May 21, 2005

In the Batter's Box

with Eric LeBlanc

Trivial Trivia

If you know me personally, you know that I am a trivia buff. And with baseball, I love obscure facts and little known statistics. I am a regular reader of ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark’s “Useless Information” column. So, I decided to do a little research and discover a few little interesting facts of my own. Here they are. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Did you know that...

• Bruce and Roy Hitt posted a grand total of 10 hits in their major league careers while John Misse had 60 in his one-year career.

• Last year, Dodgers' third baseman Adrian Beltre hit more homers (48) than every major leaguer ever to have the name "Homer" combined (46).

• Washington Senators first baseman Joe Judge was caught stealing 71 more times in his career than Detroit Tigers outfielder Jimmy Outlaw.

• California Angels pitcher Phil Leftwich was right-handed.

• The Cincinnati Reds' Double Joe Dwyer never hit a double in his career.

• Pitcher Bill Champion never played on a winning team in his eight-year major league career.

• St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Speed Walker did neither steal a base nor walk in his major league career.

• Phillies pitcher Chris Short was 6 feet, 4 inches tall.

• Current Seattle Mariners infielder Pokey Reese has 144 career stolen bases while Washington Senators shortstop Hal Quick had one in his entire career.

• Star Trek fans will appreciate that Kirk Gibson and Scotty Fletcher played together for the 1995 Detroit Tigers.

• Seinfeld fans will appreciate that Jack Kramer, Jerry Witte and George Bradley all played together for the 1946 St. Louis Browns.

• Reds and Angels' pitcher Robert "Bob" Lee had more career victories (25) than the Brooklyn Superbas' Ulysses Grant Thatcher (4).

• Cincinnati Reds pitcher Henry Fournier started four games in his career. Chicago White Sox pitcher Cy Twombly lost two games in his one-year career. And the Washington Nationals' Fred Tenney allowed 10 earned runs in his one-year career.

• In his 14-year major league career, pitcher Bob Walk never led his team in walks issued.

• Pitcher Dick Hall and catcher Johnny Oates both played for the 1970 Baltimore Orioles.

• Gene Good batted .151 in his career while Tom Poorman batted .244.

• Les Backman had more wins (3) than Forrest More (1) for the 1909 St. Louis Cardinals.

• Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brian Givens was the stingiest starting pitcher on the 1995 Brewers staff, giving up only 58 earned runs.

• The Chicago Cubs left 1,178 games to chance from 1905 to 1912 as Frank Chance was their manager.

• Tigers outfielder Henry Bashang and Phillies outfielder Walt Bashore never bashed any home runs in their careers.

• Second baseman Mike Tyson and pitcher Scipio Spinks both played for the 1972 St. Louis Cardinals.

• First baseman Chicken Hawks and second baseman Bernie Friberg both played for the 1925 Philadelphia Phillies. Even more delicious was the fact that Chicken Hawks also played with third baseman Frank Baker, shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh and outfielder Chick Fewester for the 1921 New York Yankees.

• And finally, infielder / outfielder Piggy Ward went wee, wee, wee all the way home 172 times in his career.

While doing research for this column, I was watching Sports Center and noticed that there are a lot of players getting injured this season, and it seems like more than normal. It seems like more bones are breaking, tendons are tearing and muscles are pulling than in recent years. Could it be steroid related? I’ll take a look at that in next week’s column. Until then, if you have any other little known facts, send them in and we just might print them.

Eric LeBlanc has lots of little known facts in his mind. It’s just getting them out that’s the problem. He can be trivialized at (985) 758-2795 or by e-mail at EricL@heraldguide.com.