# Two baseball questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-baseball-questions/190049 "2003-07-22T00:41:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-baseball-questions/190049/1 "2003-07-22T00:41:48Z")
1. If the Royals win the World Series this year (yeah, right…but I guess anything can happen), would Tony Pena become the first manager ever to win it in his first full season as manager? 2. Are the Royals the only franchise which has never had a 40-home run hitter? (Current team record = Steve Balboni, 36 in 1985) ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-baseball-questions/190049/2 "2003-07-22T00:49:27Z")
Pretty sure the answer to number 1 is no, but I don’t know a counterexample off the top of my head. Definitely no for number 2: Canseco is the Devil Rays all-time single-season HR leader with a whopping 34 in 1999. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-baseball-questions/190049/3 "2003-07-22T00:51:01Z")
I just checked. Tom Kelly managed the Twins to the championship in 1987, his first full season as manager. He had managed 23 games in 1986. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-baseball-questions/190049/4 "2003-07-22T00:53:22Z")
1. Yes, at least twice: Bob Brenly won the World Series in his first year as a manager just two years ago, in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tom Kelly won the World Series in his first FULL season as manager in 1987, with Minnesota. He had managed just 23 games the year before. 1. Tampa Bay’s team record is 34, by Jose Canseco. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-baseball-questions/190049/5 "2003-07-22T01:12:44Z")
Thanks, that was quick. Chaim Mattis Keller ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-baseball-questions/190049/6 "2003-07-22T02:11:40Z")
If you want first FULL season managers who won the World Series, you could also include two Cardinal managers Frankie Frisch (1934) and Rogers Hornsby (1926), both started midway the year before. Bucky Harris won the World Series in 1924 in his first year period as a manager. And he was only 27. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-baseball-questions/190049/7 "2003-07-22T02:29:54Z")
Ralph Houk and World Championships his first _two_ seasons as manager (1961 and 1962), and had a WS appearance in his third.