Why I Like Baseball

Under the link, the answers to the SABR DAY trivia quiz! So don’t click until you’ve looked at the questions!

Are you sure you’ve already looked at the questions? Okay, here you go. The answers:

1. Johnny Damon and Gene Stephens are the two players who have gotten three hits in a single inning, and they both happen to have been Red Sox when they did. Damon is the first player to get three different types of hits in a single inning (he lacked only the homer), and he did it June 27, 2003 in a 14-run first inning against the Florida Marlins. Stephens did it on June 18, 1953, in a 17-run inning against the Tigers, where even the pitcher, Ellis Kinder, had two hits for the Sox.

2. Prior to Melky Cabrera hitting for the cycle, Tony Fernandez did it in 1995. Fernandez was slated to be the starting shortstop in 1996, but then broke his arm in spring training, opening the door for Derek Jeter. The team sent Fernandez a World Series ring even though he didn’t play a single inning (or maybe because he didn’t…?) The night Fernandez hit for the cycle, one of the broadcasters of the game was Bobby Murcer, who had been the previous Yankee to do it, 23 years earlier.

3. Andy Hawkins pitched a losing no-hitter for the Yankees, and Matt Young did it for the Red Sox. Young’s came in 1992, and he lost 2-1 to Cleveland. Hawkins’ came in 1990 and he lost 4-0 to the White Sox in Chicago. Those were the days, eh?

4. Rich Gedman caught Roger Clemens’ 20 strikeout game on April 29, 1986. The very next day, Boston again faced those free-swinging Mariners and Bruce Hurst struck out 8, and the bullpen another 8.

5. Lew Burdette and Warren Spahn both pitched no-hitters for the Milwaukee Braves in 1960, on August 18 and September 16, respectively.

6. Tommy Henrich belted a walk-off homer against the Dodgers’ Don Newcombe in the 1949 World Series, starting a fine postseason tradition.

7. Ted Williams! The Splendid Splinter pitched two innings, gave up one run on three hits, and as noted did not issue a walk and struck out York. He has a lifetime ERA of 4.50 as a result.

8. Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio. There were a billion trivia questions I could have asked about him, but I figured I’d pick a really, well, trivial one.

9. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are the only two players to have hit 400 or more home runs and have 10 or more steals of home. Both men usually stole home as one half of a double-steal, rather than an outright theft of the plate.

10. Cy Young was 37 years old in 1904 when he threw his perfect game. I don’t have any funny anecdotes about Cy Young, so I’ll tell this one about David Cone instead: Expos manager Felipe Alou was asked after Cone’s perfecto, when he started to think Cone might have a chance at a perfect game. “When I wrote down the lineup and saw that we didn’t have anybody who had faced him,” Alou deadpanned.

Thanks for participating in SABR DAY IN AMERICA!!