Q. Which Hall of Fame pitcher was the first to make two All-Star teams as starting pitcher and two as a reliever?

Hint: #1 He is the first relief pitcher with at least forty saves in each of four separate seasons.

Hint: #2 He twice had qualifying seasons where he had more saves than hits allowed.

A. DENNIS ECKERSLEY  [SABR Bio]

– Ans. Eck made the AL All-Star team as a starter for BOS in 1977 & 1982 then as a reliever for OAK in 1988, 1990, 1991 & 1992.

– #1 He topped 40 saves in 1988 (45), 1990 (48), 1991 (43) & 1992 (51).

– #2 In 1989 he had 33 saves and he gave up only 32 hits all season. In 1990 his 48 saves easily exceeded the 41 hits that year.

FCR – Jaime Aron, Dallas

IN MEMORIAM  — 29-Jul-2025 (Not part of the theme)

Q. Whose performance in one game in his MVP year was so outstanding that fans still refer to that game by his name?

Hint: #1 His Most Valuable Player Award, bestowed after that season, fell just two individual single votes shy of being unanimous.

Hint: #2 He is the only second baseman to lead either league outright in home runs in the last one hundred years.

Hint: #3 He won the Baseball Digest “Player of the Year” award in the 1980s and again in the 1990s.

Hint: #4 His highest assist total by a second baseman in one season was the best in over fifty years.

Hint: #5 He was an All-Star ten times, won nine Gold Gloves, seven Silver Sluggers, was the league Player of the Week seven times and received MVP votes six times.

Hint: #6 He was the first second baseman to exceed thirty home runs in consecutive seasons.

Hint: #7 He was named after a major leaguer, removing that player from the rolls of the Double Unique.

A. RYNE SANDBERG  [SABR Bio]

– Ans. That afternoon contest at Wrigley Field on 23-Jun-1984, has become famously known as “The Sandberg Game.” Video clip.

– #1 The NL MVP voting in 1984 was nearly unanimous for Sandberg—he received 22 of 24 first-place votes.  The others went  each to Tony Gwynn & Keith Hernandez.

– #2 Sandberg’s 40 HR as a second baseman in 1990 led the NL outright—no other second baseman has done so in the past century.

– #3 Sandberg was Baseball Digest’s Player of the Year in 1984 & 1990.  Only George Brett (1979, 1980) & Barry Bonds (1993, 2001, 2002) have also won the award in 2 different decades. Joe Morgan (1975, 1976) is the only 2^nd baseman to win twice.

– #4 His 571 assists by a second baseman in 1983 (4^th most all-time) was the highest total since the Browns’ Oscar Melillo had 572 in 1930.

– #5 Full account of honors and acknowledgements listed here.

– #6 He hit 30 HR in 1989 & 40 in 1990.

– #7 Sandberg was named after Ryne Duren, MLB pitcher & notable Double Unique.  Duren had been doubly unique for 9,837 days before Sandberg debuted. That removed Duren from D-U status by honoring him in name.

FCR – David Chapin, Lebanon, New Hampshire

TUESDAY  — 29-Jul-2025

Q. Who is the only pitcher since the Dead Ball Era to win thirty games in a season for a National League team?

Hint: #1 He played high school baseball, even though he had dropped out of school in the 4^th grade.

Hint: #2 After winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award he was the runner-up in each of the next two seasons.

A. DIZZY DEAN  [SABR Bio]

– Ans. Dean’s record was 30-7 for WS champion STL in 1934.

– #1 Quoth he, “I got as far in school as the Second Reader, only I didn’t learn it all.”

– #2 MVP in 1934; 2^nd on the ballot in 1935 (to CHC’s Gabby Hartnett) & 1936 (to NYG’s Carl Hubbell)

FCR – ¯Mark Pattison, Washington, DC

WEDNESDAY  — 30-Jul-2025

Q. Which Hall of Famer replaced Casey Stengel as Dodgers manager?

Hint: #1 He (Not Stengel.) is the first pitcher to surrender a World Series home run to another pitcher.

Hint: #2 In thirteen of his nineteen seasons pitching in the majors, he threw more than two hundred innings, thrice leading the league, once leading the majors in that statistical category.

A. BURLEIGH GRIMES  [SABR Bio]

– Ans. Stengel managed BRO 1934-36. After pitching from 1916-1934, Grimes was the Dodgers skipper 1937-38.

– #1 In the 4th inning of G #5 of the 1920 WS (10-Oct-1920), CLE’s Jim Bagby hit a 3-run HR off Grimes following an IBB to catcher Steve O’Neill.  It was the first home run ever hit by a pitcher in World Series play.  Final score: CLE 8, BRO 1.

– #2 Grimes exceeded 200 IP 1918, 1920-1931, leading in 1923 (327), 1924 (310⅓)& 1928 (330⅔).

FCR –  Robert Casey, Wadsworth, Ohio

MIDWEEK BONUS — 30-Jul-2025

Q. Who pitched for the Cubs, Red Sox and Angels franchises in seasons when each won a World Series championship?

Hint: #1 He pitched for a fourth team that won its division twice, but didn’t reach the World Series either time.

Hint: #2 He is the only pitcher to start a World Series game on his birthday in his rookie season.

Hint: #3 He tied for fourth in Rookie-of-the-Year voting shortly thereafter.

A. JOHN LACKEY [B-R Bio]

– Ans. Pitched for WS champs ANA in 2002, BOS in 2013 & CHC in 2016.

– #1 Pitched for STL in 2014 & in 2015.

– #2 Lackey turned 24 on 23-Oct-2002. He started & threw 5 innings in a no-decision in a loss on G #4 of the WS vs. SFG.

– #3 AL ROY was TOR’s Eric Hinske that year in 2002.

FCR – Mike Clark, Cincinnati

THURSDAY — 31-Jul-2025

Q. Which one-time Cincinnati Reds player was the first National Leaguer to pitch in a World Series in his first and last major league seasons?

Hint: #1 Pitching one season, he lost twenty-five games for his team, but the loss leader that year lost even more.

Hint: #2 He was the starting and winning pitcher in the All-Star Game where Carl Hubbell got his only All-Star save.

A. PAUL DERRINGER  [SABR Bio]

– Ans. As a rookie, Derringer was fortunate to a member of a nascent powerhouse in St. Louis as the Cards played in their 4^th WS in 6 seasons. In 1931, they beat PHA 4-3. His 15^th & final season was 1945 when his Cubs lost to the Tigers in the WS.

– #1 MLB pitching loss leader in 1933 was Derringer himself, who had lost 2 additional games before he was traded to the Reds. 25 L is the most by any CIN pitcher in the Modern Era.

– #2 Derringer was the winning pitcher in the 1940 ASG.

FCR – Andrew Milner, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

FRIDAY  — 01-Aug-2025

Q. Which one-time All-Star played on multiple teams within the same state for two different states?

Hint: #1 He has pitched for major league teams in three other states where he could double up in any of them with one move.

Hint: #2 Among pitchers native to his country, he is the career statistical leader in, among others, total seasons, pitching victories, innings pitched and strikeouts.

A. JOSE QUINTANA  [B-R Bio]

– Ans. Quintana, an All-Star w/CHW in 2016, has pitched for

CHW (2012-17) & CHC (2017-2020) in Illinois and pitched for

LAA (2021) & SFG (2021) in California.

He’s halfway there in Missouri, Pennsylvania & New York…

– #1 He has played for STL in Missouri (but not KCR), for

NYM in New York (but not NYY) & for

PIT in Pennsylvania (but not PHI).

– #2 Quintana now has 14 years as a major leaguer, has 109 W, 2,052.0 IP & 1,782 K, most among all Columbian natives.

FCR – Ross Retterer, Fredericksburg, Virginia

SATURDAY — 02-Aug-2025

Q. Who played for a team from Spain in the Little League World Series and then pitched in the postseason for five major league teams?

Hint: #1 He set a single-season franchise record for saves record when he played for Colorado.

Hint: #2 In his time with Colorado, he saw his fastball speed rise after he used a now-banned substance.

Hint: #3 He pitched for ten years in the majors, but didn’t debut until he was 27 year old.

A. DAVE VERES  [Wiki Bio]

– Ans. He played in the 1978 Little League World Series for a team based in Spain, representing Torrejón Air Base, a U.S. Air Force installation 15 miles northeast of Madrid.  The base was active 1943–1945, 1947–1949, and 1954–1992. Veres was only the 2^nd future big leaguer to appear for a non-US team in a Little League WS, following Hector Torres by 20 years.

– #1 His 31 saves in 1999 was also a career best. COL’s record 1s now 43, set by Wade Davis in 2003.

– #2 In 1998, w/COL, Veres reportedly used androstenedione, a substance now banned, to enhance his physical strength. He saw an increase in his fastball velocity, from below 90 mph to 92-93 mph.

– #3 Veres broke in with the Astros in May 1994, just 3 months before the season ended prematurely due to labor strife.

FCR – Bruce Duncan, Niceville, Florida

SUNDAY —  03-Aug-2025

Q. Who threw the first no-hitter for the Brooklyn Dodgers?

Hint: #1 In his major league debut, he pitched hitless ball until the sixth inning.

Hint: #2 He was the first twentieth-century pitcher to surrender home runs to each of the first two batters in a game.

A.  TEX CARLETON  [SABR Bio]

– Ans. On Tuesday, 30-Apr-1940, the 2^nd game of his final season, he no-hit CIN. Previous players for the same franchise had thrown no-hitters, but this was the 1^st for the team called the “Brooklyn Dodgers”. Others occurred when they had been known as the Superbas & the Robins.

– #1  On 17-Apr-1932, he also issued a career-high 9 walks in 8 innings & lost the game, 4-1.

– #2 On 06-Aug-1937(1), Carleton, pitching for CHC, started the game facing BSN’s Roy Johnson & Rabbit Warstler, owners of 57 & 10 career HR. They both trotted across home plate before the 1^st out was recorded. Carleton was pulled before the end of the 2^nd inning, but CHC prevailed 12-6. For both batters, it was their penultimate round-tripper.

FCR – Terry Walters, Wabasha, Minnesota

WEEK’S FINALE  — 03-Aug-2025

Q. Which one-time Diamondbacks pitcher led the league in losses and home runs surrendered for a Cardinals team that won the World Series the same year?

Hint: #1 He had won the National League’s Silver Slugger Award for pitchers the previous season.

Hint: #2 He was the ace of the pitching staff for Israel in the World Baseball Classic.

A. JASON MARQUIS  [SABR Bio]

– Ans. Had a rough year while in 2006, leading the majors in ER surrendered (136)pitching for the Cardinals who went on to defeat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series that October.

– #1 He was awarded the Silver Slugger bat for 2005, only the 2^nd Cardinal hurler ever to win it. Starting 32 games that year as a pitcher, Marquis came to the plate 91 X and had 27 hits, 8 doubles, one triple & one home run, scoring 10 times & hitting .310, slugging .460 & putting up an OPS of .

– #2 He pitched for Israel in the 2017 WBC. His grandparents were Holocaust survivors and he was raised in a conservative Jewish household in Staten Island, New York.

FCR – Michael Landman, Wilmington ,Delaware

WEEK’S THEME – Men who played in the postseason for both the Cubs and Cards

Pitcher                     Cubs                            Cards

Dean……………………….. 1938-1941……………. 1930, 1932-1937

Derringer…………………. 1931-1933…………………….. 1943-1945

Eckersley………………… 1985-1986…………………….. 1996-1997

Grimes…………………….. 1932-1933……………. 1930-1931, 1933

Lackey…………………….. 2016-2017…………………….. 2014-2015

Marquis…………………… 2007-2008…………………….. 2004-2006

Quintana………………….. 2017-2020……………………………. 2022

Veres…………………………… 2003…………………………. 2000-2002

First Correct Respondent identifying theme –  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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