Many of us have probably been to our 20 year (or more) high school reunion. There are some people you may have stayed in touch with all those years, others may have crossed your path just a few times, but for many of your classmates it could be the first time you’ve met since high school.

It can be like that in baseball too. Except, there aren’t nearly as many on-field reunions because most players don’t stay in the game for 20 years. Even when they do, their playing time at either or both ends of their careers can make reunions with other specific players pretty unlikely. And, of course, there’s always the difficulty of being in different leagues. But, it does happen sometimes. After the break, you can take a look at pairs of players who have appeared together in games separated by 20 or more seasons. Which players do you think have had the most “reunions”?

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We haven’t had a quiz in a while. So, let’s give this one a shot.

No HOFers here. A few all-stars, some jorneymen, and maybe one or two guys you don’t recognize at all.

Some are pitchers, but most aren’t. Several played for the Dodgers, and several had careers spent with LOTS of different teams.

But, since 1919, only these players have accomplished a certain feat. That feat involves two separate events that share a common characteristic.

The players are listed after the break. What is the common link connecting all of them?

The quiz has been solved. Congratulations to Atawerdi96! These are the only players to appear in both a regular season and post-season game on their birthday.

And congratulations also to John Nacca! He got the bonus answer identifying the bolded subset of players as those having both a regular season hit and a post-season hit on their birthday.

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Blogger Paul E pointed out that Jimmy Rollins and Juan Pierre are leading the Phillies attack this year with identical batting averages, on-base percentages and slugging percentages. That unusual trifecta is, of course, usually only accomplished when a player has no walks and no extra-base hits.

After the jump, I’ll look a little more into this “phenomenon”.

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SABR Biography Project - http://sabr.org/bioproj/

In a follow-up to my inaugural piece in this vein, I’m looking at trades occurring this week (Apr 9 to 15) in baseball history.

Of course, the answer to that question is a resounding NO. How unlucky could you be with the contract that Cain just signed? But, contract aside, I want to look at pitcher luck in terms of the results achieved for the quality of work produced. In other words, the relationship between wins and losses, and earned run average.

The traditional benchmark of W-L record for evaluating starting pitchers has now been largely eclipsed by ERA. Case in point is the 2010 AL Cy Young winner, Felix Hernandez, who took the trophy with a 13-12 W-L mark. Nevertheless, W-L is obviously still a prominent statistic. I can again cite Hernandez  as a case in point – there was more than a little criticism of his Cy Young selection, based chiefly on that 13-12 record. Similar reaction attended Cain’s new deal. Even a knowledgeable blogger on this site pointed out Cain’s unremarkable career .486 W-L%, rather than his career 125 ERA+, ninth among active pitchers (min. 1000 IP), and in a tight cluster on that list with such names as CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander.

After the break, I’ll take a look at whether comparison of ERA+ and W-L% can provide clues as to whether a pitcher is lucky or unlucky.

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Richard Chester had a recent guest post concerning George McQuinn, 1st baseman in the 30s and 40s, mostly for the Browns and Yankees. That’s George on the left, with Chet Laabs, Harlond Clift and Wally Judnich, all regulars for the 1940-42 Browns. Looking at McQuinn’s career, specifically his standout 1947 season at age 38 with the World Series champion Yankees, reminded me of something Bill James wrote about in his Abstracts back in the 80s. James called it the “Last Hurrah” phenomenon when aging players, having started their inevitable decline phase, suddenly have a bounce-back year reminiscent of their younger days.

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What were the most notable baseball trades to happen on this day?

With the luxury of hindsight, it’s fun to look back and see what transactions worked out or didn’t, or maybe even changed baseball history.

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A new baseball season is upon us (at least here in North America).

To get into the swing of things, since 1918, what do these players (and only these players) have in common?

Congratulations to John Autin, who solved the quiz in (gulp!) 7 hours, 53 minutes. The quiz answer is that these 7 players are the only non-pitchers who, since 1918, have appeared in 5 or more opening day games, but never as a starter.

Opening day in North America is tomorrow, April 4th. As with last week’s opener in Japan, doesn’t seem to be a lot of build-up by MLB. To wit, tomorrow’s debut of the Marlins’ new digs will share attention with 12 pre-season games, including at least one that will likely still be in progress when the first pitch is thrown in Miami.

One of the great rites of the start of the baseball season is the naming of opening day starting pitchers. This year’s roster includes several making their first opening day start, including Brandon McCarthy, Stephen Strasburg, Tommy Hanson, Justin Masterson, Johnny Cueto, John Danks, Colby Lewis, Wandy Rodriguez, Jake Arrieta and Bruce Chen.

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You got the last quiz in less than 10 comments, so this one is tougher.

The pitchers in this quiz have done something that has happened in the AL only 13 times since 1930. That something is an event within a game.

The common thread connecting these pitchers is related to a career milestone most recently achieved in the 2011 season.

The list of pitchers is after the jump. What did these pitchers do?

The quiz has been solved in 82 minutes. The listed pitchers are those who, in an AL game since 1930, have surrendered the final career hit to a member of the 3000 hit club.

Congratulations to Topper009! And, honorable mention to stealofhome who was right on Topper’s heels.

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