the list here.

FCR -  Jim Lovelace, Kent, Ohio

Incorrect guesses:  Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson

TUESDAY  —  Dec 08

Q.        Which Notre Dame graduate won the MVP the year he had two thirds of the Triple Crown?

Hint:     Although he didn’t receive even a single vote for Rookie of the Year, in his second year he received MVP votes and was an All-Star in his third year in the majors.

Hint:     One season he racked up 377 total bases and did so with nary a triple.

A.         GIANCARLO STANTON  [B-R Bio]

-  Attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California where he lettered  in football, basketball and baseball.  Was named NL MVP in 2017 when his 59 HR and 132 RBI led the majors.

-  Rookie in 2010 (Buster Posey was the NL ROY in 2010); Was tied for 23^rd in MVP voting in his sophomore campaign and was an AS in 2012.

-  In 2017 he had 168 H of which 32 were 2B and 59 were HR, but none were 3B.

FCR -  Jerry Miller, Liberty Hill, Texas

Incorrect guesses: 

 

WEDNESDAY  —  Dec 09

Q.        Who was the most recent Baltimore Oriole to lead the American League in saves?

Hint:     He and Hippo Vaughn attended the same high school.

Hint:     In spite of racking up eleven wins in his rookie season, he didn’t receive a single vote for Rookie of the Year.

Hint:     His older brother was a player, coach and manager at multiple levels in the minors.

A.         ZACK BRITTON  [B-R Bio]

-  47 S in 2016

-  Both attended Weatherford High School in Weatherford, Texas.

-  Symmetrically, he was 11-11 as a rookie in 2011.

-  His brother Buck Britton managed the A level Delmarva Shorebirds and the AA Bowie Baysox.

FCR -  Eric Stone, Los Gatos, California

Incorrect guesses:  Jim Johnson, Hoyt Wilhelm, Lee Smith, Greg Olsen

 

THURSDAY  —  10-Dec

Q.        Whose 3,000^th hit was his last in the majors?

Hint:     No other major league player had more hits 1960-1969 than he did.

Hint:     He hit his 2,000^th career hit off a future Hall of Famer.

Hint:     His nephew spent some time in the majors at the end of the twentieth century.

A.         ROBERTO CLEMENTE  [SABR Bio]

-  Final H = 30-Sep-1972, a 2B off the Mets’ Jon Matlack.

-  He had 1,877 H in the 1960s.  His aggregate batting average (.328) and triple total (99) also paced the majors that decade.

-  Hit #2,000 came off CHC’s Fergie Jenkins 02-Sep-1966, 5^th inning.  It was an upper-deck, opposite-field homer to right at Forbes Field

-  Edgard Clemente is his nephew.  He was an outfielder for the Rockies and Angels and is now the owner of Prime Hitting in Orlando.

FCR -  Jeff Cohen, Wantagh, New York

Incorrect guesses:  Al Kaline, Wade Boggs

 

FRIDAY  —  Dec 11

Q.        Which one-time St. Louis Cardinal set the single-season record for strikeouts by a player who went homerless in the live ball era?

Hint:     He hit a triple and a double in a League Championship Series to help his team win the pennant.  He and his team won the subsequent World Series.

Hint:     He came from a city that has become famous for producing stars at his primary position.

A.         MANUEL LEE  [Wiki]

-  Struck out 107 X in 1991 w/TOR with exactly 0 HR.  That mark was equaled by speedster Michael Bourn in 2015.  (Back in 1906, Billy Maloney had that same HR total while whiffing 116 X.)  Ended his career with a 1-G season with STL in 1995.  (He went 1 for 1 in that G to bat 1.000 for the season.  Unfortunately, he also added an E and was pulled before the 4^th inning.)

-  Hit a 3B in G 3 & a 2B in G 6 of the 1992 ALCS, won by TOR.

-  Lee was born in San Pedro de Marcoris, Dominican Republic.  Even though it’s a city of fewer than 200,000 people, it is amazingly the home of 101 major leaguers.  It is often called “The Cradle of Shortstops” because 6 Marcorisanos have played SS while earning MLB All-Star honors: Alfredo Griffin, Tony Fernandez, Jose Offerman, Jorge Polanco, Rafael Ramirez and Fernando Tatis, Jr.

FCR -  Warren Kent, Whitehall, Michigan

Incorrect guesses:  Ozzie Smith, Tommy Herr, Vince Coleman, Willie McGee

 

SATURDAY  —  Dec 11

Q.        Who played alongside Ryan Zimmerman, David Wright, Mark Reynolds and Michael Cuddyer in the AAU baseball program in southeastern Virginia?

Hint:     Once his team changed its name, he stole forty or more bases in each of the next three seasons.

Hint:     Unfortunately, he led MLB in caught stealing in the first of those years.

Hint:     It’s amazing that his brother was drafted at a higher position that he was.

A.         MELVIN UPTON, Jr.  [B-R Bio]

-  In an area of southeastern Virginia now called Hampton Roads, these 4 major leaguers, as well as Upton’s younger brother Justin, helped make Norfolk and suburbs famous as a source for baseball talent.

-  Tampa Bay Devil Rays changed to Tampa Bay Rays (exorcism?) after the 2007 season.  In 2008-2010, Upton stole 44, 42 & 42 bases respectively.

-  In 2008, he was caught trying to steal 16 times.

-  Melvin was drafted #2 overall in 2002.  Justin went at #1 in 2005.

FCR -  Adam Balutis, Arlington, Virginia

Incorrect guesses:  Mark Reynolds, Justin Upton, Chone Figgins

 

SUNDAY  —  Dec 13

Q.        Who is the only native of Jamaica to get a hit, to have an RBI or to score a run in a major league All-Star game?

Hint:     He was an All-Star three times representing three different teams.

Hint:     He was a pivotal member of three World Series Championship teams.

Hint:     He made the catch that resulted in a World Series triple play… that wasn’t called.

A.         DEVON WHYTE  [BR-Bio]

-  All three accomplished for the first time in Camden Yards on 13-Jul-1993.  He added 3 more AS H & a R in 1998.  Fellow Jamaican Chili Davis never managed an All-Star hit, going 0-1 in each of his ASG appearances in 1984, 1986 & 1994.  Only remaining Jamaican All-Stars are pitchers, including Heathcliff Slocumb.

-  AS for CAL in 1989; for TOR in 1993; for ARI in 1998.

-  Earned a ring w/TOR in 1992 & 1993 and w/FLA in 1997.

-  The scene: 1992 WS, G 3, the 4^th inning of a scoreless G, w/2 Atlanta Braves on base, David Justice hit a long fly ball to deep center field which Whyte tracked down and caught as he smashed into the outfield wall.  The ball was so well hit and the likelihood of a catch so low that baserunners Deion Sander and Terry Pendleton, who had both singled to open the inning, began to run.  The only thing better than the catch was the throw to Alomar to relay as the baserunners sped to get back.  First baseman John Olerud caught the relayed throw and tagged the bag securing Pendleton’s out and whipped the ball to Kelly Gruber who then tagged Sanders’ heel as he dove back into 2^nd base.  However,… infield umpires Bob Davidson & Richard Shulock didn’t see Gruber’s tag.  The play ended as a double play.  Lonnie Smith then stuck out to end the inning.

    

FCR -  Mark Kanter, Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Incorrect guesses: Chili Davis

 

WEEKLY THEME – Players to be named later (Changed during their careers)

 

Player.............. Previous....... Changed

Allen................ Richie*..........  Dick

Britton.............. Zach.............. Zack

Clemente......... Bob............... Roberto

Lee................... Manny........... Manuel

Stanton............ Mike.............. Giancarlo

Upton............... B.J................ Melvin, Jr.

Whyte.............. White............ Whyte

 

 

*He never really was Richie.  That was bestowed on him by the minor league media then reinforced by the Philly media.  When he protested, they called him "uppity" (How's that for a racist word?) and they doubled down, knowing how much it would irk him.  He really had to escape the, ahem..., City of Brotherly Love, to be recognized by the name he'd known since childhood.

 

 

          First Correct Respondent to Identify Theme – Tom Byrne, Old Greenwich, Connecticut (after Britton)

 

 

 

Incorrect theme guesses:

 

Tuesday -  Players who led the league in HRs with 37

               -  Players who have struck out 200 or more times in a season

               -  Reigning league HR champs who played on the same team the following year with the reigning champ from the other league:

- Stanton and Judge (2017 HR champs, teammates in 2018);

- Allen and Schmidt (1974 HR champs, teammates in 1975);

- Johnny Mize and Joe D (1948 HR champs, teammates in 1949);

- Hank Greenberg and Ralph Kiner (1946 HR champs, teammates in 1947)?

 

Wed        -  MVPs without a triple

 

Thurs      -  Rule 5 draft picks

               -  Name changes by Topps on the player's baseball card

 

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