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: What do Jerry Grote, Ivan Murrell and Nellie Fox all have in common? TOTAL 25 POINTS.
Joe Gaines was one of those minor leaguers with promise who performed well enough when called upon in the big leagues, but couldn't stick. Sometimes through no fault of their own. Gaines, like many players, was a high school standout and was signed by the Reds right out of high school.
His first appearance was June 29, 1960 when he hit for Jay Hook and failed to reach base. Finally in 1962 he was getting a chance but the Orioles needed a player to spell Boog Powell and traded for him. In 1963 he hit .286 for the season, with six homers.
Struggling early in 1964 the O's dealt him to the Houston Astros where he found a regular gig in the outfield. That is until a kid named Rusty Staub arrived, relegating Gaines to the bench. He would spend the last two seasons of his career in the minors with Kansas City and Minnesota. Joe Gaines had a journeyman's seven year career and retired at age 31. He died in 2023 in Oakland, California at age 86.
TRIVIA CONTEST;