New sports trivia
- Thread starter unassuming
- Start date
Nick Esasky (recognized 89 season).
What happened to him after that year with Boston? Had to be some major injury.
@maurice93: The question posts for which you have provided correct answers have all been updated; reply acknowledgements to follow at my convenience. You have no 'Nopes' after Jake Peavy.
To all:
Questions in this category are intentionally of variable difficulty. I remove team and year data when, in my opinion, the answer would otherwise be insufficiently challenging for players on THIS board. If all of the questions are too easy, the first player who sees them runs the board. If they're all too hard, everyone scrolls past.
Ask yourselves these questions, when playing this category:
Why would I expect at least one of the players here to be able to correctly answer each individual question?
Why did I remove THAT information?
Tips:
Bold type means the player led the league for a season or his career in a particular stat. Do not assume that every player in this category has retired; the stats might include the current season as at the time I made the screen capture. Team information is useful both in choosing an answer, and in discounting others. Pay attention to the Awards column, when it contains any information. Rule out certain candidates based on less common noteworthy statistics like complete games, saves, and stolen bases. Look for specific seasons which are extraordinary or not consistent with the career as a whole. Low numbers of games played in a particular season. or career gaps often narrow down the list of potential choices. TOT in the team category means the total season statistics accrued from 2 or more teams.
To all:
Questions in this category are intentionally of variable difficulty. I remove team and year data when, in my opinion, the answer would otherwise be insufficiently challenging for players on THIS board. If all of the questions are too easy, the first player who sees them runs the board. If they're all too hard, everyone scrolls past.
Ask yourselves these questions, when playing this category:
Why would I expect at least one of the players here to be able to correctly answer each individual question?
Why did I remove THAT information?
Tips:
Bold type means the player led the league for a season or his career in a particular stat. Do not assume that every player in this category has retired; the stats might include the current season as at the time I made the screen capture. Team information is useful both in choosing an answer, and in discounting others. Pay attention to the Awards column, when it contains any information. Rule out certain candidates based on less common noteworthy statistics like complete games, saves, and stolen bases. Look for specific seasons which are extraordinary or not consistent with the career as a whole. Low numbers of games played in a particular season. or career gaps often narrow down the list of potential choices. TOT in the team category means the total season statistics accrued from 2 or more teams.
Esasky developed vertigo after an ear infection. Vertigo also ended Ken Dayley's career.
Coming back to a few that I did not get earlier.
Is this Dick Allen? A guess as I don't recognize these as stats from the 80s or 89 I think he won an MVP and played with many teams.
Wendel Clark.
I had this one for a while but was a hoping a Toronto Hardcore fan would get it.
I think this is Yvan Cournoyer
Going back through the open ones again, seeing if I missed something. The thing that I missed the first time was the 1973 Smythe -- so had to be on a cup winner.. so either a Hab or Bruin, and I think Habs won in 1973.
J.P Arrencebia?
Catcher with so-so stats but power, and I know you tend to Blue Jays.
A guess here -- Vic Hadfield.
The 50 goal season sticks out with the +60. And I know he wasn't as historically successful as his 2 well acclaimed linemates - Ratelle and Gilbert.
Nomar Garciaparra.
Don't know why I blanked on this one the first time -- SS, ROY, .MVP Success early, 372 AVG, fairly steep decline.
I can't speak for the 70's but I know of certain Lefties in the 80's that had a but more success when switching leagues to the NL - John Tudor, Bruce Hurst (or earlier Bill Lee with Montreal).
I liked reading Bill James but he sems like he could switch from nice guy to the surly type.
Sure it was a bit captain obvious.
MLB Teams just don't employ these types of shortstops (Marc Belanger types) anymore for anything more than a short stop gap iwithn a season as they wait for an alternative. I suspect with players becoming better athletes over time, better and better hitters can now adequately play SS. There was still a few in the 80s that lingered for a while, but was more of a thing of the 60s and 70s I believe. I know its not Marc Belanger, he won several more GG's.
OPS is not a perfect stat (as it has a few glitches), but in terms of a very simple "advanced" stat it works. and I like OPS+ because it adjusts for season/era and stadium (I think it does for stadium).
Nowadays, they have just moved on from these to much more complex stuff,
I remember there used to be a stat called Total Average -- seems like something you proposed, (although had to be different because the rates were around 1.000) The only thing I would consider changing to your formula is adding SH+SF to the numerator, but removing them as a minus from the denominator.
I remembered because I did a 3 minute speech in grade 6 or 7 on why Mats Naslund was underrated - it was in the middle of that 110 point season.
I'm sure the class was thrilled.
Guess #2 - Jake Arrieta with the Cubs - I know he was middling with the Orioles before that.
Not exactly sure if its Arrieta, but that jump in the strikeout rate at the age of 31 is unheard of. A pitcher with a career strikeout rate in the 4's per 9 inning jumping to 10.6 at the age of 31.
@maurice93: Dick Allen, Wendel Clark, Yvan Cournoyer, J.P Arrencibia, Vic Hadfield and Nomar Garciaparra are Correct! Jake Arrieta is a Nope.
You are doing a great job of following my tips. Cournoyer's Conn Smythe Trophy win, with the year, narrowed the field of potential candidates considerably. Vic Hadfield was included in this game for the very reason you mentioned - a single great season in the middle of an otherwise solid but unremarkable career. J.P Arrencibia's skill set of above average power and no other redeeming qualities puts him in a class with only a few members. There would have been no reason for me to include him in this game if he had played six seasons for the Cleveland Indians in the late 80's; I would have had no expectation that someone on this board would be capable of identifying him from the information provided. One would not expect a player with Arencibia's numbers to keep a spot on a Major League roster beyond his first season of salary arbitration eligibility.
For THAT reason, I wouldn't expect Cavan Biggio to be a Major Leaguer after 2024, unless he really turns it up a notch in the next 1.5 seasons. He might even be non-tendered after this season. His current cost, ($2.8 Million salary for 2023), is above the level of his on field performance, but not significantly. There are guys in the Jays' farm system who can reproduce Biggio's numbers for the Major League minimum.
The same applies to Sil Campusano - he would not belong in a game like this without the Jays' connection, or some other factor which would make his name worthy of inclusion in a trivia game. Every player that I post in this category is included for a valid reason.
Bill Plummer was a backup and third string catcher in the 1970's, mostly playing behind Johnny Bench. He owns two World Series rings. Here are his career stats:
Hitless for 1971 - ouch!
I'm not convinced that he would recognize them himself. I'm guessing that he spent a lot of his game day in the bullpen, and usually only played the second game of doubleheaders, garbage time at the end of blowout games, or when Bench was hurt. I would not post a question for a player like Plummer, because there's no reason for anyone on TERB to be able to recognize who he is based on career statistics. There is a fine line between Trivia and Minutiae, which @unassuming has been known to cross from time to time, particularly in TV Trivia.
Re: Good glove, no hit shortstops: This was the norm for most teams prior to the free agency era. They generally batted eighth, and tended to stay with the same club for multiple years, until late in their careers. They were less common in the American League after the Designated Hitter was introduced. They were often favorite players of the managers of that day, (as many managers from the 1970's and earlier were former good glove no hit middle infielders), who looked to win games with solid starting pitching and defense, while trying to scratch for single runs here and there.
A great defensive shortstop with no offensive skills helped win games, and didn't cost much in salary. Everybody was on one year contracts back in the day, and no one had an agent, so a guy who hit .206 for the season with nine extra base hits was more than happy to accept a $200 raise, after the team won a pennant. Gump Worsley won the Calder Trophy in 1952-53, and spent the next year in the minors for having the gumption to request a $500 salary bump.
You are doing a great job of following my tips. Cournoyer's Conn Smythe Trophy win, with the year, narrowed the field of potential candidates considerably. Vic Hadfield was included in this game for the very reason you mentioned - a single great season in the middle of an otherwise solid but unremarkable career. J.P Arrencibia's skill set of above average power and no other redeeming qualities puts him in a class with only a few members. There would have been no reason for me to include him in this game if he had played six seasons for the Cleveland Indians in the late 80's; I would have had no expectation that someone on this board would be capable of identifying him from the information provided. One would not expect a player with Arencibia's numbers to keep a spot on a Major League roster beyond his first season of salary arbitration eligibility.
For THAT reason, I wouldn't expect Cavan Biggio to be a Major Leaguer after 2024, unless he really turns it up a notch in the next 1.5 seasons. He might even be non-tendered after this season. His current cost, ($2.8 Million salary for 2023), is above the level of his on field performance, but not significantly. There are guys in the Jays' farm system who can reproduce Biggio's numbers for the Major League minimum.
The same applies to Sil Campusano - he would not belong in a game like this without the Jays' connection, or some other factor which would make his name worthy of inclusion in a trivia game. Every player that I post in this category is included for a valid reason.
Bill Plummer was a backup and third string catcher in the 1970's, mostly playing behind Johnny Bench. He owns two World Series rings. Here are his career stats:
Hitless for 1971 - ouch!
I'm not convinced that he would recognize them himself. I'm guessing that he spent a lot of his game day in the bullpen, and usually only played the second game of doubleheaders, garbage time at the end of blowout games, or when Bench was hurt. I would not post a question for a player like Plummer, because there's no reason for anyone on TERB to be able to recognize who he is based on career statistics. There is a fine line between Trivia and Minutiae, which @unassuming has been known to cross from time to time, particularly in TV Trivia.
Re: Good glove, no hit shortstops: This was the norm for most teams prior to the free agency era. They generally batted eighth, and tended to stay with the same club for multiple years, until late in their careers. They were less common in the American League after the Designated Hitter was introduced. They were often favorite players of the managers of that day, (as many managers from the 1970's and earlier were former good glove no hit middle infielders), who looked to win games with solid starting pitching and defense, while trying to scratch for single runs here and there.
A great defensive shortstop with no offensive skills helped win games, and didn't cost much in salary. Everybody was on one year contracts back in the day, and no one had an agent, so a guy who hit .206 for the season with nine extra base hits was more than happy to accept a $200 raise, after the team won a pennant. Gump Worsley won the Calder Trophy in 1952-53, and spent the next year in the minors for having the gumption to request a $500 salary bump.
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Well I do appreciate you throwing them all out there. Unfortunately it seems like its mostly a trivia contest between me and you.
Would like to share some as well, but my cutting and snipping tools are limited. Will give it a try.
I use WinSnap 3.5.5 for screen captures, and MSPaint for cropping and modifications.
I have a snipping tool for my home laptop that always freezes. It works well for my work computer, but obviously will not use that one for terb.
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What's his name?
I don't think the Blue Jays gave him a World Series ring for 1992, when he was not a September roster expansion player.
Stump.
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