A visual quiz for baseball fans — now with the ANSWER!

[Oeditpus Rex]

Props to Temeah for knowing some really neat baseball lore. :thumbsup:



In honor of pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, here's a photo of two pitchers and a catcher who don't seem very happy. Do you know who they are and what's going on?

[bif]

1. The pitcher's initials are SK?

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. One of them, yes

[jojo54]

2. Don't know who the players are but I'm going to assume

that the batter has gotten hit with a pitch......several times.

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Nope

Not with a pitch. :)

[quip]

3. That's obviously Sandy Koufax; don't know his catcher, and don't know the pitcher whom

he obviously just plunked. :D

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. No plunking happened

Koufax didn't throw at hitters. Didn't need to.

[jakefrep]

6. John Roseboro going after Sandy Koufax?

Not sure who the catcher is.

[Oeditpus Rex]

10. Well, y'got two of the names right

[trackfan]

7. I know...

Juan Marichal, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Roseboro, in a famous incident.

[Oeditpus Rex]

11. Okay...

Describe the incident. :P

[quip]

16. Marichal is batting. He'd hit a Dodger earlier in the game. Roseboro calls for the bean ball from

Koufax. Nothing doing. So Roseboro throws the ball back to Koufax, buzzing Marichal's head. Marichal complains, The Fight was on.

[Oeditpus Rex]

20. Close enough

Okay, here's the full background:

Sunday, Aug. 22, 1965 — Dodgers and Giants are in one of the great pennant races of all time (which ended up in the Dodgers winning it when Koufax, on two days' rest, beat Milwaukee in the next-to-last game of the season).

Friday's game at Candlestick had gotten nasty when Maury Wills tipped Giants catcher Tom Haller's mitt and was given first base on catcher's interference. Matty Alou retaliated by tipping Roseboro's mask, and Roseboro damned near hit Alou in the head with his throw back to pitcher Howie Reed.

On Sunday, nobody was feeling much love, and in the first inning Marichal knocked down Wills (who then singled) and Ron Fairly (who doubled home Wills). In the third inning, Roseboro called for Koufax to throw at Marichal, but Koufax didn't throw at hitters, so Roseboro decided to do it himself, nicking Marichal's ear. Marichal turned around and said, "Why you do that?" and Roseboro shoved him pretty hard, whereupon Marichal took his bat to Roseboro's skull. Marichal was ejected and Roseboro was replaced by Jeff Torborg.

Koufax was shaken and walked Jimmy Davenport and Willie McCovey. Up came Willie Mays, whose weakness was the high inside fast ball, if you could throw a fast ball like Koufax. But no pitcher was about to throw anything high and inside then, so Koufax was at a disadvantage, and Mays knew it, and he took one out of the yard to make it 4-2, Giants, and that ended up being the winning run.



I love baseball. :D



Edited for clarity.

[quip]

24. Great story. "2 days rest"? Sounds familiar, like when Koufax came back on 2 days rest to

beat my beloved Twins in a complete game, three hit shutout in game 7 of the WS that year. And Jeff Torborg! That's awesome!

My favorite Twins stat-- Minnesota Twins' World Series record is 11-10, which breaks down thusly:

Home games: 11-1 (edit: Oops, I forgot our loss to Koufax in game 7! :rofl:)
Away games: 0-9

Baseball is the best. Period. :hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. And with an arthritic elbow, yet

By '65, Koufax had a routine: After every game he pitched, he'd soak his left elbow in ice while drinking two beers.

On Sept. 29, he shut out Cincinnati on two hits, a walk and 13 strikeouts for his 25th win. On Oct. 2 he got number 26, giving Milwaukee four hits, four walks and one run (a homer by Gene Oliver) and struck out 13 more.

Koufax threw 335 2/3 innings that year with 27 complete games and eight shutouts. He went 26-8, 2.04 with 382 strikeouts and only 71 walks — and two saves.

Super. Man. :patriot:

The '65 Series was my first. Awhile back, I got the highlight DVD from Netflix and got to watch Earl Battey smack into the dugout overhang all over again. :D

[quip]

27. Greatest pitcher of all time in my book.

What he accomplished is unthinkable today. Though I'd like to see Johann Santana take it up a notch and see what happens (just not with the Mets :grr: :cry:)

And I love the drama of the '65 series WRT Yom Kippur. A great series, indeed. Although I have to say (and I might be a bit biased) that the greatest series evah was the Twins-Braves in '91. :thumbsup:

[Oeditpus Rex]

28. As much as it pains me, I can't go that far

The greatest of his era — that's a given, and perhaps the most dominating pitcher of all time, though Walter Johnson would certainly challenge for that title. But Koufax didn't become a pitcher, as opposed to a thrower, until 1961, and the Koufax who's so revered didn't emerge until '63. But he had those four seasons — '63-'66 — that were superhuman: 97-27, 1.86, 1,228 strikeouts and only 259 walks in 1,192 2/3 innings (just under two walks per nine innings), 89 complete games, 31 shutouts.

When I hear baseball fucks these days talk about a pitcher going on three days' rest, when modern pitchers are usually finished after six innings, I just go "Feh!"

But I can't give Koufax "greatest of all time" because the bursitis in his elbow (earlier, I wrongly said it was arthritis) limited him to 12 seasons. He was almost unbeatable for the last four, but that's not enough.

Regardless, he remains my baseball hero.

[quip]

30. If the Dodgers hadn't literally squeezed the life-force from Koufax by overexposing him, he could

have pitched another 5 DOMINATING years easily. And maybe NEVER have developed problems with his elbow.

But it all boils down to this: You can have any 1 pitcher face any 1 batter tête à tête; who is your pitcher?

My first choice is Koufax. As a homey, I'd take Santana or KittyKaat for second choice.

[Oeditpus Rex]

31. That's debatable

Maybe Dr. Frank Jobe or Dr. Bob Kerlan could say whether Koufax would've developed bursitis if he'd pitched a mere 225 innings per season and/or not put quite as much snap on his curve ball, but I don't think you or I can.

But, yeah — if the arm hadn't gone, he'd probably have kept going like that for another few years.

Head-to-head? I'd take either Koufax or Gibson. Koufax had slightly better stuff — definitely a better curve ball — while Gibson just scared the shit out of hitters. :)

Thinking of Gibson, his 1.12 ERA in '68 is the only modern-day pitching record I'd rate alongside those four Koufax years. Un-fucking-dogly.

[quip]

33. Gibson was scary as shit because he wasn't afraid to play some chin music. That's

gauche, in my book. I much prefer the awesomeness of a batter waving sheepishly at a killer change-up than a batter waving weakly because he is not dug in for fear for his life.

Watching Santana these years has been a real treat. I've loved laughing at a batter and cheering a K, all at the same time. :D

[Oeditpus Rex]

35. Depends

I think a lot of baseball's charm was lost when the leagues cracked down on throwing at hitters. Branch Rickey called it "the purpose pitch," and I agree — the occasional low bridge keeps hitters honest. But throwing at a guy's head with malicious intent is another thing, as is throwing at the same guy repeatedly. You don't have to put a hitter on his butt twice in the same series — much less the same game or even the same at-bat, as guys like Gibson and Drysdale would do — for him to get the message.

But this crap now where all you've gotta do is ruffle the stitching on a guy's letters and the plate umpire warns both benches, that's bullshit. Pitchers have the right to back a guy off, just not to hurt him... much. :)

[quip]

36. I'll give you that. Throwing inside is definitely a part of baseball, especially if a batter is

leaning inside....

I am certainly not in favor of the emasculating of baseball by any means! I think Manny should be ordered to cut his hair and wear REAL baseball pants, or suffer being thrown out of baseball! Come on! Baseball barely survived the complete wardrobe disaster that was the 70's! :scared:

Bah! :grr:

[Oeditpus Rex]

38. Oh, don't get me started on the pants

I don't know who started that fucking trend, but I'd like to dope-slap him. And some of the guys who do still wear traditional baseball knickers also wear solid-colored socks without stirrups. Fuckers have no respect for tradition. :grr:

When Mays came up in '51 and went 0 for his first 12 and wanted Durocher to send him back to Minneapolis, one piece of advice Durocher gave him was to pull up his pants cuffs — said wearing them low was hurting him on the low strike because the umpires couldn't tell where his knees were.

Dunno about haircuts, though. Look at what happened to Johnny Damon. :D

[quip]

42. ...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gRdfX7ut8gw&feature=related">DAMN STRAIGHT!

[unsavedtrash]

8. On the right is Sandy Koufax

Didn't he and the catcher hit the guy?

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. No and yes

But there's more to it than that. :)

[jojo54]

12. Well, don't keep us in suspense!!!!! Do tell. plz?

[Oeditpus Rex]

14. I wanna give someone a chance to get it

[RedStateShame]

15. If my memory serves me correctly, that bat-wielding maniac is none other than...

...Juan Marichal. Marichal thought outside the box after he was beaned during a game and remained, well, inside the box, and delivered punishment to the catcher behind him with the bat, rather than charge the mound for the pitcher, as is conventional in a beaning incident. That is, if this photo is from that incident, anyway. After that, Marichal was never known for any other controversy ever...oh, nevermind.

edited for a typo or two

[Call Me Wesley]

17. Marichal and Roseboro became friends years later ...

Who would have thought of it? And yes, there was Karate involved! :P

[RedStateShame]

18. Turns out Roseboro had a few roosters.

Thank you very much, try the veal.

[Oeditpus Rex]

21. Seemed like it

The Dodgers picked up Marichal in 1975, when he was at the end of his career. Roseboro, who'd retired five years earlier, pleaded with Dodgers fans to accept Marichal.

Note: Roseboro went on to do a bit of acting. I remember him in an episode of "Dragnet" in which he played a cop who'd been shot but couldn't remember anything about it.

[Call Me Wesley]

23. 14 stitches!

Baseball - that's the game where they all run around a field trying to get a little ball, yes? :P And 'pitcher' has nothing to do with beer?

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. See #25

"Pitcher" often had a lot to do with beer. :)

[Rabrrrrrr]

19. Some fan tossed a bottle of steroids on the field, and they all collided in their frenzy to get it?

[madinmaryland]

22. Nice post, Barry Bonds!

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

29. I thnk it's Juan Marichal

trying to hit the catcher (John Roseboro?) in the head. Sandy's trying to stop it. Happened around 1962/63.........ahhhhhhhh the good old days! :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

32. '65

See #20.

But, yeah — that was at the end of the golden years. Christ-o-fuckin'-mighty, Koufax vs. Marichal, Marichal vs. Gibson, Gibson vs. Koufax... and seats were like $2.50.

[Call Me Wesley]

34. And what was his fine,

around $1,000? Oh, the days when money was still worth it.

[Oeditpus Rex]

37. $1,750

Plus an eight-game suspension, so he missed his next two starts.

I don't know what Marichal was making in '65, but the most he made with the Giants, in '68 or '69, was around $70,000.

Funny thing happened, too. While Marichal was out, the Giants also had a couple of pitchers out with sore arms, so the league gave the Giants permission to let any player pitch. Well, they were in Pittsburgh Aug. 26 — my dad's birthday — and behind 8-0 after five innings, and manager Herman Franks sent outfielder Matty Alou in to pitch the seventh and eighth. And damned if he didn't strike out Willie Stargell twice. :D

[Call Me Wesley]

39. Dood, you know such a lot.

This is all about the little ball, and who's on first, yes? And I stopped looking at sports when Schopenhauer last scored and the Cubs won (I think it was at the same time.) My hat's off to you.

That is sooo deep. :P

[Oeditpus Rex]

40. Schopenhauer played fullback against the Greeks

The Germans playing 4-2-4, Leibniz in goal, back four Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer and Schelling, front-runners Schlegel, Wittgenstein, Nietzsche and Heidegger, and the mid-field duo of Beckenbauer and Jaspers. Beckenbauer obviously a bit of a surprise there.


DEUTSCHLAND

1 LEIBNITZ
2 I. KANT
3 HEGEL
4 SCHOPENHAUER
5 SCHELLING
6 BECKENBAUER
7 JASPERS
8 SCHLEGEL
9 WITTGENSTEIN
10 NIETZSCHE
11 HEIDEGGER


GRIECHENLAND

1 PLATO
2 EPIKTET
3 ARISTOTELES
4 SOPHOKLES
5 EMPEDOKLES VON ACRAGA
6 PLOTIN
7 EPIKUR
8 HERAKLIT
9 DEMOKRIT
10 SOKRATES
11 ARCHIMEDES



But you knew that. :)

[quip]

41. ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79vdlEcWxvM

:thumbsup:

[Oeditpus Rex]

43. The best parts of that:

Well, there may be no score, but there's certainly no lack of excitement here. As you can see, Nietzsche has just been booked for arguing with the referee. He accused Confucius of having no free will, and Confucius, he say, "Name go in book."


And...


The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad. Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside.



:rofl:

[quip]

45. "Beckenbauer.... obviously a bit of a surprise there"

Eureka!

:rofl:

[GOPisEvil]

44. Without looking at other answers, the protagonists are:

Sandy Koufax, John Roseboro and Juan Marichal

[RainDog]

46. can anyone name these guys?