Quiz – Post-War Batters (solved)

Here are what might appear to be a random collection of ballplayers. Represented are players from each of the past 7 decades.

But, there is a common batting feat that connects the following list of players. What is that feat?

Hint: these are only retired players to achieve this feat since 1946

Congratulations to Insert Name Here and Richard Chester. INH identified these players as the only retired players with careers of 1500 or fewer hits that included a season since 1946 of 200 hits and 50 RBI. Of the 102 retired players with a 200 hit season since 1946, only 11 failed to parlay that success into a career of more than 1500 hits. Those 11 include the 10 players in our quiz plus Bob Dillinger, whose 200 hit season produced only 44 RBI. Dillinger’s career was only 753 games, the only player of those 102 not to reach 1000 games, which was the alternative solution to the quiz identified by Richard Chester.

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Jeffrey A Pelletier
Jeffrey A Pelletier
11 years ago

Something to do with all having 200 hit seasons?

wlcmlc
wlcmlc
11 years ago

One 200 hit season in their career and having their best batting average.

wlcmlc
wlcmlc
11 years ago
Reply to  wlcmlc

Ignore does not work for Pesky.

Lawrence Azrin
Lawrence Azrin
11 years ago
Reply to  wlcmlc

Dale Mitchell had a higher BA in a non-200 hit season; Pesky had three 200-hit seasons (his first three seasons).

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Lawrence Azrin

Mitchell’s highest BA, in a qualifying year, was in 1948 when he had 204 H.

It looks to me that they all had their highest BA in a year when they had 200+ hits.

Lawrence Azrin
Lawrence Azrin
11 years ago

Oops,you’re right.

oneblankspace
oneblankspace
11 years ago

Over 200 H in their best season, less than 1500 H in their career (which is why all active players are excluded from the results).

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

200-hit, 50-RBI season, less than 1500 hits in career.

Even if it’s not what you’re looking for, it definitely works.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  oneblankspace

And also more than 1000 hits.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago

Or perhaps a 200 hit season, fewer than 1500 career hits and fewer than 1000 games played.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago

I meant more than 1000 games played.

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
11 years ago

I’m going with a 200-hit season, but with 75% of hits being singles as part of the solution. Obviously, it’s not the full solution, as the Play Index brings up 44 results for such a queue.

Howard
Howard
11 years ago

Al Rosen wouldn’t fit in.

Howard
Howard
11 years ago

No sacrifice hits in a 200 hit season?

Howard
Howard
11 years ago
Reply to  Howard

Never mind. Just so happened that the first two I checked had no SHs in such a season and I jumped the gun.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago

Dillinger was still a player after 1951.
He spent four more years with Sacramento of the PCL.
I wonder if he couldn’t get an MLB job or if that was by choice.
He was a Californian (southern, but still), an the PCL was a ‘respectable’ league in the early 50’s…

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
11 years ago

Wow, I’m actually surprised to get one of these correct.

Then again, oneblankspace’s original guess helped a lot. I also think it’s interesting how our monikers share the common interest in anonymity. Anyway, t thanks for the help, OBS.

Mike L
Mike L
11 years ago

Apparently after Rosen had “only” 24HR and 102 RBI (.300/.404.506) OPS+ of 147 in 1954, Cleveland cut his pay.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago
Reply to  Mike L

From b-r bullpen:
“In addition to his injured finger from 1954, he had back problems and broke his nose 13 times during his career.”

How do you break your nose 13 times?

Gootch7
Gootch7
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

I dunno. Bar fights? His wife liked to hit him in the face with a frying pan? “During his career” doesn’t necessarily mean “on the field of play”.

I don’t think it hurts much after the tenth or so break….

Mike L
Mike L
11 years ago
Reply to  Gootch7

Rosen was apparently an amateur boxer. Maybe the nose got softened up.

Lawrence Azrin
Lawrence Azrin
11 years ago
Reply to  Mike L

Allegedly, the Yankees tried to cut Mikey Mantle’s pay after his 1957 MVP season, because he had “only” 34 HR, compared to 52 in 1956, and “only” 94 RBI, compared to 130 in 1956.

According to B-R, he did get a $5,000 raise after his 1957 season. I’m sure that these weren’t the only times pre-free agency the game’s best players were offered pay cuts after (to what looks like us) great seasons.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Lawrence Azrin

Yankee GM George Weiss was always looking for the flimsiest of excuses to cut a player’s salary (except for Joe D. of course).

John Nacca
John Nacca
11 years ago

Velarde had over 70 rbi’s combined with both teams in his 200 hit season

John Nacca
John Nacca
11 years ago

Wait a sec…..the answer listed above has to be wrongly written. It says…

INH identified these players as the only retired players with careers of 1500 or fewer hits that included a season since 1946 of 200 hits and 50 RBI.

If the 50 rbi part is right, I found a FEW players above that had 200 hits in a season, but MORE then 50 rbi’s……

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
11 years ago
Reply to  John Nacca

Check the list (not including Dillinger, remember) and in fact they all have one or more 200-hit seasons with 50 RBIs AND less than 1500 career hits.

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
11 years ago

Oh, I see what you mean now. When Doug wrote “200 hits and 50 RBI”, he meant that they all have AT LEAST 200 hits and 50 RBI in one season, despite their 1500 or fewer career hits.

John Nacca
John Nacca
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

OK, the + after the 200 and 50 makes all the difference, at least to me lolol……..

John Nacca
John Nacca
11 years ago

Unless you mean two DIFFERENT seasons? If that is the case, it kinda sucks to penalize Rosen for the 3 seasons he had of only a handful of AB’s…

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago

Wow, Pesky is a WWII “what could have been.”

200 hits in a pure rookie season at age 23.
3 years away.
Then 2 more 200 hit seasons upon his return.

The next three years the hits went down, but he apparently got discerning and cullenbined 99+ free passes.

Lawrence Azrin
Lawrence Azrin
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

When Ted Williams was on the HOF Veterans Committee (the 90s?),there was some talk of possibly making Pesky a Veteran’s Committee pick, I don’t know how serious it was.

Even giving him WWII credit, Pesky’s career was rather short; 1270 games actually played, 1700+ with WWWII credit.

topper009
topper009
11 years ago

What do these players have in common

Bobby Richardson
Chuck Howley
Jerry West

John Autin
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  topper009

Hmm … Howley and West both played college ball for West Virginia. But Richardson apparently didn’t go to college(?), although he did end up the baseball coach at South Carolina. So, I got nothin’.

Doug
Doug
11 years ago
Reply to  topper009

I was going to say that each won a league championship and also finished last with the same franchise. Except, it’s not quite true. The Lakers finished last the year after West retired, and never missed the playoffs in his playing career.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

I found the answer via google though I won’t post it. And I’m a bit embarrassed that I needed google. Chuck Howley is primarily famous for one thing, and it’s the thing he has in common with West and Richardson.

John Nacca
John Nacca
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Championship MVP’s for a losing team……..

topper009
topper009
11 years ago
Reply to  John Nacca

Yup, its what I think of right away when I hear Bobby Richardson

Tim Pea
Tim Pea
11 years ago

Has there ever been a player that started off slower in HoF voting and went on to get in than Richie Ashburn? Ashburn received 2.1% in his first year. I know the writers never voted him in, but still.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  Tim Pea

I don’t know the answer to Tim Pea’s question but I have to say that as much as we criticize the current voters, some of those earlier ballots were quite strange. For example, in 1968, Terry Moore received 11.7% of the vote. If you’re like me, you’ve never heard of Mr. Moore before. Part of the reason that Moore received so many votes is because it was his last year on the ballot. Which seems like a lousy reason to vote for someone for the Hall of Fame. If a couple of voters voted for him, fine. But 11.7%??? Here… Read more »

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Well, he did play CF between Musial and Slaughter on the 1942 championship team. And he did share a name with a beautiful Hollywood actress.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago

So maybe they thought they were voting for the actress??? (who I’ve also never heard of!).

Hartvig
Hartvig
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Part of Moore’s appeal may have come from being viewed as the National League equivalent of Joe DiMaggio at least from a defensive standpoint and we tend to forget nowadays how much of the DiMaggio mystique was centered around his defense. Don Larsen was another one a lot like Vander Meer. Fifteen years on the ballot with a peak of 12.3% of the vote with a career of 81-91 record even though he pitched for the Yankees in what are normally a players peak seasons (ages 25 thru 29) and in 4 of those 5 years they won the AL… Read more »

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  Hartvig

I definitely remember that rule being in place when Larsen was receiving votes. That being said, I interpret the rule as something that binds the BBWAA as a whole, not individual voters. In other words, it bars the BBWAA from automatically putting people in the Hall who meet a particular criteria without going through the regular voting process.