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Sunday, December 17, 2023

Two Players Defeat Yankees in Three World Series

 

TRIVIA WINNER: In 1961 Luis Arroyo led the American League in Games Pitched, Games Finished and Saves even though Saves was not a recognized category at the time. Alan Drooz of San Diego correctly answered the question. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

TRIVIA CONTEST:  By answering the TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY you are automatically entered into a weekly drawing for a Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN. Please put your mailing address in with the answer so if you win we can send you the gift card in the mail.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Which player on the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers was also a teammate of both Dick Groat and Don Hoak in 1960? 

The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates had two regulars who played in World Series for two different teams and both players were always on the winning side in those series. Interestingly enough, in all three World Series, they had a common opponent. Both Don Hoak and Dick Groat played side-by-side in the Pirates infield. Hoak was an outstanding defensive third baseman. Groat was a very good shortstop. 


In 1955 Hoak was part of the legendary Dodgers team which won their only World Series in Brooklyn and which defeated the New York Yankees. Five years later he was back in the series again and again it was against the Yankees. For Groat, he was named NL MVP in 1960 and won the batting title. Four years later he also played against the Yankees for a second time as a member of the Cardinals. So not only did these two players see a total of 28 World Series games between them, they only ever played against the New York Yankees in a World Series.

For their part, they didn't hit all that well in either case. Hoak hit .231 in appearing in a total of 10 games. Groat hit .214 in 14 games played. Neither man hit a home run. Each had three RBI.

Groat finished his 14 year career with a .286 career batting average. Hoak played 11 seasons and hit .265. Hoak also managed in the minors with aspirations of managing in the bigs. He died in 1969 at age 41. Groat owned a golf course in Pittsburgh and died in 2023 at age 92. He appeared with other living Pirates in the 70 year anniversary of the 1960 Pirates Championship.

TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. Enter via the following email. Send 1) your answer to the trivia question at the top of the column, 2) your name, address and email so where we know where to send the card if you win 3) any comment you have on the column. One winner will be selected at random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.

                              brillpro@gmail.com 
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I've written more than a dozen books including at least two sports books. You can find these at my Amazon page or at my own website www.bobbrillbooks.com. Please take a look at the sports books, the western novel series or the "Tattoo Murder," which is a crime book set in Ventura, CA.

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Just a note to add; If you look at the top right hand corner of the side bar you will see a link to daily sports scores. We made an agreement with Baseball 24 in a mutual sharing situation. Hope its helpful to fans of several sports.

 

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