not-at-all-trivial trivia 2013

since 1914, 16 pitchers have made 10 or more career opening-day starts. how many can you name?

Guesses all:

Spahn, Seaver, Clemens, Whitey Ford, Carlton, Randy Johnson, Maddux (doubtful about that one because of inter-staff competition), Phil Niekro, Sutton, Halladay, Blyleven, Morris, Mussina, Kaat, Walter Johnson (not sure of the timeline there...), Fergie Jenkins.

Sat there for 10 minutes typing that, and I'd be surprised if I got more than half.

i will deliver the answers tomorrow!

Other than picking HOF-level pitchers who also pitched forever, I don't really know how to approach this problem. Basing it on a list of 300-game winners is a good start:

Spahn, Seaver, Clemens, Ryan, Carlton, Randy Johnson, Maddux, Morris, Perry, Wynn, Grove, Halladay, Feller, Gibson, Pedro, Sabathia

Maddux has to be one I can't believe otherwise

From Clem's list I'm substracting Morris, Mussina and adding Pettite and Marichal. Somewhere Hubbell has to be in there somewhere.

Tom Seaver 16 NYM,CIN,CHW
Jack Morris 14 DET,MIN,TOR
Randy Johnson 14 SEA,ARI,NYY
Steve Carlton 14 PHI
Robin Roberts 13 PHI,HOU
Roger Clemens 13 BOS,TOR,NYY
Bert Blyleven 12 TEX,PIT,CLE,MIN,CAL
CC Sabathia 11 CLE,NYY
Dennis Martinez 11 BAL,MON,CLE
Walter Johnson 11 WSH
Fergie Jenkins 11 CHC,TEX,BOS
Pete Alexander 11 PHI,CHC,STL
Warren Spahn BSN,MLN
Juan Marichal 10 SFG
Roy Halladay 10 TOR,PHI
Bob Gibson 10 STL

Don Sutton, Rick Sutcliffe, Nolan Ryan, Steve Rogers, Brad Radke (!), Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Livan Hernandez and Mark Buehrle have each started nine. (Niekro went 0-7 with a 7.31 ERA in those starts.) List: http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/share.cgi?id=9KGd6

i saw one of radke's lol

For Seaver to be considered the best starter on his team for 16 years is pretty incredible

I would have been way off. Blue Jays fan will be able to tell me this: what are the chances of Buehrle entering this particular pantheon this year?

it's been dickey the last two years; could go either way, i guess

man the list of pirates opening day starters from like '94-'10

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PIT/opening.shtml

it's like a list of popes between gregory i and gregory ii, only half of them are sisinnius

dennis martinez is the most surprising name on the list, for me

he was the only one of the 16 that no one in my office guessed

i don't even know who Robin Roberts is.

'good morning america' anchor

jeezus man, he had 286 wins and I didn't even hafta look it up

Who is the only shortstop in history with 5000+ PA and less than ten stolen bases? (You know his name.)

he retired well over a decade before I was born! aside from that, his name never came up in trivia or anything else - looks like he was a fringy HOF'er. oh well... the more i know!
xpost

Led NL in WAR for pitchers every year 1950-54... Fringy!

http://joeposnanski.com/joevault/?p=116

ya - he did have a good run there – most of what he did looks like it was through sheer volume tho.

I should have had Roberts (I have his autograph on an old baseball book) and Alexander; I thought Gibson and Marichal had too short a prime, but I guess they were opening-day starters for the entire duration; Sabathia somewhat of a surprise; Martinez definitely a surprise.

Who is the only shortstop in history with 5000+ PA and less than ten stolen bases? (You know his name.)

my guess for this was close, but no cigar (15 SBs)

at least the answer knows his limitations -- some of these dudes should have run a lot less

Nomar?

nope

i read it in the new BP annual

Ah no. Nomar stole 22 bases in his rookie year alone.

Somebody from the 40's and 50's? I thought of Boudreau, but it's not him (51 SB's in his career).

Morb's hint "(You know his name.)" tells me it's either a modern player, or someone rather well known.

active!

I finally got it after ~5 or so guesses. for some reason I forgot he was a ss

my initial guess was saint cal, who was 33-for-66

What is a good filterable baseball stats site? If it's possible to home in on that answer at baseball-reference.com, I can't figure out how. Total database eejit.

took me five guesses after Morbs' latest clue.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/split_finder.cgi?type=b

i used fangraphs to find the answer (select "Career" under the "Batting Leaders" tab on the main page, click "SS" to restrict it to just SS PA's, set minimum PA's to 5000, then sort by SBs)

Jhonny Peralta was my first guess, just because i watch him play every game and can't imagine him ever stealing. but it turns out he's managed 15 successful stolen bases.

Thanking u mookie & Karl

Huh, I wouldn't have gotten that without looking it up.

I noticed Cabrera is just shy of .300/.400/.500 for his career right now, so searched out a list of players who retired with all three. Here's a Sporacle--harder than you might think. I got 17/22, with many incorrect guesses along the way. (Didn't miss anyone really obvious, though...maybe #7.)

http://www.sporcle.com/games/UnknownUser/mlb-all-time-300-400-500-club

Surprised Willie Mays isn't one of them!

I got 14. Actually only one of the ,300/3000 hit/300 hr club made the list. Those four are the firsts I went with.

Willie Mays didn't walk a ton.

corey seager is 6-for-6 with six RBIs in salt lol city today

the last player to perform such a feat in the majors was . . . barves' willie harris vs. cardinals, 7/21/07

(combined 25 runs on 36 hits in salt lake today: 5 homers, 7 doubles, 1 triple. joeks)

who is the oldest living player of your fave franchise?

(the Met is obvious yet surprising)

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/oldest-living-major-leaguers-mlb-teams-franchises-060215

each team's last walk-off grand slam:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJZqHyRWsAAWIky.png

http://www.hardballtimes.com/when-you-think-about-it-trivia-isnt-trivial-part-1

I'm part of team trivia contest every winter, and I always think at least half their (100) questions aren't trivia at all. I don't know what the exact dictionary definition, but to me, trivia and general knowledge aren't interchangeable.

https://i.imgur.com/GaP8EfK.png

(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.

I don't agree that they're pointless. Obviously, a team can be upended at any time by call-ups, but it's otherwise like any other competitive team sport - you try to win, try to beat your rivals, etc. I don't believe it's pointless to the players or to the fans of teams.

Due to a strike in mid-season, the season was divided into a first half and a second half. The division winner of the first half (denoted E1, W1) played the division winner of the second half (denoted E2, W2).

wow, I never knew about this! crazy

The Reds/Cardinals story was one of the many subplots in the split-season book I just finished. I knew about that, but what I'd forgotten was that baseball had boxed itself into a situation where, for the first time ever, it was theoretically possible that certain teams might benefit towards the end by throwing a game--either in picking their opponent for the extra playoff round, or even in determining whether or not they made the playoffs. Herzog and LaRussa were both asked by reporters if they would intentionally lose game if doing so would ensure a playoff spot, and both, without hesitation, said they would. Which of course sent Bowie Kuhn around the bend.

They scrambled around and came up with some fix that sort of worked.

I don't agree that they're pointless. Obviously, a team can be upended at any time by call-ups, but it's otherwise like any other competitive team sport - you try to win, try to beat your rivals, etc. I don't believe it's pointless to the players or to the fans of teams.

when MLB rosters expand on sept 1, most teams (well, not the mets or white sox or blue jays) call up their best triple-a and double-a players. so everyone else slides up a level to fill the vacuum, and suddenly you have minor league playoff teams whose rosters barely resemble what they were two weeks previously, let alone months earlier.

not to mention the things like josh donaldson 'rehabbing' for double-a akron in their playoffs, and the fact that school's back in and no one comes to the games -- triple-a columbus has actually let people in free for playoff games the last few years just so they might buy food.

winning is better and more fun than losing, sure, and players are obviously competitive. but team records and titles in the minors have no correlation to major league success. the point of playing in the minors is not to help the class a team win, it's to move up and help the big league team win get fucking paid

Your argument was that they are "entirely pointless," though, and I think they're clearly not, nor should they be. I understand that AAA playoff rosters can be affected even more by call-ups than a team normally is. But is there not a core of a team that generally remains? In any case, I am sure there's fun in the competition regardless and I am sure that the players enjoy that aspect of it, as do fans. There seems to be an element to your argument that minor league baseball in general is irrelevant, that the games are not "the point" of the whole enterprise, but I see no reason to put that negative slant on the whole thing and if I lived in a town with a minor league team it would be a lot more fun to root for them than not to bother.

Actually, I do live in a town with a minor league (AHL) hockey team. Players get called up and it affects things. There are pretty big rivalries between some of the teams in their division.

There seems to be an element to your argument that minor league baseball in general is irrelevant

feeling very seen lol

if fans derive pleasure from their local minor league teams winning, then that is wonderful; perhaps i am too cynical

Actually, I do live in a town with a minor league (AHL) hockey team.

The Gulls??!?!?!?! I recall sitting in the stands next to Kim Alexis, who at my 17 year old self, had never seen such a beautiful woman in such close proximity. She was very kind to us nerds!

Yes! Their biggest rival is Ontario.

By bWAR, Paul Goldschmidt has been seven times as valuable as any other #246 draft pick in baseball history. Oh, hang on. My mistake. He has been seven times as valuable as EVERY other #246 draft pick in baseball history, COMBINED. https://t.co/5vwR9t7ikt

— AZ SnakePit (@AZSnakepit) January 2, 2019

I remember we talked a bit about that two years ago, and karl malone linked to this SI piece:

http://www.si.com/mlb/strike-zone/2014/06/09/mike-piazza-keith-hernandez-albert-pujols-late-round-draft-picks

Goldschmidt's "DROP," by the way, has moved to 1964.9, which would put him 5th on the SI list, just shy of Kenny Rogers at 4th. If he puts up 4.0 WAR this year, he'd move up to 3rd. Catching Pizza for first (another 35 WAR) highly unlikely.