WAITING FOR THE SERIES

As we all sit around awaiting the start of the Fall Classic, here are a few bits of baseball trivia that might amuse you. They are taken from “The Baseball Book Of Why,” by Dan Schlossberg. It’s a work of real baseball history (as opposed to all the books with great baseball stories that aren’t actually true).

They’re not as tough as they look. A little baseball knowledge and some logic will get you most of them. Answers at the end.

1. Why do the Yankees wear pinstripes?

2. On July 4, 1976, Phillies catcher Tim McCarver hit an apparent grand-slam homer in the 2nd inning, only to have it become a three-run single (and an out) when he passed the runner who had been on first base. Who was this well-known Phillie?

3. What pitcher holds the record for most strikeouts in an inning?

4. What non-pitcher posted career marks of 33 runs scored and 31 stolen bases, played in 105 games, and never batted?

5. With two strikes, a fouled bunt is strike three, rather than simply a foul ball. Why?

6. Who holds the record for highest career on-base percentage?

7. When a thrown ball hits an umpire, it remains a live ball. Why?



ANSWERS

1.Yankee management, after a dismal 1914 season, decided to emulate the dressed-for-success look of Wall Street bankers, so they designed a uniform with dark pinstripes on the standard home whites.

2. Garry Maddox.

3. Joe Niekro, with five. It WOULD be a knuckleballer, of course. His brother Phil is one of many pitchers who struck out four.

4. Herb Washington, the track star hired by Charlie Finley as a pinch-runner.

5. A foul bunt with two strikes was once a foul ball, but some players with good bat control could foul off a dozen pitches or more and eventually work themselves a walk. Luke Appling was especially skilled at this, and he is probably the main reason the rule was changed.

6. Ted Williams. Babe Ruth is second.

7. A thrown ball hitting an umpire was once a “do-over,” so fielders who couldn’t throw out a runner would throw the ball at the umpire instead. Umpires got tired of it.