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:
In a game in September, 1952, what was the significance of an At Bat, by Frank
Baumholtz where he reached first base on an error by T. Brown at third
base? TOTAL 75 POINTS.
One of the most underrated pitchers in baseball perhaps, but especially in the 1960s was Juan Pizarro. After a stint with the Braves in the 1950s, he moved onto the White Sox where he had most of his success. From 1961-1964 he won 61 games for the Pale Hose including 19 in the last year of that stretch.
An All-Star pitcher in 1964, he tossed 239 innings with a 3.23 ERA and a WHIP barely over 1.0. He went 19-9 and garnered MVP votes. It was his final really good season. Injuries beset him the following year and he was limited to just 18 Games after starting 33 the previous year. He went 6-3. By 1966 he was used as a spot starter and reliever and the following year was shipped off to Pittsburgh, where Manager Larry Shepard used him mainly in relief, despite some starts. He went 8-10 with 9 Saves.
An Opening Day loss in relief of Jim Bunning in 1968 combined with a solo win in relief against the Cubs, was all there was for the crafty lefty. The Bucs sent him to the Red Sox for cash and before the decade was out he would also pitch for the A's and the Indians.
His career carried over to the 1970's. He was also known for being a good hitting pitcher and beat Tom Seaver at Seaver's best with a solo shot while pitching the Cubs to a 1-0 win. He did make two World Series appearances with the Braves and an NLCS appearance with Pittsburgh, having gone back to the Bucs in his final season at age 37.
Juan Pizarro died of cancer in 2021 and is buried in his native Puerto Rico.
TRIVIA CONTEST;