Fascinating and Obscure Baseball Trivia, Part 5 Quiz

Answer: Cincinnati Reds

On that date in MLB history, the Cincinnati Reds had brothers Bret Boone and Aaron Boone at second base and third base respectively. The other pair of sibling brothers were Barry Larkin and Stephen Larkin. Barry at short stop and Stephen at first base. It was the last day of the season, and so the Reds' administrative front office arranged for Stephen Larkin to be called up from the minor leagues to play alongside his brother and make baseball history.

Answer: 1955 Pittsburgh Pirates

The 1955 Pittsburgh Pirates had a pair of twins on the roster--Johnny and Eddie O'Brien, both of whom played infield. The team also had another pair of brothers on the team; they were not twins but brothers Gene and George Freese also played infield. None of those four players played the first baseman position so they were never all on the field at the same time.
On Sep. 27, 1998, the four infielders for the Cincinnati Reds were two sets of brothers - Bret Boone and Aaron Boone at second base and third base, plus Barry Larkin and Stephen Larkin.

Answer: Ned Garver of the St. Louis Browns

Ned Garver won 21 games for the Browns in 1951 a season in which that team went 52-102, all the more unlikely that it only happened that one time, and not since baseball expanded the season from 154 games to 162. Steve Carlton came close in 1972 when he won 27 out of the Phillies' paltry 59 wins. But the team only lost 97 games. That comes to 45.8% of the team's total victories, an astonishing record. Paul Derringer and Ben Cantwell have the most losses in a single season in the post 1920 live ball era--27 losses and 25 losses respectively.

Answer: David Cone, Bartolo Colon, Mike Stanton, Chris Capuano, Adam Ottavino, Jeff Reardon, Mike Torrez

Bob Ojeda pitched for all three teams but didn't win any games when he signed with the Yankees, and retired right afterward. David Aardsma also pitched for those three teams but didn't win any for the Yankees. Armando Benitez pitched for the Yanks and Mets, but never pitched for the Red Sox; same with Dellin Betances, Ralph Terry, and Tyler Clippard. Roger Clemens pitched wins for the Yankees and Red Sox, but never the Mets.

Same with Waite Hoyt, Sparky Lyle, Herb Pennock, Red Ruffing, and David Wells. Greg Harris, Rich Hill, and Frank Tanana pitched for all three teams, but never won for the Yankees. Josias Manzanillo pitched for all three teams but never won for the Red Sox or the Yankees. Bill Short pitched for all three but never won for the Red Sox of Mets. Tom Sturdivant pitched for all three teams but never won for the Mets. Wes Ferrell and Alex Ferguson won games for the Red Sox and Yankees, but the other New York team they pitched for was the Brooklyn Dodgers, but they both went winless with that team.

Answer: Sam Thomson, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmy Foxx

When Sam Thomson retired in 1906, he had 127 home runs which was second only to Roger Connor who had 138 career home runs at that point. The second time it happened was when Lou Gehrig retired in 1939. He had the second most career homers with 493, while Babe Ruth had 714. And the third time was when Jimmy Foxx retired in 1945.

He had passed Lou Gehrig (who was also passed by Mel Ott), but of course Babe Ruth was still the home run leader when Foxx retired with his 534. Willie Mays came close to being a correct answer to this question, since for a while he was second to Ruth in homers, but when he actually retired in 1973, Hank Aaron had passed Mays in Homers.

Answer: Carl Hubbell

Jack Warhop gave up Babe Ruth's first ever home run, and Guy Bush gave up Ruth's last ever home run. Syd Cohen gave up Ruth's final home run as a New York Yankee of the American League.
Babe Ruth began his career in Boston with the Red Sox in the American League, and when he went to the National League in his final season, he returned to Boston, but this time with the Boston Braves. He hit his first home run off of Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell. Interestingly, home run kings Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays all began and ended their careers in the same city but with different teams.

Answer: Gaylord Perry

Vic Raschi gave up Hank Aaron's first ever home run, and Dick Drago gave up Aaron's last ever home run. Al Downing gave up Aaron's final home run as an Atlanta Brave of the National League. Henry Aaron began his career in Milwaukee with the Milwaukee Braves in the National League, and when he went to the American League, he returned to Milwaukee, but this time with the Milwaukee Brewers.

He hit his first American League home run off of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry. Interestingly, home run kings Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays all began and ended their careers in the same city but with different teams.

Answer: Jose Lima

This is a strange distinction for a pitcher to have because it means that yes, of course they must have been pitching badly that season to amass such a high earned run average, but on the other hand, having those 30 plus starts would seem to indicate that managers felt like he had enough ability/talent to keep the player around in the pitching rotation. Jose Lima in 2000 had a 6.65 ERA in 33 starts pitching for the Houston Astros.

While it is an NL record thus far, the other players on the list come in close behind: Kile had a 6.61 ERA in 32 starts in 1999, Milton a 6.47 ERA in 34 starts in 2005, and Clarkson a 6.36 ERA in 32 starts way back in 1894.

Answer: Jackie Jensen

In Jackie Jensen's 1950 rookie season with the New York Yankees, he played in the World Series, pinch running for Bobby Brown in the third inning of Game 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies. That's all he did in that series as the Yankees swept 4-0. Jensen would never make it back to the Series.

In 1952 the Yankees traded him to the Washington Senators, where he became an All-Star, but was then traded to the Red Sox after two years. It was with that team when in 1958 he had 31 home runs and led the league with 122 RBIs which netted him the league's MVP Award.

He was also a helluva football player, coming in fourth place for the Heisman Trophy voting in 1948.

Answer: Julain Javier

Nolan Ryan pitched against nearly a thousand different batters in the major leagues. The player that faced Ryan the most without ever striking out was Julian Javier, who in 16 at bats, never struck out against Nolan Ryan. He didn't perform very well though hitting only two singles in those 16 at bats for a .125 batting average. Tommy Helms is in second place with 13 at bats without a KO, but again, he only had two hits for a .153 BA against Ryan.

The surprise is that in third place is pitcher Fernando Valenzuela with 1 hit in his 9 at bats against Ryan without ever striking out. That's a .111 BA. Claudell Washington has the dubious distinction of striking out 39 times against Ryan in 90 at bats for a .1444 average.

He has struck out the most.

The other hitters that struck out the most were Freddie Patek striking out 31 times, and Jorge Orta who whiffed 30 times.