? No. 37: A bag of baseballs

The old saying, "Let's trade him for a bag of baseballs" is given credence by a certain Oakland A's minor league prospect, who in 1983 was dealt to the Tigers for $100 ... and a bag of baseballs. This left-handed pitcher eventually made the majors and enjoyed a brief career as a reliever, spending most of his days with the Padres and Mariners in the late-'80s. Who is he?

Yesterday's Answer: Welcome back Listmaker. You are correct, Glenallen Hill it is!

? No. 31: From one rival to the other

Here's an easier question -- maybe -- at the request of Mr. Gerard. The Cards-Cubs rivalry gets stirred up again today with a four-game series at Wrigley. There's plenty at stake as these two teams jockey for position in the pathetic Central. It's quite possible that either the Cubs or the Cards -- thought to be nearly out of it by their fan base as recently as two weeks ago -- could end the series in first place. Unfortunately, the Cards won't get a shot at Jason Marquis, a former Cardinal hurler (emphasis on HURL), as Marquis took the mound on Thursday. Marquis is one of many former and current major leaguers to have played for both the Cards and the Cubs. Lou Brock is, of course, probably the most famous. See if you can name five that have played for both the Cubs and the Cards since the year 1980. (Marquis doesn't count!) If you're having a hard time thinking of 'em, relax, it'll come to you: By my count, there's at least 49! (Bonus if you can name five, like Marquis, that went directly from the Cards to the Cubs -- or vice versa -- via trade or free agency.) Remember, since 1980.

Yesterday's Answer: The four 30-homer guys for the '77 Dodgers were: Steve Garvey (33), Reggie Smith (32), Dusty Baker (30), and Ron Cey (30). (Rick Monday was also a good guess, as he hit 32 in the previous year for the Cubs. But he just 15 that year for the Dodgers.) L.A. out-homered its opponents that year by a margin of 191-119.

? No. 21: First baseman to the rescue

The Braves made the biggest splash at the trade deadline this year when they landed first baseman Mark Teixeira, who only has 13 home runs so far this year but sports a .524 slugging percentage that is around his career average. Still, Teixeira will need to pick it up if he's going to approach his career-best .575 slugging percentage from 2005.

Eleven years ago, another slugging first baseman traded teams at the July 31 deadline, landing with the Yankees, who at the time held a 10 game lead over the Orioles but would need all the help they could get down the stretch. Ruben Sierra was the player he was traded for in this 1996 deal. I'm not specifying which team he came from (or Sierra went to), because it makes the question too easy. This first baseman hit a whole lot of bombs in the '90s, pacing the majors in home runs two straight years. He stuck around in a Yankees uniform for only one-and-a-half seasons, and was out of baseball altogether by 1999. Who was he?

Yesterday's Answer: Apparently I stumped all two of you: The answer is John Halama, who was 26 when the Mariners acquired him. At his best, he was a league-average hurler. After going 41-31 in four seasons for some pretty darn good Mariners teams, Halama bounced from Oakland to Tampa Bay to Boston to Washington to Baltimore, and hasn't made a big-league start since 2006.

? No. 20: July 31st trade deadline blues

For as much hype as the trade deadline receives, teams rarely deal big-name players anymore in the month of July. That's especially true on July 31, the final day to deal before a player must clear waivers. For every Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs as part of a four-team deal (in 2004), there are twenty variations on the Shawon Dunston-for-Craig Paquette theme. The last truly jaw-dropping July 31st trade we had came in 1998, when the Mariners dealt Randy Johnson to the Astros in exchange for a batch of top prospects. Two of those prospects were destined to be All-Stars: Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen. The third, however, was not. He was the "player to be named later" in the deal, and spent four seasons in Seattle before bouncing around the rest of his career. Who is he?

Yesterday's Answer: I love my old copies of Who's Who in Baseball, the annual with the cover design that never changes. It's one of the few quick references available if I'm looking for minor league career stats for major league players. It tells me, and the internet verifies, that Sosa has hit 35 dingers in the minors, and that A-Rod has him beat by one, with 36. In 1994, Rodriguez hit a combined 21 in single- and double-A before getting a cup of coffee. He returned to triple-A the next year and hit another 15 before finally sticking with Seattle. Sosa, by contrast, spent part or all of four seasons in the minors before finally sticking with the White Sox in 1990. Griffey hit 27 minor league bombs in his two seasons in single- and double-A at ages 17 and 18. Thomas hit 23 in single- and double-A, and much later in his career hit another in 2005. Bonds hit just 20 — 13 in A-ball and then 7 the following year in triple-A.

? No. 5: Trade happy

All this talk of the White Sox trading Mark Buehrle has my interest peaked, mostly because the Cardinals are one of the discussed suitors. That's been long rumored, as Buehrle has openly discussed his desire to play in St. Louis, having grown up a Cardinals fan. A big part of me wants him; he's having a very solid year and would give me one reason to get excited to watch the Redbirds once every five games. (I need all the reasons I can get. This team is hard to watch.) But a bigger part of me wants him to go to a big-spending team like the Red Sox, eat up 50-some million dollars of their payroll over the next four years, and trend downward. In that scenario, the Cardinals become sellers — not buyers — this July and actually attempt to lure some cheap, decent talent to the Lou. Anyone remember the last veteran, "proven winner" lefty the Cards traded for? Mark Mulder. And who did we give up to get him? Dan Haren. Ouch.

Which brings me to today's question. Name this starting pitcher: He was first traded in June of 1976 from the Twins to the Rangers. The following winter the Rangers dealt him in a four-team trade that has to be one of the most massive deals in MLB history — at least from a personnel standpoint. In a ten-person trade, the Rangers shipped him to the Pirates. In 1980 he was then traded to the Indians, who traded him five seasons later back to the Twins to complete the circle. Finally, in 1988, he was traded to the Angles. Final clue: he's given up more home runs, 50, in a single season than any other starter.

Yesterday's Answer: The seven active players who have hit more home runs than Gary Sheffield's 475 are Barry Bonds (751), Sammy Sosa (602), Ken Griffey Jr. (586), Frank Thomas (501), Alex Rodriguez (493), Manny Ramirez (481), and the most difficult one to figure out, Jim Thome (485). Of those guys, the only player in addition to Sheffield to have never won a home run crown is Thomas.