Our mailbox is always full of esoteric questions from our readers. So every week, we pass along some of their most interesting queries to baseball historians who know the answers.
» Have a question? Ask the experts at BOLexperts@idealog.com! (Due to the volume of mail received, we cannot guarantee a response.)
» Are you an expert? Let us know by writing to BOLexperts@idealog.com.
CATCHERS' DOUBLE-TAG DOUBLE PLAYS (continued)
Q: Terrific! Thanks for the quick response and for using my question on your site. (See last week's Ask the Experts -- ed.) For baseball fanatics like myself this is a great discovery. But my real concern is trying to discover if that kind of double tag double play occurred for the Kansas City Athletics around '65 or '66. A teaching colleague of mine seems to remember it, but we've been unable to verify.
Can you help?
-- Steve Smith
A: I looked through all the AL games from 1963 to 1967 and could find only
one instance of a catcher getting two putouts on a play that didn't
include a strikeout. It came in the April 21, 1967, Athletics-Orioles
game. With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh,
Rick Monday of the A's hit a grounder to Orioles second baseman Davey Johnson who threw
home to Andy Etchebarren for the force. Etchebarren's throw to Boog Powell was too late to double-up Monday, but on the throw Bert Campaneris attempted to score and was thrown out, Powell to Etchebarren.
Q: Searching frantically for the answer to something I'm just curious about... I know Joe DiMaggio has the record for hitting in 56 consecutive GAMES, I want
to know who holds the record (and when and for what team) for consecutive hitting AT BATS? (In other words, who got on base the most times consecutively with a hit?)
-- Gregory
A: The major-league record for hits in consecutive at-bats is 12, shared by Pinky Higgins of the Boston Red Sox (1938) and Walt Dropo of the Detroit Tigers (1952). However, Higgins' streak included two walks (not counted as at-bats) while Dropo managed his without the benefit of a base on balls.
Nine players in the National League have managed ten hits in a row -- most recently, Bip Roberts of the Cincinnati Reds in 1992 -- but no NL player has ever matched the AL mark. All buffered their streaks with a walk or two except for Jake Gettman of the Washington Senators (1897) and Ed Konetchy of the Brooklyn Dodgers (1919).
Q: I have a bet riding on this subject. Can you provide, in order, the regular season won/loss records for all major league teams during the decade of the 1990s? I've heard that the White Sox are at #4...but I'd like to see a list to verify that. Thanks.
-- John Sabella
A: I hope your money was on the Pale Hose. Here's the breakdown of each team's won-lost records during the 1990s:
TEAM W L Pct.
Braves 925-629 59.52%
Yankees 851-702 54.80%
Indians 823-728 53.06%
White Sox 816-735 52.61%
Red Sox 814-741 52.35%
Astros 813-742 52.28%
Reds 809-746 52.03%
Rangers 807-747 51.93%
Blue Jays 801-754 51.51%
Dodgers 797-757 51.29%
Orioles 794-757 51.19%
D-Backs 165-159 50.93%
Giants 790-766 50.77%
Expos 776-777 49.97%
Pirates 774-779 49.84%
Q: I was wondering if I could get the results of the 1929 Detroit Tigers games at home versus the Cleveland Indians by date? I am interested mostly in
the date of a game won by the Tigers 5-0. Thank you for your help.
-- Andrew Halper
A: Here is the list of games played by Cleveland in Detroit in 1929, along
with the scores (visitor followed by home):
04-24 CLE @ DET 6-7
04-25 CLE @ DET 0-5 04-26 CLE @ DET 11-5
05-21 CLE @ DET 1-2
05-22 CLE @ DET 7-4
06-27 CLE @ DET 2-6
06-28 CLE @ DET 5-4
06-29 CLE @ DET 12-9
06-30 CLE @ DET 10-11
09-04 CLE @ DET 7-2
09-05 CLE @ DET 4-0
It would appear that the game of interest is the one of April 25. Here's the box score for that game:
Game of 4/25/1929 -- Cleveland at Detroit (D)
Cleveland AB R H RBI Detroit AB R H RBI
J Tavener, ss 4 0 1 0 H Rice, cf 4 1 2 0
C Lind, 2b 4 0 0 0 C Gehringer, 2b 4 1 2 1
E Averill, cf 4 0 1 0 H Heilmann, rf 3 2 1 0
J Sewell, 3b 4 0 0 0 D Alexander, 1b 3 1 1 1
E Morgan, rf 2 0 1 0 M McManus, 3b 4 0 2 3
L Fonseca, 1b 4 0 1 0 R Johnson, lf 4 0 0 0
C Jamieson, lf 3 0 2 0 E Phillips, c 4 0 1 0
L Sewell, c 4 0 0 0 H Schuble, ss 4 0 1 0
W Hudlin, p 3 0 2 0 E Yde, p 2 0 0 0
J Hodapp, ph 1 0 0 0
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
33 0 8 0 32 5 10 5
Cleveland 000 000 000 -- 0
Detroit 300 020 00x -- 5
Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO
Hudlin W (L) 8.0 10 5 3 1 0
Detroit IP H R ER BB SO
Yde E (W) 9.0 8 0 0 3 1
Game winning RBI -- none
E -- Sewell L, Yde E
DP -- Cleveland 1, Detroit 3
LOB -- Cleveland 9, Detroit 6
2B -- Alexander D
3B -- Rice H
SB -- Gehringer C 2, Heilmann H
SH -- Yde E
HBP -- by Hudlin W (Heilmann H)
WP -- Hudlin W
(The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested
parties may contact Retrosheet at 20 Sunset Rd., Newark, DE 19711.)
BALLPLAYERS | TEAMS | CHRONOLOGY | TODAY | BOOKS | NEWSLETTER | ERRATA | FAQ
