04-22-2021, 03:39 PM
Ah I’m old. Traded from the Giants to the Red sox Bill Mueller hit grand slams from both sides of the plate
(04-25-2021, 11:00 AM)Mick Wrote: In the years between the Giants' arrival to San Francisco and the start of the steroid era (1993), there was only one year that baseball teams averaged more than one home run per game, and the typical average was about .75 to .80 home runs per game pre-1993. During the steroid era (roughly 1993 through 2002), average home runs per game increased from .72 in 1992 to 1.03 in 1994 and to 1.17 in 2000, tapering off to 1.04 in 2002 and 1.00 by 2008 and a post-'roids era low of 0.86 hrpg by 2014.
The dirty little not-so-secret is that team home run per game averages crept back up reaching an astounding 1.39 per game in 2019, and were still 1.28 per game through last year. What is undeniable is that during the same period, strikeouts have been skyrocketing. Pre-Sandy Koufax, strikeouts were 3.7 per team per game, then jumped to the high 5.8/5.9 range during the heydays of Koufax, Drysdale, Gibson and Marichal -- and they stayed there until the start of the same steroid era when batters began to go for broke, breaking the 6.00 K's per team/per game record in 1993, then breaking 7.00 K's per team/per game by 2010. By 2016, team averages were more than 8 strikeouts per game, and this season, for the first time, team strikeout averages are more than 9.00 per game.
When they lowered the mound in 1969 after Gibson's 1.12 ERA, it was noted that 22 pitchers had sub-2.00 ERAs. Any one of those 22 would have led the league in 86% of the prior seasons. So, something had to be done.
Today, there has been talk of lowering the mound to return some advantage to the hitters, mandating defensive alignments away from the shift and the like. So with this in mind, here's a few trivia questions:
1) In what year did baseball first introduce the pitching mound?
2) What effect did it have on number of strikeouts per game?
3) In what year did baseball move the pitching distance back to 60' 6" and what was the original distance?
4) Why are pitchers called "pitchers" and not "designated throwers" or any other term?
Bonus question: In 1927, the New York Yankees had the famed Murderers Row lineup. In how many of the major offensive categories did the Yankees lead the other American League teams? How about pitching categories?
Extra bonus question: around this same time, Ty Cobb was managing the Detroit Tigers and ran across a pitcher with a unique pitch. He advised the pitcher to get rid of the pitch and let him languish in the Detroit minor league system for a few years. He later became a Hall of Famer for another team, a pitcher that Joe DiMaggio called the toughest pitcher he'd ever faced. Who was that pitcher and what was the unique pitch?
(04-25-2021, 12:15 PM)Phogge Wrote: I thought that Joe D said that Satchel was the toughest he faced but he doesn’t fit the question.
What HOF pitcher is the only honoree with more career walks than strikeouts?
(04-25-2021, 11:00 AM)Mick Wrote: In the years between the Giants' arrival to San Francisco and the start of the steroid era (1993), there was only one year that baseball teams averaged more than one home run per game, and the typical average was about .75 to .80 home runs per game pre-1993. During the steroid era (roughly 1993 through 2002), average home runs per game increased from .72 in 1992 to 1.03 in 1994 and to 1.17 in 2000, tapering off to 1.04 in 2002 and 1.00 by 2008 and a post-'roids era low of 0.86 hrpg by 2014.
The dirty little not-so-secret is that team home run per game averages crept back up reaching an astounding 1.39 per game in 2019, and were still 1.28 per game through last year. What is undeniable is that during the same period, strikeouts have been skyrocketing. Pre-Sandy Koufax, strikeouts were 3.7 per team per game, then jumped to the high 5.8/5.9 range during the heydays of Koufax, Drysdale, Gibson and Marichal -- and they stayed there until the start of the same steroid era when batters began to go for broke, breaking the 6.00 K's per team/per game record in 1993, then breaking 7.00 K's per team/per game by 2010. By 2016, team averages were more than 8 strikeouts per game, and this season, for the first time, team strikeout averages are more than 9.00 per game.
When they lowered the mound in 1969 after Gibson's 1.12 ERA, it was noted that 22 pitchers had sub-2.00 ERAs. Any one of those 22 would have led the league in 86% of the prior seasons. So, something had to be done.
Today, there has been talk of lowering the mound to return some advantage to the hitters, mandating defensive alignments away from the shift and the like. So with this in mind, here's a few trivia questions:
1) In what year did baseball first introduce the pitching mound?
2) What effect did it have on number of strikeouts per game?
3) In what year did baseball move the pitching distance back to 60' 6" and what was the original distance?
4) Why are pitchers called "pitchers" and not "designated throwers" or any other term?
Bonus question: In 1927, the New York Yankees had the famed Murderers Row lineup. In how many of the major offensive categories did the Yankees lead the other American League teams? How about pitching categories?
Extra bonus question: around this same time, Ty Cobb was managing the Detroit Tigers and ran across a pitcher with a unique pitch. He advised the pitcher to get rid of the pitch and let him languish in the Detroit minor league system for a few years. He later became a Hall of Famer for another team, a pitcher that Joe DiMaggio called the toughest pitcher he'd ever faced. Who was that pitcher and what was the unique pitch?
(04-25-2021, 12:15 PM)Phogge Wrote: I thought that Joe D said that Satchel was the toughest he faced but he doesn’t fit the question.
What HOF pitcher is the only honoree with more career walks than strikeouts?
(04-25-2021, 03:24 PM)Phogge Wrote: Ted Lyons.
(04-25-2021, 11:00 AM)Mick Wrote: So with this in mind, here's a few trivia questions:
1) In what year did baseball first introduce the pitching mound? 1893
2) What effect did it have on number of strikeouts per game? You would figure they would increase, but strikeouts leaguewide actually declined from 5,978 to 3,342. Why? Because...
3) In what year did baseball move the pitching distance back to 60' 6" and what was the original distance? The league also moved the pitching distance back in 1893 as well. So they gave with one hand, but took away with the other. The real problem in 1892 was...
4) Why are pitchers called "pitchers" and not "designated throwers" or any other term? They were called pitchers because they originally "pitched" the balls underhand like horseshoes, which made more sense when the pitching zone was 4 feet x 5.5 feet. The pitcher had to "pitch" from the back of the box, which was 55 feet from home plate. But in 1892, the year before the change, pitchers found they could throw sidearm, get more strikeouts and get around the "underhand only" rule.
Bonus question: In 1927, the New York Yankees had the famed Murderers Row lineup. In how many of the major offensive categories did the Yankees lead the other American League teams? How about pitching categories?
Extra bonus question: around this same time, Ty Cobb was managing the Detroit Tigers and ran across a pitcher with a unique pitch. He advised the pitcher to get rid of the pitch and let him languish in the Detroit minor league system for a few years. He later became a Hall of Famer for another team, a pitcher that Joe DiMaggio called the toughest pitcher he'd ever faced. Who was that pitcher and what was the unique pitch?
(04-25-2021, 03:24 PM)Phogge Wrote: Ted Lyons.
(04-25-2021, 11:00 AM)Mick Wrote: So with this in mind, here's a few trivia questions:
1) In what year did baseball first introduce the pitching mound? 1893
2) What effect did it have on number of strikeouts per game? You would figure they would increase, but strikeouts leaguewide actually declined from 5,978 to 3,342. Why? Because...
3) In what year did baseball move the pitching distance back to 60' 6" and what was the original distance? The league also moved the pitching distance back in 1893 as well. So they gave with one hand, but took away with the other. The real problem in 1892 was...
4) Why are pitchers called "pitchers" and not "designated throwers" or any other term? They were called pitchers because they originally "pitched" the balls underhand like horseshoes, which made more sense when the pitching zone was 4 feet x 5.5 feet. The pitcher had to "pitch" from the back of the box, which was 55 feet from home plate. But in 1892, the year before the change, pitchers found they could throw sidearm, get more strikeouts and get around the "underhand only" rule.
Bonus question: In 1927, the New York Yankees had the famed Murderers Row lineup. In how many of the major offensive categories did the Yankees lead the other American League teams? How about pitching categories?
Extra bonus question: around this same time, Ty Cobb was managing the Detroit Tigers and ran across a pitcher with a unique pitch. He advised the pitcher to get rid of the pitch and let him languish in the Detroit minor league system for a few years. He later became a Hall of Famer for another team, a pitcher that Joe DiMaggio called the toughest pitcher he'd ever faced. Who was that pitcher and what was the unique pitch?
(04-27-2021, 06:56 AM)Phogge Wrote: Of these five who never hit .400?
Billy Hamilton (not the current player)
Tris Speaker
George Sisler
Ed Delehanty
Napoleon Lajoie
(04-27-2021, 06:56 AM)Phogge Wrote: Of these five who never hit .400?
Billy Hamilton (not the current player)
Tris Speaker
George Sisler
Ed Delehanty
Napoleon Lajoie
(04-27-2021, 10:02 AM)Phogge Wrote: Obvious choice is Ruth but BC is sly.
Further review... didn't Bumgarner hit two fingers on Opening Day in San Diego a few years ago?
(04-27-2021, 10:02 AM)Phogge Wrote: Obvious choice is Ruth but BC is sly.
Further review... didn't Bumgarner hit two fingers on Opening Day in San Diego a few years ago?