Tuesday Trivia: First 30-30 players

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by bk400

Obviously I whiffed completely on my knowledge of Wagner and Cobbs as players. I thought they had a bit more slug in their game.

Your responses contained some helpful clues. When I was a kid, the two players who visited Shea and gave me an autograph were Ozzie Smith and Dale Murphy. So they became my favorite players. I know for a fact that Dale Murphy is in the 30-30 club. I'm going with him.

As an aside, I think it is a travesty that Dale Murphy isn't in the Hall of Fame.

Yes! Dale Murphy was the 6th different player to go 30/30. In 1983 Murphy had 36 HRs and 30 steals in his 2nd consecutive MVP campaign. So it took 61 years after Ken Williams for 5 different other players to achieve the milestone. Now it happens multiple times a year.

We just need the 5th player to have a 30/30 season.

Aaron, Murphy, Gant and Acuna have all achieved 30/30 seasons for the Braves. Only one other franchise has had 4 players.

[Beercan collector]

Andre Dawson
Gotta be a 1970s slugger that could run

[bk400]

Originally Posted by Beercan collector

Andre Dawson
Gotta be a 1970s slugger that could run

Yeah, that's a great guess. Or maybe Dave Winfield?

[bk400]

As a Mets fan, I would guess them, but I can only name three members of the 30-30 club. HoJo definitely, Strawberry and Lindor. Maybe Nails did it.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by bk400

As a Mets fan, I would guess them, but I can only name three members of the 30-30 club. HoJo definitely, Strawberry and Lindor. Maybe Nails did it.

YES! The Mets are the other franchise--Howard Johnson did it 3 times ('87, '89' and '91), Strawberry once (1987), David Wright (2007) and Lindor last year and hopefully this year!

[D. Bergin]

Joe Morgan?

[cgjackson222]

Dawson is a great guess, as he stole at least 30 bases 3 times early in his career, but his power didn't really get going until a little later in his career.

Winfield is a great guess as well, but he never got to 30 steals.

Joe Morgan is another great guess, but the most HRs he had was 27.


Hint: the 5th player to have a 30/30 year, stole a lot of bases in his career, but only hit 30 HRs once. The next most he hit was 18 HRs in a season.

Also, the only time the player was an All Star was his 30/30 year.

[bk400]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Dawson is a great guess, as he stole at least 30 bases 3 times early in his career, but his power didn't really get going until a little later in his career.

Winfield is a great guess as well, but he never got to 30 steals.


Hint: the 5th player to have a 30/30 year, stole a lot of bases in his career, but only hit 30 HRs once. The next most he hit was 18 HRs in a season.

Also, the only time the player was an All Star was his 30/30 year.

How does Dave Winfield, the guy who gets drafted by the NFL, NBA, and MLB not get to 30 steals? That's shocking to me. He must have been fast.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by bk400

How does Dave Winfield, the guy who gets drafted by the NFL, NBA, and MLB not get to 30 steals? That's shocking to me. He must have been fast.

Winfield stole over 20 bases 4 times but never got to 30. I think when he was playing, power hitters (especially ones his size) weren't expected to steal bases.

[bk400]

Originally Posted by jayshum

Winfield stole over 20 bases 4 times but never got to 30. I think when he was playing, power hitters (especially ones his size) weren't expected to steal bases.

Makes sense. But I wonder whether Dave Winfield could have been the original Ohtani if the old school baseball guys back then let him.