[Mick]

This is the last trivia question for me for a while.

Which pitcher gave up the most home runs in a game, how many did he give up, and what is his connection to the SF Bay Area?

The pitcher was Charlie Sweeney.  Born, raised, passed, all in the City of St. Francis; he joined the Providence Grays of the National League in 1882 and by 1884 was one of their two star pitchers, the other being "Old Hoss" Radbourn. and the St. Louis Maroons.  He spent six years in MLB, but really had two good years.  One of the years, they won what was first known as the "United States Baseball Championship" (by the New York newspapers), then known as the World Series - and the name stuck.  They played the World Series for two more years, in fact.

In this series, the New York Metropolitans of the American Association challenged the Providence Grays of the NL to a three-game post-season tournament, and they won the first two games, then decided to play the third anyway for a bit more gate revenue.  During the early part of the season, Sweeney outshone the big star Radbourn.  In fact, later in the season, Sweeney struck out 19 Boston batters to set a record that would stand for 102 years (though a few pitchers would tie it).  that gave him arm problems and he was unable to play in the World Series.

The team wasn't broken-hearted.  Sweeney tended to loose women and drinking, even during games.  He walked off the field (not his first time) during a game, and the NL kicked him out.  He then signed with the fledgling Union Association and the St. Louis Maroons.  Sweeney was just 21, but he went 24-7..  The league only existed for a year and St. Louis won the championship.

As you might imagine, his personal life was a wreck.  He killed a man in a barroom brawl in 1894, was convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to an eight year term, went to prison for four years, was pardoned by the governor, contracted tuberculosis in prison and died nine days short of his 39th birthday.  He's buried in Colma.

The trivia?  Charlie Sweeney gave up seven home runs on June 12, 1886 to the Detroit Wolverines ( team that hit 53 home runs all year), a major league baseball record that still stands. 

Some interesting links:

Sweeney stats:  https://www.baseball-reference.com/playe...ch01.shtml
Sweeney Wiki page:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Sweeney
Sweeney story:  https://affotd.com/2015/09/15/charlie-sweeney-americas-greatest-drunk-pitcher/ 

[Mick]

This is the last trivia question for me for a while.

Which pitcher gave up the most home runs in a game, how many did he give up, and what is his connection to the SF Bay Area?

The pitcher was Charlie Sweeney.  Born, raised, passed, all in the City of St. Francis; he joined the Providence Grays of the National League in 1882 and by 1884 was one of their two star pitchers, the other being "Old Hoss" Radbourn. and the St. Louis Maroons.  He spent six years in MLB, but really had two good years.  One of the years, they won what was first known as the "United States Baseball Championship" (by the New York newspapers), then known as the World Series - and the name stuck.  They played the World Series for two more years, in fact.

In this series, the New York Metropolitans of the American Association challenged the Providence Grays of the NL to a three-game post-season tournament, and they won the first two games, then decided to play the third anyway for a bit more gate revenue.  During the early part of the season, Sweeney outshone the big star Radbourn.  In fact, later in the season, Sweeney struck out 19 Boston batters to set a record that would stand for 102 years (though a few pitchers would tie it).  that gave him arm problems and he was unable to play in the World Series.

The team wasn't broken-hearted.  Sweeney tended to loose women and drinking, even during games.  He walked off the field (not his first time) during a game, and the NL kicked him out.  He then signed with the fledgling Union Association and the St. Louis Maroons.  Sweeney was just 21, but he went 24-7..  The league only existed for a year and St. Louis won the championship.

As you might imagine, his personal life was a wreck.  He killed a man in a barroom brawl in 1894, was convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to an eight year term, went to prison for four years, was pardoned by the governor, contracted tuberculosis in prison and died nine days short of his 39th birthday.  He's buried in Colma.

The trivia?  Charlie Sweeney gave up seven home runs on June 12, 1886 to the Detroit Wolverines ( team that hit 53 home runs all year), a major league baseball record that still stands. 

Some interesting links:

Sweeney stats:  https://www.baseball-reference.com/playe...ch01.shtml
Sweeney Wiki page:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Sweeney
Sweeney story:  https://affotd.com/2015/09/15/charlie-sweeney-americas-greatest-drunk-pitcher/