By all means keep up the voting and discussion in the first Circle of Greats round of voting, but you can also mull the question: What feat has been accomplished in major league history only by Raul Ibanez and Tris Speaker? Clue: It has nothing to do with post-season play.
As long as we’re having easy quizes, not Doug’s kind, here’s one that I hope I’ve got my non-saberrmetric do-it by-hand research correct on:
What do the following players have in common?
Heinie Zimmerman, Tris Speaker, Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio, Johnny Mize, Hank Aaron, Andres Galleraga, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols.
Richard Chester, I know you know the answer, so here’s a plea to let someone else try first. Thanks.
#11/NSB – You must be using an older reference book, then. This is similar to Hugh Duffy “losing” his long-time Triple Crown in 1894, when Sam Thompson recently had six RBI added to his 141, to total 147 RBI to Duffy’s 145. No Triple Crown for you, Hugh Duffy! This would be an interesting article in itself, tracing how the lifetime totals of the greatest players changed: -TY COBB lost two hits, from 4,191 hits to 4,189; but his Runs increased from 2,244 to 2,246 -BABE RUTH saw his Walks increase from 2,056 to 2,062, and his RBI from 2,209… Read more »
Cobb also gained 5 stolen bases, from 892 to 897.
I was in attendance in San Diego on Aug 29, 1977 when Lou Brock stoles bases 892 and 893. There was a congratulatory ceremony and Brock was awarded second base as a souvenir. He took the field to start the following inning, then was called back to the dugout to a final ovation by an appreciative crowd. Little did we know the record would actually not be broken until almost four weeks later, on Sep 22 in Montreal.
Right. I’m old enough to prefer print, and it was the mention of Speaker in the original puzzle that got me curious to refresh my memory about his general performance, which I did using my two bedside Baseball Encyclopedias, the latest being Palmer and Thorn’s Total Baseball that goes through 1994. I actually knew that Speaker had RBI and batting titles (I thought), and when I saw that he had also led once in HR, I got to wondering about other players who had led in all three categories, but not simultaneously. What surprised me in tracking them down was… Read more »
nsb: I did not know the answer to that one.
When the 1912 season ended it appeared that Zimmerman won the triple crown. Years later it was discovered that his RBI total was overstated and accordingly reduced his total from 103 to 99. Thus Wagner was the RBI leader and Zimmerman lost his triple crown.
I’m glad you posted that quiz, it enabled me to determine that one of my reference books omitted a few players from their list of players who won all three categories without ever winning the triple.
