Today’s All-Star game is the third in Minnesota, and the third in a different stadium. Today’s game will be the first in Minnesota without Pete Rose in the lineup, after Charlie Hustle started the 1965 game and appeared as a pinch-hitter in 1985, the latter appearance at age 44 making Rose the oldest NL All-Star (Satchel Paige was the oldest AL All-Star at age 47 in 1953) . Today’s game will also be the first in Minnesota with the DH, as that innovation made a delayed All-Star appearance only in 1989.

More on Minnesota’s all-star history after the jump.

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Seventy years ago, wartime necessity redefined the possible for big-league catching. That year, two catchers, Ray Mueller in the NL and Frankie Hayes in the AL, achieved a feat unmatched by any player before or since – starting as catcher in EVERY game of the season.

After the jump, more on these two players and the change in catcher usage that they pioneered.

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The players in this quiz are the only catchers with a particular season accomplishment since 1961. What is it?

1. Brian McCann
2. Jason Kendall
3. Einar Diaz
4. Mike Piazza
5. Terry Kennedy
6. Rich Gedman
7. Ted Simmons
8. Bill Freehan
9. Randy Hundley
10. Clay Dalrymple
11. John Romano

Hint #1: McCann and Kendall accomplished this feat in the same season, the first time since 1955 that two catchers had done so in the same year.

Hint #2: A player is currently on pace to join this group in 2014.

Congratulations to Gary Bateman! He correctly identified the quiz players as the only catchers since 1961 to lead their league in the same season in most successful steal attempts against and also most unsuccessful steal attempts against, the latter being an artifact of the former. More after the jump.

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Thus far in 2014, the recent  trend towards lower scoring continues. That trend is now more than 15 years in the making and has resulted in another, that of a higher incidence of shutouts (at least those of the team variety). So far in 2014, more than 15% of games have resulted in a goose egg for the losers, a proportion not seen since 1981, and not seen in a full-length season since 1976.

After the jump, more on declining offense and why it’s been happening.

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The players in this quiz are the only live ball era pitchers with an unusual game accomplishment. What is it?

Congratulations to RJ! He knew that these pitchers didn’t finish their careers until after they had stroked their first career extra-base hit, at age 40 or older. Those career first games are after the jump.

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As we remember Tony, here’s a quiz that highlights his remarkable talents, sharing with only these elite players a certain batting feat. What is this most unusual career accomplishment?

1. Barry Bonds
2. Jose Canseco
3. Will Clark
4. Tony Gwynn
5. Chipper Jones
6. Mickey Mantle
7. Johnny Mize
8. Stan Musial
9. Frank Robinson
10. Ted Williams

Congratulations to BryanM (mostly) and to RJ! They teamed up to identify that only these players have never had a season with OPS+ below 100 in a 15 year or longer career. Thanks also to Richard Chester for the idea for this quiz. More on 100 OPS+ seasons after the jump.

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Hall of Famer and Circle of Greats inductee Tony Gwynn passed away today after a lengthy battle with cancer. Gwynn retired in 2001 after a 20-year career, all with the Padres. Gwynn’s 3141 hits are the most in the NL since 1970, and his career .338 batting average is second only to Ted Williams’ .344  among players whose careers began after 1923.

More on the career of Mr. Padre after the jump.

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The New York Yankees’ proud tradition of excellence has been preserved in this century only at great cost and with decidedly mixed results. Since closing out the last century with 4 WS titles in a 5 year span, New York has had to settle for just three AL titles and one WS crown in the 13 years since. A windfall for some franchises, but not for the Yankees.

As they did last year, the Yankees are again significantly outperforming their Pythagorean projection, a feat of legerdemain that can seldom be preserved for extended periods. It’s likely that the Yankee players will need to perform much better the rest of the way if New York is to avoid its first losing season since 1992. After the jump, more on what ails the Bombers.

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The players in this quiz are distinguished by a single-game batting feat that only they have accomplished in regular season play since 1914. What is it?

Hint: there are four criteria that describe this batting feat, three of which were achieved by a player in one of Sunday’s games, an occurrence that John Autin remarked on in his Game Notes post.

Congratulations to Richard Chester (with a big assist from The Goof)! Richard identified that the quiz players found opportunity to drive in runs even when the box score would suggest otherwise. In particular, they are the only infielders (incl. catchers) with a game like David Freese‘s on Sunday of 4+ PA and zero AB but, unlike Freese, also with 2+ RBI. Those games are after the jump.

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Felix Hernandez is approaching the 2000 inning milestone. Barring injury, he should get there this season. If he does, he will be just the 21st pitcher of the live ball era to reach that milestone in his age 28 season or younger.

But, what does that portend for the remainder of his career? I’ll consider that question after the jump.

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