Richard Chester is a regular contributor to the HHS blog and the HHS Twitter feed. Many of the unusual factoids he comes up with are gleaned from his own homegrown game log database (think of it as Play Index or Stathead on steroids). For your enjoyment, here are some statistical nuggets he has recently unearthed.
Well, Doug posted a quiz about sluggers; here’s one where you won’t find any of those. What career accomplishment do these Live Ball era players have in common? (I hope I caught them all, but I’m not 100% sure, so I make no promises!)
Lou Brock
Bert Campaneris
Brett Butler
Michael Bourn
Tony Womack
Dave Collins
This is a different take on a quiz, with an added variable of ranking. I’ll give you the ranked list, and you get to figure out the statistic that produces that list. In other words, just like a regular quiz, but with the added criterion of ranking.
So, here’s the list, showing the top 10 sluggers in a particular statistic. What is it? .
| Rk | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Rodriguez |
| 2 | Jimmie Foxx |
| 3 | Albert Pujols |
| 4 | Manny Ramirez |
| 4 | Rafael Palmeiro |
| 4 | Lou Gehrig |
| 4 | Sammy Sosa |
| 8 | Babe Ruth |
| 8 | Mark Teixeira |
| 8 | Albert Belle |
Hint #1: the stat involves traditional metrics for sluggers
Hint #2: the rankings could provide a clue as to the type of stat to look for.
Congratulations to Howard! He knew that these ten sluggers have the most consecutive seasons with 30 HR and 100 RBI. More after the jump.
While researching my latest post, I came across a name that loomed large in my childhood, about whom I haven’t thought in a long time. Andres Galarraga is probably, at this point, the second-most-famous “A. Galarraga” in your baseball encyclopedia/brain. But while Armando may be more famous today, the Big Cat belongs to a couple specific groups. I’m hoping you can figure out what they are in these trivia questions.
Note: I’ve never done one of these trivia things before, as you know, so they’re not going to be as hard or clever as Doug’s… or maybe they’ll be too hard. I genuinely don’t know, but I hope it’s fun either way.
For a quick diversion, here’s a list of ten notable starting pitchers of the modern era (since 1901). Which career accomplishment (min. 250 decisions) distinguishes these players among all retired pitchers of the modern era?
| Rk | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | James Shields |
| 2 | Kevin Tapani |
| 3 | Kevin Millwood |
| 4 | Earl Moore |
| 5 | Mike Flanagan |
| 6 | Rube Walberg |
| 7 | Mickey Lolich |
| 8 | Rube Marquard |
| 9 | George Mullin |
| 10 | Doug Drabek |
Congratulations to Bob Eno. He knew that only these pitchers compiled a .550 W-L% in 200+ decisions over their first 10 seasons, but then slid below .450 in 50+ decisions for the rest of their careers. More after the jump.
There are two players in this quiz with a lot of similarities in their careers. Your job is to figure out their identities based on these clues:
Congratulations to no statistician but and Voomo Zanzibar! They teamed up to make short work of this quiz, identifying the mystery players as Joe Torre and B.J. Surhoff. More after the jump.
This quiz involves eight players, all but one of which were active in the past 30 years. Yet they are only players in majors history to retire with a certain career accomplishment. What is it?
Seems I’ve managed to stump the HHS panel. The quiz answer is that only these players recorded a 3000 PA career having 45% of hits go for extra bases, and with doubles comprising 45% of extra-base hits. More after the jump. Continue reading
As we await this month’s HoF balloting, here’s a little diversion in a bit different format from most of my quizzes. Here are the clues:
Congratulations to Jim! He knew that our mystery player was none other than Frank DiPino, (mostly) an NL reliever from the 1980s and early 1990s. More on DiPino after the jump.
What do three HOFers have in common with several other less celebrated players? In fact, all of them share the distinction of a certain seasonal batting accomplishment of which no others can boast. What is it?
Congratulations to Voomo Zanzibar! He knew that these players have hit the most home runs in a season from each of the nine batting order positions.
The list of players is after the jump.
This quiz is about players with a connection to another player. There are two lists of players with each player in the first list matching a player in the second. Your job is to figure out the connection.
Congratulations to No Statistician But! He knew that the matching players were teammates in a season when both (or all) hit their 300th home runs. Those details are after the jump.