Tuesday Trivia: Name that amazing rookie

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Wally Berger.

Yes! Wally Berger had a monster Rookie year in 1930 when he hit .310 in addition to his 38 round trippers. His 119 RBIs set a National League Record.

The 38-homer major league rookie mark, tied by Frank Robinson in 1956, stood for 57 years until Mark McGwire hit 49 in 1987. Albert Pujols drove in 130 runs in 2001 to break Berger’s 71-year-old National League rookie RBI record. Cody Bellinger finally broke the NL Rookie HR record in 2017 with 39. Berger still shares the record for being the fastest player to hit 20 home runs (51 games), shared with Gary Sánchez and Bellinger.

Berger was a not a one-hit wonder. He averaged 28 home runs and 103 runs batted in along with a .307 batting average over the first seven years of his career He hit 34 HRs in both 1934 (when he was the starting centerfielder in the first All-Star game) and again in 1935, leading the league in the latter year. His 34 home runs in 1935 were by far the most on the Braves that year, with Babe Ruth's 6 being the second highest tally on the team in Ruth's curtain call. Berger was a career .300 hitter and is in the top 100 all-time in OPS+ at 138 tied with the likes of King Kelly, Carlos Delgado, and others.

In 1936 at age 30, Berger suffered a shoulder and hand injury that limited him to 138 games and 534 at-bats and started the decline in his productivity that would end his major-league career just four seasons later.

Berger joined the Navy in February 1942, and served until October 1945, as a baseball coach at the Naval Air Training Station in San Diego. After discharge from the Navy, he scouted for the Giants in 1947 and 1948. He also scouted for the Yankees and managed their Manchester, New Hampshire, team in the New England League in 1949.

[clydepepper]

....and whose rookie homer record did Berger break?

I had to look it up, but I'll hold off revealing until y'all get a chance.



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[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

....and whose rookie homer record did Berger break?



I had to look it up, but I'll hold off revealing until y'all get a chance.







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Gehrig?

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[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

Gehrig?

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Nope. Lou had 20 homers in his first full season (1925)

This guy had 25 in his first season.



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[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

Nope. Lou had 20 homers in his first full season (1925)

This guy had 25 in his first season.



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I'm not coming up with any good guesses for whose Rookie HR record Wally Berger broke--was thinking Bottomley or Hornsby. Any chance you could give us a clue?

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

I'm not coming up with any good guesses for whose Rookie HR record Wally Berger broke--was thinking Bottomley or Hornsby. Any chance you could give us a clue?

CLUE: This guy hit 25 taters playing in New York.

CLUE: Not very many had that many in a season before Berger, but I won't DELve into details about that.


NOT ESPECIALLY A CLUE: You don't hear his name very often.
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[Peter_Spaeth]

I thought it might be Bob Meusel based on your clue but looked it up and he hit 24 in his second season. Pretty sure it's not Lazzeri. Can't think of anyone else.

Maybe you mean Giants or Dodgers though, will think on that.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

CLUE: This guy hit 25 taters playing in New York.

CLUE: Not very many had that many in a season before Berger, but I won't DELve into details about that.


NOT ESPECIALLY A CLUE: You don't hear his name very often.
.

I had no idea what the answer was, but after doing some searching, I actually found 2 players with 25 home runs in their rookie season prior to Wally Berger hitting 38 in 1930. I am not familiar with either player. The other player I found played for Detroit.