Posted by Andy on June 12, 2011
This is, I think, a very difficult trivia question.
Following is a list of 10 players. Can you figure out what criteria I used to make the list?
Miguel Tejada
Jeff Bagwell
Juan Rivera
Shawn Green
Matt LeCroy
Johnny Estrada
Andruw Jones
Kevin Kouzmanoff
David Ortiz
Gerardo Parra
If nobody gets it quickly, I will post some clues.
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June 12th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Something to do with grand slams? Can't quite put my finger on it.
June 12th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
hit a home run of mariano rivera?
June 12th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
In regards to #2, I will say that my list is complete for the criteria I chose, and not a hand-picked subset of players who meet some other criteria.
June 12th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
I don't think it can be anything to do with Mariano, because he only faced Bagwell and Kouzmanoff once each, and nothing notable happened.
June 12th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
Some of them hit an extra-base hit in their first MLB PA, but some did not.
June 12th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Trying to narrow it down at least a little; it has nothing to do with the postseason because not everyone on that list has played in it; they're all position players so if it's a stat it has to do with offense.
June 12th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
As Andy said, It's something that these 10 players have done or have in common that no other player does with them.
June 12th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
gotta be something offensive... nothing to do with the DH since parra hasnt had any time there...no postseason, again thanks to parra, and also kouzmanoff....
this is a stumper...
June 12th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
All modern players but didn't all play in the same year. Makes me think it's along the lines of "have all played at some professional level with 'x' coach" because the sample set of possible outcomes before that is so massive, you would think a simple hitting feat would have been done before these guys started their careers.
June 12th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
But then again - all hitters. Plenty of players would fit a "coaches" criteria. Disregard that comment.
June 12th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
10 guys who have never been in my kitchen.
June 12th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
was thinking roy but thats not it
June 12th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Since they are all recent players, it must be something concerning a certain pitcher, interleague play or perhaps Tampa or Arizona. Am I on the right track, Andy?
Beyond that, still clueless.
June 12th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Is thinking there may be some odd form of sliced data involved.
June 12th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
In my mind it's gotta have something to do with interleague play based on the active years of all players involved.
June 12th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
their careers don't even all overlap!! ahh!! so hard!
June 12th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Andy, a teensy, weensy hint ??
It is tough!
June 12th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Is ready for one of those hints Andy promised us.
June 12th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
I love trivia, and do it all the time. This has got to be one the tougher trivia questions I've come across. Bravo, sir.
June 12th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
Do they all have certain hit streaks in interleague games, maybe 10 or 15+ games?
Swing and a miss?
June 12th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Dang!!!! I must say that I love a GOOD trivia question, but my brain hurts from this one..
June 12th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
I'd say it has something to do with the D-Backs.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
@Eric- Parra's longest ILP hit streak is 5 games.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
OK, since folks have already realized that these guys don't all have overlapping careers, I'll give this hint. The players above are one from each of the last 10 full seasons. So, Tejada is for 2001 and Parra is for 2010, and so on.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
I've got a P-I search that finds 8 of these guys among the top 10 hits, and the other 2 within the top 20.
If I'm on the right track, these guys wouldn't be proud to be on the list.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Andy -- Should I recuse myself?
June 12th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Only think I've been thinking of the last 15-20 min or so is that they've all been HBP thrown by CC Sabathia
June 12th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
JA, yeah it sounds like you have it. I'd say let the readers try to figure it out!
But JA's comments give you some other hints...
June 12th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
didn't make all-star team despite OPS+ above 100?
June 12th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Lowest single-game WPA for each year 2001-2010?
June 12th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
never mind. Parra's was 79. But none of them made the all-star game in the year mentioned for each player.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Yeah! KB's got it at #30.
Here are the games in question:
Generated 6/12/2011.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
A lot of the guys on that list have GIDPs that came at key moments of the game.
Johnny Estrada hit into a double play by lining out to first, getting a runner doubled off first in the process. (Tough luck for him, as he probably hit the ball really hard.) That play ended the game. Estrada also struck out earlier in the game as a pinch hitter.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Is the Rivera game the lowest single-game WPA number on the books?
June 12th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
KB, yes. Here are the 10 lowest WPA games in the database (which goes back only to 1950 for WPA):
Generated 6/12/2011.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
In #3, you said it was a complete list. That is not a complete list because you're ignoring all of the players that did it in 2000 and before. If you choose to do that, you should at least say so. I (and probably other people) was under the impression that those players were the only players to EVER do something.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
I have a trivia question to piggyback onto this one..........Without looking it up- Which player on this list appeared in 3 of those games?
June 12th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Off topic, but ... Francisco Liriano has a no-hitter through 7 innings. No walks, either; an error in the 7th broke up the perfecto. He's thrown just 73 pitches.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
I said it was a complete list and that I used criteria to create the list. It is a complete list of the yearly leader for lowest WPA game since 2001. Sorry if you interpreted it differently. I wasn't trying to mislead.
June 12th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
@ LVW I would have to say Miguel Tejada
June 12th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Not Miggy
June 12th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
And the Red Sox have scored 14 runs in back to back games for the second time this year...after not doing it forever.
June 12th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
Adrian Beltre broke up Liriano's no-hitter in the 8th. I blame the Twins for having a long time at bat in the bottom of the 7th, scoring 5 runs. 🙂
June 12th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
@38: Beltre singles to left to open the 8th, after 10 Twins bat in the 7th
June 12th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
@42
Jeremy, you would have to point out the Sox abuse of my beloved team! 🙂
In slapping the Blue Jays around over the weekend, Boston scored 15 runs in the fifth inning in a three-game series. Tough one to search but gotta be close to the top for one inning.
The Red Sox patient hitters against the highest walk rate among pitching staffs in the majors was a powder keg waiting to explode ...... and it did.
Kudos to the Red Sox, they look like an unstoppable force right now.
June 12th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
@32 @33
Isn't it weird, though, that despite Juan Rivera's historically bad WPA, his team still won the game?
How much extra "work" did his team mates have to do to cover his failure?
But, interestingly, for specatators eyeballing the game, he would never be remembered as the goat, would he, because the Yankees won the game?
All's well that ends well. ~sorry~
June 12th, 2011 at 8:15 pm
I thought it odd that none of the players were pitchers, and thought there must be some sort of floor to how bad of a WPA a pitcher can have. Instead it seems relatively common for pitchers to have WPAs worse than those listed[3 in the last 10 years worse than -1, 94 worse than -0.9].
June 12th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
it took a minimum of 5 AB to make this list. How often does a pitcher get 5 AB in a game, especially with RISP?
June 12th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
@42 The Phillies and Dodgers each scored seven runs total in their three-game series last week. The scores were 3-1, 6-2, and 3-0, with the Dodgers winning the middle game and losing the other two. I have been too busy to check how L.A. did since then, but in their follow-up four-game series against the Cubs, the Phillies managed to score 7 runs in a single game twice.
June 12th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
I listened to the latter part of the Ortiz game, he was in a horrible slump at that point. He left 12 runners on base in that game, so along with his 7 AB's, he left 19 guys in "scoring position"...
June 12th, 2011 at 11:23 pm
BTW, Andy -- Nice trivia challenge!
June 13th, 2011 at 4:37 am
Wait, I got it! All ten players have the letter "A" in either their first or last name.
Whoaa... what the? Someone else got the correct answer more than 12 hours ago??? How long have I been staring at this screen? Damn you Andy!!!!
June 13th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
[...] Trivia time – who are these 10 players? » Baseball-Reference Blog ... All modern players but didn't all play in the same year. Makes me think it's along the lines of "have all played at some professional level with 'x' coach" because the sample set of possible outcomes before that is so [...]
June 14th, 2011 at 11:29 am
#46
So Rivera has the worst WPA since records began, although his team won...and Art Shamsky has the best, even though his team lost.
This is just weird- not that I'm in any way criticising WPA, which is an extremely effective statistic.
June 14th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
@36 @3 I did read it the same way, but re-reading his comment "I will say that my list is complete for the criteria I chose, and not a hand-picked subset of players who meet some other criteria." those criteria are definitely met. Of course, he could always say one of the constraints was performance in 3rd Millennium.
June 15th, 2011 at 2:18 am
@54 The Shamsky game is one of my favorite lines to look at. Comes in in the 9th inning, 3 AB, 3 HR, 5 RBI. And they lose. Side note: Shamsky is one of only 5 to "win" the game for his team (have a WPA of 1.000 or greater) and have his team lose.