Random Trivia

[cubsfan1073]

-Steve Garvey is the only player to start an all-star game as a 'write-in' candidate
-17 of the 18 players who started the 1934 All-Star game reached the HOF. The only one who didn't was Wally Berger
-The 1945 All-Star game was canceled because of WWII
-The first All-Star game took place in on July 6th, 1933 at Comiskey Park
-The NL leads the AL 40-35 all time
-The 2007 All-Star Game will take place in San Francisco, the 2008 will take place in New York and the 2009 will be in St. Louis

[mojorisin71]

In 1974, Hank Aaron outslugged Sadaharu Oh, 10-9, in an orchestrated home run contest in Tokyo. Aaron still had two more swings left in his turn, but chose not to take them.

The 1920 World Series featured several firsts, all executed by the Cleveland Indians. Bill Wambganss became the first (and only) player to perform an unassisted triple play in a WS game, Elmer Smith hit the first WS grand slam and Jim Bagby became the first pitcher to homer in a WS game.

Some people supposedly 'in the know' believe that the novel 'The Natural' was actually based on a different incident than the shooting of Eddie Waitkus. On July 6, 1932, Cubs shortstop Billy Jurges was shot by a showgirl friend when he allegedly attempted to stop her from committing suicide. Jurges was shot twice, once in the ribs and once in the hand, but came back within a month. This was the incident which prompted the Cubs to sign Mark Koenig, which led to bad blood between Chicago and the Yankees when Koenig was only awarded a half World Series share. After an investigation, police suspected that the shooting of Jurges was not accidental, however the shortstop refused to press charges.

Robin Yount collected his 1,000th, 2,000th and 3,000th hits against the Cleveland Indians. Speaking of Yount, did you know that his older brother, Larry, a right-handed pitcher for Houston, was warming up on Sept 15, 1971 after just having been called up from the minors, about to make his major league debut when he injured his arm, couldn't pitch and was soon sent back down? He never returned to the majors. He is credited with having the shortest career in major league history because he was announced into the game before it was decided he couldn't pitch, therefore he is credited with appearing in one game but having thrown zero pitches! The first batter he would have faced was Hank Aaron.

Quick, what do the following pairs of pitchers have in common with each other?

Greg A. Harris and Greg W. Harris
Sad Sam Jones and Toothpick Sam Jones
Bob Gibson (Cards) and Bob Gibson (Brewers)

Yep, this one's OBVIOUS! They were ALL right-handed! BWAHAHA! :clapping
Greg A. Harris is also the only ambidextrous pitcher in the modern era.

[Dodgerfan1]

Greg A. Harris is also the only ambidextrous pitcher in the modern era.

Yes, in 1995 while pitching for the Expos, Greg Harris pleaded with Manager Felipe Alou to let him pitch to the Cincinnati Reds batting order (I believe it was only for an inning, but I'm sure someone with more intimate knowledge of the event will correct me if I'm wrong) using either his right or left arm, depending on the batter. Alou allowed Harris to do so, making him the first pitcher to throw with either arm in professional baseball since Bert Campaneris did it in the minor leagues in 1962 (not only did Campy play all nine positions in a single game once, but he was also ambidextrous. Wow, talk about versatility!!).

Greg Minton once had a streak of 269-1/3 innings without allowing a home run.

Mike Marshall appeared in 13 consecutive games as a reliever.

Terry Felton holds the dubious record for losses in a single season without a win. He was 0-13 in 1982 pitching for Minnesota, breaking the old record of 0-12 jointly held by two Philadelphia pitchers, Russ Miller (1928 Phillies) and Steve Gerkin (1945 Athletics). Not surprisingly, Felton retired with the lowest winning percentage possible, .000. He was 0-16, the worst lifetime mark for a winless pitcher.

Tom Seaver was the first Cy Young Award winner not to register at least 20 victories when he won the honor in 1973 with a 19-10 record for the NL champion Mets.

The major league record for most consecutive strikeouts in a post-season game is six and is held by the rather unlikely trio of Hod Eller (1919), Moe Drabowski (1966) and Todd Worrell (1985). All three accomplished the feat in World Series competition.

Of the 20 relievers to have recorded 300 saves, eight have saved 100 in each league. Lee Smith, Jeff Reardon, Randy Myers, Rollie Fingers, Rich Gossage, Doug Jones, John Wetteland and Jose Mesa.

[Chicoutimi CP]

Since 1957, Nellie Fox has had the longest streak of plate appearances without striking out. Between May 16th and August 22nd 1958, while he was with the White Sox, he went 453 PA (covering 98 complete games) without going down on strikes. The second longest streak belongs to Dave Cash of Philadelphia : 223 PA (covering 48 complete games), from May 27th to July 18th 1976.

[cubsfan1073]

Since 1957, Nellie Fox has had the longest streak of plate appearances without striking out. Between May 16th and August 22nd 1958, while he was with the White Sox, he went 453 PA (covering 98 complete games) without going down on strikes.
My gosh, thats almost two thirds of the season.

Some Fun Facts about Nellie Fox:
-His career high for HRs in a season was 6, in 1957
-He won 3 Gold Gloves at 2B, in 1957, '59, and '60
-He was a 12-time All Star
-He led the league in AB five times
-He led the league in Hits five times
-He led the league in Games five times
-He struck out once every 42.4 AB during his career
-His career high was set in 1958 when he struck out 11 total times and had a 56.6 AB/SO
-His career high for strikeouts in a season was 18 in 1953

[Dodgerfan1]

Through the 2006 season, only three pitchers in major league history have recorded over 3,000 strikeouts with fewer than 1,000 walks. Curt Schilling has walked the fewest ever to head the list with an amazingly low total of 688 while striking out 3,015. The other two are Greg Maddux (3,169 Ks/944 BBs) and Fergie Jenkins (3,192/997). Speaking of 3,000 strikeouts, Cesar Geronimo has the dubious distinction of being the 3,000th strikeout victim of two different pitchers (Bob Gibson, 1974 and Nolan Ryan, 1980). Three pitchers on the 3,000 whiff list, Gaylord Perry, Greg Maddux and Don Sutton, never led their league in strikeouts.

Norm Cash had the biggest drop in batting average from one season to the next of any everyday position player (.361 in 1961 to .243 in '62.)

Tris Speaker, Rogers Hornsby and Gabby Street were all confirmd members of the Ku Klux Klan. There was never any confirmation that either Cobb or Anson were, however.

On May 28, 1986, the White Sox' Joe Cowley set a new ML record by striking out the first seven Texas Rangers to come to the plate. It was a record that lasted... well, almost four months! On September 23, 1986, Houston left-hander Jim Deshaies struck out the first EIGHT Dodgers that came to bat.

Before the 1919 season, Babe Ruth became the first player ever to order a bat with a knob on the end of the handle. With that Louisville Slugger, Ruth set the first of his four single-season home run records that season, prompting several other players to order the same type bats for 1920. The Babe was truly a trend setter!

[cubsfan1073]

The player with the most CS in 2006 was Juan Pierre with 20. He had 58 steals, tied for second most in MLB with Carl Crawford, though Crawford was only caught eight times and Jose Reyes, with 64 was caught 17 times. Of the players in the top 50 for steals, Chris Duffy had the highest percentage, stealing 26 bases and getting caught once.

[geezer]

During the 90s, Mark Grace led the majors in ABs and Hits, while Ken Griffey Jr. led the majors in HRs and RBIs.

And during the 2000s, A-Rod leads the majors in HR (316), RBIs (884), Runs Scored (865), and Total Bases (2,458)

While Randy Johnson leads this decade in Wins (120) and Strikeouts (1,851)

[cubsfan1073]

During the 80s the player with the most....

G: Dale Murphy
AB: Dale Murphy
H: Willie Wilson
2B: Wade Boggs
HR: Dale Murphy
RBI: Dale Murphy
TB: Dale Murphy
SB: Tim Raines
CS: Rickey Henderson
OBP: Wade Boggs
OPS: George Brett

[geezer]

I thought that the player with the most hits in the 1980s was Yount.

[cubsfan1073]

I thought that the player with the most hits in the 1980s was Yount.
You could be right, my source was MLB.com stats and according to it Robin Yount had 875 hits from 1980-1989. I checked this and it is nowhere close, he had much more than that. I'm not sure how the stats messed up, but they obviously did. You are probably right with Yount having the most hits. What source did you use?

[Utter Chaos]

I thought that the player with the most hits in the 1980s was Yount.

Yount is correct.

Name Hits
Robin Yount 1731
Eddie Murray 1642
Willie Wilson 1639
Wade Boggs 1597
Dale Murphy 1553
Harold Baines 1547
Andre Dawson 1539
Rickey Henderson 1507
Alan Trammell 1504

[cubsfan1073]

I have no idea what is wrong with MLB.com Stats, what source did you use?

[Utter Chaos]

More corrections.
During the 80s the player with the most....

G: Dale Murphy
AB: Dale Murphy
H: Willie Wilson Yount
2B: Wade Boggs Yount
HR: Dale Murphy Schmidt
RBI: Dale Murphy Murray
TB: Dale Murphy
SB: Tim Raines Henderson
CS: Rickey Henderson
OBP: Wade Boggs
OPS: George Brett

[Utter Chaos]

I have no idea what is wrong with MLB.com Stats, what source did you use?I used an Access database with data I downloaded from www.baseball1.com

[geezer]

Well as of today, the player with the most hits in the 2000s is Ichiro with 1,354 and also he leads with 235 stolen bases, and Todd Helton leads all players in this decade in doubles (345) and Extra Base Hits (588).

[Dodgerfan1]

Andre Dawson holds the record for having played in the most major league games without appearing in a World Series, 2,627.

In 1921, after an argument in a New Jersey bar, an unidentified man followed Babe Ruth in his car and cut him off on the side of the road. Ruth got out of his car to 'tell the guy off', but the man pulled out a gun and held it to Ruth's head. Harry Harper, a friend of Ruth's who had evidently seen the incident, drove by and attempted to run the gunman down. When the assailant dove out of the way, Ruth and Harper disarmed him.

Whatever happened to Tinker, Evers and Chance...?

Frank Chance: Severe headaches, perhaps caused by years of beanballs, induced him to undergo brain surgery. He died on Sept 14, 1924 at age 47.

Johnny Evers: Spent the final years of his life in a wheelchair, suffered a stroke on March 28, 1947, and died in Albany, NY.

Joe Tinker: Developed diabetes and respiratory problems and had one leg amputated. He passed away on his 68th birthday, penniless and in an oxygen tent, on July 27, 1948.

Okay, now on to something a little lighter!! The Baltimore Orioles franchise is the only one to boast as many as three Gold Glovers in its infield more than once, accomplishing the feat an incredible four times! The 1971 team was the first to achieve this, with Brooks Robinson, Mark Belanger and Davey Johnson receiving the honors. When Bobby Grich replaced Johnson at 2B, the Orioles repeated the act from 1973-1975. Amazing.

[geezer]

Andre Dawson holds the record for having played in the most major league games without appearing in a World Series, 2,627.


Wrong, the player who played the most games without ever going to the World Series is Rafael Palmeiro, who played in 2,831 games.

And Vladimir Guerrero is the only player to have seasons of 200 hits, 100 runs and 100 RBI... in both leagues.

[Dodgerfan1]

Geezer's correcting everybody's trivia.

Yep, well, when the man's right, he's right. I should know better than to use outdated sources, which I'm usually very careful about. My bad. In fact, I welcome corrections when I'm wrong.

[geezer]

Well, I followed Palmeiro's pursuit of 3,000 and its on Wikipedia, I saw it.

But the player with the most games played, and never reached the playoffs is Ernie Banks with 2,528.

[geezer]

Yep, well, when the man's right, he's right. I should know better than to use outdated sources, which I'm usually very careful about. My bad. In fact, I welcome corrections when I'm wrong.

Same I welcome it when im wrong as well

[cubsfan1073]

Same I welcome it when im wrong as well
Me three, good catches geezer.

[geezer]

Well as of today, the player with the most hits in the 2000s is Ichiro with 1,354 and also he leads with 235 stolen bases, and Todd Helton leads all players in this decade in doubles (345) and Extra Base Hits (588).

Lets start correcting myself, as you see Ichiro leads this decade in hits, but not in stolen bases, the decade leader is Juan Pierre with 325, 90 more than Ichiro :)

Also, Ichiro leads the decade in singles with 1,088, 66 more than Pierre.

[geezer]

And back to the All-Star Game, the 1997 All-Star Game in Cleveland was an all Puerto Rican Event. The AL won that game 3-1, and all 4 runs were driven and scored by Puerto Ricans, they were 3 homeruns in that game, one by Edgar Martinez, later one in the top of the 7th by Javy Lopez (off Puerto Rican former reliever Jose Rosado), and and later in the bottom of that inning, a 2-run homerun by hometown hero Sandy Alomar Jr. and the runner on base was Bernie Williams, and Jose Rosado was the winning pitcher of that game, and Sandy Alomar Jr. was the MVP.

The next year, Roberto Alomar was selected as the All-Star MVP of that game, making the only time in history that brothers were All-Star Game MVPs, and both were in consecutive years.

[rugbyfreak]

The only players to win the MVP award for a team with a losing record were Ernie Banks (58-59 for the Cubs), Andre Dawson (87 for the Cubs), and Cal Ripken Jr. (91 for the Orioles). Also, Robin Yount won the MVP in 89 when the Brewers had an 81-81 record.

Hank Sauer '52 Cubs (who were 77-77)

[nickels11]

What about A-ROD in 2003 for the Rangers (71-91)

[cubsfan1073]

The player with the most Silver Sluggers ever is Barry Bonds with 12. In second place is Mike Piazza with 10 and in third is Barry Larkin with 9.
The most at each postion are:
P-Mike Hampton-5
C-Piazza-10
1B-Todd Helton-4
2B-Ryne Sandberg-7
SS-Larkin-9
3B-Wade Boggs-8
OF-Bonds-12
OF-Manny Ramirez-8
OF-Ken Griffey, Jr.-7
DH-Edgar Martinez-4
Paul Molitor-4

[cubsfan1073]

Keep in mind, the Silver Slugger Award came to be in 1980.

[cubsfan1073]

-Ted Williams received a vote for MVP every year of his career except for 1952, in which he had 10 ABs.
-Hank Aaron has the most TBs ever with 6856
-Babe Ruth has the most in a season with 457 in 1921
-Babe Ruth also has the highest career OPS with 1.1638

[geezer]

And the player with the most miles reached in bases (total bases, base on balls and hit by pitches) is Barry Bonds with 141.7 miles:

8,313 bases (5,784 total bases + 2,426 base on balls + 103 hit by pitches)= 748,170 feet divided by 5,280 feet (1 mile)= 141.7 miles

The second closest is of course Hammerin' Hank Aaron with 141.31 miles:

8,290 bases (6,856 total bases + 1,402 base on balls + 32 hit by pitched)= 746,100 feet divided by 5,280 feet (1 mile)= 141.31 miles

[Dodgerfan1]

In 1987, Don Mattingly set a major league single-season record (since tied) by swatting six grand slam home runs. His lifetime grand slam total? Six. He never hit another in any other year.

What we now know as the Cy Young Award was initially going to be called either the Walter Johnson Award, the Christie Mathewson Award or the Grover Cleveland Alexander Award, however since the award was originally intended to honor the single best pitcher in baseball over the course of a season, not one pitcher from BOTH leagues, Ford Frick named it for the greatest pitcher to have pitched prominently in both leagues. Indeed, from 1956-1966 only one pitcher won the award. A pitcher from both leagues was represented starting in 1967.

In 1981, TSN historian Paul MacFarlane uncovered discrepancies, through extensive research, that prove Nap Lajoie did, indeed, win the 1910 batting title outright over Ty Cobb (Lajoie's tainted 8-for-8 doubleheader on the season's final day, notwithstanding). At the time, it was acknowledged that Cobb hit .385 and Lajoie hit .384 (rounding out percentage points). MacFarlane discovered that Cobb was awarded a 'phantom' 2-for-3 game he never had, and had two hitless ABs that were not counted in 1910, which would drop his average to .382. Similarly, a 1-for-8 extra inning game was omitted from Cobb's 1906 BA totals which leaves him at .316 instead of .320. This would not make a huge difference in his career average which should now, according to MacFarlane, put Cobb at .366, instead of .367. Lajoie's 1910 BA is also inaccurate, as MacFarlane discovered a hitless AB for him that was not recorded, which brings his average down to .383; still good enough to beat Cobb's .382. Therefore, Lajoie should have won the Chalmers automobile outright (but then, there's always that final tainted double-header, too...). Then commissioner Bowie Kuhn refused to acknowledge the corrected mistakes, stating that Ban Johnson's decision on the matter should not be overturned. It remains one of baseball's most famous statistical ambiguities, until Bud Selig (not likely) or a subsequent commissioner finds the courage to rectify the errors. This new information would also mean that Cobb did not win 9 consecutive batting titles, but three, followed by another five.

[geezer]

And remember that Norm Cash won the batting title for the Tigers in 1961 with a .361 average, only to admit years later that he used a corked bat all of that season, and never batted over .286 every season after that.

[Old Sweater]

I was the first one to use and see the left field foul line at Coors Field while installing the anchor bolts for the foul pole.

Will sign autographs later.

[Dodgerfan1]

I was the first one to use and see the left field foul line at Coors Field while installing the anchor bolts for the foul pole.

Will sign autographs later.

Wouldn't the person who actually laid down the chalk be the first to see the foul line?

[Old Sweater]

Wouldn't the person who actually laid down the chalk be the first to see the foul line?

To see the chalk yes. I had the foul line on the bolt template I installed for the foul pole.

Quit raining on my claim to fame. Just say you had the privilege of posting with the installer of the bolts next time you see them on TV while watching with a friend.

[RuthMayBond]

Just say you had the privilege of posting with the installer of the bolts next time you see them on TV while watching with a friend.I'll never look at you the same way again :clapping

[kearns643]

Hey guys...I once touched Pesky's pole!!!!!! It didn't come up for conversation like your story though....:D

[geezer]

Brett Butler is the first player to lead in Triples in both leagues, he led the National League in Triples in 1983 (Braves), 1994 (Dodgers) & 1995 (Mets & Dodgers), and led the American League in 1986 (Indians).

The other player to lead in Triples in both leagues is Lance Johnson, he led the National League in Triples in 1996 (Mets) and the American League 4 times (1991-1994, White Sox).

[Dalkowski110]

The only two pitchers in New York Mets history to hit grand slam homeruns were Carl Willey (1964) and Jack Hamilton (1966).

[cubsfan1073]

Travis Hafner and Don Mattingly share the record for most Grand Slams in a season.

[geezer]

Travis Hafner and Don Mattingly share the record for most Grand Slams in a season.

Lets hope that Hafner hits more for the rest of his career.

The record for most Grand Slams in a game is 2, achieved 12 times, but it has happend only twice in the NL, and of those two times, one was by a pitcher (Tony Cloninger) and the other time happened in the same inning (Fernando Tatis).

In the AL, of the 10 times that has happened, 4 were by Red Sox players and 3 by Oriole players. And the last hitter to do it was Bill Mueller in 2003, and belt it for each side of the plate.

And another fact, Robin Ventura who once hit 2 grand slams in a game against the Rangers, is also the only person to hit grand slams in each game of a doubleheader.

[geezer]

1901 and 1934 were the only years that there was a Batting Triple Crown and a Pitching Triple Crown in the same league.

In 1901, Nap Lajoie of the Philadelphia A's led the AL with .422 avg., 14 HR and 125 RBI, while Cy Young of the Boston Pilgrims went 33-10 with 158 Ks and a 1.62 ERA.

And in 1934, Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees led the AL with a .363 avg., 49 HR and 165 RBI, while Lefty Gomez of the Yankees also, led the league with a 26-5 record, 158 Ks and 2.33 ERA, marking the only time in MLB History that both Triple Crown Winners (Batting and Pitching) were from the same team.

[cubsfan1073]

There have been only two Vladimirs in the history of Major League Baseball, Vladimir Guerrero and Vladimir Nunez.

[geezer]

And 3 pitchers by the name of Kevin that have thrown no hitters (Kevin Gross, Kevin Brown and Kevin Millwood), and all 3 no-hitters were against the San Francisco Giants.

[Trivia Guy]

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened the season on the road for 54 consecutive years, compiling a 30-24 record. From 1900 to 1916, the Bucs began each season by alternating opening day in St. Louis (even-numbered years) or Cincinnati (odd-numbered years). In 1917 the Pirates opened in Chicago and from that point until 1952 they kicked off each season against either the Cubs, Reds, or Cardinals. Brooklyn hosted the Pirates in their first game of the 1953 season before Pittsburgh finally got to start a season at home in 1954 when they beat the Phillies by a 4-2 score.

[Johnny Evers]

And 3 pitchers by the name of Kevin that have thrown no hitters (Kevin Gross, Kevin Brown and Kevin Millwood), and all 3 no-hitters were against the San Francisco Giants.

Now that's probably some of the greatest baseball trivia I've ever heard.

Behind OldSweater's comment, of course:
I was the first one to use and see the left field foul line at Coors Field while installing the anchor bolts for the foul pole.

Will sign autographs later.

[Old Sweater]

Quote:
Originally Posted by geezer
And 3 pitchers by the name of Kevin that have thrown no hitters (Kevin Gross, Kevin Brown and Kevin Millwood), and all 3 no-hitters were against the San Francisco Giants.


Now that's probably some of the greatest baseball trivia I've ever heard.

Behind OldSweater's comment, of course:

Quote:
I was the first one to use and see the left field foul line at Coors Field while installing the anchor bolts for the foul pole.

Will sign autographs later.

---------------------

Yes, that was a mighty fine 2nd. LOL

If any of ya want to hear about the 1 3/4" splinter they cut out of my armpit PM me.

Don Baylor did come by and watch us working grunts for awhile, that was cool.

[geezer]

And here goes another no-hitter trivia:

There has only been one no-hitter in Coors Field, and only one no-hitter at Candem Yards, and both no-hitters were pitched by Hideo Nomo.

[geezer]

It reminds me of Hideo Nomo's second no-hitter was in his first start in a Red Sox uniform, he ended up leading the AL in Strikeouts that year (2001), and never returned to Boston after that season.

[geezer]

Here it goes a Gold Glove Trivia, Darin Erstad is the only player in MLB History to win Gold Gloves in more than one position, he won it as a OF and later another as a 1B.

[Dodgerfan1]

Roberto Clemente was originally the property of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but they left him unprotected in the 1954 draft, enabling Pittsburgh to pick him up for the absurdly low price of $4,000. Dodgers VP Buzzie Bavasi decided to take a risk and allow Clemente to hone his vast skills playing for their minor league team in Montreal. Bavasi's decision was made despite Al Campanis' warnings. Bavasi fervently hoped no one would notice Clemente (sort of like hoping nobody notices a diamond in a bucket of coal). The Dodgers ordered Montreal to bench Clemente several times in order to hide him during games they knew big league scouts were watching. They even benched him during games that Montreal faced mediocre pitchers, in order to keep his statistics down. As a result of their meddling, Clemente, not getting a chance to play every day, thus never being allowed to get on a roll, batted just .257. The Dodgers must have thought they did a great camouflage job, but the Pirates' super-scout, Clyde Sukeforth, had seen enough of him in practice and in the batting cage. The last-place Pirates shocked the Dodgers by selecting Clemente in the November, 1954 draft. At $4,000, the Pirates had the steal of the century. Thanks to Bavasi's stupidity, Pittsburgh had a future HOFer and Brooklyn had egg on their faces.

In 1998, the Atlanta Braves had five pitchers on their staff who won at least 15 games. The last team to have acheived this feat, prior to Atlanta, was the unlikely staff of the Washington Senators in 1930. Lloyd Brown's 16 wins led the team and four others chipped in with 15 wins apiece - Bump Hadley, General Crowder, Sad Sam Jones and Firpo Marberry.

Goose Goslin is the only player to hit three World Series home runs in consecutive years, doing so in both the 1924 and 1925 fall classics for Washington.

Max Bishop walked eight times in a double-header - twice! He's the only player to walk that many times in a single day.

Eddie Collins holds the all-time record for sacrifice hits with 511 (now where have we seen that number before??). Given the modern style of play, that record isn't likely to be broken anytime soon.

[Bigrcube]

And it is believed by many that NY Yankees management / owners, who were Jewish.....were also racists.
They certainly had the money and their own farm system with plenty of scouts.
They knew about the likes of Willie Mays, Henry Aaron (in the Negro Leagues) and about Roberto Clemente.
Why did THEY not go after those players. What an outfield that could have been:
Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays, with Roberto Clemente waiting in the wings?!
The dynasty would have lived on for ever. One can only dream & imagine?!

[Dodgerfan1]

And it is believed by many that NY Yankees management / owners, who were Jewish.....were also racists.
They certainly had the money and their own farm system with plenty of scouts.
They knew about the likes of Willie Mays, Henry Aaron (in the Negro Leagues) and about Roberto Clemente.
Why did THEY not go after those players. What an outfield that could have been:
Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays, with Roberto Clemente waiting in the wings?!
The dynasty would have lived on for ever. One can only dream & imagine?!

This is true but, of course, just because the Yankees didn't get Mays, Clemente or Aaron doesn't mean they would have been able to obtain all three anyway, merely because they might have wanted them. That would be quite an outfield, though!!

EDIT: Isn't it ironic that Al Campanis was the one who wanted Clemente, a black Latino?

[Old Sweater]

Gus Bell was the Mets 1st baserunner.

[geezer]

And it is believed by many that NY Yankees management / owners, who were Jewish.....were also racists.
They certainly had the money and their own farm system with plenty of scouts.
They knew about the likes of Willie Mays, Henry Aaron (in the Negro Leagues) and about Roberto Clemente.
Why did THEY not go after those players. What an outfield that could have been:
Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays, with Roberto Clemente waiting in the wings?!
The dynasty would have lived on for ever. One can only dream & imagine?!

It reminds me of the late Vic Power, he was a Yankee farm prospect, but since he was a black latino, was traded later to the Philadelphia A's in the early 1950s, and after that won 7 straight Gold Gloves at first base, he was supposed to be the player that will break the color barrier in Yankee pinstripes, but never happend, Elston Howard did. Thats why a lot of Puerto Rican stopped being Yankee fans.

[geezer]

And since 1990, only one team had the majors' best record and won the World Series, and where the 1998 Yankees (114-48), who finished 22 games ahead of the second best team in the league, that was the Boston Red Sox.

[Ursa Major]

Isn't it ironic that Al Campanis was the one who wanted Clemente, a black Latino?Let's just say that, if Clemente hadn't gone down in the overloaded relief plane and had played out his career, Campanis wouldn't have been pushing for Clemente to manage the Dodgers.

[Dodgerfan1]

Speaking of Clemente as we were, did you know that he built up his legendary arm strength by throwing the javelin? Supposedly, Clemente could throw the javelin 190 feet and was considered a candidate to represent Puerto Rico in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. It's been said that the mechanics involved in throwing a javelin are remarkably similar to those necessary in throwing a baseball properly.

The Angels' Chuck Finley struck out four batters in an inning THREE times! No one else in history has done this more than once (note: if anyone can find someone else who's done it more than once, please advise. My best sources show only Finley having done it more than once). Finley's first two four-K innings occured in 1999, with his third in 2000.

Fred Clarke and Joe Torre are the only men with 1,500 career wins as a manager and 1,500 career hits as a player. Both Felipe Alou and Frank Robinson have over 1,000 wins as managers, so they're movin' on up...

In 2001, Lance Berkman became the first switch-hitter ever to club as many as 30 homers and 50 doubles in the same season.

For a very long time, the Philadelphia Phillies held the major league record for having the longest drought between 20-game winners. In 1917, Grover Cleveland Alexander won 30 games. After that, no Phillies pitcher won 20 until Robin Roberts did in 1950. A 32 year drought. Indians fans, rejoice! Last season, your beloved Tribe broke that record when they had no 20-game winners! They have now gone 33 consecutive years without having one and are looking to add to their record this year. Something to look forward to! Oh yeah, the last Indian to win 20 was Gaylord Perry in 1974. The California Angels at Los Angeles via Anaheim were neck and neck with the Indians until Bartolo Colon screwed up and won 21 games in 2005. Before that, the last Angel to win 20 was Nolan Ryan, also in 1974.

[cubsfan1073]

Alfonso Soriano began his professional baseball career as a third baseman in Japan.

[geezer]

And the longest gap between batting champions by a team was the Chicago White Sox, who took 54 years between batting champions, Luke Appling won the batting title for the Sox in 1943 (.328), but Frank Thomas broke the gap in 1997 (.347). But that gap was tied last season by the Oaklans A's, who's last batting champion was Ferris Fain in 1952 (.327), and this year it can be broken that longest span.

The Longest Span by an NL Team between batting titles is now the Philadephia Phillies, who's last batting champion was Richie Ashburn in 1958 (.350), before that the longest span was 48 years by the Giants, when Willie Mays won the batting title in 1954 (.345) and the next Giant to win it was Barry Bonds in 2002 (.370).

These are the active streaks with the last batting champ for every team:

Player Team Year Batting Average
Ferris Fain Philadelphia Athletics 1952 0.327
Bobby Avila Cleveland Indians 1954 0.341
Richie Ashburn Philadelphia Phillies 1958 0.350.
Norm Cash Detroit Tigers 1961 0.361
Tommy Davis Los Angeles Dodgers 1963 0.326
Frank Robinson Baltimore Orioles 1966 0.316
Alex Johnson California Angels 1970 0.329
Pete Rose Cincinnati Reds 1973 0.338
Tim Raines Montreal Expos 1986 0.334
George Brett Kansas City Royals 1990 0.329
Terry Pendleton Atlanta Braves 1991 0.319
John Olerud Toronto Blue Jays 1993 0.363
Frank Thomas Chicago White Sox 1997 0.347
Tony Gwynn San Diego Padres 1997 0.372
Bernie Williams New York Yankees 1998 0.339
Larry Walker Colorado Rockies 2001 0.350.
Bill Mueller Boston Red Sox 2003 0.326
Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals 2003 0.359
Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants2004 0.362
Ichiro Suzuki Seattle Mariners 2004 0.372
Derrek Lee Chicago Cubs 2005 0.335
Michael Young Texas Rangers 2005 0.331
Joe Mauer Minnesota Twins 2006 0.347
Freddy Sanchez Pittsburgh Pirates 2006 0.344

[Bigrcube]

Speaking of Clemente as we were, did you know.....


At a baseball card show some time ago when my son was younger,
the autograph guest was 1955 W.S. MVP, former Dodgers pitcher Johnny Podres.
He was answering someone's question about who was the toughest hitter he
ever faced.....and without missing a beat, he said Clemente wore his ass out.
Hit well over .400 off him in his career.

Question: Who is the only pitcher to strike out 4 batters in one inning in a World Series game?
Hint: He shutdown Ty Cobb and the Tigers.
Answer: Orval Overall, 1908 Cubs.

[Utter Chaos]

The Angels' Chuck Finley struck out four batters in an inning THREE times! No one else in history has done this more than once (note: if anyone can find someone else who's done it more than once, please advise. My best sources show only Finley having done it more than once). Finley's first two four-K innings occured in 1999, with his third in 2000.
According to this source (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats19.shtml) Finley is the only one who has done it more than once.

[Trivia Guy]

According to this source (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats19.shtml) Finley is the only one who has done it more than once.

Derek Wallace on this list only had 15 Ks in the year (1996) that he had 4 in one inning and only had 20 Ks in his career........

[geezer]

And speaking of Chuck Finley and other pitchers, Mike Mussina is just 7 wins away of beating Dennis Martinez record of most career victories w/o a 20-win season with 245, Mike Mussina stands right now at 239 career wins, and with a couple of years left to play, he can get to 275, and possibly still no 20-win season.

[cubsfan1073]

Since 2000, Luis Castillo leads the Majors in SB and CS. He has 195 SB and 83 CS.

[Old Sweater]

Since 2000, Luis Castillo leads the Majors in SB and CS. He has 195 SB and 83 CS.

Juan Pierre has 325 SB since his rookie 2000 year.

[geezer]

And Jim Thome leads this decade in Strikeouts with 1,027 Ks

[cubsfan1073]

Juan Pierre has 325 SB since his rookie 2000 year.
You're right. I realized I mistake. I was using MLB.com stats and for some reason they were only counting the stats with one team. Juan Pierre was split between Colorado, Florida, and the Cubs. So, Luis Castillo actually leads the majors in those categories since from 2000-2005 with the same team (Marlins).

[geezer]

You're right. I realized I mistake. I was using MLB.com stats and for some reason they were only counting the stats with one team. Juan Pierre was split between Colorado, Florida, and the Cubs. So, Luis Castillo actually leads the majors in those categories since from 2000-2005 with the same team (Marlins).

And Juan Pierre is the latest member to have 200-hit seasons, playing for 3 different teams, and have led the NL in hits for 2 different teams.

[Trivia Guy]

And Juan Pierre is the latest member to have 200-hit seasons, playing for 3 different teams, and have led the NL in hits for 2 different teams.

In case anyone is curious, the other two players to ahve a 200-hit season with three teams are Rogers Hornsby and Paul Molitor.

I'll be watching Pierre this summer to see if he can do it with a fourth team.

[GotMelk?]

Both Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays tried out for the Boston Red Sox but were never signed by them since Yawkey was racist.

[geezer]

Both Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays tried out for the Boston Red Sox but were never signed by them since Yawkey was racist.

The Red Sox was the last team to racially integrate in the late 1950s.

[Utter Chaos]

The Red Sox was the last team to racially integrate in the late 1950s.Good ol' Pumpsie!

[Macker]

Both Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays tried out for the Boston Red Sox but were never signed by them since Yawkey was racist.

Willie Mays did not have a tryout with the Red Sox. While playing for Birmingham in the Negro leagues, a Red Sox scout was sent to take a look at him. However, it rained while the scout was there, and he never saw Mays play. Granted, even if the scout had seen him, the Sox probably wouldn't have signed him, but Mays did not have a tryout with Boston.

[Dodgerfan1]

In 1922, Babe Ruth was appointed as Yankee captain but lasted a mere six games as such, due to the fact that he was suspended a record five times for insubordinate behavior during the year. And this guy wanted to manage?

Ewell Blackwell's coming within two outs of duplicating Johnny Vander Meer's amazing feat of pitching back-to-back no-hitters is very well-known, but it seems to be fairly well forgoten now that in 1973, Nolan Ryan came within two innings of the feat. On July 19, Ryan (who had thrown a no-hitter in his previous outing), yielded a weak single to center by Mark Belanger leading off the eighth en route to a 10-inning one-hitter. His previous no-hitter was already his second of the year! Oh, to be denied history by Mark Belanger!

Walter Johnson holds the major league record of losing 65 games by shutout. Nolan Ryan is second with 63 and Phil Niekro was on the short end of a whitewash 59 times.

More Nolan Ryan trivia: In his 27-year career, Nolan Ryan gave up 321 home runs. The most he gave up in any one season was 20. Will Clark led all batters with six home runs off Ryan lifetime. Mike Schmidt had five. Clark's HR off Ryan on April 8, 1986, was the very first pitch Clark ever saw in the major leagues.

The pitching distance was moved back to 60 feet, 6 inches from the 55-foot measure almost exclusively because of Amos Rusie's utter dominance of opposing batters. Before the change, Rusie struck out 341, 337 and 288 'strikers' in the previous three seasons with ERAs under 2.89. As big a draw as Rusie was in some cities, the fans stayed away in droves in others whenever he was scheduled to pitch, knowing that their team wouldn't stand a chance.

[Utter Chaos]

On July 19, Ryan (who had thrown a no-hitter in his previous outing), yielded a weak single to center by Mark Belanger leading off the eighth en route to a 10-inning one-hitter. His previous no-hitter was already his second of the year! Oh, to be denied history by Mark Belanger!Ryan actually gave up 3 hits in 10.1 innings. Belanger also singled in the 10th and Tommy Davis knocked Ryan out of the game with an 11th inning double. Davis ended up scoring the going ahead run giving Ryan the loss. (Box Score) (http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1973/B07190CAL1973.htm)

Ryan's first no-hitter that year occurred on May 15th. In his previous start on May 11, he gave up 4 hits in only 1/3 of an inning including a wild pitch, 3 doubles and a steal of home by Dick Allen.

[TriviaGod]

Who was the last player to hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom half of an extra-inning to give his team a 4-0 win?

How many baseball HOF members have 3000 hits in their career but never had a 200 hit season?

[mikeymussina35]

Who was the last player to hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom half of an extra-inning to give his team a 4-0 win?

How many baseball HOF members have 3000 hits in their career but never had a 200 hit season?

I know the second one:
5 of them:

Cap Anson
Carl Yastrzemski
Robin Yount
Dave Winfield
Eddie Murray

[geezer]

How many baseball HOF members have 3000 hits in their career but never had a 200 hit season?

Only 5 members

Carl Yaztrzemski - 3,149 Hits (Career High, 191 in 1962)
Cap Anson - 3,148 Hits (Career High, 187 in 1886)
Eddie Murray - 3,255 Hits (Career High, 186 in 1980)
Dave Winfield - 3,110 Hits (Career High, 193 in 1984)
Rickey Henderson - 3,055 Hits (Career High, 179 in 1980)

[kearns643]

Got an autograph back from Red Borom with a letter and a trivia question:

He says in the letter..."P.S. Here's a trivia question for you: Can you name the only two players on World Series winners with two different teams that were 15 yrs apart? I've asked that question many times and no one has answered it correctly.

So, can anyone help?

[TriviaGod]

Who is the only Canadian-born player to play for both Canadian clubs (the Blue Jays and the Expos) in his career?

[RuthMayBond]

Who is the only Canadian-born player to play for both Canadian clubs (the Blue Jays and the Expos) in his career?Denis Boucher?

[RuthMayBond]

Who is the only Canadian-born player to play for both Canadian clubs (the Blue Jays and the Expos) in his career?I think we'll have to add Rob Ducey

[Utter Chaos]

Got an autograph back from Red Borom with a letter and a trivia question:

He says in the letter..."P.S. Here's a trivia question for you: Can you name the only two players on World Series winners with two different teams that were 15 yrs apart? I've asked that question many times and no one has answered it correctly.

So, can anyone help?
Babe Ruth (1915 Bos, 1932 NYY)
Enos Slaughter (1942 StL, 1958 NYY)

[Williamsburg2599]

What pitcher (who was famous for something else) allowed the first grand slam in NL history?

[iPod]

More Nolan Ryan trivia: In his 27-year career, Nolan Ryan gave up 321 home runs. The most he gave up in any one season was 20. Will Clark led all batters with six home runs off Ryan lifetime. Mike Schmidt had five. Clark's HR off Ryan on April 8, 1986, was the very first pitch Clark ever saw in the major leagues.


That's not quite true. Clark's major league swing was a home run off Nolan Ryan, but it wasn't the first pitch of the at-bat.

[Dodgerfan1]

That's not quite true. Clark's major league swing was a home run off Nolan Ryan, but it wasn't the first pitch of the at-bat.

Thanks, iPod. The book I got it from says it was "the very first pitch the intense left-handed slugger ever saw in the majors," but I will certainly defer to your sources. I surely can't vouch for that one either way.

[Dodgerfan1]

Earl Averill's 673 consecutive-game streak was broken in 1935 when he was injured while lighting a firecracker.

As of 2002 (the year that the book I found this in was published), the record for most homers hit off one pitcher in a season is six, shared by George Kelly, Ted Williams and Ted Kluszewski. Kelly hit his six off of the Cubs' Vic Aldridge in 1923. Williams tied the mark 18 years later by tagging six homers off the White Sox's Johnny Rigney and Big Klu hit six bombs off Pittsburgh's Max Surkont in 1954.

Shortly after major league baseball became integrated, Bill Veeck approached Negro league star Buck Leonard (often hailed as the 'black Lou Gehrig') about playing for his Indians, but Buck refused. Leonard, who was then 40, reasoned that he didn't want a sunset performance by him to hurt the chances of younger black players who were at that time being considered.

The last time an entire 9-inning major league game was played using only one baseball was June 29, 1916. It had happened before, but never since. It's safe to assume it never will again.

Elroy Face holds the all-time record for yielding the most extra-inning homers with 21. The next closest is Hoyt Wilhelm with 14.

[cubsfan1073]

Derrek Lee is the only MLB player ever to spell his name Derrek.

[Dodgerfan1]

Willie Mays homered in each inning from the first to the 16th. No one else has done this. Dante Bichette, Jack Clark, Howard Johnson, Graig Nettles, Andy Pafko and Carl Yastrzemski all homered in each frame from the first to the 14th.

Gavvy Cravath became a judge following his major league career.

Lefty Williams (1919) and George Frazier (1981) are the only two pitchers to lose 3 games in a World Series.

Trivia of the bizarre: Both Jimmie Foxx and his wife died from separate choking incidents, according to their daughter. Although Foxx is listed as having died of a heart attack, his daughter Candace told the SABR that both parents in fact choked to death.

On June 12, 1997, Glenallen Hill of the Giants became the first National League DH in the very first interleague game.

[geezer]

Lefty Williams (1919) and George Frazier (1981) are the only two pitchers to lose 3 games in a World Series.



Yeah, and those 3 Williams losses were because he threw all those games, he was one of the Black Sox players banned, and Frazier's 3 losses were in back-to-back-to-back games (3,4 and 5 of the 1981 WS)

[Old Sweater]

Frazier's 3 losses were in back-to-back-to-back games (3,4 and 5 of the 1981 WS)


Funny that Frazier never has brought this up as much as his ring in the Rockie telecasts.

[Dodgerfan1]

Funny that Frazier never has brought this up as much as his ring in the Rockie telecasts.

YEE-HAW!! ;)

[Old Sweater]

YEE-HAW!! ;)



I need a hint.

[KingSwisher]

Only 5 members

Carl Yaztrzemski - 3,149 Hits (Career High, 191 in 1962)
Cap Anson - 3,148 Hits (Career High, 187 in 1886)
Eddie Murray - 3,255 Hits (Career High, 186 in 1980)
Dave Winfield - 3,110 Hits (Career High, 193 in 1984)
Rickey Henderson - 3,055 Hits (Career High, 179 in 1980)

What year was Rickey Henderson elected to the HOF? I have a bust of every player in the HOF in my kitchen and I'm missing him. COuld you provide a link or a source, please.

Thank you.

[geezer]

What year was Rickey Henderson elected to the HOF? I have a bust of every player in the HOF in my kitchen and I'm missing him. COuld you provide a link or a source, please.

Thank you.

Henderson last played in 2003, he can be eligible to Cooperstown in 2009.

[Dodgerfan1]

Three teams are tied for the unenviable record of losing 8 consecutive World Series games. Oddly enough, two of the teams were beaten eight straight by the same opponent. In 1996, the Atlanta Braves lost the final four games against the Yankees, then were swept in four games by the same Yankees in 1999. The Yankees lost the last three games of the 1921 Series, were swept the following year and dropped the first game of the 1923 fall classic - all to the NY Giants. The Phillies lost the last four games of the 1915 WS to Boston and were swept in 1950 by the Yanks.

Although he did not bat once during the regular seasons of 1973 and 1974, Oakland hurler Ken Holtzman homered and doubled three times in the WS played those two years. He amassed 10 total bases in only 7 ABs during the two series, batted .571 and had a 1.429 SA.

Jack Billingham owns the lowest lifetime World Series ERA of any pitcher who threw over 25 innings. In 25.1 innings, he had an ERA of 0.36. Conversely, his League Championship Series ERA was a not-so-impressive 4.32.

In 1993, The Colorado Rockies became the first and thus far only National League team in the 20th century to be swept in a full season series during an uninterrupted campaign. They dropped all 13 games they played against Atlanta. The Padres lost all 12 games they played against the Expos in the aborted 1994 season. The feat has occurred five times in the AL.

In 2001, Jeff Bagwell became the first player in history with at least 30 home runs, 100 RBI, 100 runs and 100 walks in six consecutive seasons. From 1996-2001, Bagwell averaged 39 HRs, 126 RBI, 127 runs scored and 122 walks.

In 1994, the Cubs opened the season with a 20th-century National League record 12 consecutive home losses, falling five short of the major league record of 17 straight home losses by the 1913 Yankees.

[RuthMayBond]

What year was Rickey Henderson elected to the HOF? I have a bust of every player in the HOF in my kitchen.Your kitchen IS a bust

[KingSwisher]

Henderson last played in 2003, he can be eligible to Cooperstown in 2009.

Well, then that really doesn't make him a correct answer as you displayed it, now does it? Are you getting you info from a blue zebra?

You are the Weakest Link.....Goood bye!

[Bigrcube]

Earl Averill's 673 consecutive-game streak was broken in 1935 when he was injured while lighting a firecracker.

Speaking of Earl Averill.....he's the answer to several trivia questions.

Q1: Name the two members of the HOF to hit a HR in their first major league at-bat?
H: Both from the American League. One in 1929 and the other in 1958.
A: Cleveland's Earl Averill. A: Orioles' pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm.

Q2: In the 1937 All-Star game, his line drive broke Dizzy Dean's big toe on his left foot.
Dizzy tried to comeback before the toe was completely healed,
causing him to change his delivery.....thus giving him arm problems that he
never really recovered from. And the rest is history.
A: Cleveland outfielder Earl Averill.

[Dodgerfan1]

Speaking of Earl Averill.....he's the answer to several trivia questions.

Q1: Name the two members of the HOF to hit a HR in their first major league at-bat?
H: Both from the American League. One in 1929 and the other in 1958.
A: Cleveland's Earl Averill. A: Orioles' pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm.

Q2: In the 1937 All-Star game, his line drive broke Dizzy Dean's big toe on his left foot.
Dizzy tried to comeback before the toe was completely healed,
causing him to change his delivery.....thus giving him arm problems that he
never really recovered from. And the rest is history.
A: Cleveland outfielder Earl Averill.

Quote
"No other left-hander gave me so much trouble. When I think about how many points in Earl Averill's lifetime batting average (.318) came off Gomez deliveries, I thank the good Lord he wasn't twins. One more like him would probably have kept me out of the Hall of Fame."
— Lefty Gomez

Did You Know... that Earl Averill was the only American League outfielder to be named to each of the first six All-Star Games (1933-1938)?

[RuthMayBond]

While we're on Earl Averill, there was supposedly a shift employed by Hornsby against him in 1934

[TriviaGod]

A few years ago, I was watching a Pirates/Brewers game and the announcer made a comment about a Brewers player (Brooks Kieschnick) being the only player to hit a HR as a pitcher, pinch hitter, and designated hitter.
Does anybody know if Brooks still holds that honor and if not, who else has done it since then?

[Dodgerfan1]

Duke Snider had more home runs during the 1950s than any other player. Snider belted 326 homers during the decade. Rounding out the top 6 are Hodges with 310, Mathews - 299, Mantle - 280, Musial - 266, Berra - 256 and Mays - 250.

Joe DiMaggio was not the first player to earn $100,000 in a season. that distinction belongs to Hank Greenberg, who reached the six-figure mark in 1947, three years before the Yankee Clipper did.

Believe it or not, the first player to hit 30 home runs in a season for both leagues was Dick Stuart, who slugged 35 homers for the Pirates in 1961, was traded to the Red Sox after the 1962 season, and clubbed a career-high 42 round trippers in 1963.

Only two pitchers in history have ever pitched no-hitters for the St. Louis Browns, and amazingly, both were named Bobo! Bobo Newsom turned the trick in 1934 and Bobo Holloman, who threw his in his very first start in the majors, did so in 1953. Holloman's gem was aided by several incredible fielding plays by his teammates behind him. By the end of July, Holloman had a 3-7 record and a 5.26 ERA. He was sent down to the minors where he remained for the rest of his baseball career.

[Bigrcube]

Only two pitchers in history have ever pitched no-hitters for the St. Louis Browns, and amazingly, both were named Bobo!
.....Bobo Holloman, who threw his no-no in his very first start in the majors, did so in 1953. Holloman's gem was aided by several incredible fielding plays by his teammates behind him. By the end of July, Holloman had a 3-7 record and a 5.26 ERA. He was sent down to the minors where he remained for the rest of his baseball career.

Note: He was born Alva Lee Holloman in Thomaston, GA and didn't make it to the major leagues until the age of 30.

Quote: “Some people would call him (Bobo Holloman) a screwball I guess, but I’m mighty happy that he pestered me into giving him his chance to start that game (the no-hitter he threw on May 6, 1953). He proved to me that he’s just about as good as he thinks he is.” ~~ St. Louis Browns Manager Marty Marion

[Utter Chaos]

Q1: Name the two members of the HOF to hit a HR in their first major league at-bat?
H: Both from the American League. One in 1929 and the other in 1958.
A: Cleveland's Earl Averill. A: Orioles' pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm.
Since you didn't specify which HOF you can add Ace Parker to the list. He hit a HR in his first major league at bat on 4/30/1937 and was elected to the Pro Football HOF in 1972

[Bigrcube]

Since you didn't specify which HOF you can add Ace Parker to the list. He hit a HR in his first major league at bat on 4/30/1937 and was elected to the Pro Football HOF in 1972

Yes, you are right.....I guess I didn't specify which HOF.
Just assumed since this is BASEBAL Almanac, and were talkin' baseball.....
.....oh well?!

I will have to write that one down for future reference.

[Erik Bedard]

A few years ago, I was watching a Pirates/Brewers game and the announcer made a comment about a Brewers player (Brooks Kieschnick) being the only player to hit a HR as a pitcher, pinch hitter, and designated hitter.
Does anybody know if Brooks still holds that honor and if not, who else has done it since then?

I was at the game where he hit the HR as a DH. :eek:

[Dodgerfan1]

Steve Jeltz had 1749 ABs in the major leagues and hit just five home runs, but two of them came in the same game on June 8, 1989... one left-handed and the other right-handed! This was the game that led to a famous local incident starring Pirates announcer Jim Rooker. Pittsburgh scored ten runs in the very first inning which prompted Rooker to boast, "If we lose this game, I'll WALK home!" Led by Jeltz and his two homer game, the Phillies came back to win 15-11, and Jim Rooker walked 300 miles from Philly to Pittsburgh, which was turned into a charity event.

Indentured servitude in the big leagues? In 1913, the St. Louis Browns played their spring training ball in Montgomery, AL. After six weeks, it was time to start the season and the Brownies prepared for the train trip back to St. Louis. The only thing that remained was for them to pay the agreed-upon rent for usage of the Montgomery ballpark. One problem. The Browns didn't have it. Solution? Buzzy Wares! Wares had worked hard all spring to make the final cut and was thrilled when he was told he had made the opening day roster. The thrill turned to despair when he was informed that the Browns had agreed to give the Montgomery minor league team his services in lieu of the rent money. Poor Buzzy Wares. He was called up by the big club late in the season for 11 games and played part-time the next year, but then was sent back down and never returned to the majors.

Tommy Lasorda had a major league pitching record of 0-4 with a 6.48 ERA, and he's lucky it isn't worse. In his big league debut as a starter against the Cardinals on May 5, 1955, Lasorda allowed an earned run in the very first inning without a batter even swinging at the ball. Tommy walked the leadoff man, Wally Moon, then uncorked a wild pitch to Bill Virdon before walking him, as well. Up came Stan Musial and Lasorda proceeded to throw two more wild pitches, allowing Moon to score. No one had even swung at a pitch until Musial did, after the run had scored!

[Trivia Guy]

The 1922 Chicago White Sox and the 1983 San Diego Padres hold a unique “achievement” as the only two clubs to finish a season with a .500 record while scoring and allowing exactly the same number of runs. In dropping the final four games of the 1922 season, Chicago was outscored 21 to 14. They finished with a 77-77 record and also ended the year with 691 runs scored and a pitching staff that allowed 691 runs. White Sox hitters belted out 1,464 hits, just eight fewer than their pitchers gave up. Entering their 1983 season finale with Atlanta, the Padres’ mark stood at 81-80. They trailed 4-0 entering the bottom of the eighth and rallied for three runs but lost 4-3 to finish at exactly .500. Their last three runs brought their total to 653, the same number allowed by their pitchers. As did the 1922 White Sox, the 1983 Padres’ hit collected and hits allowed almost matched as well ---- they banged out 1,384 and while giving up 1,389.

[Dodgerfan1]

In 1928, Marty Walker was a 29 year-old rookie pitcher for the Phillies. For his major league debut, he was penciled in as the starting pitcher. He faced just five batters. Two of them got hits and the other three recieved walks. Walker was given the hook by manager Burt Shotton, calmly strode off the mound, quietly went into the locker room and took his shower, walked out of the stadium and was never seen in the major leagues again. His ERA is an impressive infinity.

In a 1933 spring training game, the St. Louis Cardinals' Ripper Collins was called on to pinch hit. Before leaving the dugout, he tucked a ball under his left arm where nobody could see it, including plate umpire Bill Klem. On the first pitch, Collins dragged a bunt toward first base and at the same time let the ball fall from under his arm. Collins recalled, "The pitcher ran over to get the ball that I had bunted and the catcher picked up the one that I had dropped. Neither one threw, they were so surprised. Klem threw me out of the game. He told me, 'There will be none of that, young man. This is serious business, even in an exhibition game.' For a minute, though, it was fun."

[Solrac]

Saltalamacchia has the longest name but who had it earlier,and before that???
i would really like to know

[Sports Fan 07]

Saltalamacchia has the longest name but who had it earlier,and before that???
i would really like to know

I read it was William VanLandingham.

[Solrac]

I read it was William VanLandingham.

Thnx
Now Does Someone Know The Shortest Last Name???

[Utter Chaos]

Thnx
Now Does Someone Know The Shortest Last Name???I believe the shortest last name is 3 letters by lots of people with Ed Ott and Ed Hug having the shortest full names.

[soberdennis]

I believe the shortest last name is 3 letters by lots of people with Ed Ott and Ed Hug having the shortest full names.
Of course you can't forget Sadahara Oh!

[The Kid]

Nap Lajioe was batting .400 after every single game he played in 1901. After the first game, he was batting .400 after every single at bat he had!

[nerfan]

I believe the shortest last name is 3 letters by lots of people with Ed Ott and Ed Hug having the shortest full names.

What about Mel Ott?

[Utter Chaos]

What about Mel Ott?(MelOtt = 6) > (EdOtt = 5)

[west coast orange and black]

career homeruns against lefthanders:

223 - bonds (yesterday off glavine the most recent)
221 - aaron
219 - ruth
209 - mays

[nosoupforyou]

Denny Mclain is the last pitcher to ever win 30 games in a season.

Reggie Jackson is the all time strikeout king.

Nolan Ryan holds the record for the most walks in a career.

[west coast orange and black]

bonds hit 73 hr, 37 at home.
all visiting players combined: 57

[anjo25]

As of 12/31/05, the guys with the fewest hits on the 2200 hit list were all named "Willie"-

Can anybody name them?

[RuthMayBond]

As of 12/31/05, the guys with the fewest hits on the 2200 hit list were all named "Willie"-

Can anybody name them?Wilson, Randolph, McCovey

[Bigrcube]

Andre Dawson holds the record for having played in the most major league games without appearing in a World Series, 2,627.

Wrong, the player who played the most games
without ever going to the World Series is Rafael Palmeiro, who played in 2,831 games.

And current Yankee manager Joe Torre's combined player/manager streak of
games played/managed before going to a World Series is:
2209 (player) and 2063 (mgr) = 4272 (not including playoff games).

[Utter Chaos]

Who were the three people to attempt a manager/player career in the 70's?

[geezer]

Who were the three people to attempt a manager/player career in the 70's?


Frank Robinson with Cleveland was one of them.

[mojorisin71]

Joe Torre was another

[Utter Chaos]

Don Kessinger

[Utter Chaos]

Don KessingerThat's weird. I just noticed that my screen name asked the question but I don't remember asking it. :confused:

My 11 year old son is starting to visit this site and I'm willing to bet he was the one to ask the question. Good question son!

[Trivia Guy]

That's weird. I just noticed that my screen name asked the question but I don't remember asking it. :confused:

My 11 year old son is starting to visit this site and I'm willing to bet he was the one to ask the question. Good question son!

Sounds like you are raising the boy right! My son is almost seven and is just starting to really get into it now. Of course, when he was a toddler I taught him that the last two words to the National Anthem were "play ball".........:happy:

[Utter Chaos]

Yes, it's utterchaos Jr.
Kessinger did it with the White Sox in 1979
Torre did it with the mets
Robinson did it with the Indians
..........................................

Julio Franco is the only active player that's faced a pitcher that pitched to Ted Williams? Who was that pitcher?

[nickels11]

Jim Kaat

Julio Franco is the only active player that's faced a pitcher that pitched to Ted Williams? Who was that pitcher?[/QUOTE]

[Utter Chaos]

:happy: Correct!

I thought that was a pretty interesting fact

[Dodgerfan1]

Not much action here anymore. Let's see if I can contribute a few more. Here is some trivia about the early game:

The city of Pittsfield, MA, passed an ordinance in 1791 stating that no baseball games shall be played within 80 yards of a newly-built meeting house, not only because of the noise, but also to ensure no windows were broken by batted balls.

Abraham Lincoln was playing baseball when a messenger arrived with a note for him. Lincoln told the messenger not to interrupt him during the game. Afterward, he discovered the message was informing him that he had been nominated for president by the Republican party.

Baseball historians hit the books on May 11, 1999, when Bobby J. Jones of the Mets was paired against Bobby M. Jones of the Rockies in order to find the last time two pitchers with the same name opposed each other as starters in the major leagues. There were two such matches, and both were played over 100 years previously. John B. Taylor (Reds) and John W. Taylor (White Stockings) squared off against each other in 1899 and George H. Bradley was the starter for Boston against George W. Bradley of St. Louis in a game played in 1876. In fact, no NL team DIDN'T face George W, Bradley that year. He started ALL 64 games St. Louis played that year.

According to Ernest Thayer, who penned the famous poem "Casey at the Bat", the real Casey on whom he drew his inspiration was a Philadelphia pitcher named Dan Casey who came to bat against the NY Giants in the home half of the ninth inning with two outs and men on second and third. Trailing 4-3 (the poem says 4-2), Casey took two called strikes and then swung mightily and missed, for the third strike and the third out, ending the August 21, 1887 ballgame. According to Thayer, there was much anticipation from the crowd when Casey strode to the plate and he was particularly impressed by the uncommonly (for then) mighty cut Casey took at the ball with two strikes on him. Casey was a reliable pitcher who, unfortunately for him, is best remembered instead for one failed at-bat. He pitched for four teams over a seven year stretch before becoming a streetcar conductor in Binghamton, NY.

HOFer Dave Bancroft was given his odd nickname 'Beauty' by his peers because he had a habit of exclaiming, "Beauty!", whenever his pitcher threw a strike. Opposing teams began to razz him from the dugout by shouting "Beauty!" any time he uttered it from his shortstop position.

[Dodgerfan1]

Among the pitchers on this forum rarely talked about when discussing those who can pitch with either hand is the old "Apollo of the Box", Tony Mullane. Mullane pitched in the days before gloves, and batters literally didn't know which hand he was going to throw with because he held the ball with both hands prior to pitching it. As the 'striker' would step up to the plate, Mullane would then unleash the ball with whichever hand he felt would give him more of an advantage.

A previous post of mine identified Cy Young and Hideo Nomo as the only two pitchers in major league history to toss the very first no-hitters in two different ballparks. As a matter of fact, they are also the only two to have thrown no-hitters in different centuries!

Bob Lemon should have had 24 wins in 1950, not 23. He really should have. On August 28, he blew a 10-0 lead against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The Sox eventually won the game 15-14. Bob Feller took the loss in his only relief appearance of the season.

The 1951 Giants had the shortest stint atop the league standings of any pennant winner in history. Three days.

Hank Greenberg wasn't traded from Detroit to Pittsburgh in 1947 because he was getting old and his production was slipping. Well, not completely, anyway. Tiger owner Walter Briggs saw a photo of Hank in a Yankee uniform which Greenberg wore for a wartime fund-raiser because there were no other unis available that would fit him. Briggs became incensed and dealt Hank to the Pirates. Before retiring, Greenberg tutored a young Ralph Kiner in Pittsburgh and also offered very vocal public support for Jackie Robinson.

[geezer]

A previous post of mine identified Cy Young and Hideo Nomo as the only two pitchers in major league history to toss the very first no-hitters in two different ballparks. As a matter of fact, they are also the only two to have thrown no-nos in different centuries!


The 1951 Giants had the shortest stint atop the league standings of any pennant winner in history. Three days.



A. Young and Nomo arent the only ones to throw no-nos in different centuries, Randy Johnson did it too.

B. The shortest stint atop the league standings for any division winner is the 2006 Minnesota Twins, one day.

[Dodgerfan1]

A. Young and Nomo arent the only ones to throw no-nos in different centuries, Randy Johnson did it too.

B. The shortest stint atop the league standings for any division winner is the 2006 Minnesota Twins, one day.

You are correct, Johnson did it too. That was my own research so I missed him. Thanks for the correction.

You are also correct about Minnesota, however my trivia was regarding pennant winners, not just division champs.

[Dodgerfan1]

Don Drysdale is the only pitcher to hit two home runs on opening day.

In a 1935 game, Boston's Joe Cronin hit into a triple play when he lined a ball off the head of Cleveland third baseman Odell Hale which ricocheted into the glove of shortstop Bill Knickerbocker, who completed the game-ending triple play.

In a game in 1959, the Chicago White Sox scored 11 runs in one inning on only ONE hit, and that hit was a single! The Sox received 10 walks, five of them with the bases loaded, and one hit batsman from the KC Athletics, who also made three errors in the inning. The White Sox won the game 26-6.

If not for Merkle's 'boner' in 1908, Christy Mathewson would have won 374 games in his career, which would have put him one ahead of Grover Alexander's 373. Of course, when Alexander finally hung up his spikes in 1930 with 373 victories, he thought he had surpassed Mathewson who, at the time, had been credited with 'only' 372 career victories. Statisticians later found a victory that had never been credited to Matty and he was bumped up to 373, thus tying him with Old Pete.

Rick Sutcliffe became the only pitcher to be traded in the middle of a Cy Young season when the Cubs obtained him from Cleveland in 1984. He had gone 4-5 with the Tribe but finished 16-1 with Chicago.

[flash143817]

In a game in 1959, the Chicago White Sox scored 11 runs in one inning on only ONE hit, and that hit was a single! The Sox received 10 walks, five of them with the bases loaded, and one hit batsman from the KC Athletics, who also made three errors in the inning. The White Sox won the game 26-6.



Incredible. This must be the most remarkable inning ever. At what point does that manager just say screw it and get ejected for arguing balls and strikes?

So who were the geniuses who decided to swing and make the outs? I don't know about you guys, but when the pitcher has walked 10 guys, I'm standing there taking until I'm either at first or in the dugout. No way that guy could throw 3 called strikes.

[Dodgerfan1]

The first player to hit a home run in Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium was not Hank Aaron, but his brother, Tommie, who hit it in a 1965 exhibition game against Detroit. Tommie would go on to hit all of 13 major league homers.

The first American League game in 1901 had only one umpire. Tom Connolly had to keep moving around in order to get the best vantage point of the action., standing behind the plate with nobody on base, behind the pitcher with a runner on first and back behind the plate again with runners on second or third. It's safe to say he was probably the most active person on the field.

When Lou Gehrig hit four home runs in a single game in 1932, his amazing feat was overshadowed in the press by the announced retirement of Giants manager John McGraw. Lou would get even, however, at the expense of the Red Sox' Jim Tabor when, on July 4, 1939, Gehrig gave his famous "Luckiest man" farewell speech at Yankee Stadium. Tabor hit two grand slams that day, but his feat took a back seat to Gehrig's emotional address.

Yankee coach Jim Hegan once told pitcher Mel Stottlemyre that Mel's habit of avoiding the foul lines was a silly superstition. In order to prove to Hegan that he wasn't superstitious, he deliberately stepped on one. He had immediate regrets, however. Stottlemyre: "The first batter was Ted Uhlaender. he hit a line drive off my left shin. It went for a hit. Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew followed with extra-base hits. The fifth man hit a single and scored and I was charged with five earned runs. I haven't stepped on a foul line since."

[Utter Chaos]

Incredible. This must be the most remarkable inning ever. At what point does that manager just say screw it and get ejected for arguing balls and strikes?

So who were the geniuses who decided to swing and make the outs? I don't know about you guys, but when the pitcher has walked 10 guys, I'm standing there taking until I'm either at first or in the dugout. No way that guy could throw 3 called strikes.

Courtesy of www.retrosheet.org (http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1959/B04220KC11959.htm) from April 22, 1959. Landis made two of the outs. Note: the final score was 20-6 not 26-6.

WHITE SOX 7TH: GORMAN REPLACED WARD (PITCHING);
*Boone reached on an error by DeMaestri [Boone to first];
*Smith reached on an error by Smith on a sacrifice bunt [Boone to second];
*Callison singled to right [Boone scored (unearned), Smith scored (error by Maris) (unearned), Callison to third];
*Aparicio walked; Aparicio stole second;
*Shaw walked; TORGESON BATTED FOR ESPOSITO; FREEMAN REPLACED GORMAN (PITCHING);
*Torgeson walked (walk was charged to Gorman) [Callison scored, Aparicio to third, Shaw to second];
*Fox walked [Aparicio scored, Shaw to third, Torgeson to second];
*Landis forced Shaw (pitcher to catcher) [Torgeson to third, Fox to second];
*Lollar walked [Torgeson scored (unearned), Fox to third, Landis to second];
BRUNET REPLACED FREEMAN (PITCHING);
*Boone walked [Fox scored (unearned), Landis to third, Lollar to second];
*Smith walked [Landis scored (unearned), Lollar to third, Boone to second];
*Callison was hit by a pitch [Lollar scored (unearned), Boone to third, Smith to second];
SKIZAS RAN FOR CALLISON;
*Aparicio walked [Boone scored (unearned), Smith to third, Skizas to second];
*Shaw struck out;
PHILLIPS BATTED FOR TORGESON;
*Phillips walked [Smith scored (unearned), Skizas to third, Aparicio to second];
*Fox walked [Skizas scored (unearned), Aparicio to third, Phillips to second];
*Landis grounded out (pitcher to first);
11 R (2 ER), 1 H, 3 E, 3 LOB. White Sox 19, Athletics 6.

[RuthMayBond]

The first American League game in 1903 had only one umpire.I'm guessing you mean the first AL game that was on the schedule in 1903? :confused:

[Dodgerfan1]

I'm guessing you mean the first AL game that was on the schedule in 1903? :confused:

Meant to say 1901, of course. It has been edited.

DF1

[Old Sweater]

Thanks Dodgefan1, good stuff!!!

[flash143817]

Looks like the first mistake of the inning was GORMAN REPLACED WARD (PITCHING).

Landis makes 2 of the 3 outs and the other is made by the reliever, Shaw. Someone should take away Landis' bat next time so he isn't so tempted to swing.

Looks like it got really ugly when Brunet came in. He allows 5 BB and a HBP out of 8 batters. Only the batting incompetence of the pitcher, and the mental incompetence of Landis were able to bail him out. I'm assuming since Shaw struck out he was at least smart enough to try to walk with that lack of control exhibited.

[Dodgerfan1]

Bob Uecker made more than 100 appearances on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. As a comic, he was known for his self-deprecating humor, ala Rodney Dangerfield. One of Bob's jokes: "One time, I was batting against the Dodgers in Milwaukee. They led 2-1. It was the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and the pitcher had a full count on me. I looked over at the Dodger dugout. They were all in street clothes."

Rusty Staub is the only player to get 500 hits with four different teams (Houston, Montreal, Detroit and the Mets).

Gene Conley is the only man to win world championship rings in two different sports, first for the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, then for the Boston Celtics from 1959-1961. (If anyone can find any other athlete to have done this, I'd be interested to hear about it. I can't find any others).

On May 13, 1942, Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves became the only pitcher to swat three homers in a single game since the modern era began in 1901. In 9 major league seasons, he hit 17 home runs. In 1944, he pitched two no-hitters (one was a shortened 5 inning affair).

In 78 big league at-bats, pitcher Terry Forster collected 31 hits for an average of .397. You could look it up.

[Dodgerfan1]

Ted Williams is the only player with 500+ career homers who connected on his first and last major league at-bats.

With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 15th inning of game 5 of the 1999 NLCS, The Mets’ Robin Ventura launched a home run over the right field wall with the bases loaded to give New York a 7-3 win. Or was it? Unfortunately for Ventura, he only made it to first base before delirious, overzealous fans mobbed him, making it impossible for him to complete his trot around the bases. The umpires called the game at that point, and Ventura’s hit went into the books as a game-winning ‘grand single’! The official final score, NY 4, Atlanta 3.

Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers decided to retire rather than accept a contract offer from the Cincinnati Reds for the 1986 season because they had a strict policy against facial hair.

When Seattle’s Edgar Martinez went on the disabled list in August, 2002, Ron Wright was called up to take his place on the roster. On August 13, Wright was inserted into the lineup as a DH for a game against the Texas Rangers. In his first major league AB, he struck out against Kenny Rogers. In his second at-bat, he grounded into a triple play. His third time up, he grounded into a double play. The Mariners sent him back down to AAA Tacoma shortly afterwards. To date, he has never appeared in another big league game. His career line….. 3 at-bats, 6 outs. A bitter cup of coffee. Way to go, Ron....

[J-MAC]

Ted Williams is the only player in the baseball Hall Of Fame and the Fishing Hall Of Fame

[sprinter45]

He's on the fishing hall of fame? That's pretty funny. :)

[Utter Chaos]

Gene Conley is the only man to win world championship rings in two different sports, first for the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, then for the Boston Celtics from 1959-1961. (If anyone can find any other athlete to have done this, I'd be interested to hear about it. I can't find any others).Unless you count Dave Ricketts. He won a NIT Basketball championship at Duquesne and a World Series with the Cardinals in 1967.

Ted Williams is the only player with 500+ career homers who connected on his first and last major league at-bats.Williams homered in his last at bat but did not hit a homer in his first at bat. I believe John Miller is the only player to hit a homer in his first and last at bats.

[Dodgerfan1]

Williams homered in his last at bat but did not hit a homer in his first at bat. I believe John Miller is the only player to hit a homer in his first and last at bats.

Utter Chaos,

Thank you for this correction! I used a trusted source which said Williams homered in his first and last at-bat. I have done further research and came up with this:

'Williams' first major league game (April 20, 1939) was the only time he played against the Yankees' Lou Gehrig. Williams struck out in his first at-bat, against Red Ruffing; he doubled in four at-bats during the game."

I will assume this is correct, so I apologize for the error. I have found some really cool books and sources for what I consider interesting trivia, and generally double-check my facts, but you are correct in this case, so I'm sorry for the slip-up. In the course of researching some of the bits of trivia I love so much, I have come across a very few number of errors, but they will occur every great once in a while, I suppose. Still, lots of fun, isn't it?

Here is a picture I found of Ted Williams' first at-bat as a member of the Red Sox (sorry, I don't paste pics). The caption says that this photo was taken during an exhibition game in April of 1939, which would make this the VERY first AB Williams ever had in the big leagues. Is it possible that he homered during this AB?? That may account for my source's 'fact' that he homered in his first AB as a major leaguer. I'm probably reaching at this point, but anyway, here is the now famous photo:

http://www.nytstore.com/ProdDetail.aspx?prodId=1697

DF1

[Chicoutimi CP]

A few days ago, Ryan Howard hit his 100th career home run. We learned that he was the fastest batter to reach that milestone, doing it during his 325th game. Here is the top ten 10 home run career numbers for players after 325 games.

1) Ryan Howard 100
2) Bob Horner 91
3) Mark McGwire 85
4) Reggie Jackson 76
4) Mike Piazza 74
5) Jim Gentile and Albert Pujols 73
6) Mark Teixera 72, Cory Snyder, and Eric Davis 72
7) Juan Gonzalez, Adam Dunn, Richie Sexson, and Tim Salmon 71
8) Tony Conigliaro, Ron Kittle, and Manny Ramirez 70
9) Lance Berkman and Nomar Garciaparra 69
10) Rob Deer and Fred McGriff 68

Wondering where A-Rod is ? I don't have his rank, but after his first 325 games, he had hit 61 dingers.

[Dodgerfan1]

A few days ago, Ryan Howard hit his 100th career home run. We learned that he was the fastest batter to reach that milestone, doing it during his 325th game. Here is the top ten 10 home run career numbers for players after 325 games.

1) Ryan Howard 100
2) Bob Horner 91
3) Mark McGwire 85
4) Reggie Jackson 76
4) Mike Piazza 74
5) Jim Gentile and Albert Pujols 73
6) Mark Teixera 72, Cory Snyder, and Eric Davis 72
7) Juan Gonzalez, Adam Dunn, Richie Sexson, and Tim Salmon 71
8) Tony Conigliaro, Ron Kittle, and Manny Ramirez 70
9) Lance Berkman and Nomar Garciaparra 69
10) Rob Deer and Fred McGriff 68

Wondering where A-Rod is ? I don't have his rank, but after his first 325 games, he had hit 61 dingers.

Interesting list! Any idea where Kingman was after 325 games? Some of these guys are flashes in the pan or pure power hitters with almost nothing else going for them (Kittle, Deer). I don't see Ruth, Aaron or Bonds or Mays. They were busy perfecting other aspects of their game. I also don't see any particularly good fielders on this list, either. Maybe Eric Davis and Pujols, but that's about it.

[Chicoutimi CP]

Any idea where Kingman was after 325 games?

After 325 games, Kingman had 66 home runs, so he would rank no 12 ex aecquo with a few players including Jose Canseco, Tony Clark and Ryan Klesko. (No 11 would be Dick Stuart with 67).

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

A few days ago, Ryan Howard hit his 100th career home run. We learned that he was the fastest batter to reach that milestone, doing it during his 325th game. Here is the top ten 10 home run career numbers for players after 325 games.

1) Ryan Howard 100
2) Bob Horner 91
3) Mark McGwire 85
4) Reggie Jackson 76
4) Mike Piazza 74
5) Jim Gentile and Albert Pujols 73
6) Mark Teixera 72, Cory Snyder, and Eric Davis 72
7) Juan Gonzalez, Adam Dunn, Richie Sexson, and Tim Salmon 71
8) Tony Conigliaro, Ron Kittle, and Manny Ramirez 70
9) Lance Berkman and Nomar Garciaparra 69
10) Rob Deer and Fred McGriff 68

Wondering where A-Rod is ? I don't have his rank, but after his first 325 games, he had hit 61 dingers.

Does this list not include Ruth Because he pitched his first 325 games?

I know he would definately make the list if we start from his first every-day-batter game.

[Chicoutimi CP]

Does this list not include Ruth Because he pitched his first 325 games?

I know he would definately make the list if we start from his first every-day-batter game.

1- Bonds had 65 HRs after his 325th game.

2- For Aaron, Mays, and Ruth, I don't have their numbers. Why? Because I used the Baseball-Reference Play Index database and, as you might know, they have nothing before 1957. Ruth played his 325th game in 1919, Mays in '55 and Aaron in '56. Someone with the SABR Home Run database would probably have these numbers though.

I apologize for not mentionning that my numbers cover only the 1957-2007 era.

Claude

[Old Sweater]

He's on the fishing hall of fame? That's pretty funny. :)

Ted Williams was a world class fisherman and took his fishing as serious as he took his hitting.

Here he is with a 557 lb. tuna he caught in 1961.

[KingSwisher]

Unless you count Dave Ricketts. He won a NIT Basketball championship at Duquesne and a World Series with the Cardinals in 1967.

Seriously dude, big deal.

Tim Stoddard won an NCAA Div 1 basketball championship with NC State and a World Series with Baltimore.

[KingSwisher]

Oh, by the way....

Dick Groat is the only player to be named the NCAA Player of the Year in Basketball and to win a MLB MVP Award.

BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dodgerfan1]

The 1905 Boston Braves had FOUR 20-game losers, yet didn't finish in last place! Irv Young and Chick Fraser each lost 21 games, Kaiser Wilhelm lost 23 games and Vic Willis lost an amazing 29 games. The Braves still finished two games ahead of the woeful Brooklyn team.

John McGraw's sinusitis attacks, complicated by springtime weather, were so severe that he often managed the Giants by telephone from the clubhouse.

Professional baseball games in the 1870s were very chaotic much of the time. Rules were occasionally changed, or ignored, on the spot following a controversial play, and players often got away with cheating by threatening to flatten an umpire if he dared to call him on it. In the stands, ushers were utilized much like train conductors, going around and asking the 'cranks' to produce their ticket. That practice was adopted because the great flood of fans that would come through the front gate before the game were often so compressed that many fans were able to sneak in behind the wall of paying fans. This is what led the Providence team to install turnstiles in 1878, the first professional baseball team to do so.

The last American League pitcher to hit a home run before the DH rule was enacted in 1973 was Roric Harrison of the Orioles in 1972. The first AL pitcher to homer in interleague competition was Bobby Witt in 1997. Between those two at-bats, there were zero homers hit by pitchers in the AL.

The New York Mets had earned the first amateur draft choice in 1966, and chose a catcher by the name of Steve Chilcott. Chilcott never did reach the majors, and in fact hit only .248 in six minor league seasons. A major reason for their choice of Chilcott was because he was endorsed by Casey Stengel. The Kansas City A's had second choice in the draft. They chose Reggie Jackson. Seems the Mets couldn't do anything right in those days..... :(

[Dodgerfan1]

The New York Giants installed baseball's first PA system on August 25, 1929, just in time for a game against Pittsburgh. Umpire Cy Rigler had a microphone inside his mask to broadcast balls and strikes to the fans.

in 1890, The Players League became the first major league to use two umpires during its games. The AL followed suit within a year or two of its achieving major league status in 1901.

Mike Schmidt was once called out after stealing second base successfully. It happened at Shea Stadium in 1979. Schmidt stole second but thought he was out. The umpire's call of 'safe' was inaudible over the roar of the crowd. Schmidt walked all the way to the third base line before he heard his teammates yelling for him to return to second base. Suddenly realizing what was happening, Schmidt called time and pretended he wanted a drink from the water cooler, but the ruse failed as the umpires refused to allow the deception and Schmidt was tagged out by the suddenly alerted Mets, who also were unaware that Schmidt had been called safe.

Chan Ho Park has a tendency to throw historic gopher balls. It was he who gave up homer number 71 to Barry Bonds which broke Mark McGwire's single season record. Park also coughed up homer number 72 to Bonds, which broke his own record. Park was the pitcher when Cal Ripken Jr. homered in his final All-Star AB. As an encore, Park surrendered both 3rd inning grand slams to Fernando Tatis on April 23, 1999. Tatis became the only player to hit two grand slams in one inning, courtesy of our Mr. Park.

In 1951, Ernie Harwell and Russ Hodges were tabbed to broadcast the Giants/Dodgers playoff series. According to Harwell, he and Hodges alternated between the radio broadcast and the television broadcast and game 3 was Harwell's turn to do TV. Harwell: "I thought I had the better assignment. For the first time in the history of television, that series was going to be broadcast coast-to-coast. There were five radio broadcasts. Poor old Russ was going to be lost on the radio and I'd be on TV!" No record exists of Harwell's call, while a fan tape recorded Hodges' call, which is now one of the most famous sports broadcasts of all time. It would be interesting to have heard Harwell's call.....

[Dodgerfan1]

Lew Burdette not only went 5-0 against Sandy Koufax, but won two of the games with home runs! Burdette hit half of his career 12 homers at the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the Dodgers played from 1958-61. The reconfigured football stadium featured a left field foul pole about 250 feet from home plate, along with a screen more than 40 feet high. Admittedly, this was a period before Koufax became virtually unhittable, but there you are....

On July 17, 1914, NY Giants' outfielder Red Murray was knocked unconscious by a lightning bolt just as he caught a game-ending fly ball in the 21st inning of a 3-1 win over Pittsburgh. Murray was otherwise uninjured.

In 1930, Chuck Klein of the Phillies hit .386, amassed 250 hits, hit 40 home runs and collected 170 RBIs, yet failed to lead the NL in any of those categories.

A restaurant owner in the deep South once told Vic Power he didn't serve Negroes. Power replied, "That's okay, I don't eat Negroes. Give me some rice and beans."

The only father and son pitching tandem to both reach triple digits in wins are the Stottlemyres, Mel and Todd.

[Dodgerfan1]

When Chris Chambliss hit his memorable pennant-winning home run off Kansas City's Mark Littell in the bottom of the ninth inning to propel the Yankees into the 1976 World Series, he never touched home plate, due to a mass of frenzied, riotous fans mobbing him and impeding his progress. He also missed second base.

Had one of two voters placed him first on their 1996 AL MVP ballots, Mariners' shortstop Alex Rodriguez would have beaten out Texas outfielder Juan Gonzalez for the award. Even had they both placed him second, he would have won. Incredibly, both voters were from Seattle! Bob Finnigan placed A-Rod third while Jim Street placed him fourth, allowing Gonzalez to win 290-287, thus tying the 3-point margin of victory Roger Maris had over Mickey Mantle in 1960. Incidentally, the only vote that was closer was in 1947, when Joe DiMaggio beat out Ted Williams 202-201.

The first ever starting pitcher for the Florida Marlins was Charlie Hough, who was 45 years old.

The only player to hit World Series home runs in both Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium is Mike Piazza.

[NightHawks2007]

Germany Schaefer was the only player to ever steal first base. Playing for the Tigers in 1907 against Cleveland, there was a runner on third while he was at first. Trying tod raw the catcher's throw and allow the runner to score, he stole second. The catcher did not throw down and he was safe unchallenged. On the next pitch, he ran back to first with the same goal in mind. Again, no throw was made. He then announced that he would steal second on the next pitch. He ran, and the spooked catcher threw down allowing the run to score.

[Old Sweater]

Germany Schaefer was the only player to ever steal first base. Playing for the Tigers in 1907 against Cleveland, there was a runner on third while he was at first. Trying tod raw the catcher's throw and allow the runner to score, he stole second. The catcher did not throw down and he was safe unchallenged. On the next pitch, he ran back to first with the same goal in mind. Again, no throw was made. He then announced that he would steal second on the next pitch. He ran, and the spooked catcher threw down allowing the run to score.

If you're talking about going back to 1st from 2nd (which Shaefer did), it's been done at least three times. Germany Schaefer (as you note), Fred Tenney (31 Jul 1908), and Harry Davis (31 May 1897).


But Schaefer didn't get a steal of 1B--he went 1B->2B, 2B->1B, and 1B->2B during pitches, but the scorer only gave him a steal on the first one. So technically Tenney and Davis are the only 2 to have official steals of first.

[Dodgerfan1]

During Ted Williams' illustrious career, he displayed bouts of temper. He jawed at fans, spit at fans, spouted off in the papers about the fans and the management, he was fined, booed and even benched once. But one thing he could always boast about; he was never thrown out of a single game, despite his volatile temper.

The very first forfeit in AL history occurred on May 2, 1901. The Detroit Tigers scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning, of a game in Chicago to take a 7-5 lead, when a rainstorm began brewing. Had the game been called before the completion of the ninth inning, the score would have reverted back to the end of the last full inning, when the White Stockings had a 5-2 lead. Sensing the impending storm, Detroit manager George Stallings instructed the next batter to make an out intentionally in order to speed up the game and take his 7-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Chicago hitters then began stall tactics by taking their time getting to the plate and making several trips from the plate to the dugout between pitches in order to get a new bat or 'confer' with manager Clark Griffith. After complaints by the Tigers and two warnings from umpire Tom Connolly to play ball, he finally had enough of the stalling and awarded the game to Detroit by forfeit, as the rain was now starting to come down. Chicago appealed to the league but Ban Johnson, who was a staunch supporter of his umpires, denied the appeal and the Tigers won the game 7-5. Kind of ironic that the manager who was trying to speed up the game was named 'Stallings.' Detroit also won a forfeit game in 1903 when Cleveland's Nap Lajoie threw a discolored ball into the stands, where it was lost. In those days, a game ball was THE game ball, and without the game ball, there could be no game!

Jim 'Catfish' Hunter was VERY much opposed to the designated hitter rule, but not for the reason you might think. No, Hunter wasn't merely against the rule because that meant he could no longer pitch to the opposing pitcher, but because he could no longer hit, either. Hunter loved to take his cuts, and had once been paid a bonus of $5000 by A's owner Charley Finley for his hitting ability. Hunter is the last pitcher to have won 20 games and hit .300 in the same season. He hit .350 while posting a 21-11 record with Oakland in 1971.

[Bob Koenig]

when bobby thomson hit his 'shot heard round the world', he knew what pitch was coming
he was tipped off by someone in centerfield with a telescope

Thomson has said repeatedly that he was not tipped off to the pitch he hit into the lower left field stands. What people forget is that Thomson also won the first game of the playoffs with a home run. During the regular season, he hit five more hr off Branca.

[west coast orange and black]

dodgerfan1: ..."That's okay, I don't eat Negroes. Give me some rice and beans."

thanx for that quote, dodgerfan.

[Dodgerfan1]

In the Yankees' very first game of the 1930 season - April 15, in Philadelphia - Babe Ruth smacked a home run that was ruled only a double when it struck a loudspeaker located in the right field stands, then rebounded back onto the playing field. Amazingly, he lost another homer when the exact same thing happened, again in Philadelphia, on September 26, which was just two games removed from being the last game of the season.

Rules were different in the early days of the game. In the first inning of a game between Cleveland and Detroit on September 1, 1917, The Indians' Tris Speaker broke from third base in an attempt to steal home, but the batter, Joe Evans, swung away and smashed a line drive that nailed Spoke right in the face. As a courtesy, Tigers manager Hughie Jennings allowed Speaker to sit out the second inning and receive stitches, while Elmer Smith played center field. Speaker then returned to the game in the third inning!

Duke Snider is the only player to hit four home runs in a World Series twice (1952 and 1955).

Former Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver and former umpire Ron Luciano hated each other. Did I say 'hate'? Yes, I did. Both men have stated flatly that they detest one another. Theirs was a feud that started all the way back in the minor leagues. The very first game they were ever on the same field, Luciano gave Weaver the heave-ho. He also gave Weaver an early hook the next day. In fact, Luciano gave Weaver the thumb for all four games of that series! That was just the beginning. After they both reached the majors, Luciano and Weaver locked horns on a regular basis. On August 15, 1975, during the first game of a double-header, Luciano and Weaver went jaw to jaw again, and the arbiter ordered Earl to another early shower. At the start of game 2, Earl met Luciano at home plate in order to give the umpire his lineup card, and immediately got in Luciano's face. Needless to say, Weaver was pink slipped before the game even began, giving him the dubious distinction of having been thrown out of both games of a double-header. The war between the two of them got so bad that one year the American League actually tweaked the schedule so that Luciano and his crew didn't umpire a single Orioles game all season! The next year, Luciano threw Weaver out of the very first Orioles game he umpired!

[RuthMayBond]

If you're talking about going back to 1st from 2nd (which Shaefer did), it's been done at least three times. Germany Schaefer (as you note), Fred Tenney (31 Jul 1908), and Harry Davis (31 May 1897). I have Davis as 8/13/1902

[Old Sweater]

I have Davis as 8/13/1902

Hope it didn't cost you a ticket to RiverDance.

[Dodgerfan1]

The first player to hit a home run in a major league night game was Cincinnati's Babe Herman on July 10, 1935 at Crosley Field against his former Brooklyn team. He hit it off of Dutch Leonard.

In 1931, Babe Ruth notched his 6th consecutive home run title as he and Lou Gehrig tied for the league lead with 46 home runs. An unfortunate base running blunder cost Gehrig the title outright. On April 26 in Washington, Gehrig lifted a drive over the center field fence for an apparent home run. His teammate, Lyn Lary, who was on first base, didn’t pick up the flight of the ball until after it had hit the center field façade beyond the fence and bounced back onto the field where it was caught by the Washington outfielder. Thinking the outfielder had caught the ball for the final out of the inning, Lary headed for the dugout after crossing third base. Gehrig, who was circling the bases without paying any attention to Lary, was called out as soon as he touched third base and headed for home, as he had had officially passed Lary on the basepaths. Instead of two runs scoring, no runs scored, and that proved the difference in a 9-7 Senators victory. It would also cost Gehrig the homer title outright.

A heads-up play by Cincinnati’s Don Hoak led directly to a rule change. On April 21, 1957, the Redlegs squared off against the Braves in Milwaukee. With Warren Spahn on the mound, Hoak was on second base and a teammate was on first when the batter, Wally Post, grounded a sure double play ball to shortstop Johnny Logan. Thinking quickly, Hoak ran in front of Logan and scooped the ball with his bare hands! He then turned and flipped the ball to Logan and continued running to third base. According to the prevailing rule at the time, only Hoak was called out for interference, thus thwarting a double play! Subsequently, Rule 7.09(g) was adopted giving the umpire authority to call the batter AND the runner out when a base runner intentionally interferes to break up a double play.

[RuthMayBond]

Hope it didn't cost you a ticket to RiverDance.I hope it didn't cost Mascott anything

[Dodgerfan1]

Connie Mack first suggested using a designated hitter back in 1906. It wasn't taken seriously at the winter meetings. In December, 1928, NL president John Heydler made a proposal that a 'tenth player' be inserted into the lineup to bat in place of the pitcher. Ironically, it was voted down by the AL. In 1940, California's Bushrod Winter League, an amateur league, became the first league to put the DH into practice. In 1969, the International League gave the DH a trial period that it did not survive. It died after a year. We all know what happened in 1973. Unfortunately, it has stuck with the AL ever since. :ughh

The first hit ever given up by Walter Johnson was a bunt single to Ty Cobb in 1907.

Mel Ott hit 63% of his 511 lifetime homers in the Polo Grounds. According to many observers, the odds are good he never would have hit 500 HRs had he played his home games almost anywhere else. he took full advantage of that 258-foot right field porch.

HOLY BAT SPEED, BATMAN! Babe Ruth swung the heaviest bat in history, 54 ounces. Al Simmons swung the longest bat, 38 inches. Wee Willie Keeler swung the shortest bat, 30 ½ inches).

[Dodgerfan1]

On May 5, 1906 - The Philadelphia Athletics' Chief Bender started and won a game against the Highlanders in New York, 9-3. In the game, Bender hit his first career home run. Just three days later, on May 8, Connie Mack again started Bender against the Red Sox in Boston. After 6 innings, with Bender beginning to struggle on the mound and the Athletics needing a replacement left fielder, and having none available, Mack moved Bender over to left field, where he played for the remainder of the game. The Chief hit two more home runs (both inside the park, natch) in this game, giving him a total of three homers in two games played. Bender would go on to hit just three more career homers over his next 700+ at-bats.

Honus Wagner had a beloved pet dog which was allowed to stay in the Pirates' dugout during games. He was a very mild-mannered mutt in the nine years it roamed the dugout, and the team adopted it as a sort of mascot, But one game in 1912, it snapped. Wagner was involved in a disputed play and, after he and umpire Brick Owens got into a heated argument over the play, Owens ejected Wagner from the field. The dog, seeming to sense his master's distress, ran out onto the field and bit Owens on the leg. Wagner later said the dog was never the same after that incident.

Brad Wilkerson was the very first batter for the new Washington Nationals. The first HR was hit by Terrmel Sledge. Livan Hernandez was their first starting pitcher.

Hall of Fame lefty Warren Spahn gave up the first home runs of two future HOFers. He coughed up Willie Mays' first major league homer on May 28, 1951. Mays had started the season 0 for 12. He also surrendered the first home run of Sandy Koufax's career. Koufax, a notoriously weak hitting pitcher, picked a good time to hit his first circuit clout. In a game in 1962, his blast off Spahnie proved to be the deciding run as the Dodgers nipped Milwaukee 2-1. After the game, Koufax had the cheek to send the bat to the Braves clubhouse asking that Spahn sign it for him. The bat was returned to Koufax in two pieces. It was unsigned.

[Dodgerfan1]

On April 21, 1953 the New York Giants took on the Pirates in Pittsburgh. With two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, the score was tied at 4-4, but Pittsburgh had the bases loaded. Giants Manager Leo Durocher decided to bring his ace reliever, Hoyt Wilhelm, in from the bullpen. Wilhelm's first pitch was in the dirt and catcher Ray Noble made a great save to prevent a run from scoring. Wilhelm's next pitch almost went wild. His third pitch was no better, Noble making another great play to save a run. Durocher had seen enough and made another change. The new reliever began taking his warmup tosses as Wilhelm strode off the mound and into the clubhouse. Jocko Conlan, chief of the umpiring crew, called a short conference with his fellow arbiters before walking over to the Giants' dugout. "You can't do that," he said to Durocher, reminding Leo that a new pitcher has to finish at least one complete at-bat. Durocher sent a reserve player into the clubhouse to fetch Wilhelm, who had already removed his shirt. The pitcher put his jersey back on, took the ball from umpire Conlan, walked out to the mound, and threw one pitch - ball four, forcing home the winning run for Pittsburgh.

On June 11, 1988, Rick Rhoden became the first & only pitcher to start a game as the designated hitter. He hit a sacrifice fly and helped the Yankees defeat the Orioles 8-6.

Hank Aaron should have had 756 lifetime homers. Maybe. On August 18, 1965, the Milwaukee Braves met the St. Louis Cardinals at the 'old' Busch Stadium. With the score tied 3-3 in the top of the 8th inning, Aaron launched a Curt Simmons pitch onto the top of the pavillion roof for an apparent home run, but home plate umpire Chris Pelekoudas said that Aaron's back foot was out of the batter's box, and called Hank out. The game was played under protest after that, but it was denied by the league, and Aaron lost a home run. The official score shows that Aaron 'made an out to the catcher'.

[dethwing]

And Ruth should have had 715. He lost one of his to that silly rule regarding winning games in the bottom of the 9th. I think you get into dangerous territory when you start talking about what "Should" be.

[Dodgerfan1]

And Ruth should have had 715. He lost one of his to that silly rule regarding winning games in the bottom of the 9th. I think you get into dangerous territory when you start talking about what "Should" be.

I'm not on any crusades to 'give back' woulda-shoulda-coulda homers. It's just a piece of trivia. Hell, Ruth lost at least 5 home runs that I know of off the top of my head to ground rules of the day. He lost two in one season in Philadelphia when his homers struck a loudspeaker in right field and bounced back onto the field. They were scored as doubles.

[dethwing]

Ok. Sorry, I didn't mean so sound mean. It just bothers me when I see people start to talk about what "should" be. Sorry I assumed.

[Dodgerfan1]

Here's a whole SLEW of lost home runs...

http://retrosheet.org/losthr.htm

[Dodgerfan1]

In reading some of the lost home runs I posted a link to above, I noticed something interesting. Question: Did Garry Maddox know how to run the bases?? Because of him, two different hitters were denied homers because of base running blunders. Check these two out:

6/19/1974: Giant Ed Goodson hit a home run in the third inning off Bob Gibson at St. Louis with Garry Maddox on first and no one out. Unfortunately, he passed Maddox between first and second. Goodson was credited with a single and a run batted in.

7/4/1976: Catcher Tim McCarver of the Phillies hit a grand slam in the second inning of the first game of a doubleheader at Pittsburgh. The 375 foot homer came off Larry Demery. However, after rounding first base, McCarver passed Garry Maddox and was called out. He received credit for a single and three runs batted in.

I realize we'd have to actually see the plays in order to ascertain whether Maddox was actually at fault on both of these, but neither Goodson nor McCarver could run anywhere near as fast as Maddox, so them having passed him on the bases tells me Maddox probably made the blunders. Perhaps in both cases, Maddox was waiting to see if the ball would clear the fence and the batter just passed him during that time?? Both incidents happened between first and second base. No comment needed, just something I found interesting.

[Dodgerfan1]

The most home runs hit in an All-Star Game by future HOFers is six, in 1971. Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente and Johnny Bench all homered in that game.

The best seasons by rookies in the 20th century? In 1911, Grover Cleveland Alexander set the all-time wins record for rookies with a 28-13 record. That same season, Shoeless Joe Jackson hit .408 with 233 hits. Jackson's rookie hit mark was broken in 2001 when Ichiro Suzuki collected 242 hits, although he wasn't technically a rookie, having played for nine years in Japan prior to his major league debut. In 1927, the year his big brother Paul won the MVP Award, Lloyd Waner set the record for most runs scored by a rookie with 133 tallies. He also still holds the record for most hits for an NL rookie, with 223. Ted Williams holds the record for most RBIs by a rookie when he plated 145 runners in 1939.

During the years 1963-1966, 1968-1969 (he was injured for part of 1967), Juan Marichal was one of the premier pitchers in the National League, winning over 20 games each year, but he didn't receive even one vote for the Cy Young Award in any of those seasons because of the wealth of amazing starting pitching over that span.

On June 26, 1944, in an effort to raise money for war bonds during WWII, the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and New York Yankees played a 'three-way' exhibition game before some 50,000 fans at the Polo Grounds. A Columbia University mathematics professor had devised a formula whereby each team sat out every third inning. The Dodgers won the 'game' by a score of 5-1-0, the Yankees scoring the only non-Dodger run. How cool would it be to own this souvenir? http://www.keymancollectibles.com/publications/threewaygame.htm

[Dodgerfan1]

In 1920, Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Marquard was arrested in the lobby of the Hotel Winton in Cleveland for attempting to scalp World Series tickets to an undercover policeman. The face value of the tickets was $52.80 and Marquard was asking $400. He was found guilty, but was only fined one dollar plus ‘costs’, which amounted to another $2.80. Cleveland officials did not hold Marquard in custody because they did not wish to give the appearance that they were trying to give an advantage to their hometown Indians by ‘crippling’ the Brooklyn pitching staff. As it was, Rube pitched Games 1 and 4 for the Robins, taking the loss in Game 1 and drawing a no decision in Game 4. The scalping incident became front-page news because this was the first WS after the Black Sox scandal and baseball was particularly sensitive about any wrongdoing by its players. After the Series, Charles Ebbets announced that Marquard would never pitch for his team again. He didn’t. They traded him to Cincinnati for the 1921 season, where he had his last good year.

Shortly after midnight on March 8, 1938, a car drove up to a Baton Rouge boardinghouse where several young NY Giants recruits were staying during spring training. After a short discussion, 18-year old Bill Nowak was whisked away and taken to the nearby training camp of the Cleveland Indians. By all appearances, Nowak had been kidnapped! Giants manager Bill Terry was outraged, exclaiming, “I can’t imagine how the Indians think they can get away with this!” Both teams claimed they had signed Nowak, but Cleveland had neglected to place him on their reserve list, so New York had snatched him up. In the long run, it didn’t matter who was right. Nowak never made it to the big leagues.

Ever hear of ‘Beanball Inc.?” During the 1940 season, after two of his stars, Joe Medwick and Pee Wee Reese, had been beaned by pitches and forced out of the Dodgers lineup within a two week span, Brooklyn GM Larry MacPhail claimed there was a conspiracy among NL pitchers to decimate his team by braining them all with fastballs in order to kill his team’s chances of winning the NL pennant. MacPhail brought in District Attorney Bill O’Dwyer, who had just broken up the notorious Murder, Inc. mob. The man in charge of the Murder Inc. investigations, Burton Turkus, was assigned to uncover whatever secrets he could find, in what came to be known in the press as ‘Beanball Inc,” Turkus interviewed the Dodger players for evidence. Despite his best efforts, no criminal conspiracies were ever unearthed, but at MacPhail’s direction, the Dodgers started to wear special liners in their caps. The new liner will "save" Pete Reiser when he is beaned by the Phillie's Ike Pearson later in the season. This liner subsequently led to the first modern batting helmets, as the Dodgers would begin wearing them at bat in 1941. Reese and Medwick were the first to try out the new helmets in spring training of that year, pronouncing them satisfactory.

[Dodgerfan1]

On Sept 20, 2000, Colorado catcher Ben Petrick collected 4 RBIs without the benefit of a single hit. In a wild 15-11 loss to the visiting San Diego Padres, Petrick grounded out in the 2nd inning to score Todd Hollandsworth from third, hit a sacrifice fly to center in the 4th inning to again score Hollandsworth, grounded out in the 8th inning to plate Hollandsworth yet again and to put a cap on a successful (?) day at the plate, Petrick walked with the bases loaded in the 9th, forcing in Todd Walker for his fourth RBI (nope, not Hollandsworth this time, but at least he got the first name right!). This performance, alone, should serve to show how overrated RBIs are!

Tony Cuccinello of the Brooklyn Dodgers and his brother Al, of the New York Giants, became the first pair of brothers on opposing teams to homer in the same game when they both went deep on July 5, 1935. Never heard of brother Al? He was a big leaguer for only that 1935 season, batting .248 and collecting four homers in 165 ABs.

The Angels have changed their name four times without ever moving out of Southern California. They were established as the Los Angeles Angels from 1961-1964. In 1965, they became the California Angels. They did this in an attempt to garner a bigger fan base since LA belonged to the Dodgers (the Minnesota Twins had become the first team to use the name of their entire state, as well as nickname themselves 'Twins', because they didn’t want to alienate the fans in either St. Paul or Minneapolis). In 1997, the Angels again changed their city affiliation, becoming the Anaheim Angels. Eight years later, as part of yet another marketing ploy, they finally settled on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Actually, ‘finally settled’ is probably a misnomer, given this team’s propensity to pander to a different fan base every few years.

[Old Sweater]

The Rockies had to have lead the league in Todds 2000-2002

Todd Helton
Todd Walker
Todd Hollandsworth
Todd Belitz
Todd Ziele
Todd Jones

[Dodgerfan1]

The Rockies had to have lead the league in Todds 2000-2002

Todd Helton
Todd Walker
Todd Hollandsworth
Todd Belitz
Todd Ziele
Todd Jones

Wow, that's an odd piece of trivia in itself!! :clapping

[Dodgerfan1]

In 1931, a Brooklyn clothier named Abe Stark wanted to advertise his business in Ebbets Field. He devised a clever way to earn business. He had a sign created with his name in big, bold 4-foot tall letters placed on the right field wall which proclaimed that any hitter who struck the sign with a batted ball on the fly, would win a free suit of clothes. The clever part was that he had the sign placed at ground level on the wall, which made it very difficult for a batter to win a suit, especially given that, in later years, Carl Furillo roamed right field for the Dodgers, and he was one of the premier fielders in the National League. Stark, himself, said that Furillo saved him hundreds of dollars in suits over the lifetime of the sign's existence, and he reportedly gave Carl a free suit as a reward. No one won a free suit for the first six years until, in 1937, light-hitting Dodger shortstop Woody English sliced a line drive off of Cincinnati's Johnny Vander Meer that sailed over the head of right fielder Ival Goodman and struck the sign on the fly. English got a double and a new suit, courtesy of Mr. Stark. Ironically, the only opposing player to hit the sign and win a suit in all the years it existed was Mel Ott, who played for Brooklyn's hated crosstown rivals, the Giants. Stark was a rabid Dodger fan, and he reportedly presented the suit to Ott in person, very grudgingly!

More DH trivia: The first DH, as most of us know by now, was Ron Blomberg of the Yankees (he is considered the 'first', as he happened to be the first DH in the AL to come to bat on April 6, 1973). First DH to homer was Tony Oliva on April 6, 1973. The first DH to play in all 162 games was Detroit's Rusty Staub in 1978. First DH to bat in a World Series was Dan Driessen in 1976. The first DH to win Rookie of the Year Award was Eddie Murray in 1977 (Murray played 111 games at DH and 42 games at 1B).

Starting DHs on opening day - 1973:

Orioles: Terry Crowley
Brewers: Ollie Brown
Yankees: Ron Blomberg
Red Sox: Orlando Cepeda
Tigers: Gates Brown
Indians: John Ellis
Twins: Tony Oliva
Athletics: Bill North
Royals: Ed Kirkpatrick
Angels: Tommy McCraw
White Sox: Mike Andrews (he probably should have stayed a DH that year [see Andrews, Mike: 1973 World Series])
Rangers: Rico Carty

On May 2, 2002, Seattle’s Mike Cameron became the fifth player in major league history to hit four home runs in consecutive times at bat in a single game. He hit them in his first four ABs of the game, and batted twice afterward, thus becoming the first player to have two chances at hitting a fifth home run in a single game. Cameron also just missed becoming the first AL player ever to hit two homers in the first inning of a game because the batter immediately preceding him in the lineup, Bret Boone, hit his second homer of the first inning before Cameron had a chance to, thus becoming the first to do so (it seems hard to believe that not one player in the AL had ever hit 2 HRs in the first inning prior to 2002! I got this info from Retrosheet, so if anyone can refute this, please do so). Not surprisingly, Boone and Cameron became the first two teammates to smack two homers apiece in the same inning. The Mariners won this historical game 15-4.

[Utter Chaos]

First DH to bat in a World Series was Dan Driessen in 1976. Depends on how you interpret 'bat'. In the bottom of the first inning on 10/16/76 Driessen came to the plate and before he could finish his at-bat, Tony Perez was caught stealing to end the inning. In the top of the 2nd the Yankee DH, Lou Pinella, batted and hit a double. In the bottom of the 2nd Driessen was able to complete his at-bat by flying out to center field.

[Dodgerfan1]

Depends on how you interpret 'bat'. In the bottom of the first inning on 10/16/76 Driessen came to the plate and before he could finish his at-bat, Tony Perez was caught stealing to end the inning. In the top of the 2nd the Yankee DH, Lou Pinella, batted and hit a double. In the bottom of the 2nd Driessen was able to complete his at-bat by flying out to center field.

Thanks for that clarification, UC. I should say that Driessen was the first DH to record a plate appearance in WS play.

[geezer]

The Rockies had to have lead the league in Todds 2000-2002

Todd Helton
Todd Walker
Todd Hollandsworth
Todd Belitz
Todd Ziele
Todd Jones

It reminds me of the Kevins, only 3 pitchers named Kevin have pitched a no-hitter (Gross, Brown and Millwood), and all 3 were against the San Francisco Giants, incredible.

[Dodgerfan1]

In the 1984 NLCS (back when it was still a best-of-five affair), the Cubs and Padres were tied at two games apiece, and the Cubs had a 3-2 lead in the fifth, and deciding, game in San Diego. As he entered the dugout and went to sit down after the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cubs' great second baseman, Ryne Sandberg, accidentally knocked over a jug of Gatorade that spilled all over the glove of first baseman Leon Durham. The Cubs went quickly and quietly in their half of the seventh inning, and the Gatorade didn't have sufficient chance to dry, so Durham's glove was still very sticky as he took his position for the bottom of the inning. There is some debate as to whether it actually made a difference or not, but it is a fact that Durham made a costly error in the 7th that opened the door to a big inning for San Diego. Durham would later say that he couldn't open the fingers of his glove in time to spear Tim Flannery's ground ball that got by him, which plated a run, paving the way for a four-run outburst by the Padres, who would go on to win the game and represent the NL in the World Series. (Note: Retrosheet incorrectly has Durham committing two errors in the seventh, but he only committed the one. In fact, official box scores show that Chicago committed only one error in the game, but it was a big one!)

The 2004 Yankees lost three pitchers who had won at least 15 games apiece the previous year (Clemens, Pettitte and Wells). They became the first team since the 1902 Brooklyn Superbas to ‘accomplish’ that. In fact, the Superbas were an interesting team, pitching-wise. In 1902, they had four pitchers who won at least 15 games: Wild Bill Donovan, Jay Hughes, Frank Kitson and Doc Newton. They lost ALL FOUR prior to the 1903 season, however they had three different pitchers who all won at least 15 games in ’03 (Henry Schmidt, Oscar Jones and Ned Garvin)! Strange as that all is, stranger still is the story of the aforementioned Henry Schmidt, which I had occasion to post in an earlier contribution to this very thread. Since I am on the subject, I re-post it below:

In 1903, Brooklyn acquired a 30-year old rookie pitcher named Henry Schmidt. Schmidt finished the season with a 22-13 record for the fifth place Dodgers. After the season, he announced that he wanted to go back to the Pacific Coast League to play ball, which he did in 1904. Schmidt never again pitched in the majors.

[Walt Zink]

jumping in after reading the first few pages.

the three players with 16 gold gloves (most all-time) are brooks robinson, greg maddux, and jim kaat

lou brock never stole home. lou gehrig, however, did it 15 times.

darrin erstad is the only player to win a gold glove at two different positions.

ralph kiner is the only player to lead his league in home runs his first 7 seasons. he's also the first pirate player to hit a home run in 3 consecutive at-bats.

the AL record for RBI's in a game is 11 by tony lazzeri.

ted williams never had a 200 hit season.

two players for the same team hit two home runs in the same inning in one game. all four were hit in one inning by teammates bret boone and mike cameron.

no new york mets pitcher has ever thrown a no-hitter.

ryne sandberg spent most of 1982 as a third baseman. 1983, his first season at second base, he won his first of 9 consecutive gold gloves.

before justin verlander, the last AL rookie of the year to be a starting pitcher was dave righetti.

three players in baseball history have 2000 hits and whose names had 3 letters in the first and last name (as they were known by). lee may, ron cey, and mel ott.

mel ott was the first manager to be tossed from both games of a doubleheader.

the last player to collect a hit off of satchel paige was carl yastrzemski.

the last NL player to win the triple crown was joe "ducky" medwick in 1937.

[Macker]

Question: Did Garry Maddox know how to run the bases?? Because of him, two different hitters were denied homers because of base running blunders.

Usually when a batter's homer turns into a single, it is due to the batter running hard around first and not noticing the base runner, who was tagging up in case the ball was caught. One the ball goes out, the runner starts running again, but the batter rounds first and goes right by him.

[geezer]

no new york mets pitcher has ever thrown a no-hitter.



The San Diego Padres neither has a no-hitter nor a cycle.

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

Carl Yastrzemski was presented with a special trophy by Seagram's in honor of his 1967 Triple Crown season. The trophy was fine except for one detail - Yaz's name was spelled wrong, they had forgotten the "z". Yastrzemski sent the trophy back and was promised a replacement. As of 2002 he was still waiting for it.

[Mikie]

Most career homers by guys with first name Homer:

Homer Summa 18
Homer Smoot 15
Homer "Dixie" Howell 12
Homer Bush 11

Most career homers by guys with middle name Homer:

Hal Chase 57
Earl Sheely 48
Doc Gessler 14

Most career home runs by guys nicknamed "Home Run":

Frank Baker 96

[Dodgerfan1]

In 1930, Joe Sewell struck out a total of three times. Two of them came in the same game.

When Eddie Mathews, who is the only player ever to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta (yes, yes, we all know that....), learned from a Texas sportswriter that he was traded to Houston after the 1966 season, he was crushed that he was not first told by his former team. The letter of apology written to him by the Braves' team brass said they very much regretted the oversight and that there was some miscommunication. It was addressed to Edward Mathews. Mathews' Christian name was Edwin.

On July 21, 1970, Padres’ righty Clay Kirby allowed the Mets to score a run in the first inning without allowing a hit. In fact, after eight innings, Kirby still had a no-hitter going. Unfortunately, he was losing 1-0. Manager Preston Gomez decided to pinch hit for Kirby in the bottom of the eighth, amid thunderous boos from the San Diego faithful. Pinch hitter Clarence Gaston (in his pre-Cito days) promptly struck out, and the boos rained down even louder. To make matters even worse, Kirby’s replacement, Jack Baldschun, surrendered a single to the very first hitter he faced, Bud Harrelson. Baldschun would give up two more hits and a walk in the inning. The Mets won 3-0. Kirby got the loss.

On September 4, 1974, the Astros’ Don Wilson took a no-hitter against the heavy hitting Reds into the fifth inning of a game in Houston. Cincinnati pushed across two runs in the fifth without benefit of a hit, thanks to two walks and a Roger Metzger error. Wilson pitched through the eighth inning without any trouble and had still not given up a hit. He was scheduled to bat first in the bottom of the eighth. Needing a run to tie, Tommy Helms was sent up to hit for Wilson amid what would have been deafening boos had the Astros drawn more than 8,024 fans. Helms grounded out and Houston didn’t score. Mike Cosgrove came in to pitch the ninth inning for the Astros and, you guessed it, promptly surrendered a single to Tony Perez to lead off the frame. Bye-bye no-hitter. The tiny crowd really let their frustrations out in torrents. The Reds didn’t score, but neither did Houston in the bottom of the ninth, and Don Wilson took the loss having given up no hits through eight innings. The Houston manager was, of course, the very same Preston Gomez who had removed Clay Kirby from a game four years earlier while he was pitching a no-hitter. Poor Preston Gomez! Twice caught in a tough situation when the game was close, he needed runs and decided to hit for his pitcher who was pitching a no-hitter. What are the odds?

[Walt Zink]

the lowest batting average for the batting title in each league:

.301, in 1968 by yaz.
.313, in 1988 by tony gwynn.

[Brooklyn]

On July 21, 1970, Padres’ righty Clay Kirby allowed the Mets to score a run in the first inning without allowing a hit. In fact, after eight innings, Kirby still had a no-no going.

One correction, as people seem to use the terms "no hitter" and "no-no" interchangeably. "no-no" stands for "no hits, no runs". So Kirby had a no hitter going, but did not have a no-no going

[Dodgerfan1]

One correction, as people seem to use the terms "no hitter" and "no-no" interchangeably. "no-no" stands for "no hits, no runs". So Kirby had a no hitter going, but did not have a no-no going

Thanks, Brooklyn. I will certainly defer to your expertise. I learned something today. :cool:

[Dodgerfan1]

On April 27, 1993, Pirates’ knuckleballer Tim Wakefield threw 172 pitches over 10+ innings in a victory over Atlanta. It was the most pitches thrown by a pitcher in a single game during the 1990’s. Fernando Valenzuela, in 1987, had been the last to throw that many pitches in a game. The record for a World Series is held by Luis Tiant who tossed 163 pitches in Game 4 of the 1975 WS against Cincinnati. The all-time record is no doubt held by Nolan Ryan, who allegedly threw 259 pitches in a 12-inning affair against Kansas City in 1974. This was before pitch counts were kept officially, however several beat writers have attested that they covered the game and their pitch counts tallied. Ryan pitched an incredible 332.2 innings in ’74.

Johnny Mize is the only player to have more home runs than strikeouts during a 50-homer season. In 1947, Mize hit 51 homers yet struck out a mere 42 times.

Prior to 1950, pitchers had to toss at least 10 complete games in order to qualify for the ERA title. As relief pitching became more prominent, the rules were changed in 1950. Under the revised rule, pitchers now had to work at least as many innings as their team played games. That new rule enabled Hoyt Wilhelm to become the first reliever to win the ERA crown in 1952. Wilhelm had a 2.43 ERA in 159 innings pitched.

On June 15, 1976, the game between Pittsburgh and Houston was rained out…. In Houston! Yep, the Astrodome saw it’s first and only rain out on that date when torrential rains flooded the city with up to 10 inches of water. The two teams somehow managed to make it to the stadium for the game, but the umpires, fans and most of the stadium personnel did not.

[Jason R. Maier]

For the Blue Jay's first game on April 7, 1977 . . the game was played on a snow covered field.

Then on April 30, 1984, the Blue Jays/Rangers game was called due to heavy wind (the only time I can recall a game being called because of wind).

[RuthMayBond]

Then on April 30, 1984, the Blue Jays/Rangers game was called due to heavy wind (the only time I can recall a game being called because of wind).You probably wouldn't remember this, but apparently it also happened at a Boston game on 9/21/1938

[Utter Chaos]

The all-time record is no doubt held by Nolan Ryan, who allegedly threw 259 pitches in a 12-inning affair against Kansas City in 1974. This was before pitch counts were kept officially, however several beat writers have attested that they covered the game and their pitch counts tallied.

The record for most pitches in a game is probably held by Leon Cadore. On May 1, 1920 he faced 96 batters and his opponent, Joe Oeschger, faced 90 batters as both pitchers pitched 26 innings. Using a conservative estimate of 3 pitches per batter Cadore would have thrown 288 pitches!

[Dodgerfan1]

The record for most pitches in a game is probably held by Leon Cadore. On May 1, 1920 he faced 96 batters and his opponent, Joe Oeschger, faced 90 batters as both pitchers pitched 26 innings. Using a conservative estimate of 3 pitches per batter Cadore would have thrown 288 pitches!

Wow! I threw Nolan Ryan in there as an educated guess, but pitching 26 innings would sure beat that, I would think!! Thanks, UC.

[Dodgerfan1]

You probably wouldn't remember this, but apparently it also happened at a Boston game on 9/21/1938

Do YOU remember it, RMB?? :D

[RuthMayBond]

Do YOU remember it, RMB?? :DI was working on my cave that day :laugh

[Dodgerfan1]

We’ve gone around a few times about the ugliest uniforms in history, but quite possibly the most hideous were those belonging to the 1901 Baltimore Orioles. Picture this: Pink caps, black shirts with a large yellow “O” on the left front, baggy black pants with yellow belts, yellow stockings and double-breasted jackets with wide yellow collars and cuffs with two rows of pearl buttons. Glass and metal weren’t prohibited from major league uniforms until 1931. Whoever was responsible for these eyesores should have been a fashion designer in the 1970’s.

Talk about cosmopolitan… In early June of 2004, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting rotation consisted of five pitchers from five different nations. Odalis Perez (Dominican Republic), Jeff Weaver (USA), Kazuhisa Ishii (Japan), Edwin Jackson (West Germany) and Wilson Alvarez (Venezuela). For good measure, the other main starters were Jose Lima (Dominican Republic) and Hideo Nomo (Japan).

In the early 1990s, the minor league team in Palm Springs employed a novel promotion - Nudist Night, cordoning off an area so that no one else in the stadium could see. Rumor has it the team became ‘streaky’ after that (sorry….). I hope they had their own concession stands.

Randy Johnson is the only pitcher to record five consecutive 300-strikeout seasons (1998-2002). Nolan Ryan recorded 300 strikeouts in five of six years from 1972-1977 (He had only 186 Ks in 1975 due to injury).

Rick Ferrell was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee despite the fact that he never drew more than a single vote from any writer.

The .183 batting average by the Yankees in the 2001 World Series is the lowest ever for a seven game WS.

[Mikie]

We’ve gone around a few times about the ugliest uniforms in history, but quite possibly the most hideous were those belonging to the 1901 Baltimore Orioles. Picture this: Pink caps, black shirts with a large yellow “O” on the left front, baggy black pants with yellow belts, yellow stockings and double-breasted jackets with wide yellow collars and cuffs with two rows of pearl buttons. Glass and metal weren’t prohibited from major league uniforms until 1931. Whoever was responsible for these eyesores should have been a fashion designer in the 1970’s.


Reminds me of two well-known quotes about uniforms:

Steve Garvey, when asked how it felt to be wearing the brown and yellow of the Padres after so many years in the red, white, and blue of the Dodgers, "I feel like a giant taco."

A Houston Astro from the mid-80's (Jim Deshaies I think, but not sure), when asked years later about the "rainbow" jerseys the team wore, "We looked like the softball team from the starship Enterprise."

[Dodgerfan1]

In the early 1990s, the minor league team in Palm Springs employed a novel promotion - Nudist Night, cordoning off an area so that no one else in the stadium could see. Rumor has it the team became ‘streaky’ after that (sorry….). I hope they had their own concession stands.

Something else I just thought of regarding Nudist Night.... If the area was cordoned off so that no one else could see them, how the hell could the nudists see the game? There had to be an opening somewhere overlooking the field if they were to be able to watch the game. Other fans would be able to see through that opening.

On second thought, forget it. I don't want to know....

[Gee Walker]

For the Blue Jay's first game on April 7, 1977 . . the game was played on a snow covered field.

Then on April 30, 1984, the Blue Jays/Rangers game was called due to heavy wind (the only time I can recall a game being called because of wind).

To give Toronto's late and unlamented Exhibition Stadium the hat trick, on June 12, 1986, Kelly Gruber hit a three-run inside-the-park home run on a pop up behind shortstop in dense fog.

[RuthMayBond]

<Originally Posted by Dodgerfan1
We’ve gone around a few times about the ugliest uniforms in history, but quite possibly the most hideous were those belonging to the 1901 Baltimore Orioles. Picture this: Pink caps, black shirts with a large yellow “O” on the left front, baggy black pants with yellow belts, yellow stockings and double-breasted jackets with wide yellow collars and cuffs with two rows of pearl buttons. Glass and metal weren’t prohibited from major league uniforms until 1931. Whoever was responsible for these eyesores should have been a fashion designer in the 1970’s.>

http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/uniforms.asp?league=&city=&lowYear=1901&highYear=1901&sort=year&increment=9

Reminds me of two well-known quotes about uniforms:

Steve Garvey, when asked how it felt to be wearing the brown and yellow of the Padres after so many years in the red, white, and blue of the Dodgers, "I feel like a giant taco."Yo quiero

http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/uniforms.asp?league=NL&city=San+Diego&lowYear=1983&highYear=1983&sort=year&increment=9

<A Houston Astro from the mid-80's (Jim Deshaies I think, but not sure), when asked years later about the "rainbow" jerseys the team wore, "We looked like the softball team from the starship Enterprise.">

Play long and prosper

http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/uniforms.asp?league=NL&city=Houston&lowYear=1982&highYear=1982&sort=year&increment=9

[RuthMayBond]

The all-time record is no doubt held by Nolan Ryan, who allegedly threw 259 pitches in a 12-inning affair against Kansas City in 1974.I don't believe the Angels had any 12-inning games against KC in 1974

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CAL/1974_sched.shtml

[Utter Chaos]

I don't believe the Angels had any 12-inning games against KC in 1974

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CAL/1974_sched.shtmlThey did have a 16 inning game on 6/14/1974 against Boston in which Ryan pitched 13 innings, gave up 8 hits, 10 walks, and 19 strikeouts.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/B06140CAL1974.htm

[RuthMayBond]

They did have a 16 inning game on 6/14/1974 against Boston in which Ryan pitched 13 innings, gave up 8 hits, 10 walks, and 19 strikeouts.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/B06140CAL1974.htm
But was that the 259-pitch game? :lookitup :shrug: :hp :confused: :noidea :think:

[Dodgerfan1]

But was that the 359-pitch game? :lookitup :shrug: :hp :confused: :noidea :think:

It was 259 pitches, not 359. I got the info about it being a 12-inning game from three different sources, a book and two websites. If there was no 12-inning 259-pitch game for Ryan in 1974, I don't know what to tell you. A couple of times, I have made typos or just gotten bad info, so I have been more careful, but on this one I deferred to three sources. Perhaps two of those sources blindly parroted an incorrect one. I don't know. This is the main reason I used the word 'allegedly'. Anyway, I think Utter Chaos must be right when he said the record almost certainly belongs to either Leon Cadore or Joe Oeschger, who both pitched a 26-inning complete game in 1920.

[Dodgerfan1]

Nolan Ryan is the only player to have his uniform number retired by three different teams. On June 16, 1992 the California Angels retired Ryan's #30. On September 15, 1996 the Texas Rangers retired his #34 and two weeks later on September 29 the Houston Astros also retired Ryan's #34.

Jim Palmer allowed 303 home runs in his HOF career, but never surrendered a single grand slam.

We are all well aware of the fallaciousness of hitting and pitching records set in 1930, the year of the hitter. That season, the Philadelphia Phillies not only had the pitcher with the worst ERA in the 20th century who worked over 150 innings, but the worst TWO! Les Sweetland had a 7.71 ERA, which is the worst. His teammate, Claude Willoughby, was not far behind with a 7.59 ERA. The Phils’ pitching was so horrendous that year that they finished with 102 losses despite hitting .315 as a team, which is the second highest team BA of all-time! Not surprisingly, the highest all-time team BA was also set in 1930 by the Giants, who batted .319.

Mike (Hit Man) Easler had over 1,000 hits in both the majors and the minors. Why would anyone be in the minors long enough to garner 1,000 hits without being called up to the big time? Easler was one of the worst fielders in the game. He was made a DH as soon as he was traded to the AL in 1984. The Hit Man couldn't field, man.

Everyone knows that Barry Bonds is the all-time HR king in MLB (some will always dispute this) and that Sadaharu Oh holds the all-time HR record in Japan. Do you know who holds the all-time HR record in the Mexican League? Next question: do you really care? Well, for those who do, the answer is Nelson Barrera with 455. In 2001, he broke the long-standing record of 453 held by Hector Espino. Hard to believe no major league team in America ever enticed this guy away from the ML.

[Utter Chaos]

Jim Palmer allowed 303 home runs in his HOF career, but never surrendered a single grand slam.

An interesting side note is he didn't pitch that much in the minors but while at Rochester in 1967 rehabbing his back he did give up a grand slam at Niagra Falls on July 1st. The guy who hit it was Johnny Bench.

[Jason R. Maier]

quick relief pitching records:

most strikeouts in a season by a reliever:

AL: 181 - Dick Radatz in 1964
NL: 151 - Goose Gossage in 1957

Most consecutive appearances by a reliever:

AL: 13 - Dale Mohoric in 1986
NL: 13 - Mike Marshall in 1974

Most innings pitched by a reliever:

AL: 168 1/3 - Bob Stanley in 1982
NL: 208 1/3 - Mike Marshall in 1974

Most games finished in a year by a reliever:

AL: 84 - Mike Marshall in 1979
NL: 83 - Mike Marshall in 1974

[RuthMayBond]

quick relief pitching records:

Most consecutive appearances by a reliever:

AL: 13 - Dale Mohoric in 1986
As far as trivial trivia, I used to live a couple of miles from him

[Mascott]

Boston's Manny Ramirez and Garret Anderson of the LA Angels both recorded their 2000th career hits on July 1st, 2006. Both came in interleague contests
as Manny got his 2000th hit in Florida and Garret got his against the Dodgers
at home. Manny hit two homers and drove in five runs, while teammate David Ortiz added two homers and four rbis in Boston's 11-5 win over the Marlins. Anderson collected two hits and two rbis in the Angels 9-2 win over the Dodgers. His milestone hit made him the first Angel to reach 2000 hits and 1000 rbis with the Halos. Coincidentally, both Ramirez and Anderson play the same postion also, left field. The 2007 ALDS marks the second time they've opposed each other in the ALDS. The first was in 2004, when the Red Sox swept the Angels in three straight en route to Boston's first World Series win since 1918.

[Dodgerfan1]

Some of the stranger injuries in baseball history:
1) Nolan Ryan was bitten by a coyote.
2) Phil Niekro injured his hand shaking hands too hard.
3) Chris Brown injured his eye by sleeping on it ‘wrong’.
4) Rick Honeycutt injured his wrist while flicking sunflower seeds in the dugout.
5) George Brett hit his foot on a chair and broke his toe while running from the kitchen to the TV to see Bill Buckner hit.
6) Kevin Mitchell strained a muscle while vomiting.
7) Ricky Bones hurt his lower back getting out of a chair while watching TV in the clubhouse.
8) Odibe McDowell sliced his finger buttering a roll at the Texas Ranger’s welcome home luncheon.
9) Wade Boggs injured his back when he lost his balance while trying to put on cowboy boots.
10) John Smoltz burned his chest while ironing a shirt that he was wearing.

The week of April 9-15, 2003 was the first week in history in which three former Cy Young Award winners each gave up 10 runs or more in one game when Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson all got shelled to establish the dubious record.

Also in 2003, on June 20 during an interleague game between the A’s and Giants, Miguel Tejada and Barry Bonds became the first reigning MVPs ever to homer in the same game (regular or post-season).

In 2003 (again!), on September 2, the Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles played a 12-inning game in which eleven different pitchers threw a combined total of 380 pitches. Proving that wins may just be a slightly overrated statistic, the victory went to Oakland’s Ricardo Rincon, who threw exactly one pitch!

The last left-handed throwing catcher to play the position was Benny Distefano who caught 3 games in 1989 for Pittsburgh. In 1961, Phillies’ southpaw Chris Short was inserted into a game at catcher, making him the last left-handed pitcher to play catcher in a major league game. How's that for utterly useless trivia?

[Dodgerfan1]

The youngest major league player ever to hit a regular season home run is Tommy Brown of the Brooklyn Dodgers who connected on August 20, 1945. He was 17 years, 8 months and 14 days old. He hit it off Pittsburgh's Preacher Roe.

Through 2,999 major league at-bats, Boston's Bill Mueller had never hit a grand slam home run. On July 29, 2003, in the 7th inning, on his 3,000th big league AB, he connected from the right side of the plate, with the bases full, off Texas' Aaron Fultz. In the 8th inning of the same game, he smacked another homer with the bases juiced batting left-handed against righty Jay Powell. Not only did Mueller hit his first two grand slams in the same game, but also became the first player ever to hit salamis from both sides of the plate in the same game.

Only two American League catchers have ever hit 30 homers and batted .300 in the same season. Rudy York clocked 35 homers and hit .307 in 1937 and Ivan Rodriguez belted 35 HRs and hit .332 in 1999. In the NL, this has been accomplished 13 times, most notably by Roy Campanella (3 times) and Mike Piazza (6 times). The others are Gabby Hartnett, Walker Cooper, Joe Torre and Javy Lopez.

In 1,715 major league at-bats, Joey Amalfitano smacked a total of nine home runs. His lack of power certainly wasn’t the fault of his bat. On April 30, 1961, Willie Mays borrowed Amalfitano’s bat and promptly banged out a home run. Having fared well the first time, he decided to use it again for his next AB. In fact, Mays used Joey D’s bat every time up and hit four home runs against Milwaukee that day! His 4-homer outburst fueled the Giants’ bats as they tied a major league record with eight home runs (Cepeda hit two). Billy Loes got the win for SF. It would be the fourth and final time that Loes had been in uniform during a 4-homer game. He was with Brooklyn in 1950 when Gil Hodges hit four, and in 1954 when Joe Adcock belted four in a game. He was also with the AL Baltimore Orioles in 1959 when Rocky Colavito smashed four home runs in a single game.

[Utter Chaos]

In 1961, Phillies’ southpaw Chris Short was inserted into a game at catcher, making him the last left-handed pitcher to play catcher in a major league game. How's that for utterly useless trivia?Short was listed in the starting lineup as catcher but was replaced by Jimmie Coker when the Phillies took the field in the top of the first so he never actually "played" catcher.

According to baseballlibrary.com here's the story:
Jun 29, 1961 - With 3 round-trippers at Philadelphia-one a 10th-inning shot to win 8-7-Willie Mays becomes the 4th ML player with 3 or more HRs twice in one season. Manager Gene Mauch's efforts to conceal his starting pitcher and force Al Dark's hand has a Phillie lineup including hurlers Don Ferrarese (batting leadoff‚ playing CF)‚ Jim Owens (3rd‚ RF)‚ Chris Short (7th‚ C)‚ and Ken Lehman (9th‚ P) against San Francisco. When Dark sends lefty Billy O'Dell to the mound for one batter‚ Mauch replaces Ferrarese‚ Short and Owen. Dark then replaces Billy O'Dell with Sam Jones. Mauch replaces Lehman with Dallas Green after 2 batters. All the maneuvering takes 3 hours and 20 minutes.

[EJetson]

During the years 1963-1966, 1968-1969 (he was injured for part of 1967), Juan Marichal was one of the premier pitchers in the National League, winning over 20 games each year, but he didn't receive even one vote for the Cy Young Award in any of those seasons because of the wealth of amazing starting pitching over that span.




Interestingly, he DID receive MVP votes in each of those years.

[geezer]

Juan Marichal won the most games in the 1960s (191), won 25 games or more 3 times, led or co-led the NL in 2 times, and still somebody had a more chance (Koufax, Gibson) or still the Cy Young Award was awarded one for both leagues, but since I recall the 1960s was a pitching decade, the last of its kind.

Paul Molitor led the AL in Hits 3 times in 6 years, but he did it for 3 different teams, the Brewers in 1991 (216), the Blue Jays in 1993 (211) and the Twins in 1996 (225). Paul Molitor's most amazing seasons was 1987, when he batted .353, had a 39-game hitting streak, won a Silver Slugger Award at DH, finished 5th in the AL MVP voting, and led the AL with 41 doubles and 114 doubles, and he did it despite missing 44 games due to injury. Molitor is the only player to hit at least 2 doubles, 2 triples and 2 homers in one World Series (1993), is the only player with a 5 hit game in the World Series, the only player to hit a triple for his 3,000th hit, and only the second player ever to have a 200-hit season by a 40 year old. His 3,319 career hits are the most by a player that never won a batting title.

[Dodgerfan1]

Short was listed in the starting lineup as catcher but was replaced by Jimmie Coker when the Phillies took the field in the top of the first so he never actually "played" catcher.

According to baseballlibrary.com here's the story:
Jun 29, 1961 - With 3 round-trippers at Philadelphia-one a 10th-inning shot to win 8-7-Willie Mays becomes the 4th ML player with 3 or more HRs twice in one season. Manager Gene Mauch's efforts to conceal his starting pitcher and force Al Dark's hand has a Phillie lineup including hurlers Don Ferrarese (batting leadoff‚ playing CF)‚ Jim Owens (3rd‚ RF)‚ Chris Short (7th‚ C)‚ and Ken Lehman (9th‚ P) against San Francisco. When Dark sends lefty Billy O'Dell to the mound for one batter‚ Mauch replaces Ferrarese‚ Short and Owen. Dark then replaces Billy O'Dell with Sam Jones. Mauch replaces Lehman with Dallas Green after 2 batters. All the maneuvering takes 3 hours and 20 minutes.


This is somewhat akin to Robin Yount's brother Larry being credited for appearing in a game even though he never threw a pitch....

[RuthMayBond]

This is somewhat akin to Robin Yount's brother Larry being credited for appearing in a game even though he never threw a pitch....Well, I don't think they *planned* it to go that way for Yount ;)

[Dodgerfan1]

Three players have won batting titles while driving in less than 40 runs. The Phillies' Richie Ashburn batted .350 in 1958 but drove in only 33 runs. Pete Runnels batted .320 for Boston in 1960 and collected just 35 RBIs, and Pittsburgh's Matty Alou led the NL with a .342 average in 1966 while plating a mere 27 runners.

On Sept 16, 2003, Marlin's manager Jack McKeon pinch hit for his 3, 4 and 5 hitters in the same inning! Trailing in the ninth inning of a 14-0 blowout at the hands of the Phillies, McKeon sent Brian Banks up to hit for Ivan Rodriguez, who had gone 2-3 in the game. Banks singled. Next, light hitting Andy Fox was sent up to bat for Derrek Lee. He walked. Since the pinch hit parade was working so well, McKeon next removed #5 hitter Juan Encarnacion in favor of pinch hitter deluxe, Lenny Harris. Harris also walked, loading the bases. McKeon decided to stay with #6 hitter Jeff Conine, who promptly popped out to first base. Miguel Cabrera then took his regular turn at bat in the #7 slot, but grounded into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play. Too bad McKeon didn't stick with the pinch hitters. They seemed to be the only ones who could reach base!

In 1901, Boston’s Buck Freeman batted a rambunctious .345. Unfortunately, he finished a distant second to Nap Lajoie’s .426. Despite Freeman’s great season, the .081 difference in the two averages is the largest margin between a season’s batting champ and the runner-up in history (others have the hitting disparity at .086. No one knows WHAT the hell Lajoie actually batted in 1901!) In the NL, the largest margin is .049. Brooklyn’s Zack Wheat hit a whopping .375 in 1924, only to be far outpaced by the Cardinals’ Rogers Hornsby who finished with a 20th century NL record-setting .424.

Thanks to a midseason release by the Angels in 2003, Kevin Appier faced the Yankees three times in four starts -- in three different ballparks (in Anaheim on July 29 in his final start as an Angel, in Kansas City on Aug. 13 and in Yankee Stadium on Aug. 19).

Three pitchers have won the Cy Young Award yet were not among the top ten in ERA. Oddly, it happened twice in 1967. The Giants’ Mike McCormick won the award that year while finishing 16th in the NL in ERA and the BoSox’ Jim Lonborg as awarded the prize while finishing 18th in the AL in ERA. In 1983, La Marr Hoyt of the White Sox won the Cy Young Award but finished a distant 17th in the AL in ERA.

[Mascott]

Just wanted to add that Jack McDowell of the 1993 White Sox also won the Cy Young without making the Top 10 in ERA. That year he finished with an ERA of 3.37, which placed him 11th in the AL. I really enjoy the random trivia that Dodgerfan1 comes up with. I'm looking forward to more from him in the future.

[Dodgerfan1]

Just wanted to add that Jack McDowell of the 1993 White Sox also won the Cy Young without making the Top 10 in ERA. That year he finished with an ERA of 3.37, which placed him 11th in the AL. I really enjoy the random trivia that Dodgerfan1 comes up with. I'm looking forward to more from him in the future.

Thanks for the addition of McDowell and the kind words, Mascott. I love trivia and will post more soon.

[geezer]

Since the Cy Young Award was first awarded in 1956, 11 times a pitcher has led the league in Wins, Strikeouts and ERA in the same season, aka the Pitching Triple Crown. Of those 10 previous times it has happened, all 10 times the pitcher ended up winning the award, but only once the winner didnt do it by an unanimous vote, which was Roger Clemens in 1997, getting 25 out of 28 first place voted, the remaing 3 first place votes were 2 for Randy Johnson and 1 by Randy Myers.

Since the award was awarded in both leagues in 1967, 17 times a pitcher has led the AL in at least 2 of 3 legs of the Pitching Triple Crown, and 14 times the pitcher won the Cy Young, the only 4 exceptions were Mickey Lolich in 1971, Mike Boddicker in 1984, and Pedro Martinez in 2002. In the NL since 1967, 20 times a NL pitcher has led at least 2 of 3 legs of the Triple Crown, and 15 times the pitcher won the Cy Young Award, the 5 times it didnt happen were by Tom Seaver, who did it in consecutive years in 1970-1971, JR Richard in 1979, Nolan Ryan in 1987 and Aaron Harang in 2006.

Eric Gagne won the NL Cy Young in 2003, making it the pitcher with the fewest wins (2) by a CYA Winner, and the only winner with a losing record on his resume (2-3 in 2003), beating the previous record held by Bruce Sutter in 1979 (6-6). The most wins by a CYA winner was 31 by Denny McLain in 1968, the most wins by a pitcher who didnt win the CYA was Juan Marichal, who won 26 for the Giants also in 1968. Of the original 16 teams, the only team w/o a CYA winner in Cincinnati, while the only other teams without a CYA Winner besides the Reds are the Marlins, Rockies, Devil Rays and Rangers. Since the Reds have necer won a Cy Young, the Diamondbacks are a 10-year old franchise, and already had 5 Cy Young Awards (4 by Randy Johnson, and one by Brandon Webb).

The team with the longest current streak since the last CYA winner is the San Francisco Giants, who's only award winner was Mike McCormick in 1967, the longest streak currently in the AL has the Cleveland Indians, when Gaylord Perry won the award in 1972. The longest gap between CYA winners by a single team was the Angels (41 years) when Dean Chance won it in 1964 and the next Angel to win it was Bartolo Colon in 2005. The longest gap in the NL was 35 years, by the Cardinals, when Bob Gibson won it in 1970, and the next Cardinal to win it was Chris Carpenter in 2005.

And speaking of Gaylord Perry, he has the reputation of being the last 20-game winner for 2 teams. He was the last 20-game winner for the Indians in 1974, and also the last 20-game winner for the Padres in 1978.

[Zito75]

I've got some random trivia- Dan Howitt was the last hitter to hit a grand slam off Nolan Ryan.

[Dodgerfan1]

I've got some random trivia- Dan Howitt was the last hitter to hit a grand slam off Nolan Ryan.

It also turned out to be the last time Ryan allowed a hit in his career, as he injured his arm pitching to the very next batter, left the game and never returned to the mound. Ironically, that grand slam by Howitt was the tenth allowed by Ryan in his career, enabling him to surpass Jerry Reuss, Milt Pappas and Ned Garver for the top spot all-time, so Ryan earned himself yet another all-time record! Subsequently, Lee Smith and Frank Viola tied Reuss, Garver and Pappas with nine, but thanks to Howitt, Ryan remains numero uno. Here's a very short article about Howitt's salami. Nice ending to the article, too!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/140992_where24.html

More random trivia:

Nate Colbert holds the all-time record for driving in the highest percentage of his team’s runs over the course of a season. In 1972, he drove in 111 of the Padres’ 488 runs. That equates to 22.75%. The Boston Braves’ Wally Berger is a very close second with 22.61%. In 1935, he had 130 RBIs while his team was scoring a total of 535 runs. The rest of the players who drove in at least 20% of their teams’ runs follows:

Ernie Banks, 1959 - 21.25%
Sammy Sosa, 2001 - 20.59%
Jim Gentile, 1961 - 20.40%
Bill Buckner, 1981 - 20.27%
Bill Nicholson, 1943 - 20.25%
Frank Howard, 1968 - 20.23%
Babe Ruth, 1919 - 20.18%
Frank Howard, 1970 - 20.13%

Speaking of RBIs, how about the player with the lowest seasonal batting average who had at least 100 RBIs? How about Tony Armas of the 1983 Boston Red Sox? While driving in 107 runs, he hit a paltry .218. The runner-up isn’t really all that close. Roy Sievers batted.232 for the 1954 Senators while plating 102 runners.

I’m sure Red Sox fans remember the wild and crazy game on June 27, 2003, when the Fenway faithful were treated to a wild scoring binge by the hometown team. In an interleague game against the Florida Marlins, the Sox scored 10 runs in the very first inning before the first out was recorded, setting a new record. Not sure how many records were set in that frame, but I am sure of one thing. Johnny Damon became the first player ever to record three different types of hits in one inning. Damon doubled to right to lead off the inning. As he stepped up to the plate for his second at-bat of the frame, there were still no outs! He promptly banged a triple down the right field line. He was indirectly responsible for the final out of the inning. He slapped an RBI single to left field but Bill Mueller, trying to score from second, was thrown out at home for the third out. Boston scored 14 runs in the inning on their way to a 25-8 victory (Florida made a two-point conversion).

In July 1934, Babe Ruth paid a fan $20 dollars for the return of the baseball he hit for his 700th career home run. I wonder if the IRS taxed him on it….

[Trivia Guy]

[QUOTE=Dodgerfan1;1042844] Subsequently, Lee Smith and Frank Viola tied Reuss, Garver and Pappas with nine, but thanks to Howitt, Ryan remains numero uno.=QUOTE]

Mike Jackson ended his career in 2004 with 10 grand slams allowed to tie Ryan.

Nice article about Howitt. Thanks for sharing it.

[RuthMayBond]

I’m sure Red Sox fans remember the wild and crazy game on June 27, 2003, when the Fenway faithful were treated to a wild scoring binge by the hometown team. In an interleague game against the Florida Marlins, the Sox scored 10 runs in the very first inning before the first out was recorded, setting a new record. Not sure how many records were set in that frame, but I am sure of one thing. Johnny Damon became the first player ever to record three different types of hits in one inning. Damon doubled to right to lead off the inning. As he stepped up to the plate for his second at-bat of the frame, there were still no outs! He promptly banged a triple down the right field line. He was indirectly responsible for the final out of the inning. He slapped an RBI single to left field but Bill Mueller, trying to score from second, was thrown out at home for the third out. But I believe it helped insure that Boston probably had the best batting average in a ML inning ever, thirteen for fourteen

[Brooklyn]

But I believe it helped insure that Boston probably had the best batting average in a ML inning ever, thirteen for fourteen

that is a good question. I would have assumed there would have been at least one inning over the course of MLB history where there were no outs recorded off the bat.

[RuthMayBond]

that is a good question. I would have assumed there would have been at least one inning over the course of MLB history where there were no outs recorded off the bat.But no batter could get on by an error or fielder choice

[Dodgerfan1]

[QUOTE=Dodgerfan1;1042844] Subsequently, Lee Smith and Frank Viola tied Reuss, Garver and Pappas with nine, but thanks to Howitt, Ryan remains numero uno.=QUOTE]

Mike Jackson ended his career in 2004 with 10 grand slams allowed to tie Ryan.

Thanks for that, TG. Good catch.

[Utter Chaos]

But I believe it helped insure that Boston probably had the best batting average in a ML inning ever, thirteen for fourteenthat is a good question. I would have assumed there would have been at least one inning over the course of MLB history where there were no outs recorded off the bat.But no batter could get on by an error or fielder choice
Here's an example from 8/24/1983. The Blue Jays went 3 for 3 with a walk.

BLUE JAYS 10TH: STODDARD REPLACED MCGREGOR (PITCHING); Johnson homered; Bonnell singled to center; COLLINS BATTED FOR BARFIELD; T. MARTINEZ REPLACED STODDARD (PITCHING); Bonnell was picked off and caught stealing second (pitcher to first); Collins walked; Collins was picked off first (pitcher to first); Upshaw singled to second; Upshaw was picked off first (pitcher to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Blue Jays 4, Orioles 3.

[Dodgerfan1]

Here's an example from 8/24/1983. The Blue Jays went 3 for 3 with a walk.

BLUE JAYS 10TH: STODDARD REPLACED MCGREGOR (PITCHING); Johnson homered; Bonnell singled to center; COLLINS BATTED FOR BARFIELD; T. MARTINEZ REPLACED STODDARD (PITCHING); Bonnell was picked off and caught stealing second (pitcher to first); Collins walked; Collins was picked off first (pitcher to first); Upshaw singled to second; Upshaw was picked off first (pitcher to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Blue Jays 4, Orioles 3.

I'm assuming that would be Tippy Martinez. He picked off the side?? I'm surprised I never heard that before. I don't know if that's ever been done before or since, but that's one record that can't be topped!! What a weird inning!

[Mascott]

Part of the reason the Blue Jays had three runners picked off in that one inning was that Lenn Sakata was behing the plate for the O's. Normally a utility infielder, it was his only appearance as catcher in his career. He ended up hitting a three-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the 10th, as the O's won 7-4.....Nolan Ryan allowed the tenth grand slam of his career for the last homer he gave up. Mike Jackson yielded the record-tying tenth slam of his career also as the final homer he served up. Dann Howitt's blast off Ryan was the last of the 5 homers Howitt hit in his career and was his only slam. Marcus Thames connected for the final slam Jackson gave up. It was the first slam Thames would hit.

[RuthMayBond]

Nolan Ryan allowed the tenth grand slam of his career for the last homer he gave up. Mike Jackson yielded the record-tying tenth slam of his career also as the final homer he served up. Dann Howitt's blast off Ryan was the last of the 5 homers Howitt hit in his career and was his only slam. Marcus Thames connected for the final slam Jackson gave up. .Wish dodgerfan1 and trivia guy would have thought of that

[Matty]

I'm assuming that would be Tippy Martinez. He picked off the side?? I'm surprised I never heard that before. I don't know if that's ever been done before or since, but that's one record that can't be topped!! What a weird inning!

What if at least one of the runners that gets picked off makes it to the next base because of an error after getting in a rundown. Wouldn't that still count as a Caught Stealing or Picked Off?

If so, then you can have an infinite number of runners picked off.

[Dodgerfan1]

Wish dodgerfan1 and trivia guy would have thought of that

Gotta keep you on your toes, RMB! :rolleyes:

[Utter Chaos]

Here's another perfect batting average inning:

6/16/1963 (game 2) [3 for 3 with a walk]

GIANTS 3RD: Perry doubled to center; Perry was out trying to advance to third (catcher to third); Hiller singled; Hiller was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Kuenn walked; McCovey doubled to center [Kuenn scored, McCovey out at third (center to second to catcher to third)];
1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Colt .45s 0, Giants 1.

[RuthMayBond]

Gotta keep you on your toes, RMB! :rolleyes:
You guys should stop copying him ;)

[Dodgerfan1]

What do Wade Boggs, Derek Jeter, Rogers Hornsby, Ichiro Suzuki and Chuck Klein all have in common? If you figured it was something related to hitting, you’d be right (although that much may be obvious). All five players share the record of having collected at least one hit in 135 games in a single season (post-1900). Of the five, Hornsby and Klein did it in a 154-game schedule, making their feat even more impressive. For the record, Boggs did it in 1985, Jeter in 1999, Hornsby in 1922, Suzuki in 2001 and Klein in 1930.

The highest single-season slugging averages by position follow:

American League:

1B - .765 (Lou Gehrig – 1927)
2B - .643 (Nap Lajoie – 1901)
3B - .664 (George Brett – 1980)
SS - .631 (Alex Rodriguez – 1996)
C - .617 (Bill Dickey – 1936)
OF - .847 (Babe Ruth – 1920)
P - .621 (Wes Ferrell – 1931)
DH - .636 (David Ortiz - 2006)

National League (Post-1900)

1B – .752 (Mark McGwire – 1998)
2B – .756 (Rogers Hornsby – 1925)
3B – .644 (Mike Schmidt – 1981)
SS - .614 (Ernie Banks – 1958)
C - .638 (Mike Piazza – 1997)
OF - .863 (Barroid Bonds – 2001)
P - .632 (Don Newcombe – 1955)

Here’s something I ran across that I thought was pretty bizarre. In 2003, Jason Varitek was part of a back-to-back home run duo six times – with six different hitters! Now THAT’S shuffling your lineup around!

Something else I found that is very bizarre. I found only six teams in the 20th century who finished last one year and first the next. Every single one of them played in the 1990’s! I went through the seasons once and did NOT double check my research, so if I missed a team either earlier or later, I apologize (I don’t have unlimited time on my hands!) I believe this is the case though and, if true, it’s pretty amazing!

Here’s what I have:

1991 Braves and Twins
1993 Phillies
1997 Giants
1998 Padres
1999 Diamondbacks

[bob]

Something else I found that is very bizarre. I found only six teams in the 20th century who finished last one year and first the next. Every single one of them played in the 1990’s! I went through the seasons once and did NOT double check my research, so if I missed a team either earlier or later, I apologize (I don’t have unlimited time on my hands!) I believe this is the case though and, if true, it’s pretty amazing!

Here’s what I have:

1991 Braves and Twins
1993 Phillies
1997 Giants
1998 Padres
1999 Diamondbacks
That does seem a little odd. Wonder why teams in the ninties found it much easier to turn themselves around so quickly. You would think that something happened to allow teams to bounce back so fast. Does anyone have a list of teams that have gone the other way from first 1 year to last the next?