I should have mentioned : minimum 5,000 batters faced.

Randy Johnson.

Mariano Rivera?

OK, the most obvious possible guess...Nolan Ryan? It's probably wrong

I'm headin' out, so on the very off chance that my guess is the correct answer, somebody else can fire off the next question.

I'll say Koufax.

Hmm... there was a pitcher named Matt(?) Kilroy back in the 1800's who k'd a ton back when it was rare. I think he has the single season record for most K's at over 500 (loved 1800 baseball when I was younger and reading up on baseball history).

Hmm. Fun trivia out of my answer, it turns out Matt Kilroy did that 500 trick as a rookie. Gotta love baseball-reference.com

Nope, nope, nope, nope, and nope.

Walter Johnson?

No, but good guess. And warmer.

By the way, Walter (though a good guess) isn't in the top ten. Randy Johnson is third, Nolan Ryan is fifth.

This pitcher not only has the top single-season mark, he has four of the top ten single-season marks with a 200 IP minimum.

Can I have a second guess and say Smokey Joe Wood?

You can have a second guess, but it's not Joe Wood.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Steve Carlton?

Oh wait, you said warmer with Walter Johnson, nuts. How about Christy Mathewson?

I'll try again: how about Ed Walsh? Big strikeout years in the early 1900's , didn't hang around long after that

Nope and nope.

Finally, after two that got guessed on the first try, I came up with a good one! And it's not Ed Walsh.

what about Cy Young

Three Finger Brown?

Denton Young : Nope.
Mordecai Brown : Nope.

Hrm. I would've got this a decade ago, but my memory has become fuzzy about that era now. Eddie Cicotte? Short career might've helped get the career record.

Rube Waddell?

The K rates of the 1890s and 1900s were very low. Here's a shot in the dark: Jack Chesbro.

I can't think of anyone else besides...Bob Feller? Little after Big Train's era though...maybe you need to give us the answer, we seem to have failed.

Is the best trivia question the one nobody can answer?

another guess: Fergie Jenkins

Finally cheated by digging into the charts on Baseball Ref. and think I know who now, but it still is hard to say without doing the math. This is a killer question unless the name ends up being someone else who we should've known earlier.

No one has guessed Lefty Grove. Perhaps too obvious.

Lefty Grove?

Grover Alexander?

Hmm...beat by a minute...

*changes guess to Christy Matthewson*

John Clarkson? Or are we not counting 19th century?

On the chance it is Waddell, someone else will have to ask the next question; I'm heading home.

actually i do not understand the question, could the answer come with the way to get it? please!!

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Dazzy Vance?

OK, went to baseball-reference to check early K leaders. If it is Toad Ramsey then no one was ever going to get it from memory (early K/IP leader) but it is a great name.

Jim is correct! Dazzy Vance is the correct answer. (Vance was regularly leading the league by 100 strikeouts or more. Tremendous striekout pitcher).

Rube Waddell is 2nd.

Jim, fire away with the next question!

Jabonoso, the question is who had the highest ratio of strikeouts to the league average over his career. So you take the pitcher's career strikeouts, and divide it by the number of strikeouts the average pitcher (during his career) would have had if that pitcher had pitched to the same number of batters every year.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Hmmm. Ok.

Who is the only player with a Triple Crown AND a season in which he batted better than .400 who is NOT in the Hall of Fame?

Hi Jim! How about Hugh Duffy?

Showless Joe?

Shoeless*. LOL.

Dwight Gooden won the Triple Crown in 1985 and hit .500 in 1999. But I don't think you're talking about a pitching Triple Crown!

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Duffy is in the Hall, and Jackson never led the league in HR, RBI OR Batting. (Damn you Ty Cobb!)

I thought the answer was Hugh Duffy, but he appears to be in the Hall.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
True, not a pitching triple crown. Also, reading my question, it seems a tad misleading - the .400 and TC were in the same season.

Just figured it out via BB-Ref! Cool!

Hmm...OK, how bout..uhh, Tip O'Neill? Is he in the Hall?

He's in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame! :)

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
O'Neill it is!

Well done Simon. Of course, if the rest of you had read my article on World Series Canadians, you'd have gotten it too. <./blatant self-promotion>

Fire away Simon.

It has to be O'Neill. The only other guys to hit .400 in their TC season are Hornsby, Lajoie and Duffy. And they're all in the Hall.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
I read your article Jim. Sorry.

Nice! That was just a guess, I saw he'd hit .400+ with like 14 HRs at some point pre-1900....but I've got to go, so someone else can take the next question.

I'll jump in! Barry Bonds broke Ted Williams' single-season OBP record in 2002, and then broke his own record in 2004.

Who's posted the best single-season OBP of all time...among Latin American ballplayers?

I'll start with Edgar Martinez

Wow. Bingo. .479 in 1995. It's all yours, Sean.

Roberto Clemente?

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Yipee!!!
OK so no looking this one up because you'd probably find it pretty quickly: what was the last year in which the home run leader from either league had a single-digit home run total?

I'll say 1921 NL, when Babe really blew up for the first time.

Ah, Babe blew up in 1920. So I'm already wrong.

... 1908

Right era for both of you, but not correct

if I can guess again, I'll say 1909

1915?

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
How about 1918? Damn cheap war baseballs!

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Getting very warm with the last one...

1917

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Way to go Jim! 1918 is correct. Gavvy Carath led the NL with 8 home runs in the last summer of WWI.

Over to you...

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Alright.

12 men have hit 2 grand slams in one game. (3 were named Jim)

Two are in the Hall of Fame. Name them.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
So I'm stuck at work on a quiet night... How about Jim Rice and Jimmie Foxx?

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Nope. Neither one is a actually a Jim.

The Jims:

Jim Tabor
Jim Northrup
Jim Gentile

Reggie Jackson

Mickey Mantle

Hmm...Hard one. How about Lou Gehrig and Yogi Berra

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Paul, Simon, ... hmmm... Paul Simon?

Anyway, you guys have pegged the franchise of one of the men with your guesses. The other is still active in Major League Baseball.

Harmon Killibrew

Roger Maris

Frank Robinson and Babe Ruth?

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
FRob is absolutely correct. He turned the trick on June 26, 1970.

Now if Garfunkel can get the other half, you guys can do a duet question. :)

Okay, I'm just going to start guessing way wildy.

Joe Dimaggio

Dave Winfield

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Wasn't married to Marilyn Monroe and is a little deader than Winfield.

I am now just looking up Yankee Hall of Famers on baseballreference.

Tony Lazzeri

A yankee with grand slams in a game: T Lasseri ( sp ) , but do not know if he is the hall.
Got quite confused about HOF and still active... good old Frankie

Bill Dickey

Damn, there are alot of Yankees in the hall of fame.
Like, everyone on any of the career leaders lists on their page.

Earle Combs

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Indeed, 'tis Tony. The first man ever to pull it off, way back in 1936. I was shocked to see that a pitcher actually did it too, Tony Cloninger for the Braves in 1966. That has be a bad day, when the opposing pitcher hits a pair of slams.

Take it away Paul Simon!

LOL. They are the YANKEES.

LOL. They are the YANKEES.

Yeah, but it makes these questions way harder!
:)

I hadn't heard of some of the Hall of Famers,which made it harder.

I don't know very much baseball trivia.

Best baseball player ever born in Detroit to play for the Jays?
:)

Simon, I'll leave this for you.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Pat Hentgen?

lol...unless Dave Steib or someone else particularly good was born in Detroit, I believe the answer in Pat Hentgen. Anyways, I'm off to work, so someone else is going to have to offer up the next question.

Sean, that is incorrect. Good guess though, he's probably the second best.

Well, maybe Hentgen is the best.
I meant best position player though.
:)

Cecil Fielder?

Incorrect, he was born in LA.

John Mayberry?

Okay, I was trying to construct a question with the answer "Ernie Whitt"

However, I guess you could say that Mayberry was better, and I would't be too upset.

Your turn AWeb.

OK, here's one:

Which pitcher had the lowest batting average against in a year he gave up 40 or more homeruns?

Blyleven

David WElls

No and no

A few hints:

He did lead the league in gopher balls allowed that year, and earned runs allowed too, despite the BA against.

Jack Morris

No, Jack was in the top three though

Shawn Boskie? He walked a lot of guys, which would make those homers extra-ouchy. He also threw a lot of innings.

Denny McLain

Nope. Another hint: He lead the league in homers allowed two other times, but never above 40 again.

Denny McLain it is! 1966, batters hit .214 off him, with 42 homers. Also walked more than 100 people.

Over to you Lucas....

Oh! I thought you were saying McLain was wrong. I was going to guess Ralph Terry. Figured it was someone from the 60s. Anyhoo...

Two-part question: Last pitcher to make 40 starts in a season, and the last pitcher to make at least 45 starts in a season (it's two different people).

Jim Palmer

Tom Seaver

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
40 starts, I'll guess Mike Cuellar

45: Bob Feller

I think one of them is Wilbur Wood - could be that he was the last to 300 innings - something like that

Warren Spahn and Lefty Grove?

not Palmer, Seaver, Cuellar, Feller, Spahn or Grove...

Jim Clancy in 82?

Wow, I cheated to get it. It makes sense (and it was close to my first idea), but everyone's definately looking in the wrong direction.

45: Mickey Lolich?

40: Nolan Ryan?

no Lolich or Clancy

or Ryan

Mike Flanagan?

How about Wilbur Wood for 45? He was a workhorse

And Blyleven for 40?

Wilbur Wood started 48 games in 1973.

Now what about 40?

not Bly or Flan

I already guessed Wood for 45, looked up the last to 40 and it looks like I was on the right track

Hmmm... how 'bout those knucklers...
Niekero?
or Charlie Hough?

Ladies and gentlemen, Charlie Hough. 40 starts in 1987 for the Rangers.

I guess I'll give it to Hamboy since he got the last part, with partial credit to David C and Nolan. Your reward is a picture of my cat next to my computer, with a notable website on the monitor...



Ask away, Ham.

Woohoo... stab in the dark with Hough and paydirt! By the way, cute cat... wanna trade with mine, mine isn't as cute...

Question:

Who was the last pitcher to give over 200 base on balls?

Nolan Ryan

Too easy?

Was that it?

I got one if I'm allowed

Yup... Great Nolan Ryan led the league in base on balls and Ks for the 1977 season

Who is the Blue Jay with the shortest major league career?

Cool. I will defer to David C, since he answered part of my question correctly.

Danny Ainge?

Nope - think REAL short - let me know when you need a hint

Eddie Zosky ...how long did he play for

I'll take a stab at Mark Wiley. Think he had one appearance and ended with an infinite career ERA. Can't look on baseball reference to check, though.

Did I kill this thread?

Hints: - Pitcher with original expansion team - faced 12 batters & retired only 4 of them. Son also played in major leagues and is known for an off field incident that happen a couple years ago.

Bonus question - second shortest career is from a Jays pitcher in the last 10 years - faced only 14 batter in his three innings as a September call up - never played in the majors again (went to Japan). I remember watching this game and wondered whatever happened to that guy...

Wiley played for Minnisota & San Diego before he crashed & burned with the Jays (6.75 ERA in 2.7 innings)

How about Mike Darr? Although Brian Milner would be right up there too?

Couldn't resist looking it up, and I think you've identified the only two guys whose only major league appearance was 1 game with the jays.

Darr only played in one game, but Brian Milner played two games, finishing with a line of .444/.444/.667, with three runs, two RBIs, and a triple.

Why'd he only play two games at the age of 18?

Mike Darr is correct - and although I can't confirm it, with 9 ab I would Milner is a good bet to be the shortest career for a position player.

So do you want to me to tell you the other player or do you want Dave A to post the next question?

Milner was a high draft pick, and part of the deal with him signing was that he would start his career in the majors and play a few games with the Jays before being assigned to the minors. I believe that he got hurt in the minors and his career subsequently crapped out.

As two the other one day Jay. Here is another clue - he has the same first name as another player on the team (98) - amazing since they are the only two MEN I have ever heard of with that first name.

I couldn't resist temptation and looked up the answer, so I'll disqualify myself from the bonus question, but interestingly enough, the Jays also had a minor leaguer that year with the same first name.

Well, since no one's posted in a while, I'll throw out another one.

Who is the oldest player to win the Rookie of the Year award? Your first guess is not correct.

No confirmation until about 8am EST, I'm afraid. Bed time.

The guy's first name was Shannon, I assume. Oldest player to win the ROY? I feel like I should know this, but nothing springs to mind.

The first player that comes to mind is Kaz Sasaki, but that's probably not it. I think he was 32(?)

The answer is, unless I am completely off, is Sam Jethro.

I'm pretty sure it was in the late 40's or early 50's when he won...he was African American, which was the reason for his making it to the Majors so late.

Or, maybe, at 22, I'm going senile and forgretting importants trivia facts like this...we'll see

Luke Easter?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/jethrsa01.shtml
Sam Jethroe it is (COMN). He was about a month older than Kaz when he won the award.

Your question, Nolan.

http://rangers.scottlucas.com
I'll post another one, if only to entertain myself. This one's a toughy:

Pool of possible answers: Any manager who managed for at least three full seasons AND whose entire managerial career has/had taken place during divisional play (1969 to present):

Who has the best career winning percentage, and who has the worst?

Bext - Bobby Cox, worst Rene Lacheman (did he last three years with the Rays?)

Cox is second best, Lachemann is "only" tenth worst.

Lachemann didn't coach Tampa Bay, but in any case, he's "only" tenth worst.

way to repeat myself...

Cito Gaston - best
Don Bailor - worst?

Best...Joe Torre?
Worst...Hal McRae?

Ah.. wrong Florida team - I looked up the Ray's first coach (but not the answer) - it was Larry Rothschild - does it get worse than that?

Gaston - 28th best
Torre - 18th best

Baylor - 27th worst
McRae - 21st worst
Rothschild - 4th worst

Hmmm. I have to leave for about an hour, so hold off on those answers. Maybe I'll re-pose the question when I get back.

Hint: one of the managers is still active, one is not.

Going with the same theme the first coach of the Padres was Preston Gomez - never heard of him before so methinks he didn't do so well...

...just a thought... Mike Scoscia (sp) has three years under his belt now...

I'm back. Gomez is an excellent guess. Alas, he is second worst. Scioscia is 21st best.

FWIW, the best winning percentage is .569, the worst is .343. Gomez was 346-529 for a robust .395 percentage.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Bobby Mattick and Bob Brenly?

Tony LaRussa - Best
Buck Showalter - Worst?

http://www.torontbaseballguys.com
Hold on, wrong early Jays manager - I'll change my worst to Roy Hartsfield.

Brenly - 11th best.
LaRussa - 14th best.
Mattick only managed two years.

Showalter has a career winning percentage of .520.

Another hint: guys who hang around for a decade tend to regress toward the middle. Think shorter.

ROY HARTSFIELD! 166-318 as the manager of the expansion Toronto Blue Jays.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Ron Gardenhire

and Ron Gardenhire. Very good.

Ten best: Gardenhire, Cox, Davey Johnson, Larry Dierker, Billy Martin, Jim Tracy, Sparkey Anderson, Dick Howser, Disty Baker, Eddie Kasko.

Ten worst: Hartsfield, Gomez, Russ Nixon, Rothschild, Jim Marshall, Tony Pena, Tony Muser, Buddy Bell, Ted Williams, Rene Lachemann.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Woohoo!

Next question:

Two shortstops have hit All-Star Game home runs outside the United States. Name them.

One is Cal Ripkin Jr.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Correct.

another stab in the dark....

Dave Concepcion?

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Spot on! Concepcion it is. Over to you Hamboy.

Woohoo... I saw the Ripkin homer at SkyDome... and Concepcion... wow... that was a doozie...

Okay... real easy one...

Who had most career inside the park home runs?

Easy one - it's Ty Cobb

Easily made mistake... it was not Ty Cobb!

Rickey Henderson?

Rickey didn't even come close....

This person was once teammate of Ty Cobb.
BTW, Ty Cobb is 3rd in most career inside the park home runs.

Damn, Rickey's not even top 20.

I think Sam Crawford has the most triples. Might he also have the most inside-the-parkers?

Where can you find stats for ISTPHRs? Anyone know? I checked B-ref, and retrosheet...so I'm out of ideas. :)

Way to go, Lucas!

Sam Crawford did have most career insider with 51.

Turning it over to you, Lucas....

http://baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_isphr.shtml
As for inside the park home run record, COMN

I lucked out by not seeing the question early enough. I would have guessed Cobb also.

Anyway,

Who holds the dubious record of hitting into the most double plays as a Blue Jay? Career, not single-season.

Well I know that Hank Aaron has the mlb record so it's a function of who has the most plate appearances - I would suspect the culprit in this case is Delgado

How about Ernie Whitt? Catchers are always a good choice for GIDP's...

Delgado is 4th, Whitt 5th.

MLB record is owned by Cal Ripken Jr, with Hammerin' Hank second.

How 'bout Tony Fernendez? I thought he was always good for GIDP

Ohhhh, are we allowed two guesses?

TF is 2nd with 109. The leader has 112.

I've guessed more than once a few times. I don't think there's a rule. No more than one guess per message, let's say.

Then how about my favorite slow first baseman Jay- Johnny Olerud?

Johnny "Lightning" Olerud ranks a mere 9th.

Hmmm...
Okay... How 'bout Willie Upshaw?

Okay, my third and last guess...let's continue with the first base theme and say Fred McGriff

Upshaw had only 50 GIDPs as a Jay.

I'll take my all-time favourite Jay, George Bell.

McGriff only had 39; wasn't a Jay long enough

George Bell, ladies and gentlemen.

Your call, 6-4-3

Okay, I have to go eat, so I'll make an non-stat question that a shmuck like me can get:

What doctor claimed that he could rebuild Mark Prior's mechanics in 280 days, so that he'd pitch injury-free and 5 mph faster?

Mike Marshall. And I'm surprised he didn't say 28 days.

Claimed? - Do you mean Mike Marshall (a PHD) or a real doctor like Yokum, Andrews & Jobe?

I have to go, so if I'm right, I'll pass.

Yep, it was Pilot / Cy Young winner / Dr. Mike Marshall. If you pass, someone else can come up with a new one.

Since I got a question right this morning, I'll give it a go...

Which player in ML history has the best ratio of runs scored to games played (1000 runs minimum)?

Might as well take the obvious one. Rickey Henderson?

Nolan, is it Pete Browning?

Nope, sorry

Gehrig?

Darn. Ol' Pete didn't even have 1,000 runs.

In reference to Browning- he is probably in the top ten, but is not the one...

p.s. Browning scored 954 runs against 1183 games

Gehrig is not the answer either

Sliding Billy Hamilton!

Ohhh, Craig B. knows his pre-1900's trivia. Nice

Next question is a quotation:

"One time he hit a line drive right past my ear. I turned around and saw the ball hit his ass sliding into second."

Two-part question - who said the quote, and who is it about?

Hamilton played in 1591 games and scored 1690 runs for an incredibly impressive average of 172 runs over a 162 game season (which they obviuolsy did not have back then).

Wild guess, Craig: Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell.

And Mike D's powers of deduction come through in the clutch! Over to you...

Who started for the woebegone Orioles on the night the Jays went deep 10 times?

The best speed-related metaphors, by the way, relate to Cool Papa. Like the one where he flicked the switch and was able to tuck himself into bed before the light went out.

I guess a more accurate phrasing of my question would be "Who was the starting pitcher that night?"

I still remember his expression from that night (I was there). Completely shell-shocked.

Gotta leave my desk, fellas. Answer is Retrosheet-able -- Sept. 14, 1987. Anyone can take the next question.

Scott McGregor?

Ooh... I just checked who it was. No wonder the Jays hit 10 homers.

Tanyon Sturtze's father?

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Tanyon Sturtze's father?

I believe his name was Darth Gopher.

So it was Ken Dixon apparently- I'd never hear of him

Hmmm...

Most know that the five year HAll of Fame waiting perion was waived for Lou Gehrig (as well as Ruth in the inaugural vote0...so which other player's waiting period was also waived?

Roy Campenella?

No, wait.

Roberto Clemente.

A good guess, but, alas,a wrong one as well

Clemente was correct

I posted before I saw that...oops

it's cool. Okay.

I am Hall of Fame-eligible (meaning not an active player or banned or retired fewer than five years) and I have the highest career OPS+ among HOF-eligible players (excluding 19th century players). Who am I?

That has to be the Babe...or is this a trick 'in 14 career-at-bats' question?

I assume you mean the highest amoungst those not in the hall, so I guess Norm Cash.

Let me clarify. This player is not in the HOF and has plenty of at-bats to qualify.

I'm probably wrong, but I'm going with one of my favourite Sock...

Jim Rice?

Nope, but a decent guess. Rice has an OPS+ of 128, the man in question has 156.

I think it's Dick Allen.

Richie Allen? I remember wondering why this guy wasn't in the hall - is it him?

I'm thinking it's someone from the 50's-70's because everyone before that is in the Hall if they were any good.

So I'll say [Dick?] Allen who played with the White Sox and Phillies [?]

Yuck - just beaten (if that's right, of course).

lol

I shouldn't have taken so long trying to remember his first name...

I think that's a winner - baseball-reference.com has Dick Allen as having the highest non-hall, non-active, non-19th century, non-shoeless ops+

I checked and it is Dick Allen, but I've had quite a few turns, so I'll cede to Fawaz K.

Sparky hit a lead-off homer and a walk-off homer in the same game last season. Darin Erstad is one of three less reedy fellows to turn the trick, the other two being _________ and _____________.

All right. No one seems to be jumping in, so I'll give this one for the late night/West Coast crew. Who holds the single-season record for triples and with how many? You'll have to choose an umpire who checks the answer.

It is Dick Allen. Sorry, I was forcefully removed from the computer for a few minutes.

All right, go with Fawaz' question and skip mine. We've got to stop posting within 30 seconds of each other.

Didn't someone mention Chief Wilson's record just a couple of days ago? In any event, I'll take the credit for it.

Oh - and it was 35 or 36.

To answer Fawaz's question, is one of them Johnny Damon? I vaguely remember him doing that as a Royal...

It was Owen "Chief" Wilson, and it was (is) 36. As far as leadoff/walkoff goes, I have no idea.

What three players have played for the Jays & both 93 expansion teams

Would Juan Acevedo be one? And Justin Speier and Greg Zaun are the others...I think...did Zaun play for COL?

Leadoff-walkoff, didn't Derek Jeter and Shannon Stewart pull off the feat?

Well done Nolan...

Well, I'll throw this question out there:

What non-pitcher had the fewest at-bats on the 2004 Toronto Blue Jays? 2003? 2002? 2001? All four correct answers are needed, with the years indicated for each player, to get the answer right and obtain asking rights.

Hint: the 2000 player is the same player from 2001. And no fair counting Loaiza as a non-pitcher in 2002.

2004: Chad Hermanson

And after looking up the rest of them, I will be very surprised if anybody gets them all.

Hermanson is right. Maybe I made the question too hard -- just name the 2003 player and you "win."

2002 - Pedro Swann
2001 - Josh Phelps

It has to be Derek Jeter's best friend, Ken Huckaby.

If anyone's interested, the other lead-off/walk-off guys are Vic Power and Billy Hamilton.

6-4-3 is right, it was Ken Huckaby. Fire away with a question...

Okay, I've had this one for a while:

Name the 2 top hall of fame candidates (one batter and one pitcher) according to baseball-reference's HOF Monitor from both the 2004 Blue Jays, and the all-time Blue Jays.

2004 : Carlos Delgado and Pat Hentgen?
All-Time : Dave Winfield and Phil Niekro?

Ouch. Looks like I didn't get it. The one I missed surprises me, but it underlines how incredibly great he really is.

Delgado/Hentgen and Rickey/Stieb?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/hof_monitor.shtml
I don't think I got it either. What page are we using to determine this?

COMN -- that one? If so, then I think I had both wrong -- Stieb doesn't even show up on the page -- but Craig said "The one I missed surprises me" when in fact he missed two. Winfield isn't the highest ex-Jay on the list; same goes for Niekro. Now I'm confused.

Of course, now that I look at the names, it's pretty obvious. What surprised you about Player X, Craig? (Answer after someone else figures it out.)

Baseball reference.

Winfield, Niekro, Rickey, Stieb, are all wrong.

The all-time pitcher must be Clemens, as he is ranked third after this year. I always forget how great he was with Toronto, two straight Cy's and triple crowns (pitching of course).

My guess at the hitter is Molitor, as he ranks ahead of Winfield.

I'm assuming Delgado and Hentgen are right for the 2004 Jays though...

Molitor is in the hall tho Aweb, isnt he?

Actually, looking at the actual scoring of the HOF monitor (I never have before, it seems resonable to me in most places), he gives a lot of extra points to important defensive positions and some other things that make me think that Alomar is probably beating Molitor. He's got at least 50 points from just playing a lot of second base and winning the gloves and championships.

My guess at the hitter is Molitor, as he ranks ahead of Winfield.

If you looked it up, it's not a guess, is it? ;)

Geoff, I may be mis-reading the question. I think it means, basically, highest HOF monitor score on Baseball Reference. If it's Alomar and Clemens, it doesn't really matter though.

I looked at the list now....Clemens, should he pitch another 2 years, could actually theaten Walter Johnson for top spot on the list (Cy Young is second). But if RAndy Johnson had won the CY this year, he'd actually lead Clemens...that seems odd to me, but Randy is damn good (except the time I saw Colorado light him up in Colorado...ahh, the opposite field HR's were flying that day).

Yeah, the answer is: Delgado and Hentgen, Alomar and Clemens.

I was surprised that it was Alomar, but apparently his position puts him ahead of Rickey.

Alomar gets 30 points for playing 2100 games at second, plus more for his playing on championship teams at second. Alomar is 7 points ahead of Rickey, and that's more than the difference.

About the Molitor guess, I actually knew he was ahead of Winfield from looking at the site before when he was inducted into the Hall (when the sports channels start saying things like "Greatest ex-Blue Jay", I always wonder if they have any data to back them up. Turned out, he might have been better than Winfield). Ah, the uselessness of things that stick in my head for some reason:-) The same with Clemens ranking third all-time. Not many players around that could break into the all-time greatest conversation (Bonds, Johnson, Clemens, Maddux), so I tend to follow them.

Anyway, I'll be away for a while, so assuming that the right answers are out there now (I checked, and it was Alomar, Clemens, Delgado and Hentgen as I interpret the question), I cede to Craig B who got the 2004 Jays in one try anyway.

What surprised me about Alomar is that he's not done yet, and he's not that old. Alomar does well because of the defensive position bonuses, but let's face it... he was always a terrific second baseman, and if anyone in the last 20 years deserves a bonus for 2B defense, he's it.

I didn't look up Niekro vs. Clemens, which is why I didn't realized I'd gotten that wrong.

New question :

One of the most famous plays in baseball history is the "Merkle Boner" in the 1908 pennant race. Who recorded the putout on the play?

Chance?

No, Tyler, but a good guess.

um...Evers?

Tinker?

In the interest of getting another question tonight, it was Evers who got the force out. The game was played in a brisk hour and a half.

Well everyone knows that Mike Maroth & Brian Kingman are the last men to lose 20 games - well who was the guy before that?

If that's too easy - who is the last guy to lose 20 games with an ERA under 3.00? (Hint the two guys have something in common - although there is some debate about that too)

Was it Nolan Ryan? I remember hearing that he lost a crapload of games one season despite great numbers. Don't know how many he lost though.

No on Ryan

I'm going to take an early-morning guess of Phil Niekro. I don't think he qualifies for the "something in common" part, but he's the best guess I've got right now.

Niekro in indeed the correct answer for part 1 of the question.

Cy Young for the second part?

Use the Neikro clue mentioned above

Wilbur Wood?

If I get this, someone else ask the question - I am doing this from my handheld and won't be able to check back.

Nope - not exactly understanding the clue - here is another hint - think back - way back to a pitching dominant era

a 20 games loser at the time of Niekro ? good pitcher? Steve Carlton

Try this again - last pitcher to lose twenty games with an ERA under three

Hint #1 - from a pitching dominant era - not the 60's

Hint #2 - Think Burt Hooten & R.A Dickey

Hint #1 : WW II era baseball perhaps?

Hint #2 : Guys with knuckle-curve balls?

Even if both of these are true, I still got nothing. How about Warren Spahn? He started after WWII, had some good years on bad teams, although I don't remember a knuckle-curve for him. But he did change speeds a lot....

I was going to say Brian Kingman of the 1980 Oakland A's.
He had an ERA off 3.83

What Blue Jays pitcher has the most wins in the post season for the team?

1. Jimmy Key
2. Duane Ward
3. Dave Stieb
4. Juan Guzman
5. Tom Henke

I look forward to reading your answers

Nate Andrews of the Boston Braves 1943

14 wins and 20 losses and era of 2.57

Spahn's close: in 1952, he had an ERA of 2.98, but he "only" lost 19 games. Kingman's not right, because his ERA was still over 3.

As for the Jays question, my guess is Guzman. He's the only starter on the glory days teams, and it was before his Devil Rays meltdown, so why not?

Boy did I blow it - I was thinking Jesse Haines in 1920 - often people think he was a knuckleball artist when it fact he threw a knuckle curve (like Hooten not Mussina)

Nate Andrews appears to be the 'correct' answer