DAMNIT! There goes my first guess....

I suppose Pedro Cerano is out of the question too?

http://www.mathesond.mindsay.com
Ironically, I popped in my tape of Bull Durham recently, and was remonded of a Sporting News article about whomever the career minor-league home run leader is/was (I read it back in the early '90's). For the life of me, I cannot remember the player's name. I do know there have been a couple of 65+ home runs seasons (I'm pretty sure Tony Lazzeri had one), but I don't think the answer (and I don't mean Iverson) was one of those guys.

I believe the answer is Hector Espino (spelling?) of the Mexican League.

Re: career minor home run leader. Would it be Steve Bilko of th PCL.

If it is I won't know until I wake up tomorrow. You can take my turn if it is right and if it is wrong I will try another question

same with me.

Man, I used to know this, but the name Ike Boone popped into my head...I know he holds some minor leagure records anyways...so:

Ike Boone

VBF, according to internet resources, it was indeed Espino with 484, though I suppose we also could have accepted the immortal Rick Lancelloti, who is the unconfirmed all-time leader in U.S.-base minor league homers and cranked another 50+ in the Mexican League and also got a cups of coffee every four years with the '82 Padres, '86 Giants and '90 Red Sox.

Before I head off to bed, here's a question that was the title of a baseball trivia book I had as a boy in 1970's ... no Googling. Come by the answer honestly, or guess, or don't play.

Who was Harry Steinfeldt?

I'm not asleep, I just have NO idea. Judging by his name does he hold some kind of dubious record like worst batting average or stealing percentage?

Woo Hoo...I think I know this one...was he not the fourth member of the immortal Cubs infield of Tinkers to Evers to Chance?

I think sleep claimed another victim Nolan. Why dont you just proclaim yourself the winner and move on :)

Okay, here's one that I found very interesting...One of the main reasons for expansion in 1961 was the threat of a new league called the Continental League that was to be a rival of and compete with the two Major Leagues...

The question is: Can you name one of the two men responsible for starting this new Continental League [who were well on their way to starting it up (until the Major Leagues bought them out)]?

Hint: Since this is, I think, a tough one...One of the two men, was/is quite well known and was a prominent figure in baseball for a long time (from before the 1930's).

For some reason, I think it was Branch Rickey...

I know one was Rickey, as Magpie said. Fire away!

And yes, the answer to my question was Hector Espino with 484, all in the Mexican League.

hey so whats up with the fropnt page at THT? did you guys get hacked or something???

Fred Merkle, of incredibly bizarre play fame, was not supposed to start that day. Who was?

Fred Tenney?

I'm sad i missed this question. The answer is wrong ( googled or not ) El Almirante Barrera broke that one a few years ago. He was a player manager with Oaxaca and died two years after his feast.
Back to Espino. He was my childhood hero, played very much in the mold of Pujols, the best mexican hitter ever, by far. He could have had a major league career, but declined an invitation from the Cardinals ( he played a couple of weeks in spring training and went back home, homesick).

On the off-chance that I should be asking a question, here's something truly trivial.

Here is a famous picture from MLB history.



Who was the pitcher?

Magpie, I can't see the pic. Can you describe it, please?

I didn't have to look up the identity of the pitcher, but then I read Bill Veeck's two books with Ed Linn. (I double-checked anyway, though)

Gaedel was instantly banned from baseball (Really! On what grounds? Try that today.) and Veeck was pilloried for "making a mockery of the game." Veeck always did seem to take the word "game" a little literally.

Naturally, Veeck protested. "What about Rizzuto?" he wailed. "Is he a short ballplayer or a tall midget?"

Veeck had to have his manager appear at home plate with a notarized contract for Gaedel before the at bat could proceed. He had also warned Gaedel that he had a sniper in the crowd who would shoot him if he even thought of swinging at a pitch.

Wouldn't Eddie Gaedel be a useful September call-up? A hitter who can draw a walk at will?

Let's try it again

If that didn't work, its Eddie Gaedel pinch-hitting against the Tigers. August 19, 1951.

pitcher--Les Cain?

ps--catcher--Bob Swift?

Craig:
If you want to check about Nelson Barrera HR record, go to www.salondelafama.com.mx , 455 hrs in 26 season in the mexican league.
But if you count winter league also the Espino is the one.

Yes, that is Bob Swift catching. But Les Cain pitched in the 60s and 70s...

Wasn't the pitcher Bob Cain?

I checked on retrosheet and Bob Cain did indeed pitch for the Tigers in the second game of a doubleheader on August 19, 1951. So, Max and csimon, who will post the next question?

I'll give it a shot...

5 Cy Young winners have been convicted of felonies. Name them.

Denny McLain, obviously. And there's Roger Clemens in the backgroiund looking nervous and muttering "Um ... convivted?"

One down...

One of them has to be Doc Gooden, right?

Don Newcombe had serious problems with alcohol--was he one of the 5?

Lamarr Hoyt was into drug-running, and I think Don Newcombe was Up To No Good at some point. McLain and Gooden. One more....

Pete Rose, obviously :)

Was Fergie Jenkins convicted of a felony, or was his drug rap a midemeanor affair?

And where are the left handers? Don't they say "The Bend Sinister?" Why are all the bad guys righties?

Well, Steve Carlton...

So is that the five? I'm positive about McLain and Hoyt, and Gooden, Jenkins, and Newcombe seem a reasonable guess.

Actually, Lamarr Hoyt winning the Cy Young was more of a crime than what most of these guys actually did...

I googled "Fergie Jenkins" felony, and happened across the post that might've inspired this question.

McLain, Hoyt, Gooden, and Jenkins are all the common answers to the question. All were colourful guys. But there's one missing.

Magpie's not quite right... (4 for 5)

Oh gosh. Now I know.

DOH!

I'm out for now; It looks like 643 and Magpie have figured it, so if someone gets the right 5, could one of you confirm and keep the game going?

Thanks

To keep the game going:

McLain, Hoyt, Gooden, Jenkins, Vida Blue.

Next question:

What two players have the record for single-season and career OPS+ for the Blue Jays?

Olerud (single season) and Delgado (career)?

Dave Berg and Garth Iorg?

Delgado's not right.

Well, how about McGriff (career)?

If I'm right, Aweb can have the next question...

It is Olerud (1993) and McGriff (career), so it's Aweb's turn.

McGriff's total might've been helped by the fact that he has almost 4000 less plate appearances as a Jay, but he and Delgado combine for 7 of the top 10 seasons as a Jay.

The Chicago White Sox once scored 11 runs in one inning with just one hit. Who was it against, and who had that hit?

This one might be really hard (I have it in book), so a few hints:

The team featured a young player who would win the MVP with someone else the next year.

The player in question hit under .200 that year, and then followed it up with 11 straight years with an OPS+ over 100.

I hate to be the guy that does this, but Jenkins wasn't convicted of a felony. I've read Greenspan's book where he talks about defending Fergie, and a huge deal is made about how he got it down to the equivalent of an American misdemeanour.

Boy that was hard - never would have got it

It was April 22nd 1959 against the A's, good luck guessing the player

Yeah, I found that Jenkins wasn't convicted of a felony, that's why I put "common answers" when I mentioned who the correct 5 are. I think I read something that claimed that Jenkins was found guilty, but the conviction wasn't upheld by the judge, or something similar.

He was convicted, but apparently it was the sentence that would determine if it was a felony or misdemeanour according to the US. If it had been a felony, he was likely done. Greenspan trotted in three character witnesses to get across the point that he was a good guy who made a mistake-one of them told a story about him selling his cowboy boots at a local fundraiser, and walking home in his socks IIRC. The judge gave him the lower sentence, said he'd earned an extra chance.

The team featured a young player who would win the MVP with someone else the next year.

FOUL!!

The player in question (John Callison) did NOT win the MVP the next year, or any other year. He did finish second for his new team in the other league in 1964.

The 1960 MVPs were Dick Groat and Roger Maris.

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/excerpts/records_registry7.stm
The inning AWeb is referring to was truly wild (11 runs, 1 hit, 10 walks, one hit batter, three errors, and one ball hit past the pitcher's mound. COMN.

And it did feature the next three AL MVPs: Nellie Fox of the White Sox (who would win the award later that season) and Roger Maris who would move to the Yankees the next year and promptly win back-to-back MVPs.

Magpie, I was asking who the team who gave up the 11 runs was, I already said Chicago scored the 11 runs. The other team did indeed feature Maris that year. I didn't say the player in question won the MVP the next year. Bad hint on my part...

It looks like you have the answer (although you never said the team), so next question to you.

OK, AWeb, my bad. The team the White Sox did it to was KC, and they had next year's MVP. Johnny Callison had the hit for the White Sox and he hit .170 something in 1959...

Tricky, tricky!!

OK, here's an easy one.

Name two Hall of Fame pitchers with more career losses than wins.

Rollie Fingers and Satchel Paige?

Told you it was easy...

In his final ML appearance, ol' Satch pitched three shutout innings. He gave up one hit (a first inning 2B to Carl Yastrzemski) and struck out one (the opposing pitcher, Bill Monbouquette, who struck out Paige in his final plate appearance.)

The date was September 25, 1965. Paige is believed to have been 59 years old.

Because I can't think of anything better:

What former Blue Jays have won the Rolaids Relief Award?

Billy Koch, Mike Timlin, Tom Henke? I only think the first one is right. How many different pitchers is it?

There are two different pitchers.

Koch and Duane Ward

Nope, that's not right, but it's close.

Koch and Randy Myers

Just looked it up... there are three, aren't there?

Four if you count the almost-Jay Gagne. Did you know that J.P. could've had Gagne from the Dodgers, but chose Propokec instead?

(KIDDING!!!)

Oops. There are three. Myers is one, Koch is two, number three is . . .

And everyone knows that the Gagne "near-deal" rumor is nonsense. The real deal was Quantrill and Izturis for Gagne and Beltre. JP didn't like that deal, and he demanded Chad Ricketts and Prokapek.

Did I need to put the word KIDDING in a bigger font?

Hmm. Caudill or Lavelle. Caudill or Lavelle. My coin landed heads, so I'll say Randy Moffit

All three are wrong.

And JP probably could've convinced LA's GM to add Lo Duca. They really wanted Quantrill badly.

To hopefully finish this before I go to sleep:

We have Myers, Kock, and a third pitcher who has won the Rolaids Relief award. He was a major pitcher for Toronto, and was mentioned in the very first response to my question.

Tom Henke.

Bingo, it's the Terminator himself. I was shocked when I looked up his stats, I didn't remember that he had finished on such a high note.

Fire away, Craig.

Who, incidentally, won his Rolaids Award in the NL, for St. Louis!

Not only was it his last season, not only was he playing in St. Louis, but he also got his first (and last) career at-bat during the season.

The new question : how many baseballs is the umpire required to keep on him (usually in the ball bag) at all times?

Nine innings, nine players on the field...nine balls on the umpire?

(I think we should limit this to one guess per person, or else I'll keep going "10, 11, 12...")

No, not nine.

Five man starting rotation, upcoming year: 200five....five balls on the umpire?

Not five!

I'll say seven, and avoid the obvious comments that could be made about balls and bags...

Ignore whatmay ye like, but ye answere is nay seven.

Isn't it like 12 Mississippi river bank mud rubbed balls at all time? 6 on one hip and 6 on other?

Hamboy, that's getting closer to what the umpires actually do (I think most plate umps take 12 balls out with them for the start of a game) but different from what is required.

Hint : the requirement is in the Official Rules.

Incidentally, MLB doesn't use mud from the Mississippi; it uses Lena Blackburne's Baseball Rubbing Mud, which comes from the Delaware River.

Tyler and 643,

You're probably right - I was just parroting a question and answer that I heard from someone else. I stand corrected.

I guess we're seeing the interest in the Trivia Challenges peter out?

Just to remind everyone, the question is :

How many baseballs is the umpire required - by the Official Rules - to keep on him (usually in the ball bag) at all times?

Craig, i left a correction note about the HRs in the minor legues...
vide supra

Sport imitates life - the ump must keep two balls in his bag...

Not to nitpick....but shouldn't i have got the next question? Seeing as I guessed all three right answers before anyone else....Sorry, just thought it was worth a mention.

Go ahead Mr Simon, you deserve it...

OK...Who was the first batter to steal first base? And yes, I do mean first base.

Ty Cobb ( i mean recorded on film )

i guess it is impossible to answer this.
as it would be who had the first triple? who recorded that?

Germany Schaeffer?

Schaefer is close, but there was a guy who pulled the stunt just before him.

I don't quite understand what you meant, jabonoso.

OK, no one seems to be forthcoming...it's Fred Tenney, who did it i believe a couple of months before Schaefer. csimon can take it away, though interest seems to be dying.

By all means, if anyone is entitled to claim the question, just speak up and ask it. My mistake.

i'll post a question, but I won't be back on until Thursday morning. So if someone gets it between now and then--just go ahead. Don't wait for my confirmation. It's not an answer that can be guessed so if you know it, you won't need me to confirm it.

Last week, one of the threads mentioned the unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series. The triple play was made, of course, by Bill Wambsganss of the Cleveland Indians.

My question is--who was the batter who hit into the triple play. It's a fairly well known answer so as a tie breaker--who were the 2 base runners; that is, who were the other 2 outs

One little anecdote. The batter who hit into the triple play came up later in the game and in his next at bat he hit into a doulbe play. Sadly, it was not unassisted.

It was Robins pitcher Clarence Mitchell, a very fine hitter who batted .252 for his career.

Is there a record for batting into most outs in a game?

I couldn't resist so I came back. Mitchell was one of the last legal spitballers and he was an excellent hitter who was often used as pinch hitter and sometimes at first base. About 10 years ago, Sports Illustrated had an article about Jody Reed hittng into a double play and a triple play in consecutive games. I wrote a letter to the editor referring to Clarence Mitchell doing it in one game, adding what a good hitter he was. They published the letter and several months later, I got a very nice letter from Clarence Mitchell's son, thanking me bringing his father's career to the attention of todays fans

The other 2 outs were Pete Kilduff and Otto Miller

Next question : the very first Player of the Month award was given by the National League in May of 1958. The vote ended in a tie.

Who were the recipients?

Hint : they were two of the very biggest stars in the National League.

jabonoso, I don't know what the record is for most outs batted into, but I do know that Burleigh Grimes hit into two double plays and a triple play in three at-bats for the Dodgers against the Cubs on September 22, 1925. That's a very bad day!

Goose Goslin and Joe Torre hold the AL/NL records for GIDPs in one game, with four apiece.

I'll guess Aaron for one of them

Mays and Aaron?

I looked it up - Mays is correct but Aaron is wrong - try another hall of famer

Yes, as David indicated, Willie Mays was one recipient and another mega-star Hall of Famer was the other.

From 58, Musial? Banks?

Hey, jabonoso, no fair making two guesses!

Yes, Musial is correct. It was Musial and Mays who shared the very first player of the month award.

So, either Simon or jabonoso can ask the next question.

OK if no one else is going to submit one...

Who Am I? - I'm a lefty who was born in Pennsylvania and I lead the Blue Jays in OPS for two years in a row.

OK next time will be in two posts...
Sorry about the delay.
The question:
Joe Morgan is considered as one of the best second base players of all time. He played in the NL, give the name of a second baseman in the AL who played basically the same span of time ( sort of a year delay) had better hitting average about same OPS and one MVP instead of JM two.

Thats a though one David. It goes beyond my BJ's memorabilia.
Delgado was born near san Juan, Olie in Seattle, Mc Griff in Florida ( Miami ? ), Shawn in Illinois. That accounts for lefties in the 90's...

I was kidding about the two guesses thing, by the way. Forgot the :)

Bob Bailor?

And for Jabonoso's, that must be Rod Carew, a great player who is now being unjustly forgotten.

Rod Carew, Panamenian ( it is the right way to refer someone from Panana ? ) 7 batting titles.

I didn't get David's question, so we'll let that one stand for now.

Delgado, Olerud, McGriff, Green & Bailor are all wrong - not all that tough if you understand the question

BTW - I'll open this up to Google assisted answers

I'll guess Mark Hendrickson as I seem to recall him having a homer or two. Small sample size might be enough to make him the leader at least once.

David, "OPS leader" usualy connotes a PA minimum, but I see you out-clevered us.

Well, Hendrickson ain't right. He only homered in one season and he didn't even manage to lead the team in OPS that year (Tam beat him).

The person in question had over 600 PA in each season - Hint: read the question carefully

I'm thinking that David must mean a player who has the highest two-year cumulative OPS??

That said: I have no guesses.

Okay, scratch that because the answer to that must be Delgado 2000-2001.

Nope - I'll repeat the question: Who Am I? - I'm a lefty who was born in Pennsylvania and I lead the Blue Jays in OPS for two years in a row.

That's brutal. The answer is: Ron Northey of the 1943-44 Philadelphia Blue Jays.

Excellent!

OK, this should be a pretty easy question:

Who was the only switch-hitter who throws left-handed in the major leagues last season? (more accurately, the only one who played regularly since at one point there was a second).

And I must add, I was getting scared the answer to the previous question was going to be a member of the Medicine Hat or Dunedin Blue Jays.

Name the 3 players in major league history to have over 700 at bats in a season

Willie Wilson, Pete Rose,and Juan Samuel

One of them is Ichiro from this year.

So, with the help of Nolan's list...

Ichiro Suzuki, Willie Wilson, and Juan Samuel?

Who was the only switch-hitter who throws left-handed in the major leagues last season?

Jason Varitek?

Who was the only switch-hitter who throws left-handed in the major leagues last season?

Carl Everett?

No on both Varitek & Everett. Hint: The player in question was an All-Star this season.

Lance Berkman? (the only other switch hitter I know is Bernie Williams)

Berkman.

Damnit.

Berkman is correct. Back to you David C.

Who in 1977 set the major league record with the fewest chances by an outfielder?

CAn you define this one a little better? Are you talking about chances per game (I would assume that a callup at some point had zero chances in the outfield one year)? And how many games does it take to qualify?

Ugh, I had it narrowed down to the right team, but I couldn't get the player (and I picked the team for reasons that now seem a little illogical to me...). This one's tough, given what the player did in the years around 1977.

No tricks this time guys - the player had a full season

Dave Kingman?

Kingman wasn't right. The answer is interesting.

Hmmm... my google search showed me that record was set at 1907....

Well my source was teh Biographical Encyclopedia which is at least 10 years old so I can't confirm that it is current record but as of 1977 this guy held the record

Anyway it's not an obscure player - you all know him - I gave you the year...I'll also let you know it's an NL player so that should narrow the candidates down so guessing it should be a breeze

And I'll tell you he's currently a manager (I really wanna see the next question!!!).

I'm not sure why there's apparently 2 records. The 1907 guy has a lot less chances than the 1977 guy, and he did play regularly.

Since he's currently a manager (thanks Fawaz), and he had to play regularly in the outfield in 1977, I'll guess Dusty Baker. I can only think of a few current managers who were regular outfielders, and Alou was retired by then I think.

Oh, and if it's right, I pass on asking a question, as I'll be back at work and won't be able to check.

Baker it is - now somebody come come up with a question because nobody likes mine :^(

My google attempt came up with the 1907 guy as well, and a 1996 guy, but no 1977 guy.

Well you can read it here.

http://members.fortunecity.com/dodgermaniac/baker.html

There have been 9 pitchers who have pitched for the Blue Jays that have thrown No-Hitters at one point in their career.

Name the 9 pitchers

We'll have to do this one together, folks. I'll start off with Stieb, Wells, and Cone.

Morris and Stewart.

Al Leiter.

Did Phil Niekro ever have one?

I've got a lot of guesses for the last three, but I'm going to say Singer, Candelaria, Darwin.

I had to go check, and we've got the 9 (only Darwin did not have one). I'd better stop now...

Which current or former Blue Jay's name scores the least in Scrabble?

D'Oh! I can't pass on a scrabble question - last names only?

Sorry. Last names only, yes.

I used to know who scored the most, but I forget now. (I know Mazzilli is, at best, second.)

Berg?

Rios?

Leal?

Well, Mazzilli would need at least one blank...

Rios, I suspect.

For Mazzilli, I didn't take the whole blank issue into account.

Berg = 7
Rios = Leal = 4

The answer's still out there.

(Manuel) Lee = 3 points

There you go.

The highest score I could think of was Lemanczyk's 29.

I think Juan Beniquez would be right behind Lemanczyk at 28, if my memory of the points for Scrabble letters (esp. B=3?) is correct.

Quiroz is 24, incidentally.

When I'm the commissioner all players will be forced to wear their scrabble score (last names, first names, middle names, combinations - anthing that's available.).

Would you accept Spanish Scrabble scores?

Name, Scrabble Score, 2004 OPS:

Guillermo Quiroz   2.40   513
Gregg Zaun         2.33   761
Reed Johnson       2.00   699
Chris Woodward     2.00   630
Eric Hinske        1.90   688
Alexis Rios        1.90   720
Dave Berg          1.88   605
Frank Catalanotto  1.56   734
Vernon Wells       1.54   809
Orlando Hudson     1.38   779
Carlos Delgado     1.38   907

Obviously, the Jays need to trade for players with long names or names with common letters (E, R, L, S). I suggest Craig Counsell (1.38), since he's clearly equal to King Carlos and the O-Dog.

I smell a Hall of Names: Scrabble Edition coming soon...

I am impressed with Fawaz and Matthew E. regarding the former Jays no-hitters.

1Bill Singer
2Phil Niekro
3John Candelaria
4.Dave Steib
5.David Wells
65.David Cone
7.Al Leiter
8.Jack Morris
9.Dave Stewart

I realized there was a 10th player who was a Blue Jay briefly
Dave Righetti threw a no hitter in 1983 as a Yankee and was a Blue Jay in 1994