Here’s a collection of hitters including All-Stars, journeymen, and even a player many might regard as obscure. But, there is a common link connecting them, a feat accomplished since 1918 only by these players. What is this feat?

Hint: the feat is in two related parts.

The quiz has been solved. Congratulations to Richard Chester and Nick Pain, who identified that these are the only players since 1918 to homer in both their first career regular season game, and also in their first career post-season game.

In a recent post about Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez joining the 500 doubles club in the same month, there was discussion about which pairs of teammates may have accumulated the most counting stats together. So, just for fun, I’ve compiled a table of prolific teammate accomplishments.

Take a look after the jump, and please let me know of any I may have missed.

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Adam Dunn is enjoying a spectacular bounce-back season from his nightmarish 2011 campaign. Presently, he is on pace for 58 HR, 132 RBI, 127 BB … and 252 Ks. He is also very likely to pass the 400 HR, 1000 RBI and 2000 K career thresholds in this, his 12th major league season.

After the jump, I’ll take a look at some similar sluggers (could be hard to find), and consider the implications of an all-or-nothing approach to hitting.

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Matt Cain recorded the first ever perfect game for the Giants’ franchise, as San Francisco bombed Houston 10-0 at AT&T Park. Cain’s 14 strikeouts tied Sandy Koufax for the most ever in a perfecto. The key defensive play came on a deep fly ball by Jordan Schafer leading off the 7th, as right-fielder Gregor Blanco made a diving catch on the warning track. The final out was recorded on a true Joaquin Arias throw from deep behind 3rd base, on a weak grounder by pinch-hitter Jason Castro.

Cain’s gem is the 9th no-hitter in Giants history, following former teammate Jonathan Sanchez who no-hit the Padres without a walk on July 10th, 2009. Earlier this season, Cain logged a one-hit 1-0 shutout against the Pirates, with opposing starter James McDonald the only Buc to reach base.

This is the second perfect game this season, following Philip Humber of the White Sox who blanked Seattle on April 21st. Two perfect games in a season has happened only twice before – in 2010 by Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay, and way back in 1880 by Lee Richmond and Monte Ward. This is also the 5th perfect game in the past 4 seasons, the most concentrated grouping of perfectos ever. In comparison, the 5 preceding perfect games occurred over 14 seasons, from 1991 to 2004.

Nyjer Morgan went 44 games to start this season, before recording his first RBI.

How unusual is that? I’ll take a look after the jump.

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Since the Mets finally got over the hump to record a no-hitter last week, the question has been “What took them so long?” After all, they have had no shortage of capable pitchers over the years, including several who had no-hitters for other teams, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, David Cone and Al Leiter among them.

But, actually, it’s a lot more than several – 16 pitchers who have played for the Mets have thrown no-hitters for another team or teams, but not for the Mets. So, why is that? After the jump, I’ll take a look at ballparks and see what (if anything) might be learned.

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HHS reader Paul E recently identified that Adam Dunn is on pace to obliterate the record for the highest season total of strikeouts and walks, believed to be Mark McGwire‘s 317 (162 BB, 155 SO) in 1998, one of only a handful of seasons above 300. Dunn, though, is currently on pace for 133 BB and 260 SO, perilously close to the 400 mark.

Strikeouts and walks are two of the TTOs (three true outcomes – HRs are the third), so named because a batter’s PA does NOT result in a batted ball being put into play (at least not so that the defense can do anything about it). McGwire’s total in 1998 for all of the TTOs was 387, a mark that Dunn, barring injury, is certainly likely to challenge, if not surpass.

But, what about the opposite end of the spectrum – which hitters have accumulated the lowest TTO totals? I’ll take a look after the jump.

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Ted Kluszewski was among the most feared NL hitters of the early and mid 1950s. In his best 4-year run from 1953 to 1956, he compiled 148 OPS+ while batting .315 with 171 HR and 464 RBI, ranking, respectively, 4th, 3rd, 1st and 2nd in the NL for those categories. 

Interestingly, though, Ted is a member of two quite different groups of hitters. After the jump, you’ll see what I mean.

Congratulations to JoshG and John Autin! JoshG identified that Ted Kluszewski is one of just 8 hitters since 1946 with a season of 30 or more HR and fewer strikeouts than HR (Kluszewski had 4 such seasons; only DiMaggio had more, with 6, including 5 in a row in 1937-41). John Autin got the second part of the quiz, identifying that Kluszewski also (probably surprisingly) is one of just 12 hitters since 1946 with a season (min. 502 PA) of 10 or fewer HR and also 25 or fewer of both strikeouts and walks. Kluszewski had such a season in 1949. Glenn Beckert and Don Mueller lead the way, each with 3 such seasons.

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I was watching a Blue Jays game the other night with Omar Vizquel starting at shortstop and Drew Hitchison starting on the mound. Vizquel, of course, is the oldest player in the AL this year, and Hutchison the second youngest, after Mike Trout. Vizquel and Hutchison also started for the Jays on April 26th (before Trout’s season debut) when Hutchison was the youngest player to appear in an AL game.

Anyway, following up from the post a few days ago on tenured teammates, I started thinking about other times when the youngest and oldest player in a league have been teammates. After the jump, I’ll take a look at this curiosity.

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I’ve given you guys some really tough quizzes in the last while, so here’s an easier one (I think).

After the jump is a list of sluggers. What distinguishes this group of players among all batters since 1901?

Congratulations to Stuart and Richard Chester! They identified that the hitters in this quiz all have at least 3 qualifying seasons with more extra-base hits than singles. Sixty-eight other hitters have one or two such seasons. All of these seasons are here.

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