Comments on: Rich Gossage in . . . The Nagging Question

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 12:55:05 +0000

53. 52: That ballot settles the 25th man issue raised in 49: it's the man who kicked the whole discussion off in the first place, the Goose!

By: vockins

vockins — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:30:08 +0000

52. late to the party, sort of:

R. Henderson CF
J. Morgan 2b
L. Gehrig 1b
G.H. Ruth RF
Ba. Bonds LF
H. Wagner SS
A. Rodriguez 3b
L. Berra C

S. Koufax SP
R. Clemens SP
P. Martinez SP
B. Gibson SP
S. Paige SP

J. Bench
J. Robinson
H. Killebrew
R. Yount
H. Aaron
S. Musial

M. Rivera RP
R. Gossage RP
H. Wilhelm RP
B. Sutter RP
R. Fingers RP
J. Smoltz RP

Sort of breaking my own rule. Screw it.

By: weatherman

weatherman — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:02:06 +0000

51. So next is worst team ever right?

By: Brent is a Dodger Fan

Brent is a Dodger Fan — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:38:26 +0000

50. In a baseball sim I like for fun, I just faced off the '78 Yankees (for no good reason other than to beat up on them) against the all-time team I posted above). With Dick Tidrow giving up 7 runs in the first 1 1/3 innings, the computer manager just brought in: Rich Gossage!

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 13:52:59 +0000

49. So I tallied up the votes. If anybody still feels like adding their rosters, please do so, and I’ll recount, but as of now, here’s the consensus for the first 24 of the 25-man roster to face off against the aliens (note: I used total votes as the deciding factor, but noted the breakdown of starter versus bench-player votes each player received; the one player who benefitted from this the most is Ted Williams, who got only 2 starting votes but tied for Mays and Ruth for most votes of any player):

Starters:

Ruth, OF: 11 votes (11 starter, 0 bench)
Mays, OF: 11 votes (8 starter, 3 bench)
Williams, OF: 11 (2s, 9b)
Schmidt, 3B: 10 (9s, 1b)
Gehrig, 1B: 10 (8s, 2b)
Morgan, 2b: 9 (7s, 2b)
J. Gibson, C: 8 (8s)
Wagner, SS: 7 (6s, 1b)

Reserves:
J. Robinson, util: 7 (7b)
Bench, C: 7 (3s, 4b)
Henderson, OF: 6 (4s, 2b)
Smith, SS: 5 (4s, 1b)
Bonds, OF: 5 (4s, 1b)
Cobb, OF: 5 (2s, 3b)
Mantle, OF: 5 (2s, 3b)

Pitchers:
Koufax, 10 votes
W. Johnson, 9
Paige, 8
Grove, 7
Martinez, 7
Rivera, 7
Wilhelm, 6
Clemens, 5
B. Gibson, 5

So those are 24 guys. Fighting for the last roster spot are four hitters and two pitchers with 4 votes each: Brett (4s), Hornsby (4s), Charleston (2s, 2b), Rose (4b), Maddux, and Gossage.

My favorite in the extensive “also received votes” category is Jim Creighton, the legendary pitcher from the very earliest days of pro baseball.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 13:33:07 +0000

48. 45: Great question. I thought of the answer while drifting off to sleep, then when I got up Bob had beaten me to it. Yet another reason why I'll be sad when Hammerin' Hank is no longer at the top of the homer heap. (I think Manny's creeping up on Gehrig's record, too.) 47: I'm stumped.

By: joejoejoe

joejoejoe — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:39:40 +0000

47. I have a similar trivia question to 45 without the star power. Two players with the same first and middle name. One started his career with the Dodgers, one ended his career with the Dodgers. As a rookie, the younger man was managed by the older man. As a rookie, the older man was a teammate of the man who managed the younger man's last season. Who are the two men? clue - You can't spell the older man's last name in Welsh.

By: Bob Timmermann

Bob Timmermann — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 05:54:58 +0000

46. Henry Louis Aaron – Home runs
Henry Louis Gehrig – Grand slam home runs

By: Ennui Willie Keeler

Ennui Willie Keeler — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 02:29:52 +0000

45. I’m not sure if any of you saw this on Ken Jenning’s blog (http://www.ken-jennings.com/blog/), but he has a neat baseball trivia question:

” Consider the universe of baseball statistics. Forget about ones that are averages, and thus a player’s score can go up or down over time — batting average, ERA, slugging percentage, and the like. Focus on the ones that accumulate. Also, forget about statistics that nobody tracks, like ground rule doubles in extra innings under a full moon on astroturf. Stay with statistics that people have actually heard of.

Now consider that among such statistics there’s the concept of one category being a special case of another. If you do one, you necessarily do the other, but not vice versa (otherwise two statistics would be called “synonyms”). A perfect game is a special case of a no-hitter. A double is a special case of a hit. An at-bat is a special case of a plate appearance. A save is a special case of a game played, but a hit is not because you can have any number of hits in a game.

At last, the question. There are two statistics, one of which is a special case of the other. The career leaders in the two categories — the guys who did each the most times — are different men with the same first and middle names. Who are they?”

Someone told me the answer, so I’m ineligible.

By: Ennui Willie Keeler

Ennui Willie Keeler — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 02:16:55 +0000

44. One of these days, I’ll compile my team Josh. I’ll probably mention it in a completely unrelated thread.

Off the cuff version:

C Gibson
1b Gehrig
2b Morgan
3b Brett
SS Wagner
LF Bonds
CF Mantle
RF Ruth
DH T Williams

SP Clemens
SP Grove
SP Johnson
SP Koufax

C Elston Howard
IF Tony Phillips
OF John Lowenstein
PH Manny Mota
PH-C Smoky Burgess
PR Bert Campineras (can alo fill in everywhere)

Longman/Swingman Steamer Stanley
Situational Lefty Sparky Lyle.
RP Hoyt Wilhelm
RP Satchel Paige
RP Jim Creighton
RP Sidd Finch