April 2015 All Things Baseball Contest..winners

2.I was the third baseman for Connie Mack’s famed “$100,000 Infield” of the early 1900s, and I had a very powerful nickname.

Frank “Home Run” Baker

Seventh inning stretch

Don Baylor played in three straight World Series for three different teams... the Red Sox in 1986, the Twins in 1987 and the Athletics in 1988

In his very first at bat as a 28-year-old rookie pitcher, Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm hit a home run. His career lasted for 21 more years and 493 plate appearances, but he never hit another home run.

monkey in the middle

FACT: Bobby $Richardson won the World Series MVP for a losing team.
He played for the Yankees in the historic 1960 World Series. Coming off a down year the Yankees chewed up the league, and going into the World Series against the Pirates, people had already given the Yanks another title.

It was not meant to be, as we all know the script: Bill Mazeroski hit a home run to win it for the Pirates and pull off a major upset. Richardson stole the show, however, batting .367, driving in 12 and hitting a grand slam.

Richardson is the only player ever to win the MVP award while playing for the losing team.

catcher gear

In 1904, James E. Bennett patented a new proposal for catcher’s apparatus that would replace the glove and helmet altogether with big wire cage through which the pitched ball would pass through, hitting a padded mattress on the chest. It didn’t catch on.

Debuting in 1962, Gaylord Perry played in an era where pitchers weren't only expected to pitch but hit as well.
Talking to reporters over his pitcher's inability to hit, San Francisco Giants manager Alvin Dark joked "They'll put a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run."
During a game on July 20, 1969, a mere 20 minutes after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Perry stepped up to bat and hit his first career home run.

Triple Play

On field brawls

foul ball

Johnny Bench could hold seven baseballs in one hand.

home run

Pie Traynor