| MONDAY — 14-Apr-2025
Q. Which former Blue Jay was the only teammate of Barry Bonds to win an MVP?
Hint: #1 He was the first and second National League second baseman with a one hundred runs-batted-in seasons this century.
Hint: #2 He hit for the cycle in the same game where a batter on the opposing team had five hits in five at-bats without a single run-batted-in.
A. JEFF KENT [SABR Bio]
– Ans. Kent was the NL MVP in 2000. Teammate Bonds was 2nd that year behind Kent & had also finished 2nd in 1991. He had been the NL MVP in 1990, 1992 & 1993 then would go on to win that accolade in 2001, 2002*, 2003 & 2004.
– #1 Had 108 RBI in 2002 for SFG then 107 in 2004 for HOU.
– #2 On 03-May-1999, PIT’s C, Jason Kendall went 5 for 5 and neither scored nor did he cause anyone to score. Meanwhile, SFG’s Kent was 5 for five, scored twice & drove in 5 while hitting for the cycle. Ironically, PIT won 9-8.
*Unanimous
FCR – Jake Rinloan, Chico, California
TUESDAY — 15-Apr-2025
Q. Who had the major leagues’ single-season highest qualifying batting average in the 1960s?
Hint: #1 He is the only left-handed batter to hit more than forty home runs in a season in the history of his now 125-year-old franchise.
Hint: #2 He was driving a tractor on his family’s farm by the age of ten.
A. NORM CASH [SABR Bio]
– Ans. Cash hit .361 for DET in 1961, a season that focused more on a different stat.
– #1 His 41 homers in 1961 remain the most by a left-handed batter in Tigers history.
– #2 Cash was born in the nadir of the Great Depression, 10-Nov-1934. His family owned 250 acres near Justiceburg, Texas, growing mostly cotton.
FCR – Eric Lundegaard, Seattle
WEDNESDAY — 16-Apr-2025
Q. Who is the only player to hit exactly twenty-three home runs per season for each of four consecutive seasons?
Hint: #1 He was the first player to be the Most Valuable Player of a League Championship Series playing for a team that didn’t win that series.
Hint: #2 He tied Ted Williams for the most career home runs hit in major league All-Star competition by an American Leaguer.
A. FRED LYNN [SABR Bio]
– Ans. Hit 23 HR, no more, no fewer every year, first as an Angel in 1984, then 1985-87 as a Baltimore Oriole. With remarkable consistency, he hit 21 & 22 in the 2 years before the streak and 25 in 1988, the year after it ended, for BAL (18) & DET (7).
– #1 The Angels lost to MIL in 1982, but the voters recognized his contribution. Mike Scott (1986 HOU & Jeffrey Leonard (1987 SFG) were the next to do so.
– #2 Lynn & Williams each hit 4 ASG HR, 2 behind Musial’s MLB-leading 6.
FCR – Lee Dembart, Hollywood, California
THURSDAY — 17-Apr-2025
Q. Which one-time Kansas City Royals player is the only non-Yankee switch-hitter ever voted Most Valuable Player in the American League?
Hint: #1 He helped take down the Big Red Machine.
Hint: #2 He is the first player at his position to start the All-Star Game for both leagues.
A. VIDA BLUE [SABR Bio]
– Ans. BBTL Blue was AL MVP in 1971. Played for KCR in 1982–83.
– #1 Blue & his OAK teammates won the WS in 1972, 4-3 over CIN. The CIN team dominance in the 1970s earned them the “Big Red Machine” nickname.
– #2 He was the starting pitcher for the AL in 1971 & 1975 pitching for OAK. Playing for SFG, he started for the NL in 1978. The NL won all 3 of his ASG starts.
FCR – Tom Hannon, Amesbury Massachusetts
FRIDAY — 18-Apr-2025
Q. Who is still the youngest player to reach seven hundred career bases-on-balls?
Hint: #1 He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting then second in Most Valuable Player voting just three seasons later.
Hint: #2 He remains the only player in major league history to accumulate one hundred home runs and four hundred walks before his twenty-fifth birthday.
A. JUAN SOTO [B-R Bio]
– Ans. On 21-Aug-2024, Soto drew his 700th career walk—at age 25.
– #1 Soto was runner-up to Ronald Acuna in the 2018 NL ROY vote, then 2nd to former teammate Bryce Harper in the 2021 NL MVP race. (Those 2nd-place finished didn’t seem to deter Mets negotiators in December of 2024.)
– #2 Soto hit his 100th HR on 12-Apr-2022 at age 23. He had already drawn over 400 BB. Also drawn? Comparisons to Ted Williams for his extraordinary batting eye & discipline. [Note: Further research indicates that Mickey Mantle hit this milestone before Soto.]
FCR – Michael Schneider, Wilmington, Delaware
SATURDAY — 19-Apr-2025
Q. Which player retired by removing himself from the roster of the Cibao team in the Dominican League just after collecting the game-winning bases-loaded hit off of former Major league teammate Jose Mesa in the penultimate game of the Dominican League championship?
Hint: #1 He was the first player to win the Jackie Jensen Spirit award.
Hint: #2 He was known for his low, one-leg-out crouch.
A. TONY PENA [Wiki Bio]
– Ans. Mesa and Pena had an interesting relationship. On 16-May-1995, veteran Pena slapped batterymate Jose Mesa in the face w/his mitt during a 9th-inning mound visit, telling the younger Mesa to pay attention after a wild pitch with NYY batter Luis Polonia at bat. Mesa was not in line for the save & may not have taken this appearance as seriously as Pena thought he should.
– #1 Begun in 1990, the Jackie Jensen Spirit Award was discontinued after the 2019 season.
– #2 This famous crouch is known to be imitated by toddlers world-wide. 1, 2,
FCR – Ross Retterer, Fredericksburg, Virginia
WEEKEND EXTRA — 19-Apr-2025
Q. Which curly-haired ginger hit forty home runs—no more, no fewer—in each of four consecutive seasons?
Hint: #1 He then missed by only two home runs in each of the following two seasons.
Hint: #2 He finished with more major league career home runs than Carl Yastrzemski, Jeff Bagwell or Vladimir Guerrero.
A. ADAM DUNN [Wiki Bio]
– Ans. Dunn hit 40 HR in 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008.
– #1 Then hit 38 in 2009 & 2010.
– #2 Dunn’s 462 career HR exceed the totals of 50+ Hall of Famers known for their power.
FCR – Jesse Asbury, Norman, Oklahoma
SUNDAY — 20-Apr-2025
Q. Which player hit a 10th-inning, game-winning home run with a pink bat with his mother’s name on it on Mothers’ Day?
Hint: #1 He arranged to retire with the same franchise that had drafted him.
Hint: #2 He once homered when four teammates homered behind him in the same inning.
A. BILL HALL [B-R Bio]
– Ans. Mothers’ Day 2006
– #1 Hall was drafted in the 6th round in 1998 by MIL, 176th overall.
– #2 In the 4th inning on 22-Apr-2006, Hall led off with a HR off CIN’s Brandon Claussen. That was followed by home runs by MIL teammates Damian Miller, Brady Clark & J.J. Hardy, all off Claussen, all still in the 4th inning. CIN then brought in Chris Hammond to replace the beleaguered starter. Hammond brought CIN some pride as he struck out the next 2 batters. However, the redoubtable Prince Fielder was up next & he supplied the 5th round-tripper of the frame. Hall then flied out to end the madness.
FCR – Ross Glatzer, Lancaster, South Carolina
Incorrect guesses:
WEEK’S THEME – Trim Kurkjian’s 4 X 4 ream, players whose first and last names are four letters.
Player Pos WAR TK comments
Kent………………. 2nd………….. 55.5……….. “Should be in the Hall.”
Cash………………. 1st………….. 52.0……….. “Never had a walk-off hit.”
Lynn………………. OF………….. 50.2……….. “Only ASG grand slam”
Blue………………… P…………… 45.1……….. “Refused a name change to “True”.
Soto………………. CF………….. 36.7……….. “Worth it? Probably”
Pena………………. C…………… 24.7……….. “Most G caught w/no no-hitter”
Dunn……………… DH…………. 17.9……….. “Big Donkey. Former quarterback”
Hall……………….. SS……………. 9.6……….. “Did well on Mothers’ Day”
Rounding out Kurkjian’s starting roster:
Babe Ruth……… RF………… 182.6……….. “Of course”
Pete Rose………. 3rd………… 79.6……….. “Sorry he’s gone”
[I would probably have added Jose Mesa from the “bull penn”. ~ dbb]
First Correct Respondent identifying theme – Randall Chandler, Germantown, Tennessee (After Cash)
Incorrect theme guesses:
Mon – All-stars with four letters in their first and last names
Thurs – Players with 40+ career WAR with exactly four letters in each name
– Players with 45+ career WAR with exactly four letters in each name
– Four-letter first and last name not in the hall of fame
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