? No. 32: Avoiding the dreaded GIDP

Jayson Stark recently reported that Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson could be the first American League player since the division-play era to make it through an entire 162 game season without grounding out into a double play. If Granderson continues his current pace, he would have the most at-bats (627) -- regardless of league -- without a GIDP since GIDP became an official stat in 1939. Take a wild guess as to whose record would he be breaking?

A) Rafael Furcal
B) Craig Biggio
C) Kenny Lofton
D) Corey Patterson

Yesterday's Answer: Here's the (complete?) list of players to have played for both the Cards and Cubs since 1980. The asterisk denotes that the player transitioned directly from one team to the other via trade or free agency.

Bruce Sutter*, Dennis Eckersley, Leon Durham*, Ken Reitz*, Lary Sorensen, Chris Speier, Ivan DeJesus, Bill Campbell, Pat Perry, Steve Lake*, Ray Burris, Lance Johnson, Todd Zeile*, Frank DiPino*, Bob Tewksbury*, Jamie Moyer, Lee Smith, Mark Clark, Mike Perez, Donovan Osborne, Hector Villanueva*, Les Lancaster, Paul Kilgus, Erik Pappas, John Mabry*, Rick Sutcliffe, Danny Jackson, Mike Morgan*, Tony Fossas, Alan Benes*, Gary Gaetti*, Mike Difelice, Delino DeShields, Manny Aybar, Kent Mercker, Kent Bottenfield*, Shawon Dunston, Heathcliff Slocumb, Rick Wilkins, Dave Veres*, Miguel Cairo*, Jeff Fassero*, Joe Girardi*, Tony Womack, Ray King, Julian Tavarez, Mark Grudzielanek*, Jose Vizcaino, Todd Wellemeyer.

? 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. 30: Bombers in Blue

I'm currently reading The Bronx Is Burning, which is all about NYC circa 1977. Of course, the Yankees play a big role in that story, as does racial tensions, the city's near-bankruptcy, the mayoral race, and a certain serial killer. At work, I am supposed to be editing a book right now on the team the Yankees played that year in the Series, the Dodgers. This book was to focus on L.A.'s vaunted infield of Garvey, Lopes, Cey, and Russell. But one of those four wouldn't agree to be interviewed for the project, so we shelved the book. Looking at that great Dodger team of 1977, which featured a steady veteran rotation and an explosive offense, one thing stands out statistically: They had four guys hit 30 or more home runs. Who were they?

Yesterday's Answer: Not Nellie Fox, who died in 1975. It's former Red Sox 2-bagger Bobby Doerr, who is 89. Lee MacPhail is the oldest member of the Hall. He's also 89 but has Doerr beat by six months or so. In the on-deck circle for players is 88 year-old Bob Feller.

? No. 29: The oldest living legend

The oldest living Hall of Famer is now dead: The Scooter, Phil Rizzuto, passed away at the age of 89. Rizzuto makes the case for the disbandment (or at least the reconstruction) of the Veterans Committee, who continue to allow players with suspect Hall of Fame credentials entrance into the Big Hall, while barring others who are more deserving. Rizzuto benefited mightily from his team's success: The fact that the Yankees won nine World Series titles during Rizzuto's career undoubtedly raised his profile considerably. How else can you explain a guy with a career .706 OPS gaining entrance? Rizzuto, a shortstop, is often credited as having played the game the right way, i.e. he was fundamentally sound and did a lot of the "little things" that don't always show up in the box score, like sacrifice hit and bunt. He is also noted as having gotten the most out of his talent, i.e. he was a short, skinny man. So does that mean David Eckstein belongs in the Hall, too?

I don't mean to be too harsh on the guy on the day that he died. So lets change gears. With Rizzuto's passing, who is now the oldest living Hall of Fame player? A few clues: He was also inducted by the Veterans Committee, was Rizzuto's peer, and was also a middle infielder who played his entire career for one AL team. No peeking, just guess.

Yesterday's Answer: Congrats to Jason for deducing Mr. Eddie Murray as the correct answer. Steady Eddie was recently let go by the Dodgers.

? No. 28: Name that player on unemployment

Only two players pop up on the following Top 10 lists for career numbers: intentional walks, sacrifice flies, RBIs, total bases, and ground into double plays. One is Hank Aaron. Who is the other? A couple clues: This player never hit more than 33 homers in a season, and he was recently fired.

Yesterday's Answer: Ankiel hit two home runs on Saturday, and in doing so equaled the total number of homers he had hit as a pitcher. He's got 3 now as a MLB position player versus 2 as a pitcher.

? No. 27: Ankiel goes yard!

Tonight Rick Ankiel gets his first cup of coffee as a major league outfielder. I'm following the game on the internet as it's blacked out on TV. Ankiel is currently 0-for-3 with 2 strikeouts, but then again he is facing Chris Young, the man with an ERA under 2.00. I saw Ankiel make his second big-league start, his first at home. It was two days after my birthday in 1999, and a friend and I drove down for the day game and purchased scalped tickets. We ended up spending a little extra for great seats on the lower level, about 30 rows back of home plate. I still vividly recall Ankiel's high striped socks and spectacular curve ball. He didn't pitch particularly well that day -- five hits and five walks in six innings -- but allowed just two runs. The Cards dropped the game, though. Some guy named Smoltz was throwing for the Braves that day.

I was back at Busch just over a year later when the eventual Rookie of the Year took the mound as the surprise starter for Game 1 of the NLDS against the Braves. Much different ballgame for Ankiel that day, as that's when his implosion began. I don't recall nearly as much about that particular day, in part because it all happened so fast (those pitches sure did fly to the backstop in the blink of an eye) and because ultimately the Cards knocked around Greg Maddux and won that game ... so I left Busch with a happy feeling. At that point, we didn't know that we had just witnessed a pitcher permanently unravel. In that fateful game, the wild pitches started in the third inning. The amazing thing is that even after he had obviously lost his control, he still managed to strike Chipper Jones out.

Fast forward nearly seven years, and Ankiel gets the call-up from the Pacific Coast League, where he was leading the league in round trippers with 32. If he would have stayed down there a bit longer, he may have earned his second Player of the Year award from Baseball America. (The first came as a pitcher in 1999, so how cool would that have been?) My question is: How many home runs did Ankiel hit in his big-league career prior to today? In other words, how many dingers did he hit as a pitcher in 96 plate appearances?

(Holy fuck! I kid you not ... while typing this question Ankiel went yard tonight! How can you not root for this kid?)

Yesterday's Answer: Lefty Grove is the correct answer. Old Lefty has 55 career saves. The Big Train is in second with 34. Niekro and Spahn both have 29. Lefty, who won precisely 300 games, split his career between the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox. He earned all but four of his saves in his nine seasons with the A's.

? No. 26: Saving the 300 game winners

Hooray for Tom Glavine! Actually, I've never really liked the guy all that much, probably because he was a member of the boring Braves, who my Cardinals often had to defeat in the playoffs. (And lately, he's pitched for the Mets -- same story.) But I gotta give one thing to Tom: He's easier to like than Greg Maddux. Maddux just frustrates me to no end. He just doesn't look like an athlete. He looks like the dopey accountant down the hall. If he can win 300 games, so can I, right?

Anyway, in Glavine's honor today we'll focus on 300 game winners. Of the 23 men on that list, seven pitched a majority of their careers before the year 1900, including Cy Young. Of the remaining pitchers on the list, who has the most career saves?

A) Warren Spahn
B) Phil Niekro
C) Lefty Grove
D) Walter Johnson

Yesterday's Answer: In 1988, Gwynn reached base twice or more in 11 straight games. Not shabby. Out of curiosity, I did a quick search to see how some of Gwynn's non-slugging contemporaries compare in that category. Wade Boggs had streaks of 16 and 14 games. Rickey Henderson, an on-base machine, had streaks of 15, 12, 11, and 11. Tim Raines had an 11-game streak. Paul Molitor had three 10-game streaks. Kenny Lofton had a 13-game stretch. Chuck Knoblauch had a 12 and three 11s. Mark Grace had a 16 and 11. And Kevin Seitzer -- remember him? -- had a 10 game streak.