Quiz – Boxscore Sleuthing (solved) |

In 2013, a particular batting feat occurred for the 11th game in the past 10 seasons, in the games shown below. Prior to 2004, this same batting feat had happened only 24 times in major-league history.

What is this unusual batting feat that has become more commonplace (relatively speaking) in recent years?

Rk	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt
1	Apr 10, 2013	LAA	OAK	L,5-11
2	Aug 12, 2011	ATL	CHC	W,10-4
3	Aug 29, 2009	CHW	NYY	L,0-10
4	Aug 4, 2009	NYM	STL	L,7-12
5	Sep 2, 2008	NYY	TBR	W,7-2
6	Jun 7, 2008	FLA	CIN	W,8-7
7	May 27, 2008	BOS	SEA	L,3-4
8	Aug 22, 2007	TOR	OAK	L,1-4
9	Jul 2, 2007	HOU	PHI	W,7-5
10	May 3, 2007	TEX	NYY	L,3-4
11	Aug 28, 2005	CIN	PIT	W,7-2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com:
Generated 12/9/2013.

Hint: 1994 is the only other season with multiple games

Congratulations to John Autin! He correctly identified that a player recorded his 1000th extra-base hit in each of these games. More on this under-appreciated milestone after the jump.

After passing 500 doubles in 2012 (and tying Joe Medwick as the youngest player to do so, right to the day!), Albert Pujols passed a related milestone in 2013 with scarcely a mention, becoming the 35th player to pass 1000 extra-base hits, the 4th youngest in age and 3rd fastest in games to reach the milestone.

Here are the members of the 1000 extra-base hit club, in order of induction. The table indicates the year each player reached 1000 and their extra-base hit and game total at the end of that season.

Rk	Player	XBH	From	To	Age	G
1	Ty Cobb	1033	1905	1925	18-38	2727
2	Tris Speaker	1053	1907	1926	19-38	2585
3	Babe Ruth	1024	1914	1929	19-34	1790
4	Rogers Hornsby	1001	1915	1933	19-37	2203
5	Lou Gehrig	1040	1923	1936	20-33	1842
6	Jimmie Foxx	1023	1925	1940	17-32	1978
7	Mel Ott	1025	1926	1944	17-35	2560
8	Stan Musial	1020	1941	1955	20-34	1988
9	Ted Williams	1048	1939	1958	20-39	2076
10	Willie Mays	1068	1951	1966	20-35	2157
11	Hank Aaron	1016	1954	1967	20-33	2119
12	Ernie Banks	1004	1953	1970	22-39	2489
13	Frank Robinson	1032	1956	1971	20-35	2329
14	Carl Yastrzemski	1025	1961	1979	21-39	2862
15	Pete Rose	1015	1963	1984	22-43	3371
16	Reggie Jackson	1013	1967	1985	21-39	2573
17	Mike Schmidt	1002	1972	1988	22-38	2362
18	George Brett	1019	1973	1991	20-38	2410
19	Dave Winfield	1008	1973	1992	21-40	2707
20	Andre Dawson	1014	1976	1994	21-39	2506
21	Eddie Murray	1003	1977	1994	21-38	2706
22	Cal Ripken	1017	1981	1999	20-38	2790
23	Barry Bonds	1014	1986	2000	21-35	2143
24	Rafael Palmeiro	1048	1986	2002	21-37	2413
25	Ken Griffey	1002	1989	2005	19-35	2125
26	Sammy Sosa	1033	1989	2007	20-38	2354
27	Craig Biggio	1014	1988	2007	22-41	2850
28	Frank Thomas	1012	1990	2007	22-39	2251
29	Manny Ramirez	1052	1993	2008	21-36	2103
30	Luis Gonzalez	1018	1990	2008	22-40	2591
31	Alex Rodriguez	1007	1994	2008	18-32	2042
32	Gary Sheffield	1003	1988	2009	19-40	2576
33	Jim Thome	1000	1991	2009	20-38	2284
34	Chipper Jones	1018	1993	2011	21-39	2387
35	Albert Pujols	1031	2001	2013	21-33	1958

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/9/2013.

0 0 votes

Article Rating

9 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Voomo Zanzibar

11 years ago

All but one include a player with at least 350 homers hitting a homer.
Many of them involve two players or more who would go on to hit 600 homers or 500 homers.
……….that’s all i got.

Author

Doug

Reply to Voomo Zanzibar

You’re correct in that the answer has to do with a career slugging feat.

oneblankspace

Is the order of teams (which is Tm, which is Opp) significant?

The White Sox had only one hit in that game, but it was a double by Thome (412th of his career). ARodriguez homered (576) for New York (A).

Reply to oneblankspace

Noting the order of the teams could help you find the answer more easily.

Editor

John Autin

The theme is 1,000th extra-base hits. But the first game on the list features Albert’s 1,001st extra-base hit, by B-R’s stats. Could there be an error on B-R? Their stats show his 1,000th was April 10, as does another online item. I did find a tweet saying April 13. Anyway, the second game features Chipper’s 1,000th XBH. The third feature’s Thome’s 1,000th XBH. These next ones are guesses: The fourth game is Sheffield, the 5th is A-Rod, the 6th is Luis Gonzalez, the 7th is Manny, the 8th is Big Hurt, the 9th is Biggio, the 10th is Sosa and… Read more »

John Nacca

Reply to John Autin

According to BBref, 35 players have reached 100 career XBH. So by taking the clue at the beginning (11 times in the past 10 seasons)…and adding the next clue (only 24 prior times), that’s gotta be it.

Too bad about Todd Helton, he retires with 998. Big Papi is 31 away. Next closest is….Alfonso Soriano (???) with 903.

Reply to John Nacca

Typo…..1000 XBH…..oooopsie.

Congratulations John,

You have it. The error on Albert’s game is mine (adding three numbers in my head, and getting it wrong).

Any idea why this is such an unknown milestone? Only 35 players have done it, yet no build-up when the event draws near. Just a mention in passing after it happens. Strange.

Aren’t you glad I didn’t use the clue of the list of pitchers who gave up the 1000th XBH?

Reply to Doug

Doug, I fully agree that 1,000 XBH is an unappreciated milestone. I feel the same way about Total Bases. How many people know that Hank Aaron is not just #1 in career Total Bases, but with a lead over #2 (Musial) that is greater than the gap from #2 to #9?