Freddy the Pig:
Clearly your interest in alphabetical oddities did not extend to the minor leagues, or you would have remembered that would-have-been record breaker Mitch Zwolensky made it as far as AAA before his career fizzled out.
I was rooting for him, as I was for Joe Xavier to break baseball’s “X” barrier. Alas, we’re still waiting on that one.
Her name was Virginia Winther. Arky Vaughan is correct, well done.
This is fun bit of Mets trivia. The guy who gave up future Mets star Gary Carter’s first hit was none other than Jon Matlack of the New York Mets.
Let’s skip ahead a few years in Carter’s career. Which hurler surrendered his 1,000th career hit?
And here’s one to test your Google-fu: Dave Cheadle, no relation to Don, was a non-descript pitcher who didn’t last long in the major leagues (but he was born on my birthday!). Who was his first major league strikeout?
Pete Rose?
I don’t know how to make this into a fair trivia question, but one of my favourite facts is that of Bob Uecker’s 14 career home runs, he hit three off Hall of Fame pitchers; Sandy Koufax, Gaylord Perry, and Fergie Jenkins.
The year the Uke lit up Sandy Koufax, Koufax won 26 games with a 2.04 ERA and struck out 382 men, a record at the time.
Pete Rose is correct. Bob Walk surrendered Carter’s 1,000th hit.
A. Might need Google-fu: Which catcher did the Montreal Expos trade in '77 to allow Gary Carter to become the team’s starting catcher?
B. Shouldn’t need Google-fu: Which player had 299 home runs as a catcher and finished with 324 total? (Hint: Not Gary Carter).
C. Probably need Google-fu: Carl Hubbell, a Hall of Fame pitcher, had a nephew that became a manager of which famous restaurant?
D. Might need Google-fu: Who was the very first player to bat in a major league night game?
E. Definitely need Google-fu, and the answer is ironic: Who did slugger Mark McGwire marry in 2002, and what was her job?
3|242
The only one I have any idea about is A, for which I did not need google-fu; that would have been the immortal Barry Foote, sent to the Cubs for a body part to be named later.
Who holds the NL record for most times reaching base on catcher’s interference in one season and never did it again in his career? He also led the league in IBB’s the same season.
B. Lance Parrish
D. Lou Chiozza (I never heard of him either) of the Phillies in Cincinnati
E. Pharmaceutical sales rep
Who was the first player ever to hit 2 Grand Slams in the same inning?
And who surrendered both of them?
That was Mr. Tatis of St. Louis off of Mr. Park of Los Angeles.
I was listening to that inning (some radio station carrying Cardinals games in Springfield, MO) thanks to the magic of the internet.
It was a good inning to be a Cardinals fan.
I suppose the better question is:
Why was Chan Ho Park still pitching in the game after the first Slam, and the subsequent baserunners?
Like one of RickJay’s entries above, I never did figure out how to put this one in really good question form, so I’ll present it here like this.
Name a player who could say the following:
“I was a starting pitcher who came up with a strong NL team in the sixties, a team with a staff ace (known as something of an intimidator) who is now enshrined in the Hall of Fame. After the 1971 season, though, I was traded to a team that hadn’t been relevant in quite some time. My new team was still lousy in '72, but I was great, leading the league in a bunch of categories and walking away with the Cy Young Award. I remained an outstanding pitcher for many years to come, eventually winning more than 300 games in the majors; years after my retirement, I still rank in the top ten in strikeouts all-time. Some said I hung on too long, and it’s true that the end of my career involved a few abrupt team changes and some alarmingly high ERAs. But all in all, I was one of the greats, and in the early nineties I was rewarded by being voted into the Hall of Fame, just like my former teammate–who, just for the record, ranks more than 70 wins and over 1000 strikeouts behind me.”
Got it? Good.
Now name another one.
Can’t help with that one–I remember wondering the same thing!
For denquixote’s question about catcher’s interference, I have no idea but I’ll guess anyway. How about Barry Bonds?
At the time of the second slam, The Dodgers were trailing 7-2 with two outs and the bases loaded in the third inning. The inning had been prolonged by an unsuccessful attempt to retire the lead runner on a bunt, and an error. That isn’t that extreme a situation to leave your starting pitcher in the game. Nobody likes to burn out their bullpen unless they have to.
This particular person is Steve Carlton. By saying “name another one,” do you mean his teammate, or another pitcher who won a Cy Young while pitching for a bad team? I can’t quite parse what you’re asking for.
ETA: Interesting little factoid about the Cy Young Award: in the NL, from 1991-2003, the winner was one of 5 people, all of whom (who?) are in Cooperstown. Name them.
Another player who fits that exact description, who could also say “I was a pitcher who etc.”, word for word. Carlton is the first one people usually think of; who is the other one?
Gaylord Perry, maybe?
That’s right.
Obviously I’m cherry-picking to highlight the similarities between him and Carlton, but I do enjoy the parallels.
Regarding your question–I think the big 3 of the Braves (Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine) all won Cy Young awards at some point. Randy Johnson would be the fourth. Trying to figure out who the fifth one would be–Pedro Martinez didn’t win any awards while an Expo or a Dodger, I believe, and we’re talking too late for Carlton/Perry/Niekro/Sutton… Hmm.
Actually, Pedro won the Cy Young in 1997 as a member of the Expos.
1991 - Tom Glavine
1992-1995 - Greg Maddux
1996 - John Smoltz
1997 - Pedro Martinez
1998 - Tom Glavine
1999-2002 - Randy Johnson
Had forgotten that, obviously. Funny; still doesn’t ring a bell. Thanks.