not-at-all-trivial trivia 2013

xp those are solid guesses, but i don't think it can be anyone (even) that recent

i'm sorry, 'el toro' is clearly former pirate great pedro alvarez's nickname

Glavine was my first guess too, NoTime. And Hampton is more recent than the answer I had for the second question (one of those seven non-HOF'ers)--good job.

The correct answer to the first question is Bob Gibson, who hit .303 in his Cy-winning '70 season. The HOF answer to the second question was a year later (and extra tough because an AL pitcher just prior to the DH): Catfish Hunter won 21 in 1971 and hit .350!

Some others: http://www.baseballbunts.com/index.php/the-club/299-pitchers-in-the-hall-of-fame-with-20-wins-and-300-batting-average-in-a-season

bob gibson is the answer to so much!

good quiz

Holy crap, I didn’t know that about Gibson! I knew he was a fine hitter, but dang.

The big surprise to me was Catfish Hunter--that .350 mark was in 103 AB. He was pretty good for his whole career (.226), even if you eliminate 1971 (still above .200). He only got two more PA after the DH came in; batted 1.000 in 1973 in one AB.

I wouldn't have guessed Gibson. I was sure it was somebody more recent.

https://enlightenment.rip/

this was discussed on the fangraphs podcast - it's a tool to discover the first MLB player who was younger than you and the last player older than you

for me it's rick ankiel and bartolo colon

Mine are Ed Nunez (journeyman AL reliever) and Julio Franco

I always thought the first younger was Jose Oquendo, but Nunez beat him by a year

ankiel/bart for me as well

i also got bartolo colon

something is broken with it, i think?

i'm 35 btw

i got jose reyes, on the younger side

if you're younger than bartolo colon, the answer for the second part defaults to bartolo colon, because i guess it defaults to the oldest "last player older than you were to play in the majors"? i don't know, the first part is more interesting anyways

yeah, i guess the second question becomes more interesting once you're older than all of the active players. i'm working on it!

I got Melvin Upton. My friend I sent it to is going to get Pujols, which is really gonna fuck him up because Pujols Is Old has been a bit of a running joke w/ us

hell there are half a dozen managers younger than me now

Both sides of that are broken. It gave me Aramis Ramirez for first player younger than me. He was born about six months after I was. Several players were born between the two dates.

Fred Manrique on the young end--never heard of him. (Debuted in '81 for the Jays, also played for the Expos.) Julio Franco at the other end.

I got Alex Rodriguez (born ten months after me) and Colon (still older than me, so the dream of playing in MLB is alive).

Benji Gil / Raul Ibañez

I had done this before through Baseball Reference. Got same answer...

Alex Fernandez & Mariano Rivera

Jose Bautista (Braves, Mets, Phillies) will become the third player to appear for three teams in a single division in the same season. The others:

-Kelly Johnson, 2014 (Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles)

-Bob Reynolds, 1975 (Tigers, Indians, Orioles)

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 28, 2018

Both sides of that are broken. It gave me Aramis Ramirez for first player younger than me. He was born about six months after I was. Several players were born between the two dates.

― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Friday, August 24, 2018 4:27 PM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

but the players between, did they play before aramis did? the point is, it tells you who was the first player to suit up for a game who was younger than you. aka the first time you could turn on a game and say "oh i'm not younger than all ballplayers now." it's not just "who's closest to you in age."

also says on the side that as long as there's a player older than you, it'll just show the oldest active player. when all players are younger than you, that's when the second part becomes interesting.

Hmm, looks like you're correct. None of the guys in the interim debuted before Aramis.

mookie betts could become the fourth player to win an MVP, batting title, gold glove and silver slugger all in the same year. who were the other three?

(note: the silver slugger awards began in 1980)

Two quick guesses: Ichiro, Altuve.

ichiro is correct

there's no chance it's cabrera, is it? or trout? seems too easy

Matt Kemp?

i don't think anyone ever accused miguel cabrera of being a gold glover

one of these players is active

the other is retired, but there is an ILB thread bearing his name

holy shit, willie mcgee, '85! is there anything he can't do

^^^

the other is joe mauer, 2009

i just checked the 2001 bWAR leaders re MVP; Jason Giambi wuz robbed

(also Bret Boone higher than Ichiro w/ Seattle)

tru

still can't quite believe it wasn't obvious that Gooden was the MVP of '85

i only guessed miggy because a) i wasn't watching when he was young and who knows, and b) they've given some fairly dubious gold gloves before no?

James went on a big tirade in the '86 Abstract about McGee, but that was in defense of Dale Murphy, not Gooden. Strange, because the following year, he wrote a long piece analyzing the MVP cases for Clemens and Mattingly (base on their '86 seasons). Can't remember what he concluded, but he clearly was open to a pitcher winning (as he was in '78, when he wrote a similar piece analyzing Rice vs. Guidry).

WAR has McGee considerably higher than Murphy in '85. I'd have to go back and check, but I think I encountered resistance here a few years ago when I first suggested Verlander as an obvious MVP candidate in 2011 (Bautista seemed to be the preferred choice).

2011 AL MVP

The resistance shows up more in the vote totals (10-3 for Bautista) than the comments. There's one I could quote, though. But I won't.

if vlad jr. homers in the majors before june 1, he will become the youngest toronto blue jay to do so. who currently holds that record?

Good one. No idea...Danny Ainge?

indeed! nice

Total guess, based on the fact that he played for the Jays before he played in the NBA, so I figured he must have been young. I'm very impressed with myself.

for no particular reason, here are the top 50 defensive single seasons (since integration) by fangraphs' DEF metric

Season	Name	Team	Def
1975	Mark Belanger	Orioles	43.7
1999	Rey Ordonez	Mets	41.1
1989	Ozzie Smith	Cardinals	40.2
1999	Andruw Jones	Braves	38.5
1998	Andruw Jones	Braves	37.4
1968	Brooks Robinson	Orioles	36.9
1964	Ron Hansen	White Sox	36.7
1960	Luis Aparicio	White Sox	36.2
1987	Ozzie Guillen	White Sox	36
1967	Brooks Robinson	Orioles	35.9
1983	Gary Carter	Expos	35.6
1979	Buddy Bell	Rangers	35.6
1968	Mark Belanger	Orioles	35.5
1992	Devon White	Blue Jays	35.1
1973	Mark Belanger	Orioles	35
1998	Robin Ventura	White Sox	34.4
1970	Aurelio Rodriguez	- - -	34.1
1971	Graig Nettles	Indians	33.9
1961	Clete Boyer	Yankees	33.8
1963	Ron Hansen	White Sox	33.7
1996	Ken Griffey Jr.	Mariners	33.5
2009	Franklin Gutierrez	Mariners	33.4
2001	Rey Sanchez	- - -	33.4
1976	Mark Belanger	Orioles	33.1
1973	Bobby Grich	Orioles	32.9
1996	Ivan Rodriguez	Rangers	32.7
1959	Ernie Banks	Cubs	32.4
1992	Darrin Jackson	Padres	32.2
1984	Cal Ripken	Orioles	31.9
1991	Cal Ripken	Orioles	31.8
1962	Clete Boyer	Yankees	31.8
2006	Adam Everett	Astros	31.7
1967	Hal Lanier	Giants	31.1
1999	Pokey Reese	Reds	31
1976	Graig Nettles	Yankees	30.9
1990	Cal Ripken	Orioles	30.7
1964	Bobby Knoop	Angels	30.7
1966	Ed Brinkman	Senators	30.5
1995	John Valentin	Red Sox	30.4
1974	Mark Belanger	Orioles	30.4
1988	Ozzie Guillen	White Sox	30.4
1965	Gene Alley	Pirates	30.3
2007	Omar Vizquel	Giants	30.2
1989	Barry Bonds	Pirates	30.1
1956	Jim Piersall	Red Sox	30.1
1969	Ed Brinkman	Senators	30
1984	Kirby Puckett	Twins	30
1989	Cal Ripken	Orioles	29.8
1995	Cal Ripken	Orioles	29.7
1954	Chico Carrasquel	White Sox	29.6
1986	Jody Davis	Cubs	29.6
1980	Ozzie Smith	Padres	29.6
1970	Ed Brinkman	Senators	29.6

probably this is not obscure trivia, but i didn't realize until this morning that in 1981 the Reds and Cardinals had the best two records in the National League, and neither team made the playoffs.

Not only that, but the NL team with the 3rd best record (Los Dodgers) won the World Series, with a killer team:

Opening Day Lineup

Davey Lopes Second baseman
Ken Landreaux Center fielder
Dusty Baker Left fielder
Steve Garvey First baseman
Ron Cey Third baseman
Pedro Guerrero Right fielder
Mike Scioscia Catcher
Bill Russell Shortstop
Fernando Valenzuela Starting pitcher

most of the lower minor leagues play half-seasons like this, which sort of makes sense because there's so much roster turnover but also makes no sense at all because any decent players from the first-half champs will have been promoted and minor league playoffs are entirely pointless anyway

Yup, minor league allstars are the kings of cockblock.