MLB Pop Quiz: Name That Scouting Report!
Jeff Idelson, the current MLB Hall of Fame President, tweeted out pictures this week of three old scouting reports that will be featured in an upcoming exhibit in Cooperstown.
You could go to his Twitter page and find all the answers easily, but then the “quiz” aspect of this blog is completely ruined. So don’t do that. Don’t be that guy. Let’s do this without cheating, huh?
Let’s just break it down one photo at a time to test your baseball knowledge. I’ll put the three scouting reports below (with names deleted), and give three hints about each.
If you guess the correct player without hints, give yourself 4 points. For each hint you need to use thereafter, take off one point and only reward yourself with points if you guess the player correctly before the end. (Example: If I guess the first player after reading two of the hints, I’m down to two points total for that photo.)
At the bottom, you can see answers to all three and add up your total to determine what level of baseball awesome you really are. If those instructions are too unclear still, there’s nothing I can do to help you. And sorry, no prizes. We don’t make money. So you just get the honor of knowing you are a brilliant human being and baseball fan.
Let’s get this thing started. First, Idelson tweeted this ancient report on a young shortstop who ended up in the Hall of Fame after a long, successful career (4 points):
Hint #1 (3 points): This player was his team’s first black player and formed the first-ever black double play combination in MLB history.
Hint #2 (2 points): He won the NL MVP in 1958 and 1959 and retired with 512 home runs, yet never won a World Series ring.
Hint #3 (1 point): The mystery player above was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1977 and is one of only six players in franchise history to have his number retired (#14).
Did you figure that one out? Let’s skip ahead a few decades to the only current player on this quiz. Like our first player, this guy has played his entire career with the same team and will likely end up in Cooperstown as well. Remember, the team listed on each report isn’t necessarily the team they were drafted to (4 points):
Hint #1 (3 points): The Houston Astros’ failure to draft him first overall in the 1992 draft (Phil Nevin was their eventual choice) caused one of their best talent evaluators and scouts, Hal Newhouser, to quit his job in protest. This player went later in the first round to the team he still plays for today.
Hint #2 (2 points): Despite numerous top-ten finishes in the MVP voting, this player has never won the hardware. He has, however, won a Rookie of the Year award, All-Star Game MVP, World Series MVP, five Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers and the Hank Aaron Award so far over his career.
Hint #3 (1 point): This player has been his team’s captain since 2003, and holds the franchise record for hits and stolen bases. The five-time World Series winner registered his 3,000th career hit off David Price in 2011 and is commonly known as “Mr. November.”
That one was a bit easier, huh? If you didn’t get the answer right, chances are you’re either a toddler or very, very lost in the blogosphere right now. The last entrant is our only pitcher, who also entered the Hall of Fame after an illustrious career with three teams (4 points):
Hint #1 (3 points): This 1983 Hall of Fame inductee won more games than any other pitcher in the 1960’s, but was often overshadowed by Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson during that time frame. Though the report lists him as “Cuban or Puerto Rican,” he is actually Dominican.
Hint #2 (2 points): Well known for intimidation techniques involving throwing at batters’ heads, this backfired on the pitcher in a 1965 game against a rival club. After he threw at a player early in the game, tensions rose and a brawl ensued, in which this pitcher used a bat to hit the un-helmeted head of the opposing team’s catcher.
Hint #3 (1 point): The ten-time All-Star threw a no-hitter in 1963 and had his number (#27) retired by the team he spent all but two of his professional seasons with. That same team now honors this pitcher with a statue outside its ballpark on the West Coast, depicting his iconic leg kick.
There you have it! Add up your points from the three reports and follow this graph below to determine how baseball savvy you really are:
11-12 points: You ARE a demi-god. Like Yoenis Cespedes, but with baseball trivia instead of a bat.
9-10 points: You are Mr. Consistency. Pretty much Todd Helton, minus the DUI (we assume).
7-8 points: You are a scrapper, much like Bryce Harper. Very impressive, but still room to improve.
4-6 points: You really let us down. We might as well call you Matt Bush, Jr.
1-3 points: You can’t be serious. You strike out more often than Mark Reynolds blindfolded.
0 points: You need to leave. Exit our blog, right now.
Thanks for taking our scouting report pop quiz! We appreciate all feedback, positive or negative, in the comments section below!
ANSWERS:
1. Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs)
2. Derek Jeter (New York Yankees)
3. Juan Marichal (San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers)
– Jeremy Dorn (@Jamblinman)
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