Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘Ty Cobb’

Another Great Pop-Up Quiz Answer

Remember the pop-up quiz? If not, scroll down to the May 8 post. Kirby T. Penworthy won the prize but there were lots of great answers. Here’s one from Gina Bridgeman.

This is the kind of thing that makes baseball great (besides the way it tastes, Chet might say). I mean you don’t see Eli Manning kicking a field goal in the waning seconds of a game, do you? Darnell McDonald and Chris Davis are just the latest baseball players to become the main characters in a non-pitchers pitching duel. And Cobb and Sisler were among the first. In Boston on Sunday, McDonald, in as a pinch runner, and Davis, a designated hitter, became pitching rivals when their bullpens emptied out in what would end up a 17-inning, 9-6 Red Sox loss. Cobb and Sisler, with those great batting averages, apparently faced each other twice, and both of them fared pretty well. At least it would have been tough for the manager to walk out to the mound to take either one out of the game—both were also managers of their teams! Wouldn’t you love to be able to go back in time to see just one of those games?

Ty Cobb: 

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.

Red Sox Nation

“How’re things in R.S. Nation?” Spence says.

Admin glares at him. “Let’s put it this way. Last night – although it was actually an afternoon game – they lost in seventeen innings to Baltimore and the winning pitcher was the DH, who went oh-for-eight at the plate with five strikeouts.”

“We’re talking nadirville?”

“Even worse. The Red Sox also ended with a position player on the mound. The last time that happened was the last game of the season in 1925 with Ty Cobb pitching for the Tigers and George Sisler for the St. Louis Browns.”

“Fun fact!”

Admin says something that won’t be repeated here.