Random Trivia

[Dodgerfan1]

Roberto Clemente was originally the property of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but they left him unprotected in the 1954 draft, enabling Pittsburgh to pick him up for the absurdly low price of $4,000. Dodgers VP Buzzie Bavasi decided to take a risk and allow Clemente to hone his vast skills playing for their minor league team in Montreal. Bavasi's decision was made despite Al Campanis' warnings. Bavasi fervently hoped no one would notice Clemente (sort of like hoping nobody notices a diamond in a bucket of coal). The Dodgers ordered Montreal to bench Clemente several times in order to hide him during games they knew big league scouts were watching. They even benched him during games that Montreal faced mediocre pitchers, in order to keep his statistics down. As a result of their meddling, Clemente, not getting a chance to play every day, thus never being allowed to get on a roll, batted just .257. The Dodgers must have thought they did a great camouflage job, but the Pirates' super-scout, Clyde Sukeforth, had seen enough of him in practice and in the batting cage. The last-place Pirates shocked the Dodgers by selecting Clemente in the November, 1954 draft. At $4,000, the Pirates had the steal of the century. Thanks to Bavasi's stupidity, Pittsburgh had a future HOFer and Brooklyn had egg on their faces.

In 1998, the Atlanta Braves had five pitchers on their staff who won at least 15 games. The last team to have acheived this feat, prior to Atlanta, was the unlikely staff of the Washington Senators in 1930. Lloyd Brown's 16 wins led the team and four others chipped in with 15 wins apiece - Bump Hadley, General Crowder, Sad Sam Jones and Firpo Marberry.

Goose Goslin is the only player to hit three World Series home runs in consecutive years, doing so in both the 1924 and 1925 fall classics for Washington.

Max Bishop walked eight times in a double-header - twice! He's the only player to walk that many times in a single day.

Eddie Collins holds the all-time record for sacrifice hits with 511 (now where have we seen that number before??). Given the modern style of play, that record isn't likely to be broken anytime soon.

[Bigrcube]

And it is believed by many that NY Yankees management / owners, who were Jewish.....were also racists.
They certainly had the money and their own farm system with plenty of scouts.
They knew about the likes of Willie Mays, Henry Aaron (in the Negro Leagues) and about Roberto Clemente.
Why did THEY not go after those players. What an outfield that could have been:
Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays, with Roberto Clemente waiting in the wings?!
The dynasty would have lived on for ever. One can only dream & imagine?!

[Dodgerfan1]

And it is believed by many that NY Yankees management / owners, who were Jewish.....were also racists.
They certainly had the money and their own farm system with plenty of scouts.
They knew about the likes of Willie Mays, Henry Aaron (in the Negro Leagues) and about Roberto Clemente.
Why did THEY not go after those players. What an outfield that could have been:
Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays, with Roberto Clemente waiting in the wings?!
The dynasty would have lived on for ever. One can only dream & imagine?!

This is true but, of course, just because the Yankees didn't get Mays, Clemente or Aaron doesn't mean they would have been able to obtain all three anyway, merely because they might have wanted them. That would be quite an outfield, though!!

EDIT: Isn't it ironic that Al Campanis was the one who wanted Clemente, a black Latino?

[Old Sweater]

Gus Bell was the Mets 1st baserunner.

[geezer]

And it is believed by many that NY Yankees management / owners, who were Jewish.....were also racists.
They certainly had the money and their own farm system with plenty of scouts.
They knew about the likes of Willie Mays, Henry Aaron (in the Negro Leagues) and about Roberto Clemente.
Why did THEY not go after those players. What an outfield that could have been:
Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays, with Roberto Clemente waiting in the wings?!
The dynasty would have lived on for ever. One can only dream & imagine?!

It reminds me of the late Vic Power, he was a Yankee farm prospect, but since he was a black latino, was traded later to the Philadelphia A's in the early 1950s, and after that won 7 straight Gold Gloves at first base, he was supposed to be the player that will break the color barrier in Yankee pinstripes, but never happend, Elston Howard did. Thats why a lot of Puerto Rican stopped being Yankee fans.

[geezer]

And since 1990, only one team had the majors' best record and won the World Series, and where the 1998 Yankees (114-48), who finished 22 games ahead of the second best team in the league, that was the Boston Red Sox.

[Ursa Major]

Isn't it ironic that Al Campanis was the one who wanted Clemente, a black Latino?

Let's just say that, if Clemente hadn't gone down in the overloaded relief plane and had played out his career, Campanis wouldn't have been pushing for Clemente to manage the Dodgers.

[Dodgerfan1]

Speaking of Clemente as we were, did you know that he built up his legendary arm strength by throwing the javelin? Supposedly, Clemente could throw the javelin 190 feet and was considered a candidate to represent Puerto Rico in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. It's been said that the mechanics involved in throwing a javelin are remarkably similar to those necessary in throwing a baseball properly.

The Angels' Chuck Finley struck out four batters in an inning THREE times! No one else in history has done this more than once (note: if anyone can find someone else who's done it more than once, please advise. My best sources show only Finley having done it more than once). Finley's first two four-K innings occured in 1999, with his third in 2000.

Fred Clarke and Joe Torre are the only men with 1,500 career wins as a manager and 1,500 career hits as a player. Both Felipe Alou and Frank Robinson have over 1,000 wins as managers, so they're movin' on up...

In 2001, Lance Berkman became the first switch-hitter ever to club as many as 30 homers and 50 doubles in the same season.

For a very long time, the Philadelphia Phillies held the major league record for having the longest drought between 20-game winners. In 1917, Grover Cleveland Alexander won 30 games. After that, no Phillies pitcher won 20 until Robin Roberts did in 1950. A 32 year drought. Indians fans, rejoice! Last season, your beloved Tribe broke that record when they had no 20-game winners! They have now gone 33 consecutive years without having one and are looking to add to their record this year. Something to look forward to! Oh yeah, the last Indian to win 20 was Gaylord Perry in 1974. The California Angels at Los Angeles via Anaheim were neck and neck with the Indians until Bartolo Colon screwed up and won 21 games in 2005. Before that, the last Angel to win 20 was Nolan Ryan, also in 1974.

[cubsfan1073]

Alfonso Soriano began his professional baseball career as a third baseman in Japan.

[geezer]

And the longest gap between batting champions by a team was the Chicago White Sox, who took 54 years between batting champions, Luke Appling won the batting title for the Sox in 1943 (.328), but Frank Thomas broke the gap in 1997 (.347). But that gap was tied last season by the Oaklans A's, who's last batting champion was Ferris Fain in 1952 (.327), and this year it can be broken that longest span.

The Longest Span by an NL Team between batting titles is now the Philadephia Phillies, who's last batting champion was Richie Ashburn in 1958 (.350), before that the longest span was 48 years by the Giants, when Willie Mays won the batting title in 1954 (.345) and the next Giant to win it was Barry Bonds in 2002 (.370).

These are the active streaks with the last batting champ for every team:

Player Team Year Batting Average
Ferris Fain Philadelphia Athletics 1952 0.327
Bobby Avila Cleveland Indians 1954 0.341
Richie Ashburn Philadelphia Phillies 1958 0.350.
Norm Cash Detroit Tigers 1961 0.361
Tommy Davis Los Angeles Dodgers 1963 0.326
Frank Robinson Baltimore Orioles 1966 0.316
Alex Johnson California Angels 1970 0.329
Pete Rose Cincinnati Reds 1973 0.338
Tim Raines Montreal Expos 1986 0.334
George Brett Kansas City Royals 1990 0.329
Terry Pendleton Atlanta Braves 1991 0.319
John Olerud Toronto Blue Jays 1993 0.363
Frank Thomas Chicago White Sox 1997 0.347
Tony Gwynn San Diego Padres 1997 0.372
Bernie Williams New York Yankees 1998 0.339
Larry Walker Colorado Rockies 2001 0.350.
Bill Mueller Boston Red Sox 2003 0.326
Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals 2003 0.359
Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants2004 0.362
Ichiro Suzuki Seattle Mariners 2004 0.372
Derrek Lee Chicago Cubs 2005 0.335
Michael Young Texas Rangers 2005 0.331
Joe Mauer Minnesota Twins 2006 0.347
Freddy Sanchez Pittsburgh Pirates 2006 0.344

[Bigrcube]

Speaking of Clemente as we were, did you know.....

At a baseball card show some time ago when my son was younger,
the autograph guest was 1955 W.S. MVP, former Dodgers pitcher Johnny Podres.
He was answering someone's question about who was the toughest hitter he
ever faced.....and without missing a beat, he said Clemente wore his ass out.
Hit well over .400 off him in his career.

Question: Who is the only pitcher to strike out 4 batters in one inning in a World Series game?
Hint: He shutdown Ty Cobb and the Tigers.
Answer: Orval Overall, 1908 Cubs.

[Utter Chaos]

The Angels' Chuck Finley struck out four batters in an inning THREE times! No one else in history has done this more than once (note: if anyone can find someone else who's done it more than once, please advise. My best sources show only Finley having done it more than once). Finley's first two four-K innings occured in 1999, with his third in 2000.

According to this source (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats19.shtml) Finley is the only one who has done it more than once.

[Trivia Guy]

According to this source (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats19.shtml) Finley is the only one who has done it more than once.

Derek Wallace on this list only had 15 Ks in the year (1996) that he had 4 in one inning and only had 20 Ks in his career........

[geezer]

And speaking of Chuck Finley and other pitchers, Mike Mussina is just 7 wins away of beating Dennis Martinez record of most career victories w/o a 20-win season with 245, Mike Mussina stands right now at 239 career wins, and with a couple of years left to play, he can get to 275, and possibly still no 20-win season.

[cubsfan1073]

Since 2000, Luis Castillo leads the Majors in SB and CS. He has 195 SB and 83 CS.

[Old Sweater]

Since 2000, Luis Castillo leads the Majors in SB and CS. He has 195 SB and 83 CS.

Juan Pierre has 325 SB since his rookie 2000 year.

[geezer]

And Jim Thome leads this decade in Strikeouts with 1,027 Ks

[cubsfan1073]

Juan Pierre has 325 SB since his rookie 2000 year.

You're right. I realized I mistake. I was using MLB.com stats and for some reason they were only counting the stats with one team. Juan Pierre was split between Colorado, Florida, and the Cubs. So, Luis Castillo actually leads the majors in those categories since from 2000-2005 with the same team (Marlins).

[geezer]

You're right. I realized I mistake. I was using MLB.com stats and for some reason they were only counting the stats with one team. Juan Pierre was split between Colorado, Florida, and the Cubs. So, Luis Castillo actually leads the majors in those categories since from 2000-2005 with the same team (Marlins).

And Juan Pierre is the latest member to have 200-hit seasons, playing for 3 different teams, and have led the NL in hits for 2 different teams.

[Trivia Guy]

And Juan Pierre is the latest member to have 200-hit seasons, playing for 3 different teams, and have led the NL in hits for 2 different teams.

In case anyone is curious, the other two players to ahve a 200-hit season with three teams are Rogers Hornsby and Paul Molitor.

I'll be watching Pierre this summer to see if he can do it with a fourth team.

[GotMelk?]

Both Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays tried out for the Boston Red Sox but were never signed by them since Yawkey was racist.

[geezer]

Both Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays tried out for the Boston Red Sox but were never signed by them since Yawkey was racist.

The Red Sox was the last team to racially integrate in the late 1950s.

[Utter Chaos]

The Red Sox was the last team to racially integrate in the late 1950s.

Good ol' Pumpsie!

[Macker]

Both Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays tried out for the Boston Red Sox but were never signed by them since Yawkey was racist.

Willie Mays did not have a tryout with the Red Sox. While playing for Birmingham in the Negro leagues, a Red Sox scout was sent to take a look at him. However, it rained while the scout was there, and he never saw Mays play. Granted, even if the scout had seen him, the Sox probably wouldn't have signed him, but Mays did not have a tryout with Boston.

[Dodgerfan1]

In 1922, Babe Ruth was appointed as Yankee captain but lasted a mere six games as such, due to the fact that he was suspended a record five times for insubordinate behavior during the year. And this guy wanted to manage?

Ewell Blackwell's coming within two outs of duplicating Johnny Vander Meer's amazing feat of pitching back-to-back no-hitters is very well-known, but it seems to be fairly well forgoten now that in 1973, Nolan Ryan came within two innings of the feat. On July 19, Ryan (who had thrown a no-hitter in his previous outing), yielded a weak single to center by Mark Belanger leading off the eighth en route to a 10-inning one-hitter. His previous no-hitter was already his second of the year! Oh, to be denied history by Mark Belanger!

Walter Johnson holds the major league record of losing 65 games by shutout. Nolan Ryan is second with 63 and Phil Niekro was on the short end of a whitewash 59 times.

More Nolan Ryan trivia: In his 27-year career, Nolan Ryan gave up 321 home runs. The most he gave up in any one season was 20. Will Clark led all batters with six home runs off Ryan lifetime. Mike Schmidt had five. Clark's HR off Ryan on April 8, 1986, was the very first pitch Clark ever saw in the major leagues.

The pitching distance was moved back to 60 feet, 6 inches from the 55-foot measure almost exclusively because of Amos Rusie's utter dominance of opposing batters. Before the change, Rusie struck out 341, 337 and 288 'strikers' in the previous three seasons with ERAs under 2.89. As big a draw as Rusie was in some cities, the fans stayed away in droves in others whenever he was scheduled to pitch, knowing that their team wouldn't stand a chance.