Pop Quiz Winner!
“We have a winner?” says Spence.
“We do,” says Admin. “And it was very hard to choose. The answers were uniformly wonderful. People think in such different ways. It’s so much fun.”
“And an argument against standardized testing?”
“Let’s just leave it as so much fun. First, let’s repeat the question, derived from a baseball game, played May 6 of this year, Red Sox (sigh) versus Orioles. The question: What do Ty Cobb (lifetime B.A. .366) and George Sisler (lifetime B.A. .340) have in common with Chris Davis (lifetime B.A. .255) and Darnell McDonald (lifetime B.A. .247)?”
“And the selection criteria,” Spence says, “to quote from the blog post of May 7: ‘The winning answer will be the one Admin likes best.'”
“Correct,” Admin says. “And I’ve narrowed it down to one winner, whose answer we’ll now post. But in coming days, let’s post some of the other answers – they’re just so good. So, if Kirby T. Penworthy will please email Spence with a postal address, a signed and paw-stamped copy of The Dog Who Knew Too Much will be on its way. Here’s Kirby’s answer. Congratulations!”
Chris Davis and Darnell McDonald have been in the news lately because they are position players, yet both ended up on the mound in a 17-inning marathon game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox. As news outlets have widely reported, it was the first time two position players had pitched against each other since Ty Cobb and George Sisler performed the same feat in 1925.
What you may not know is that the 1925 game was actually the second to feature Cobb and Sisler. The two pitched opposite each other seven years earlier. America had entered World War I, and the Secretary of War ruled that baseball was not an essential industry. Many players, including both Cobb and Sisler, were scheduled to serve in the military after the premature end of the 1918 season. Cobb’s Detroit Tigers and Sisler’s St. Louis Browns were out of the pennant race, so as a stunt the two pitched against each other in the second game of a doubleheader on Sept. 1.
While Cobb and Sisler didn’t face each other as batters in the 1925 game, in 1918 Cobb pitched to Sisler, who hit a double. In the 2012 game, Davis and McDonald faced each other, with Davis grounding out, and McDonald hitting into a double play to end the game.
There are more commonalities between the two pairs: Cobb and Sisler played outfield and first base, respectively; McDonald also plays outfield, while Davis plays first base. Cobb threw right-handed, but batted left-handed; Davis also throws right and bats left.
Another interesting tidbit: All three games were played on Sundays.
P.S. I hope the fact that Dad is a lifelong Baltimore Orioles fan will not influence your decision!
George Sisler: 
And an announcement: Melanie’s wonderful Snowhook video can now be watched here at the blog – just go to the About button up top.
Tags: baseball, George Sisler, pop quiz, Ty Cobb
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2012 at 9:06 am and is filed under Chet The Dog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
9:35 am on May 10th, 2012
Great!…Awesome and very interesting answer Kirby T….Woooooo!
9:37 am on May 10th, 2012
Greetings!
Congratulations, Kirby T. Looks like you may have a career as a reporter! 🙂
9:39 am on May 10th, 2012
Once again, I gotta say Melanie, you did a great job with the Snowhook Video. I’ve watched it a few times, and it is very hard for me not to tear up…..
Good morning, Rio!
9:43 am on May 10th, 2012
Rose!…I think Kirby’s maw helped him out on his answer…snort!…She used to be a reporter back in the day…sniff!
9:46 am on May 10th, 2012
Kirby, way to go! That was impressive information gathering.
9:46 am on May 10th, 2012
Woo hoo to Kirby! That answer is well written and interesting..and far more than we ever knew about baseball!
Good morning all.
Melanie is on her way to the Big Wedding. Everybody – please pray for a sunny Saturday in New Jersey!
10:01 am on May 10th, 2012
Well done Kirby.
Good morning all.
10:14 am on May 10th, 2012
Rio, so that’s Kirby’s secret.
10:17 am on May 10th, 2012
Gasp! Melanie used the “s” word in her early morning post.
Big Congratulations to Kirby T. Good Job!
10:29 am on May 10th, 2012
Excellent article, KTP, and a winner.
10:33 am on May 10th, 2012
Natasha — love your riff on the song from last night. Woo Woo
Kirby T: Way to go, a really great answer. You definitely deserved to win.
Wookie
10:34 am on May 10th, 2012
Way to answer a question Kirby T. Did your Dad give your Mom the facts or did she have to dig them up herself. We here were going to wait for Mr.Staff to give us the info but then something clicked in staff’s brain and she figured it out.
Snicker.
Then she went back and read the previous days post. Heh.
Google is our friend.
10:40 am on May 10th, 2012
Congratulations KirbyT!
Great investigative work and clear writing skills made it easy to understand even for the non-baseball fans…right BStover?
Thanks for all the condolences for our family. It all helps to ease the pain.
Melanie: Great video on Snowhook and thanks for all the work you do for them and us in fixing our photographs for the Musher’s Merchantile Store. Have a great wedding weekend and maybe we will see you there when we all crash the wedding!
10:42 am on May 10th, 2012
What will Patsy do while Melanie is away?…gurgle!sneeze!
10:46 am on May 10th, 2012
Congratulations to Kirby for that most wonderful and informative answer! We are truly impressed.
The weather here sounds perfect for Saturday, so we are pretty sure it will be god in N.J. as well.
We have not yet submitted a photo to Melanie because unlike most of youse, we have no artsy/crafty members of our household. We were hoping our purchasing something would serve as our contribution. But Rio has us worried that there wil not be enought items for sale. We are contemplating donating a piece near and dear to all of our hearts. Hope it works for the MMS.
10:48 am on May 10th, 2012
The Snowhook video was great!
10:53 am on May 10th, 2012
About!…Chet has posted the Snowhook Video on the About Page on this here blog…snort!…So now all the other lurkers can watch it too…heh!
11:05 am on May 10th, 2012
Howlers!…Yes! We definitely need more donations for the Store or there will be empty shelves galore…grunt!…All those who only wnat to buy things may have to fight over the few items available…snort!…Snowhook does not want anyone to get hurt in a shopping dust-up!…heh!
11:10 am on May 10th, 2012
Beau: Patsy may be organizing the Pack to crash the Wedding with the rest of the Plunderers.
This affair will be as Big as the Royal Wedding of last year!
SnowBella: Don’t give up on us…the photos w/descriptions are on the way…Today. Heh! (pondering the SDD – temporary brain freeze)
11:34 am on May 10th, 2012
Congratulations Kirby!! Your well-written answer deserves to win! It should be published somewhere for baseball fans to read.
(whispering) I’m glad one of us won.
Barb? Didn’t the new real estate lady come to your house yesterday?
11:39 am on May 10th, 2012
I just sent Snowhook an email with description and picture of my contribution to the Spring Boutique.
11:39 am on May 10th, 2012
I have never been to the “about” section of the blog before…very nicely done.
11:51 am on May 10th, 2012
We have never looked at the “About” section either. Did you see all the commenters there? Why don’t those guys post here?
Rio, anything for Snowhook. We will take a photo of our beloved object and send it to Melanie after the big Social Event of the Year.
11:59 am on May 10th, 2012
Lexi once did post here. She was very funny…like a Valley Girl is funny.
12:17 pm on May 10th, 2012
SiberH!….Remember that time Lil Lexi puked all over you…snort!…Or was that Wookie she nailed?…heh!
12:21 pm on May 10th, 2012
We recognize a couple of names over at About from this here blog. Heh. Stephanie too.
Wasn’t the About section once called something else? Not sure what. I do remember the cool German video of Dog On It.
12:44 pm on May 10th, 2012
Well done Kirby! We didn’t understand all of it, like the position player bit, but we were very impressed with your knowledge. Or someone’s knowledge! You definitely deserved to win.
Happy travels, Melanie. Wishing you lots of sunshine.
12:58 pm on May 10th, 2012
Lexi splorted on Wookie.
1:00 pm on May 10th, 2012
Never fear, Rio – The Spring Boutique will be a huge success. Everyone here on the blog is doing their very best to get kool donations over to Rebecca in time to stock the shelves of the MMS.
Rebecca: When are you leaving on your business trip?
1:00 pm on May 10th, 2012
BSD, What movie did you watch last night that was so-so?
1:14 pm on May 10th, 2012
Congrats KirbyT!!! Great answer!
Oleyhowlers, we aren’t crafty either but we are going with the “more is better” approach. We have 5 items to send in. 2 are pretty neat and the others are small fun items. We figured that even $5 or $10 dollars can help too. Plus that way folks who can’t spend alot can still support Snowhook!
1:34 pm on May 10th, 2012
Barb&Magpie: It was Country Strong starring Gwyneth Paltrow. The story seemed fragmented. The saving grace was some great CW tunes.
G&BooBear: You are so right – Every little bit counts!
O.Howlers: Can’t wait to see what your Special Item is.
Rio & Siber-H: Those posts from Lexi look to be from a couple of years ago. Glad we have our EmergnTree now for whenever someone suddenly drops off the Grid.
2:28 pm on May 10th, 2012
Puss N’ Boots!…Yippeee!…5 Items!…snort!
Lil Lexi!…I keep thinking she will come back one day…heh!heh!
2:44 pm on May 10th, 2012
Congratulations, KirbyT!
CHH: You should also know that using read as a noun and poor grammar results in serving hard time in Stovernia. Luckily, we have Wookie for our legal defense. I’ve yet to see a more dedicated advocat—he has spend a lot of time in the cell with the accused, talking defense strategy no doubt.
BSD: I leave tonight for my work trip and will get home late tomorrow night.
I can’t believe the video is on the About section. Even though I know how the story ends, I still cheer every time the Nome slid shows in the video.
3:14 pm on May 10th, 2012
Yeep! Yeep! My inbox has been busier than pug standing under a buffet table. Professor Stover, Linda the Lurker and Rio’s friend have sent descriptions and pictures of their items. Wooweee!
Rio: I think your friend did a great job describing quilling. She took your idea of ‘little bits of paper’ and ran with it.
3:17 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rebecca!…I just sent you 3 items with a minimal description…snort!…What can you say about twirled paper?…grunt!…So please check your SDD…sniff!
3:18 pm on May 10th, 2012
Buffet!….heh!snort!heh!…. I do love to be under buffet tables…snort!
3:22 pm on May 10th, 2012
Ooops! I posted to the wrong blog entry. I think. Pls say posting a second time doesn’t get me in jail. I hate jail! Anyway, here it is:
I hope we’ll be able to get that story downloaded to the laptop (PDF format?) here. We don’t have any eReader or tablet or smartphone or …? Just the laptop and 11 year old digital camera. The camera is used mainly to take photos of beautiful me playing outside. Naturally!
I’m looking forward to the juicy details of what happened to Chet … or rather, what Chet DID with a cat. Mind you, I like MY cat Flower quite a lot. She doesn’t get in my way and helps me with our job of keeping Mom warm when she lies on the couch to watch TV.
3:24 pm on May 10th, 2012
Shopping!….My friend told me she went shopping at a great big hobby store at lunch and found some “delightful little things to add to the quilling” …snort!…She thinks Staff and her Kats will really enjoy these things she found….grunt! …Her words, not mine.
3:38 pm on May 10th, 2012
Siber, Yes the real estate lady came over yesterday and liked the place, and we liked her. She is a moderate petter. I followed her around a bit, then went and lay down. She wasn’t ga-ga over dogs, but she was better than the one I wanted to bite.
Dilemma – new gal suggested fastest way to get it sold was to lower the price another $20,000. We are already well below our cost basis and if we lower it another 20, we will be about $50-60,000 in the red! Very depressing.
What Barb did was to tell her realtor/broker/boss that “her kids” were pressuring her to make a change and we had to do something ASAP or we would have to cancel the listing. We lowered the price by 10K, and she is running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Talking about new ads, new signs, etc. Amazing what the thought of loosing the listing has done to her. She is also being sugary sweet which she does when she is acting nice. Barb told her she has to decide what to do by the time the listing is up for renewal in June.
3:38 pm on May 10th, 2012
Yeep!… The Twinkies batting percentage is down to .267….heh!…Is this a new low?
3:45 pm on May 10th, 2012
Barb!…That is exactly the reason my friend has my other house rented….grunt!….The thought of losing 50 – 60K by selling it right now really irritates her…snort!
3:46 pm on May 10th, 2012
Barb, Good thinking and I hope the CL continues to behave and gets your house sold.
I don’t know how anybody cannot be ga-ga over dogs. It is their loss.
No baseball again tonight. The Rockies have the day off. Then, it will be the Dodgers.
4:09 pm on May 10th, 2012
B&M, good luck with the new real estate lady. Glad that you both liked her.
More lightning bolts tomorrow. Last week the doctor and I discussed taking my seesions down from once a week, to maybe once every two weeks, or even once a month. I hope we can do once a month…my hair is beginning to look like the Bride of Frankenstein’s.
5:01 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rose: Once a month would be good rather than once a week; I will be thinking of you tomorrow. Good thing the Smoochers planned a stop at your place on the way to the wedding. Belle Starr says not to worry about your hair, she doesn’t.
5:20 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rio, If we had a viable option of renting then we would consider doing that. Problem is that we would have to live with one of Barb’s kids (you think it is stressful doing what you are doing!).
Plus we would have the added problem of being 100 miles away, so hard to monitor. Also renters looking for country property usually have animals, and they often let the property go into disrepair. One of the sellers here rented out their pricey horse property, and the renters trashed the house and barns, then left owing about $5,000 in back rent.
5:25 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rose!…Just so your hair doesn’t go up in flames…snort!…Thats what I worry about when you do that lightning bolt thing…grunt!
5:28 pm on May 10th, 2012
Renting!…Its a tricky business, thats for sure…wheeze! …Not for the faint of heart…sniff!
5:42 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rio, It seems like things are going reasonably well with your renters so far.
5:50 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rio: I think they put the fire out before I wake up. The room does smell suspiciously of BBQ when I wake up.
Belle Starr: I always worry about my hair, especially when I have get that gunk out of it. Yuck!
6:06 pm on May 10th, 2012
Hi everyone – we have been so very busy lately, we barely have time to even be lurkers.
But we wanted to let you know that Melanie is safe and sound at the site of the Grand Wedding. She says that her job is to be the eye of the hurricane – in other words, she is the calm center while all around her chaos reigns.
Mama says they are leaving early tomorrow morning – HA! She has so many things left to do, they will be lucky to get out of here by September!
Plus she is going crazy trying to finish her Bear – we have had one day after another of rain or cold, damp weather. You can’t use polyurethane or epoxy in weather like that. If the weather starts this again next week, the Bear will be moved to a temporary work area in the garage with heat lamps and space heaters.
But, she is gong to forget all that this weekend – its PARTY time.
(Siber,hope you will save one dance for Melanie and one for Mama)
6:11 pm on May 10th, 2012
ok I give up. I can’t refuse such lovely ladies as Melanie, Amalia, Rose, and Natasha. However, I am not responsible if your feet get stepped on.
6:33 pm on May 10th, 2012
Belle Starr is doing pawstand after pawstand. I could guess why, but with her you never can be sure.
SiberH: if I can convince AJ to join the wedding festivities, the two of you could hang out with each other, stand around and look cool and handsome and offer dipping services as needed. Between dipping he lovely ladies from this here blog you could talk race strategy for next year.
6:56 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rebecca, If AJ could attend I would have so much fun!
It gets so boring after awhile listening to girls go on about hats, high heels, and nail polish.
7:04 pm on May 10th, 2012
SiberH: I’m not too much of a girly girl! I don’t wear hats, high heels, or nail polish. I love baseball, and snow!!!! I’d rather put my favorite pair of Levi’s on and help you dig holes than have to put a dress on!
7:14 pm on May 10th, 2012
Is that really what SH thinks “girls” talk about?
8:00 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rose, You are my mind of girl!
Stover, Yes, Girly stuff can be the main topic of conversation when some of these girls get together. The Royal Wedding was just once big discussion about hats.
8:01 pm on May 10th, 2012
that would be kind of girl…not mind
8:07 pm on May 10th, 2012
Understood, SiberH.
Belle Starr, please ask your two-legged to check her SDD. There is a message for you there.
8:15 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rio, if you catch the beginning of American Idol, you’ll see a clip of Phillp Phillips doing CCR’s Have You Ever Seen the Rain.
8:30 pm on May 10th, 2012
Sammie!…Thanks for the heads up on Phillip Phillips…heh!…We might be outside walking and walking and walking if it cools down a smidge…grunt!wheeze!…So I will probably miss him again….dammit!
8:36 pm on May 10th, 2012
SiberH!…I’ve never heard my friend go on and on about Hats, Heels and nail polish!…snort!…She does go on and on about how her mother has managed to piss her off the second she steps in the door every evening this week so far….wheeze!
8:37 pm on May 10th, 2012
Sammie: Have you been having fun with your girl?
Signing off for tonight. Early appointment for lightning bolts, so I need to get good rest.
Good night and pleasant dreams to all!
8:47 pm on May 10th, 2012
Hey Siber – we know what you mean, buddy. Girl Kats can be just as bad, wondering about if their tails are fluffed just right, and if their collars compliment their eyes.
But, we gotta say – they do make our lives interesting….
Our Mama doesn’t have much for fingernails what with her playing in the mud all the time. And the only hats she talks about are Stormy Kromers, or the baseball cap she jams on to hide her misbehaving hair. But she does like to dress up now and then. You should see the fuss she is making about just the right outfit for this weekend.
8:51 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rose, I’m having a great time with my girl. Now we sleep in the right bed. That bed and bedroom has been so empty or so long.
Take care tomorrow and let us know how you’re doing. Go Yankees!
9:07 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rose: Let us know how it goes.
9:14 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rio, I wasn’t talking about your friend or my mom. They don’t go on and on about girly stuff…baseball yes.
I mean, for crying out loud, one of our girls did the Iditarod in high heels. I must say, she still managed to help Snowhook get to Nome.
9:18 pm on May 10th, 2012
Rose, You won’t read this until in the morning…just know that we are all there with you and thinking of you.
This is for Rose…GO YANKEES!!!
9:19 pm on May 10th, 2012
Hey, y’all! I’m soooo excited! The good news is that Mom never bought that book. She got signed copies of the first three books when she saw Spence at the book fair, so when the fourth book came out she was going to call that one bookstore and order an autographed copy, but she kept forgetting to do it. So she just got the book from the library to read. She was planning to wait until FOC comes out, then get both books autographed at the same time. (Yeah, like she’ll remember to call the bookstore this time around! I may have to sneak her credit card out of her billfold come September, which would be a whole lot easier if I had some opposable thumbs!)
9:46 pm on May 10th, 2012
Alice says she is teaching Elliot how to do the eye thing….I don’t know how she expects to be able to do that long distance but this is the result.
Elliot says he is practicing and in return he will teach Alice how to do massage. Heh. I wish that would work!
10:16 pm on May 10th, 2012
OMDAWG!…Elliot has been taken over by Alice and her hypnotic ways….groan!…Even his pink tag is glowing…sniff!…What does that mean?
10:17 pm on May 10th, 2012
Love your picture Elliot! Those eyes are hypnotizing!
Hope Rose has a good morning, and doesn’t have to do the bolts again for a bit.
10:25 pm on May 10th, 2012
Kirby, Teeth will ususally work when it comes to grabbing credit cards. We are glad your mom won that particular book. It is going to a deserving home.
Where did Elliot get such a pink tag? Belle Starr might want one like it to go with her pink collar.
Rio, We have gone two days without baseball…bummer.
10:30 pm on May 10th, 2012
Sammie!…I just found last nights Idol show ON DEMAND…snort!…So I can watch Phillip Phillips perform that song…wooooo!…I’m going to watch it right now!
10:38 pm on May 10th, 2012
Amazing!…That guy is the best!…heh!…I’ve said so since the very first time I heard him sing on this show…wheeze!…I hope they voted that blonde singer off tonight. She should not have been in the final four…sniff!
10:41 pm on May 10th, 2012
Beau!…heh!…Tonight he didn’t want to go on his usual route – that short little walk he takes every night…sniff!…So she took him on another route that is about twice as long…wheeze!…Boy was he pooped when he finally made it home tonight. She says this is his new route from now on unless it is really really hot…sniff!
10:42 pm on May 10th, 2012
night all
10:51 pm on May 10th, 2012
Night??…snort!…SiberH must be wore out thinking about all that dancing he is going to be doing with all the gals come this Sunday…heh!heh!
11:04 pm on May 10th, 2012
Good night Siber, good night Rio, good night everyone. Sleep well.
11:35 pm on May 10th, 2012
Grimm!…So its late at night, we are downstairs in the dark watching Grimm…Yeeep!…I don’t understand why the Grimm can’t see the Chief as one of the “characters”…sniff!
11:54 pm on May 10th, 2012
Busy here writing descriptions for a couple of items for Bella. Sent and received!
Elliot: You are getting “the look” down pat.
Rose: Hope you will be quickly checking in bright and early tomorrow am before your appointment. We will be thinking of you.
Rio: I think it’s because the chief doesn’t change form that the Grimm doesn’t recognize him. Going to catch up on some past episodes.
Have a good night all.
12:08 am on May 11th, 2012
I just checked into the hotel. My boss got me a nice room that leads right out to the river. Very nice.
12:40 am on May 11th, 2012
The smoochers are on their way to Rose with centerpiece and watering can in paw. I did get a text from Belle Starr wonder when is the appropriate time to do te wave at the wedding. —my apologies to Melanie in advance.
6:05 am on May 11th, 2012
Good Morning All!
Sammy: I am so glad that you and your girl are together and sleeping in the right bed. Being in the right bed really does matter! Oh, and the Yankees win!!!!!!!
SiberH: Thanks for the Yankee shout out. I think you helped CC and the Bronx Bombers win that game!
Elliot, you are a most handsome and captivating Kat. Look into my eyes……
Belle Starr, how did you get my accessories into your sparkly, pink backpack?
Masquers, I will be thinking of you all this morning. Everyone’s good thoughts help me get through the lightning bolts!
Be back later..”..