TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question was Gene Michael, future GM of the Yankees who was traded along with Bob Baily for Maury Wills. We apologize to our regular readers as we skipped a couple weeks due to recovery from a surgical procedure. The Prize: 15 points toward the person's total.
NEW TRIVIA CONTEST: You will still be required to enter the drawing as usual. However, through the end of 2024 you will get points depending on the complexity of the questions. Enter each week and correct answers will get those points-one guess per person per week. The reader with the most points after the years final column will get a $50 Starbucks Gift Card. Ties will be placed into a drawing. Questions will be worth anywhere from 10-25 points depending on degree of difficulty. Questions will be more difficult as the year goes on, so you are never really out of the mix. Tell your friends and sports fans who like trivia. We will keep track of your points. - YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: He was done after 10 years in the big leagues during the dead ball era and at 28 retired losing 23 games for Pittsburgh, tossing over 300 innings in his final season. Who was this pitcher who three times achieved the 40 game mark in losing and winning. He won 40 once, 45 once and lost 40 in another years. One season he had 73 decisions and won 31 games the year before he retired. Who was he? Total 15 Points.
It's
not often a player who misses the ball about half the time sticks
around for more than a couple years in the big leagues, but then again
there was Dave Nicholson.
Nicholson might have fit right in, in today's free swining-home runs-at
any cost atmosphere. In the 1960's though, Nicholson was a rather
strange player. Today he'd be making hundreds of millions of dollars. See the bottom of the column for comparisons with today's "sluggers."
The height of Nicholson's ineptness came with the White Sox in 1963. It was his best overall year. He did hit 22 dingers, but only managed to eke out a .229 batting average. The mess started with his coming to the plate 520 time but with only 449 official at bats. In those 449 at bats he struck out 175 to lead the AL!
He did have 123 hits and drove in 70 runs. Imagine if he'd only struck out half as many times, how many runs he could have driven in. The Sox were a pretty good team in 1963 and deserved better. They finished second with 94 wins.
The following season Nicholson saw his playing time reduced and only batted 351 times but still managed to strike out 126 times while seeing his average dip to .204. It seemed the Sox had seen enough of him but couldn't really find any takers.
Swinging Dave Nicholson finished his career with a lifetime .212 BA and 61 home runs to go along with his 573 punch outs. By comparison Cody Bellinger in 2022 hit .210, 19 homers and 150 K's, Oneil Cruz hit .233, 17 homers, 126 K's in 67 games, the ultimate case is Kyle Schwarber who came to bat 585 times in 2023, struck out 215 times (200 in 2022) with 126 walks and a .197 BA but he did hit 47 homers. that means he came to the plate more than 341 times and did not hit the ball fair (720 PA). Eugenio Suarez, struck out 214 times, batted .232 for the Angels and only hit 23 homers. For Dave Nicholson, it was a matter of being born 40 years too early.
TRIVIA CONTEST;