Baseball Commonality Trivia

[BleacherBum]

2) sounds like Steve Yeager
3) is Darrell Porter

Hmmm, now both of them were WS MVPs...

1) Rick Dempsey

Catchers who were WS MVPs.

Thanks for the lunch break entertainment.

[LivnLegend]

Originally posted by BleacherBum
2) sounds like Steve Yeager
3) is Darrell Porter

Hmmm, now both of them were WS MVPs...

1) Rick Dempsey

Catchers who were WS MVPs.

Thanks for the lunch break entertainment.

HA! Nice job. I hate it when it takes you 1/4 of the time to solve it then it does for me to write it!


Dempsey's parents were entertainers (vaudeville and acting) and you could say Dempsey dabbled in that himself with his rain delay antics, dressing in Weaver's jersey and sliding across the rain-soaked tarp.

Yeager gets credit for introducing the throat guard to the catcher's mask after having 9 splinters removed from his neck from a broken bat which struck him.

Porter replaced popular Buck Martinez with the Royals after a trade with from the Brewers. He was the second catcher (after Mickey Cochrane) to achieve 100 walks, runs, and RBI in a single season.

[BleacherBum]

The clue on the throat guard was the key - I thought of Yeager immediately. That got me on the WS MVPs track pretty quickly.

[LivnLegend]

This one should not be too tough. Someone better get cracking on it before BleacherBum takes lunch!

1- I started in the AL, but flipped back and forth several times between the two leagues. I played on both coasts and even spent a stint in Japan. Twice I finished in my league’s top 10 voting for the MVP and several times I was in the running for the Cy Young although I never won either award. I once lost 17 games in a year even though I completed 15 of my 29 starts. I was traded twice in my career but a contract I signed as a free agent caused resentment from a former Cy Young winner. I lost the first game of the season with that new club by allowing a home run in the bottom of the 9th to a player I was traded for early in my career. Still, I helped lead that team to a World Series title. My other two trips to the Fall Classic did not go as well as I was on the losing side of both. Who am I?

2 - I played nearly two decades, most of them being with one AL club. My first team went to the World Series twice, losing each time. My second club made the playoffs seven times, finally winning a Series on the last appearance! I had only one official at bat in that Series. Eight times I hit double figures in home runs and once I had a team record for RBI in a season (broken 18 years later). I batted over .300 in six full seasons, and nearly did it a couple other years. Hitting doubles was a specialty of mine; twice I led the league and I finished in the top five 6 other times. Who am I?

3- I had an eleven year career, all but six games in the AL. In my first major league game I set an offensive record! I was crushed when I was traded from my first team after six-plus seasons. It was the season after my one and only All Star appearance. One of the players I was traded for earned a nickname due to playing with so many different teams. I appeared in several World Series and although I never hit more than 15 homers in a season, I always gave my team a fighting chance in the World Series hitting 5 home runs over my career while batting over .300. My playing career was only the beginning of my notoriety. Who am I?

What unique commonality do these three share?

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

2 - Hal McRae (I had a hell of a time with this one - much tougher than it should have been)

[sgstauder]

3 -- Billy Martin (the notoriety part was a tip, and being traded away from the Yanks -- or more exactly his drinking buddies Whitey & Mickey... but the NL comment is off... 1960 he played 103 games with the Reds...)

[LivnLegend]

So far so good!
Glad to see some different people get a chance to answer!

[sgstauder]

1 - The Goose, who pissed off Sparky Lyle!

[LivnLegend]

Originally posted by sgstauder
1 - The Goose, who pissed off Sparky Lyle!

Nice job!

Okay:

1) Rich Gossage

2) Hal McRae

3) Billy Martin


should not be too tough from here...

[dougaiton]

Finally, (having got confused about McRae - I've edited this four times)

McRae played for the Royals and was the next up after Brett following the Pine Tar Incident between Gossage and Brett. Martin was the manager.

[LivnLegend]

Originally posted by dougaiton
Finally, (having got confused about McRae - I've edited this four times)

McRae played for the Royals and was the next up after Brett following the Pine Tar Incident between Gossage and Brett. Martin was the manager.

DING DING!!

Nice job! Truly a team effort!

It's funny, had McRae just grabbed Brett's bat and flung it into the Royals dugout while Martin was yelling from the Yankee dugout to check the bat, there would have never been a Pine Tar Incident. McRae acknowledges he heard Martin yelling but he just never thought to act on it.

[dougaiton]

Great stuff. I love riding on the coattails of others!

[LivnLegend]

This one took me some time. Please do not solve it in 5 minutes.


1 - I was scouted by many teams for my hitting ability but I ended up being a dependable pitcher in the majors. I won in double figures four times but bounced back and forth between the rotation and bullpen throughout my career. I made the N.L. All Star team only once and my team qualified for the playoffs that same year. However, we lost the LCS to the team #2 was pitching for. It was not my only postseason appearance; earlier in my career I had set a World Series record that still stands. I once lost a no-hitter in the 9th with two outs when my third baseman gambled by hoping a slow grounder would roll foul. It didn’t and the base hit spoiled my bid. Who am I?



2 - I was a pitcher for 17 years in the majors, splitting most of my time nearly evenly between the two coasts and the two leagues. I was a historic “first” of sorts for my first ball club. I finished in double figures in wins six times and won 20 games once. I led the junior circuit in shutouts. They year I won 20 games I combined with a future Hall of Fame pitcher to throw back-to-back shutouts in a doubleheader. That was also the only season I was in the running for the Cy Young (top 5) and MVP (top 10). I pitched in three World Series’ and personally had a record of 0-1 in each Series while my team lost each Series as well. I was once traded for a player who was in the top 5 of the batting leaders despite hitting under .300 for the year.



3 - I was the pitching ace of a first year expansion club, winning in double figures in my rookie season. Two years later I won a career high 17 games before moving on to my second club where I shifted to the bullpen. In my second season with that club, I led the staff in saves and we went to the postseason. I picked up two saves in the LCS but later lost a game in the World Series when I surrendered a game winning RBI double to a future major league player’s dad. A couple years later I pitched in a game in which a teammate went over 400 total bases for the year. Who am I?

[The Professor]

#3 - Dick Drago, former Kansas City original who pitched with the BoSox in the 70s, would have been in the '75 Classic against the Big Red Machine

[LivnLegend]

Originally posted by The Professor
#3 - Dick Drago, former Kansas City original who pitched with the BoSox in the 70s, would have been in the '75 Classic against the Big Red Machine

Wow! I thought that would have been the toughest of the three! Leave it to The Prof to make it look easy! Drago gave up the double to Griffey Sr. in Game 2 which won it for the Reds. Of course Jim Rice was the teammate who collected 400 total bases and I fear that clue may have been a giveaway.

[dougaiton]

Originally posted by LivnLegend

2 - I was a pitcher for 17 years in the majors, splitting most of my time nearly evenly between the two coasts and the two leagues. I was a historic “first” of sorts for my first ball club. I finished in double figures in wins six times and won 20 games once. The year I won 20, I led the senior circuit in shutouts, and combined with a future Hall of Fame pitcher to throw back-to-back shutouts in a doubleheader. That was also the only season I was in the running for the Cy Young (top 5) and MVP (top 10). I pitched in three World Series’ and personally had a record of 0-1 in each Series while my team lost each Series as well. I was once traded for a player who was in the top 5 of the batting leaders despite hitting under .300 for the year.

I have spent two hours thinking off and on about this bugger. The top 5 of batting thing made me guess 1968 for the hitter. Danny Cater (who hit .290 in '68, 2nd) was traded for Al Downing who it turns out led the league in shutouts (jointly) in '71 (was he the first black pitcher for the Yanks, maybe?). The logic of a man who wasted a lot of time! I should have just guessed Dodgers...

[LivnLegend]

Originally posted by dougaiton
I have spent two hours thinking off and on about this bugger. The top 5 of batting thing made me guess 1968 for the hitter. Danny Cater (who hit .290 in '68, 2nd) was traded for Al Downing who it turns out led the league in shutouts (jointly) in '71 (was he the first black pitcher for the Yanks, maybe?). The logic of a man who wasted a lot of time! I should have just guessed Dodgers...

Very nice job! He and Don Sutton combined on the doubleheader shutout. He was indeed the first black starting pitcher for the Yankees.

[sgstauder]

1 -- Ken Brett -- whom many claim was a better athlete and hitter than little brother George. May he rest in peace.

[dougaiton]

That puts it altogether! It's Hank Aaron homers, isn't it??!? His last was Dick Drago, his 700th was Ken Brett! God knows whose/what's Al Downing's was.

[Carlton]

#1 Dave Giusti?