I definitely know the guy, but had no idea about his managerial record.

Yeah, it was a player-manager. I don't think anyone's going to guess it, so I may as well post it: Fred Tenney with Boston (NL). He lost 103 games in 1905, 102 in 1906, 90 in 1907, then took a break when he was traded to the Giants, before coming back to Boston in 1911 and losing 107 games. Four seasons, 402 losses. A few years later, when Tenney was long gone, the 1914 Miracle Braves famously won the World Series against the Athletics.

By the way, here's a great link at b-r.com with sortable stats for every MLB manager in history:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/

Who was the first player to play in the World Series against the team he had started that very same season with?

Posted by italyprof on 3/23/2016 10:27:00 AM (view original):

First, two good quotes:

"There is no sporting event like Opening Day, with its sense of beating back the Forces of Darkness and the National Football League." - George Vecsey (writer, author "Coal Miner's Daughter" and baseball columnist for the NY Times).

"I believe that if Shoeless Joe Jackson were playing today he would have a shoe contract." - Don Mattingly


Now, three trivia questions:

Who was the last pitcher to pitch 30 complete games in a season?

Who batter holds the record for most unintentional walks?

Who stole five bases in a game without scoring a run?

"There is no sporting event like Opening Day, with its sense of beating back the Forces of Darkness and the National Football League." - George Vecsey (writer, author "Coal Miner's Daughter" and baseball columnist for the NY Times).

OK, since this is the land of the obscure, I'll add mine: My wife and I bought George Vecsey's daughter's house when she got canned from the Baltimore Sun. She, too, was a sportswriter -- however, of very little regard.

Posted by italyprof on 4/1/2016 10:54:00 AM (view original):
Who was the first player to play in the World Series against the team he had started that very same season with?

I know Bengie Molina did in 2010.

No idea if he was the first.

Posted by toddcommish on 4/1/2016 11:52:00 AM (view original):

Posted by italyprof on 4/1/2016 10:54:00 AM (view original):
Who was the first player to play in the World Series against the team he had started that very same season with?

I know Bengie Molina did in 2010.

No idea if he was the first.

He wasn't the first though. Good guess though.

But it happened decades ago for the first time.

Ok, a whole day has gone by:

the answer is Lonnie Smith in the 1985 World Series - he started the season with the Cardinals, and played against them for the Royals in the all-Missouri Series of 1985.

Some baseball oddities:

July 17, 1914 Babe Adams pitched 21 innings for Pittsburgh against the Giants without issuing a single walk. He lost the game, giving up two runs in the 21st to go down 3-1.

July 19, 1915, the Washington Senators stole 8 bases in the first inning against Cleveland.

Robin Yount's brother Larry was announced to pitch, making his major league debut in relief for Houston. Larry Yount injured his arm on the first warm up pitched, had to leave the mound and never pitched again. He is in the record books for one game, no batters faced.

On June 15, 1976, Toby Harrah of the Rangers became the only shortstop to play an entire double header without a single fielding chance.

On August 4, 1982 Joel Youngblood played a game for the Mets at Wrigley Field. He had one hit in two at-bats, and then leaves the game and is informed he has been traded to the Expos. Several hours later he enters the game against the Phillies at Veterans Stadium for the Expos as a defensive replacement and has one single in his only at-bat, going 2-3 on the day for two teams in two different cities in the same day.

On June 11, 1985 Von Hayes of the Phillies becomes the first player to hit two home runs in the first inning of a game. One was a grand slam. The Phillies beat the Mets 26-7.

In 1988 Yankees manager Billy Martin (can you believe Billy was again Yankees manager as late as 1988, what a soap opera that was !) puts rick Rhoden in as designated hitter, the first pitcher ever used as DH. Rhoden grounded to third and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in his two at-bats. Jose Cruz pinch-hit for him in the 6th inning.

July 17, 1990 the Twins got two triple plays in one game - the only time that a team has done that. They lost to the Red Sox 1-0.

July 17, 1991 (weird stuff seems to happen frequently in mid-July doesn't it?) Sam Horn, a DH for the Orioles became the first non-pitcher to strike out 6 straight times in a single game.He walked his first time up against Kansas City, struck out 6 times in a row and then doubled in the top of the 15th inning. The Orioles lost the game.


FINALLY - was this the single greatest performance by any player ever in a single game in baseball history? See if you have one that tops it:

On June 23, 1971 Rick Wise of the Phillies pitched a no-hitter and hit two home runs against the Cincinnati Reds. Greatest day by a player ever?

Who holds the record for highest ratio of career home runs to career hits?

in 1922 Ken Williams of the Browns hit 30 home runs and stole 30 bases. Who was the first AL players to accomplish this feature after Williams?

I'd guess Dave Kingman for ratio of HRs to hits.

Posted by combalt on 4/5/2016 10:58:00 AM (view original):
I'd guess Dave Kingman for ratio of HRs to hits.

Or some guy who hit one HR in four career ABs....

30/30 - Bobby Bonds?

Not Kingman, Not Bonds.

Bonds is neither the 30-30 guy (did not play in the AL in any case) nor the answer to the HR/hits ratio.

Neither is Kingman.

If you're only talking about guys with significant ABs, it's gotta be McGwire or Killebrew. I'm pretty sure that there is some SSS hitter who has a better ratio though.