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WHO WAS TRADED FOR MAYS?
Q: I have tried without success (obviously) to find the answer to the following: Whom did the Giants receive when they sent Willie Mays to the New York Mets in 1972?
Q: Hi maybe you can help me?
I have a mint in-the-box 1948 Boston Braves autographed team ball with 26 names on it. On the box it has an address label mailed from Bill Sullivan (Boston Braves) to Miss Mary Walker, 1 Charles St. Apt 1 New York, NY. Can anyone tell me who Bill Sullivan might be?
-- JLGRUSKIN@AOL.COM
A: Bill Sullivan was the director of public relations. His department was noted for its creativity. For example, he was instrumental in producing the first color team promotional films. One of his PR accomplishments was his successful 1947 campaign to get the National League MVP for Bill Elliott.
Bill was most proud of his role in establishing the famed "Jimmy Fund," a charity seeking the cure for childhood cancer. When the Braves left Boston, the Red Sox assumed this role.
Bill Sullivan is more widely known as the founder and former owner of the Boston/New England Patriots of the AFL and later, NFL. Their stadium in Foxboro was once known as Sullivan Stadium.
Sullivan passed away a few years ago. He attended many of the Boston Braves Historical Association's annual reunions and was elected into the Boston Braves Hall of Fame for his front office contributions.
Q: In 1941, when Ted Williams hit over 400, was a base on balls treated as an at-bat? A color commentator on T.V. said it was. This meant that his batting average would have been higher.
-- williamjblack@earthlink.net
A: No -- walks have not been counted as at-bats since 1888. See our Baseball Rules Chronology for more detailed information on rules changes.
Q: What is the highest price ever paid for a piece of baseball memorabilia?
-- Jason Drab
A: Three million dollars paid for the 70th home run baseball hit by Mark McGwire. It was caught by Phil Ozersky in St. Louis and auctioned by Guernsey's Auction House in New York City. The purchaser was Todd McFarlane from Arizona.
Q: I am looking for a minor league ball player in Kansas City that played in
1906. I was wondering if there is any information on a roster in that year
for the Kansas City Blues (maybe)?
-- TPease1298@aol.com
A: I have a booklet called "Unions to Royals -- The Story of Professional
Baseball in Kansas City." It has a limited amount of player data in it
regarding the older teams. You didn't mention who your player was you were looking for in 1906 but the
booklet does have the opening day lineup. It is as follows:
C John Sullivan
1B Chris Lindsay 2B Otto Krueger
SS George McBride
3B Jimmy Burke
RF Howard Cassaday
CF Hugh Hill
LF Frank Huelsmann
P Al Egan
and the manager was James T. Burke. Those are the only guys listed in the
booklet.
-- Jerry Jackson SABR Minor League Research Committee
BOXSCORE: MAY 30, 1961
Q: Perhaps you could help me find out what happened in a double header that the Detroit Tigers played against Kansas City on Tuesday, May 30, 1961. I have kept a ticket stub of that day all of these years, so it would seem that the Tigers must have won one or both of the games. Also, I would like to know where they were in the standings at that time.
-- Suzanne Sanders
A: Here are the AL standings on morning of May 30, 1961:
Team W L T GB
Detroit 28 14 0 0
Cleveland 24 17 0 3.5
New York 21 17 1 5
Baltimore 23 19 1 5
Kansas City 17 19 0 8
Boston 17 21 0 9
Washington 21 22 0 7.5
Minnesota 19 22 0 8.5
Los Angeles 15 24 0 11.5
Chicago 15 25 0 12
And the boxscores:
Game of 5/30/1961, game 1 -- Kansas City at Detroit (D)
Kansas City AB R H RBI Detroit AB R H RBI
D Howser, ss 5 1 2 0 J Wood, 2b 4 0 1 0
J Lumpe, 2b 4 1 2 0 B Bruton, cf 3 1 0 0
L Posada, lf 5 0 4 1 A Kaline, rf 4 2 2 0
H Sullivan, 1b 4 1 1 1 R Colavito, lf 2 1 0 0
H Bauer, rf 3 0 0 0 N Cash, 1b 3 1 1 4
B Tuttle, cf 4 0 1 1 S Boros, 3b 4 0 0 0
A Carey, 3b 4 0 0 0 D Brown, c 3 0 1 1
J Pignatano, c 4 0 1 0 C Fernandez, ss 2 0 0 0
J Archer, p 2 0 1 0 D Mossi, p 2 0 0 0
B Kunkel, p 0 0 0 0 B Morton, ph 1 0 0 0
B Daley, p 0 0 0 0 B Fischer, p 0 0 0 0
L Klimchock, ph 1 0 0 0
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
36 3 12 3 28 5 5 5
Kansas City 100 001 010 -- 3
Detroit 000 000 14x -- 5
Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO
J Archer 7.1 4 3 3 3 3
B Kunkel (L)* 0.0 0 1 1 1 0
B Daley 0.2 1 1 1 0 0
Detroit IP H R ER BB SO
D Mossi 7.0 8 2 2 2 2
B Fischer (W) 2.0 4 1 1 0 1
* Pitched to 1 batter in 8th
Game winning RBI -- none
E -- Lumpe J, Tuttle B, Fernandez C
DP -- Kansas City 1, Detroit 1
LOB -- Kansas City 10, Detroit 5
2B -- Kaline A
HR -- Cash N
SB -- Sullivan H
SH -- Lumpe J, Archer J, Cash N
SF -- Brown D
T -- 2:33
A -- 0
Game of 5/30/1961, game 2 -- Kansas City at Detroit (D)
Kansas City AB R H RBI Detroit AB R H RBI
D Howser, ss 4 0 2 0 J Wood, 2b 3 1 1 0
J Lumpe, 2b 4 1 0 0 B Bruton, cf 4 1 1 0
B Boyd, 1b 5 3 3 0 A Kaline, rf 5 1 1 1
N Siebern, lf 4 2 3 5 R Colavito, lf 5 0 1 1
J Hankins, pr-cf 0 1 0 0 N Cash, 1b 2 0 0 0
L Posada, cf-lf 4 0 1 1 S Boros, 3b 1 0 0 1
M Throneberry, rf 5 1 2 0 C Fernandez, ss 2 0 0 0
A Pilarcik, rf 0 0 0 0 C Maxwell, ph 1 0 0 0
H Sullivan, c 4 1 2 1 D Brown, c 1 0 0 0
A Carey, 3b 4 0 0 0 M Roarke, c 1 0 0 0
J Walker, p 4 0 2 2 B Osborne, ph 1 0 0 0
B Kunkel, p 0 0 0 0 C Cottier, ss 1 0 1 0
P Foytack, p 1 0 0 0
B Bruce, p 0 0 0 0
J Donohue, p 1 0 0 0
B Morton, ph 1 0 0 0
B Fischer, p 0 0 0 0
O Virgil, ph 1 0 0 0
H Aguirre, p 0 0 0 0
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
38 9 15 9 31 3 5 3
Kansas City 105 200 001 -- 9
Detroit 000 000 300 -- 3
Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO
J Walker (W) 6.1 2 2 2 6 2
B Kunkel 2.2 3 1 1 1 0
Detroit IP H R ER BB SO
P Foytack (L) 2.2 7 6 6 2 3
B Bruce 0.2 4 2 2 2 0
J Donohue 3.2 2 0 0 1 4
B Fischer 1.0 1 0 0 0 0
H Aguirre 1.0 1 1 1 1 1
Game winning RBI -- none
E -- Bruton B, Lumpe J
DP -- Kansas City 1, Detroit 2
LOB -- Kansas City 8, Detroit 11
2B -- Boyd B, Bruton B, Colavito R
HR -- Siebern N 2
SB -- Howser D
SF -- Boros S
HBP -- by Walker J (Wood J) 2
WP -- Kunkel B, Aguirre H
T -- 2:55
A -- 51791
(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.)
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