To honor the late AL All-Star and MVP, here’s a quiz identifying some of Baylor’s contemporaries, all of them All-Stars. This group also shares the distinction of being the only players to bat against a certain pair of pitchers, also both All-Stars. Who are those two moundsmen?
1. Ken Griffey, Sr.
2. George Brett
3. Dave Winfield
4. Dwight Evans
5. Claudell Washington
6. Bob Boone
7. Darrell Evans
8. Larry Parrish
9. Don Baylor
10. Bill Buckner
11. Jose Cruz
12. Keith Hernandez
Hint: the two pitchers, both tall and lanky, were not contemporaries of each other
The first pitcher had to be active in 1974 and the second pitcher had to be active in 1988. Looks like there has to be a large gap between the end of the first pitcher’s career and the start of the second pitcher’s career. There have been 110 All-Star pitchers from 1974-1988. That’s as far as I have gotten so far. And I don’t know how tall a person has to be to be called tall.
The latter pitcher also has to be an AL pitcher, being before interleague play and some career ALers on the list. Unless of course the playoffs count.
None of these players faced either of the pitchers in the post-season, or in the All-Star Game.
Both of these guys were unusually tall, and would still be considered so today.
Randy Johnson (the famous one). Can’t think of the other P.
Baylor and Cruz never batted against Johnson.
I have Bobby Thigpen (1986-1994) and Ron Reed (1966-1984) as having faced all of the listed All-Stars at least once and meeting my definition and remembrance as “lanky”.
Yes, but there were a lot of other batters (149 in all) who also faced these two pitchers.
To get a small list of common batters as in our quiz players, you want to look for: (1) a pitcher whose career was winding down when the quiz players were starting out; and (2) a pitcher whose career was starting up when the quiz players were winding down.
John Candelaria
Not Candelaria.
See my hint above about the career spans for the two pitchers.
Jack McDowell
McDowell is one of the pitchers.
Tim Stoddard
Nevermind, not an all-star.
Jerry Reuss
Jack McDowell was starting his career about the time the quiz players were winding down.
So, for the second pitcher, should be looking for a pitcher who was winding down his career about the time that the quiz players were starting theirs.
Weird – it’s Sam McDowell, isn’t it?
Sudden Sam is correct.