Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
August 14, 2008
Sweet Sweepstakes
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The Cooperstown Cookie Company is offering a great prize in their sweepstakes.

Posted by StatsGuru at 04:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
May 20, 2008
Call Papi
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This sounds pretty cool. You can win a chance to tell David Ortiz where to hit a home run during the State Farm Home Run Derby before the All-Star Game. In addition, the first prize winner gets four tickets to the All-Star Game, tickets to a Broadway show, and $1000 on a gift card. Standing on the field with David Ortiz would probably be enough for most baseball fans!

Posted by StatsGuru at 06:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
August 20, 2007
Throw Out the First Pitch
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One of my freelance jobs is writing for AT&T Blue Room. They are holding three separate contests to throw out the first pitch at various ballparks. You can enter to throw out the first pitch for the Astros, Cubs or Braves. Good luck!

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
July 30, 2007
Seven Days of Underdog
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It's the final day of the Seven Days of Underdog. I'm asking one trivia question each day to celebrate the release of
Underdog cartoons on DVD. The first person to answer the question correctly in the comments and include a valid E-Mail address wins volume one of the Ultimate Underdog Collection. Today's question:

Name the Cy Young award winner with the highest career ERA.

Update: Rocksfan gets the right answer with Pat Hentgen, with a 4.32 ERA. Thanks to everyone who played!

Posted by StatsGuru at 03:44 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack (0)
July 29, 2007
Seven Days of Underdog
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It's day six of the Seven Days of Underdog. I'm asking one trivia question each day to celebrate the release of
Underdog cartoons on DVD. The first person to answer the question correctly in the comments and include a valid E-Mail address wins volume one of the Ultimate Underdog Collection. Today's question:

When Bucky Dent game up to face Mike Torrez in the seventh inning of the 1978 one game playoff, what was Bucky's career batting average against Mike (including the previous two at bats in the game)?

Update: Dave answers the question correctly. Dent was 4 for 20 against Torrez, a .200 batting average. Bucky also drew three walks for a .304 OBA. Only one of his hits was for extra bases, a triple, meaning his .300 slugging percentage was lower than his OBA. Look for the final question tomorrow.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:03 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
July 28, 2007
Seven Days of Underdog
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It's day five of the Seven Days of Underdog. I'm asking one trivia question each day to celebrate the release of
Underdog cartoons on DVD. The first person to answer the question correctly in the comments and include a valid E-Mail address wins volume one of the Ultimate Underdog Collection. Today's question:

The 2004 Boston Red Sox was the first major league baseball team to come back from three games down to win a seven game playoff series. Name the first club (team and year) to come back from two games down to win a five game playoff series.

Update: Andrew wins on his second guess. It was the 1981 Dodgers during the 1981 NLDS. In that strike year, they split the season and the winner of the first half in each division played the winner of the second half. The Dodgers defeated the Astros. In 1982, the Brewers were the first team to accomplish the feat in the ALCS, and then in 1984 the Padres came back against the Cubs, the first time it happened in the NLCS.

Posted by StatsGuru at 05:36 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
July 27, 2007
Seven Days of Underdog
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It's day four of the Seven Days of Underdog. I'm asking one trivia question each day to celebrate the release of
Underdog cartoons on DVD. The first person to answer the question correctly in the comments and include a valid E-Mail address wins volume one of the Ultimate Underdog Collection. Today's question:

Everyone knows Willie Mays was on deck when Bobby Thompson hit a walk off home run to win the 1951 pennant for the Giants. But who was on deck when Ozzie Smith hit a walk off home run in the 1985 NLCS, and what unusual feat did that player accomplish in the regular season?

Update: Ryan submits the correct answer. Tom Herr was on deck. During the 1985 season he became the first player in thirty five years to drive in 100 runs while hitting less than ten homers. Congratulations to Ryan, and look for another question on Saturday.

Posted by StatsGuru at 03:09 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
July 26, 2007
Seven Days of Underdog
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It's day three of the Seven Days of Underdog. I'm asking one trivia question each day to celebrate the release of
Underdog cartoons on DVD. The first person to answer the question correctly in the comments and include a valid E-Mail address wins volume one of the Ultimate Underdog Collection. Today's question:

It's said that pitching wins championships, and only four World Series champions had their regular season team ERA come in above league average. Of those four, which had the biggest difference from the league ERA? (Just to be clear, use AL or NL ERA, not MLB ERA.)

Update: R.J. won the DVD with his answer, the 1913 Philadelphia Athletics. Interestingly, while their ERA was above league average, their total runs allowed per game was below league average. Back then lots of runs were allowed on errors, so Philadelphia might have been a very sure handed team, or their official scorer gave away a lot of hits.

Posted by StatsGuru at 03:28 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)
July 25, 2007
Seven Days of Underdog
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It's day two of the Seven Days of Underdog. I'm asking one trivia question each day to celebrate the release of
Underdog cartoons on DVD. The first person to answer the question correctly in the comments and include a valid E-Mail address wins volume one of the Ultimate Underdog Collection. Today's question:

On Sept. 10, 1969, the Mets swept a double header from the Montreal Expos. With a Cubs loss to the Phillies, the Mets took a one game lead in the NL East and never looked back. Which Hall of Famer scored the go-ahead run that put the Mets alone in first place?

Update: Dan wins with the correct answer, Nolan Ryan. The Mets won game one of the double header 3-2 in extra innings. The tying run scored on a balk. In game two, the Expos got out to a 1-0 lead, but the Mets scored six in the third inning. Ryan reached on a fielder's choice and came around to score on a Wayne Garrett single for the second run. The Mets won the game 7-1 as Ryan pitched a complete game, striking out eleven.

Look for another trivia question tomorrow!

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:08 AM | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)
July 24, 2007
Seven Days of Underdog
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Underdog was one of my favorite cartoons growing up. To celebrate the release of the Underdog cartoons on DVD, Baseball Musings is holding a trivia contest, Seven Days of Underdog. Starting now, each day I'll post a baseball trivia question concerned with baseball underdogs. The first person to answer correctly in the comments wins volume one of the Ultimate Underdog Collection. You must leave a valid e-mail address in the comment so I can contact you to arrange shipment. Also, only one winner per household.

Here's the first question:

Only one team since the inception of the modern World Series in 1903 won the world championship despite being outscored during the regular season. Name the team and the year.

Update: Jason was the first person to get it right. Jason, congratulations, you win the Underdog DVD! The answer is the 1987 Minnesota Twins, who were outscored by 20 runs during the 1987 regular season but won the World Series 4 games to 3 over the St. Louis Cardinals. They did outscore the Cardinals 38-26.

Posted by StatsGuru at 01:21 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)