Tuesday Trivia: Oldies but Goodies

[Butch7999]

The Splinter?

ed.: Just checked, and... nope, not even close...

[BobbyStrawberry]

Cap Anson?

[Mark17]

Keeler?

Never mind, he didn't play that long.

[cgjackson222]

Clue #1: He started out as a pitcher, and in his second major league outing, got the Detroit Tigers out in order in two innings of relief. According to the Washington Post, “He got Ty Cobb on a sickly fly to left, fanned Sam Crawford and Bobby Veach, and caused George Burns to foul out. Any time a pitcher can dispose of this quartet so easily, he must have something other than a glove and a pleasant smile.”

[BobbyStrawberry]

Wow, he beat out Anson by four percentage points!

(I wouldn't have guessed it)

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Wow, he beat out Anson by four percentage points!

(I wouldn't have guessed it)

Yeah, Anson was a really good guess. Anson dominates the counting stats (total runs, hits, doubles, RBIs, BBs etc) for players in their 40s , since he played through when he was 45 and had the most At Bats/Plate Appearances, but Anson does not lead many of the rate statistics.

[cgjackson222]

Clue #2 He still shares the all-time American League record (with Joe Jackson) for most consecutive multi-hit games, 11, which he accomplished during the 1925 season. Also in 1925, his 182 singles set an AL record, which lasted until Willie Wilson broke it 1980 with 184.

[cgjackson222]

Clue # 3 In addition to his regular season exploits in 1925, he had some postseason ones as well. His 12 hits (all singles) in the 1925 World Series tied a record that was not surpassed until 1964, when Bobby Richardson of the Yankees managed a 13-hit series (a record since tied by Lou Brock in 1968 and Marty Barrett in 1986).

He made a spectacular and disputed catch in Game 3 of the 1925 World Series, when he jumped for a long fly ball by Earl Smith, fell into the stands and disappeared from view, re-emerging with the ball in his glove some 15 seconds later. The umpires called Smith out, to much controversy, and for years he would only state that "the umpire said I caught it" when asked if he had made the catch. It was one of the most famous plays in World Series history, and his silence helped to fuel the mystique around it. He signed an affidavit (opened after his death) that stated “At no time did I lose possession of the ball.”