This is a different sort of quiz, to recognize unusual accomplishments in  2012, many of which have probably not been remarked upon. Until now.

After the jump, you’ll see a table of batters and a table of pitchers. For both the batters and the pitchers, the table contains two lists, one of active players and one of players retired for at least 25 years. Your job is to match the active batters to the retired batters, and the active pitchers to the retired pitchers.

So, how do you match up the players? Pretty simple, really. All you need to know is that each active player accomplished a season or career feat in 2012 that had not been accomplished since one of the retired players did the same thing.

Thanks to everyone for playing the game. I admit this was pretty tough. The solution is after the jump.

So, in summary, you need to:

• Find something unusual that each active player did in 2012
• Find the matching retired player who was the last player to do the same thing

Here are the pitchers.

And, the batters.

Hint: it may be easier to first guess the players that are matched, and then figure out the accomplishment that connects them.

So, what were these unusual pitching accomplishments in 2012?

• Brian Duensing compiled a now fairly unusual swingman season for the Twins, only the eighth season (and Duensing’s second) in the past 10 years of 10+ starts and 40+ relief appearances. What distinguished this season was Duensing’s lack of success in his role, becoming the first pitcher since Mike Caldwell in 1976 to have 40+ relief outings and 100+ IP with better than 2.5 SO/BB, yet falling short of an 80 ERA+ score.
• Kyle Lohse compiled his first qualifying season with an .800 winning percentage, leading the majors in that category. Among all pitchers with a losing career record in 200+ decisions during the 1901 to 2011 period, Lohse joined Bobo Newsom as the only hurlers in this group with an .800 season on their resumes (Newsom went 21-5 in 1940 to lead the Tigers to the AL title). Now that Lohse has a career winning record, Newsom again stands alone in this regard (for now, at least).
• Gio Gonzalez recorded his first 20 win season, and in fewer than 200 IP, despite allowing over 75 walks, becoming the first such pitcher since Bob Grim in 1954. Jered Weaver also had his first 20 win season in 2012, becoming the first pitcher to do so in fewer than 190 innings.
• Yu Darvish had an impressive first season in 2012, becoming only the fourth pitcher in an inaugural season with over 200 strikeouts despite a BB/9 over 4, and the first since Herb Score in 1955 to do that without committing a balk.
• Felix Hernandez authored the third perfect game of 2012 (a first), the second in his home ballpark (a first), and did so in the month of August (a first). But, for the 7th time in 8 seasons, Hernandez also compiled over 2.5 WAR with 80 or fewer walks, a mark only Walter Johnson can match through his age 26 season.
• As many have already noted, Cliff Lee had a hard-luck season in that he was his customary dominant self but struggled to notch many Ws. Despite a league-leading SO/BB ratio (his 4th time in 5 years with a mark above 5), Lee could manage only a 6-9 W-L record and had to finish strong (4-2 over his last 8 starts) to reach that. In fact, the last pitcher having 200+ strikeouts and 75 or less walks, but with a W-L% of .400 or worse, was Ray Sadecki  who doubled Lee’s totals with a 12-18 mark for the the 1968 Giants. The only other pitcher to do this fared even worse – Turk Farrell of the expansion 1962 Colt .45s went 10-20 for that hapless crew, the last 20 game loser with an ERA+ of 120 or better.

And, 2012’s unusual hitting feats.

• Jose Reyes was playing for a new team, but was his usual self on the basepaths, notching his 7th season of 30 stolen bases and 10 triples, the most since Max Carey had 8 such seasons, the last in 1927. Even without the stolen bases, Reyes’s 7 seasons of 10+ triples are the most since Roberto Clemente did this 9 times, the last in 1970.
• Mike Trout began the season in the minors, but that didn’t stop him from compiling over 10 WAR in 2012, the first player to do that in less than 140 games since Rogers Hornsby‘s MVP season in 1925.
• Miguel Cabrera earned the first triple crown in 45 years and did so with a league-leading total of 377 total bases, his 8th consecutive season with 325, a mark last achieved by Willie Mays with 9 straight years from 1957 to 1965. With 322 TB in 1956, Mays was just those 3 bases short of 12 straight seasons at this level.
• Dan Uggla had a rough year in 2012, finishing with just a .220 average and only 19 home runs, levels he achieved only with a relatively strong .278 BA over his final 30 games. Despite those modest totals, the crafty Uggla still managed to induce more than 90 walks from pitchers, the first time since Eddie Lake in 1947 that a hitter has had 90+ walks and more hits, despite a BA of .225 or less and fewer than 20 HRs.
• Ichiro Suzuki recorded his 12th straight season of 175 hits, doing so in a year in which he changed clubs for the first time, joining career Yankee Derek Jeter in the midst of a 200 hit season, his 15th time reaching the 175 mark. Ichiro’s experience mirrors that of George Sisler, with whom Ichiro is already linked, having broken Sisler’s long-standing single season hit record in 2004. Sisler recorded his 11th season of 175 hits in 1928, a year in which he briefly joined career Senator Sam Rice who, like Jeter, was compiling a 200 hit season, his 11th at the 175 level. Those are the only two times a player with 10 or more seasons of 175 hits has joined a team with another such player. Interestingly, another player with 10 seasons of 175 hits, also all with his original club, also changed teams in 2012 – alas, a slow start left Albert Pujols just two hits shy of his 11th season at the 175 level.
• Speaking of Albert Pujols, despite that slow start in Anaheim, Albert still managed to hit the 30 HR, 50 double and 100 RBI milestones, becoming the first player since Stan Musial in 1953 to hit all 3 marks in his age 32 season or later. Pujols was also the first player since Musial with 3 seasons of 50 doubles and 90 RBI, and the first player ever with 3 seasons of 50 doubles and 100 RBI.

So, now you know the rest of the story of 2012.