Quiz – Mystery Game Feat (solved)

The players in this quiz share a single game accomplishment since 1961 that no other player has matched. What is this feat?

Player Notes
Jose Lopez Ichiro was the only player to appear in this game and the Edgar Martinez game
Edgar Martinez A player who appeared in the George Bell game had 5 RBI in this game
Juan Gonzalez Gonzalez’s team had 15 hits and lost, despite 4 runs by the starting 3rd baseman in the Edgar Martinez game
Chad Kreuter Krueter was one of 7 starters with a hit, a run and an RBI, roughing up the starting pitcher in the Don Mattingly game
George Bell Toronto had a grand slam in this game. But, not by Bell. Two players on the losing side would later manage that team.
Candy Maldonado Three Mets grounded into double plays in this game. One Met who didn’t go GIDP played in the Vince Coleman game.
Don Mattingly This game was two days after the Coleman game. Yankees roughed up a rookie starter with a higher BB/9 than H/9.
Vince Coleman A teammate had 3 steals and 3 runs, but Coleman still lost to a club with two former Yankee WS champions
Russ Nixon The starting catcher opposing Nixon was a future manager of Nixon’s team
Ernie Banks An All-Star infielder had 3 hits for the winners, a team that player would later manage
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used Generated 8/26/2013.
  • Hint #1: the players are listed in chronological order of the games in which this feat was achieved, starting with the most recent
  • Hint #2: no players accomplished this feat in the twenty seasons from 1966 to 1985
  • Hint #3: except as noted above, all these players were on the winning team

Congratulations to William J. He correctly identified that the quiz players each had 3 sacrifice flies in a game, the only players to do so since sacrifice flies were first counted officially in 1954. Those games and the clue explanations are after the jump. Continue reading

Sunday game notes: Kimbrel in the 8th?!?

Braves 5, @Cardinals 2 — Given their hefty lead, there was no immediate cause for Atlanta to fret about losing the first three in this series, their first games since the loss of Jason Heyward reopened their leadoff hole. But with no certainty of Heyward’s productive return come playoff time, there’s no doubt that Jordan Schafer’s two extra-base hits in the first 2 innings raised a big sigh of relief, breaking his 0-12 skid and building a 3-0 lead for Mike Minor. The lefty contained the relentless Cardinals for 7 innings, and when they squawk a bit in the 8th, Fredi Gonzalez took no chances, but brought in Craig Kimbrel for just the second 4-out save of his career.

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The @obxleatherman Hall of Fame

Photo of Jimmie Foxx

Jimmie Foxx is just one of the many great players who weren’t inducted to the Hall of Fame within their first three years of eligibility. (Photo via Flickr)

Last night, a bunch of us on Twitter were having a discussing about Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker—as we baseball geeks are wont to do late on a Sunday night.

Then something happened… something shocking:

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Tempered ambition: masters of the sacrifice

Zack CozartHHS reader Jacob identified that Zack Cozart is currently leading the NL in both sacrifice hits (i.e. sacrifice bunts) and sacrifice flies. Should Cozart still have the same standing at the end of the season, he would become the first player since the sac fly was first officially recorded in 1954 to lead his league in both categories in the same season. Not only that, he would become just the fifth player to lead in both categories at any point in a career.

More on sacrifice hitting after the jump.

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Offensive Domination at Any Age Part 1

Over the last few years we have been spoiled. It seems like every top prospect lately has come up, and proven themselves to be among the best in the game immediately. Bryce Harper started bashing from almost his very first pitch it, and only a midsummer slump last year slowed him down. Mike Trout looks like he might end up being the greatest player of all time, all the while finding a cure for cancer, and feeding the hungry. For 2/3s of this season Manny Machado was making a serious run at one of the oldest records in American sports, the single season doubles record. It does not usually work out this way. For every Alex Rodriguez, who came up and put together MVP quality seasons consistently in his early 20’s, there are 10 guys that need to adjust to Major League pitching.

On the other end of the spectrum we have a player like Raul Ibanez. Although he has cooled off lately, Ibanez still has a shot at setting the homerun record for any player of his age. These type of statistics have always fascinated me. I love watching an 18 year old hold his own, in the same league that  somebody literally 2 and a half times his age is also surviving in. I thought an interesting project would be to find the greatest hitting season ever for every age. This is purely from an offensive perspective. I did this because quite frankly I do not trust defensive metrics that over 20 years old. I do not want to exclude an old time player just because of my personal bias. This exercise is from a wide range of factors, not purely OPS+, or wRC+. I factored in playing time, quality of play, and impact on the game. All ages are based on the Baseball Reference definition, their age on June 30th. Today’s edition will have ages 18-29, while tomorrow I will have ages 30-40.

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Friday game notes

Pirates 3, @Giants 1 — Just two kinds of batters, I think, had any chance of homering on this pitch from Madison Bumgarner: (1) Miguel Cabrera (sui generis); and (2) open-stance, bucket-stepping RHBs like Clint Barmes. Charlie Morton’s 4th straight strong effort (totaling 7 runs in 27.2 IP) kept Pittsburgh a game up on St. Louis, and pulled them up to one behind the Braves for MLB’s best record.

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Thursday game notes: Murphy’s Law nabs Strasburg

Nationals 5, @Cubs 4 (13 inn.) — Washington’s third straight win pivoted on two pitcher assists, the first a perfectly placed dribbler that got the job done, the latter a screaming liner that Drew Storen deflected into a game-ending DP that sealed his first save since June. But the true drama came in the 9th, when the Cubs trailed 4-1 with 2 outs.

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