What do a few modern pitchers have in common with several old-time hurlers? That’s for you to consider in Quiz #1 on this World Series off day.
Quiz #2 is entirely frivolous and inspired by the Fox network when they made mention that Game #4 was the first ever in a World Series with both starters having a surname starting with the letter V. Thus, your job in Quiz #2 is to determine the starting pitchers in a World Series game whose first and last initials can combine to form the words shown. Bolded and underlined words have more than one solution. How many other words can you come up with?
| Rk | Quiz #1 | Quiz | #2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tim Lincecum | JABS | DARK | DEAD |
| 2 | Clay Buchholz | SEAS | CARE | PEAS |
| 3 | Dwight Gooden | CRAB | HEMP | BASE |
| 4 | Dutch Leonard | CLAN | CREW | DREW |
| 5 | Rube Foster | CADS | COPS | DARN |
| 6 | Iron Davis | REEK | SECT | LEND |
| 7 | Weldon Henley | SHOD | JELL | ARMS |
Congratulations to John Autin on solving Quiz #1 and to several of our readers (particularly Luis Gomez, Steve, Scary Tuna and Richard Chester) on having some fun with Quiz #2. The answer to Quiz #1 was that only the quiz players authored a no-hit game for a pennant-winning team but failed to start a game in that year’s World Series. More after the jump.
Bonus questions (and answers):
- Greg Maddux has World Series games against two opposing starters with the initials OH (giving OHMG or Oh My God! – likely what that pitcher was feeling facing Maddux). Who were these two pitchers? (Orel Hershiser, Orlando Hernandez)
- What are the only pair of World Series starters with the same initials? (Don Drysdale vs. Dick Donovan, Game 3, 1959; also (Bullet) Joe Bush vs. Jack Bentley, Game 5, 1923)
- What are the only pair of World Series starters whose initials are reversed? (Oil Can Boyd vs. Bob Ojeda, Game 3, 1986)
- What are the only three pairs of World Series starters with alliterative initials (first and last initials the same)? (Don Drysdale vs. Dick Donovan as above; Rick Reuschel vs. Mike Moore, Game 2, 1989; Slim Sallee vs. Reb Russell, Game 5, 1917)
In all, there have been 33 no-hit games by pitchers on pennant-winning teams, including these ones by our quiz players.
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tim Lincecum | 2014-06-25 | SFG | SDP | W 4-0 | SHO9, W | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Clay Buchholz | 2007-09-01 | BOS | BAL | W 10-0 | SHO9, W | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 3 | Dwight Gooden | 1996-05-14 | NYY | SEA | W 2-0 | SHO9, W | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 |
| 4 | Dutch Leonard | 1918-06-03 | BOS | DET | W 5-0 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 5 | Rube Foster | 1916-06-21 | BOS | NYY | W 2-0 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
| 6 | Iron Davis | 1914-09-09 (2) | BSN | PHI | W 7-0 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | |
| 7 | Weldon Henley | 1905-07-22 (1) | PHA | SLB | W 6-0 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 |
The final game on the list, from the 1905 season, was the only year that pitchers on both pennant winners had a no-hitter, as Henley’s feat was matched by the Giants’ Christy Mathewson.
Circumstances that led to our quiz players not getting a start in the World Series are varied.
- Lincecum – dropped from the starting rotation late in the year; used only 6 times over his team’s last 33 games, and only once (so far) in the post-season
- Buchholz – rookie debuting late in the season and not included on Boston’s post-season roster
- Gooden – a reclamation project by the Yankees after missing all of the 1995 season; was used mainly as a 5th or 6th starter during the year and not included on the post-season roster
- Leonard – left his team suddenly in mid-season to take a shipyard job and thereby become ineligible for the draft; found himself on a new team after the war ended
- Foster – used regularly throughout the season but was reportedly suffering from a tired arm, as evidenced by a rough patch in mid-September; made one relief appearance in the WS
- Davis – evidently a September call-up from which may be surmised that he wasn’t included on the post-season roster
- Henley – used regularly throughout the year in a fifth starter role; it was not only Henley who did not get a WS start but also staff ace Rube Waddell who led the AL that year in Games, Wins, Strikeouts and ERA but was passed over in favor of youngster Andy Coakley in his first season as a regular in the rotation
Here are the solutions to the WS starting pitcher initial anagrams.
- ARMS – Sal Maglie vs. Allie Reynolds, Game 4, 1951
- BASE – Ed Summers vs. Babe Adams, Game 5, 1909
- CADS – David Cone vs. Steve Avery, Game 6, 1992
- CARE – Carl Erskine vs. Allie Reynolds, Game 1, 1953
- CLAN – Charles Nagy vs. Al Leiter, Game 3, 1997
- COPS – Stubby Overmire vs. Claude Passeau, Game 3, 1945
- CRAB – Roger Clemens vs. Brian Anderson, Game 3, 2001; or Chief Bender vs. Red Ames, Game 6, 1911
- CREW – Early Wynn vs. Roger Craig, Games 1 & 4, 1959
- DARK – Dave Koslo vs. Allie Reynolds, Game 1, 1951
- DARN – Ron Darling vs. Al Nipper, Game 4, 1986; or Don Newcombe vs. Allie Reynolds, Game 1, 1949
- DEAD – Elden Auker vs. Dizzy Dean, Game 7, 1934
- DREW – Ed Reulbach vs. Doc White, Game 2, 1906
- HEMP – Howard Ehmke vs. Pat Malone, Game 5, 1929
- JABS – Joe Blanton vs. Andy Sonnanstine, Game 4, 2008; or Jaoquin Andujar vs. Bret Saberhagen, Game 3, 1985
- JELL – Eddie Lopat vs. Larry Jansen, Games 2 & 5, 1951
- LEND – Don Newcombe vs. Eddie Lopat, Game 4, 1949
- PEAS – Pete Alexander vs. Ernie Shore, Game 1, 1915
- REEK – Ed Killian vs. Ed Reulbach, Game 1, 1908
- SEAS – Scott Erickson vs. Steve Avery, Game 6, 1991
- SECT – Tom Sturdivant vs. Carl Erskine, Game 4, 1956
- SHOD – Storm Davis vs. Orel Hershiser, Games 2 & 5, 1988
