BR Bullpen:Did You Know Archive9

This is an archive of articles that were featured on the Main Page as part of Did You Know? from December 16, 2020 to December 16, 2022

...how Masaru Nakamura won comparisons to Yu Darvish?

...that Sam Kennelly represented a different country than his brothers on the international stage?

...what records Shigeya Iijima set?

...what gem Orlando Rodríguez started for Spain in 2021?

...how Chayton Krauss helped his team to a US title eight years after moving to the country?

...that Geronimo Franzua became an All-Star closer in Nippon Pro Baseball after washing out of the Dominican Summer League?

...how a fictional Kazuo Uzuki was featured on a Topps baseball card?

...what title game Ryosuke Miyaguni won?

...which two countries Yeudy García has won ERA titles in?

...in what league James Sanders has won four Best Pitcher awards?

...that Tomáš Přibyl has the third-best OBP in Extraliga history?

...what historic run Matt Koperniak scored for the Great Britain national team?

...what Akihito Igarashi did that only one player had done before in Nippon Pro Baseball?

...what record Kojiro Machida set in Japan?

...how Michael Dunn got more attention for an exhibition game strikeout than anything else the year he hit .388?

...what Luis Ortiz did in his MLB debut that only one Pittsburgh Pirates starter had ever done before?

...what title-winning gem Ronald Medrano pitched in 2022?

...in what country Kevin Canelon won an ERA title?

...what event Tyler Smith led in steals?

...what big win Tahnaj Thomas got for Great Britain?

...what MVP honor Alexander Perdomo took home in 2021?

...that Omar Arif was the first former minor leaguer to pitch for the Pakistani national team?

...what team Jake Rabinowitz was the initial manager of?

...in what national tournament José Caballero was named MVP?

...what Hiroaki Shimauchi was the 11th NPB player to accomplish?

...in what 2022 event Pedro Figueras was named the top defensive player?

...that Nate Fisher had been working in banking two years before he wound up in the majors?

...that Amy Trask played for Britain in international competition over a decade before the country had formed their women's national team?

...that Justin Fuller was traded straight-up for a future Hall of Famer?

...that Karolína Blažková hit the first home run in a European Women's Championship?

...why Dominican League players went on strike to support Wilkins Arias?

...what historic firsts Claury Scatliffe accomplished in 2022?

...that Tony Ponce once pitched 38 consecutive complete games?

...that Otto Pahlman owns the fourth-longest hitting streak in minor league history?

...what Player of the Year honor Cyle Hankerd won?

...what masterpiece Al Lien pitched in 1950?

...in what event Ayaka Deguchi was All-World?

...what tragedy claimed the life of Tom Burke?

...that Jorge Lebrón signed a minor league contract at age 14?

...what historic hit Léna Sellam had in 2019?

...that Yutaro Sugimoto hit two homers the year before he won a home run title?

...that Paul Alspach once struck out 24 batters in a minor league game?

...what unusual trade George Hubbell was involved in?

...what conference record Larry Lamphere set?

...that Tsz-Chin Dora Lau drew the first walk in the history of the Women's Baseball Asian Cup?

...what award Daphnée Gélinas won from Sport Québec?

...that Chuck Weatherspoon holds the Carolina League record with 7 grand slams in one season?

...what historic win Tereza Šustrová got for the Czech Republic?

...what Shogo Nakamura did that no one else had accomplished for the Chiba Lotte Marines?

...how Eduard Pirvu lost his job for representing his country in baseball?

...what major baseball lawsuit Aaron Senne was a centerpiece of?

...that Gentaro Shimada pitched a perfect game, appeared in the NPB All-Star Game and won a game in the Nippon Series, all at the age of 21?

...which 2022 event José García led in home runs?

...Iram Khalid got the first hit in the history of which international tournament?

...why Danyells García did not show in Cuba's baseball records despite having played there?

...what title game Igor Kimura started at age 19?

...what happened when Shinji Iwata faced off against future major leaguer Mike Minor in the Gold Medal Game of the 2008 World University Championship?

...what role Tomomi Nakada played in her country's Gold Medal win in 2018?

...that Scott Gardner and Jason Lakman both struck out five batters in one inning in a minor league game?

...that Orlando Moreno had the tenth-longest hitting streak in minor league history?

...that Lizzie Murphy was the most famous female baseball player of her time?

...what similar records Fritz Werber and Zenpei Yamazaki have held for decades?

...that in college Casey Frawley was the starting shortstop ahead of Jacob deGrom?

...how the debut of Shinichi Takeuchi in Nippon Pro Baseball was memorable?

...in what unlikely country Grant Kerry began his baseball career?

...that Silvano Quezada set the Mexican League record for consecutive wins?

...what two historic wins Camille Foucher picked up for France?

...what collegiate record Link Jarrett has held for almost two decades?

...what was unusual with the baseball career of heavyweight boxing champion James J. Corbett?

...what award Ross Jones won three times in Australia?

...that major league owner Robert Ward also owned the largest bakery in the United States?

...what tragic accident claimed the life of Gerald Peterson?

...which Hall of Famer taught Minoru Nakamura the pitch that made him a star?

...that Rod Tafoya pitched professionally in 2021, at age 57?

...what Dusty Robinson did that no minor leaguer had done in 32 years?

...what incredible pitching line Ramon Acosta posted in 2008?

...what record Antonio Briñez held at one point?

...what historic game Ed Clarke pitched in during his one season in pro ball?

...that Gaudencio Aguirre holds the all-time record for games pitched in the Mexican League?

...how Eduardo Vera helped his country make the Olympics in baseball for the first time?

...that José Cuas was working for FedEx full-time two years before making the majors?

...what record Fernando Hernández set in Cuba?

...why Allen McElreath was permanently banned from baseball?

...why Beau Torbert hit a record-setting .394 and won two Player of the Year honors in 2010, but retired anyway?

...how Mike Hostetler started the 1993 Southern League finals on a superb note?

...what epic contest Julio Báez won in Venezuela?

...that Chia-Hui Yang has made the All-Star team in the last two events she has played in?

...what historic hit Mário Gottschall had for Slovakia?

...that Tatsuya Sato once tied Shohei Ohtani for votes for a major award?

...what department Yik-Shan Hung led the initial Women's Baseball Asian Cup in?

...what was unusual about the major league debut of Yennier Cano?

...what historic win Oleg Venger got for the Ukrainian national team?

...what title game Kendal Volz saved for the US?

...what big run Fariha Nayyab‎ scored for Pakistan?

...that the Ford Motor Credit Company owned the Houston Astros for a few years?

...what records Akiteru Kono set in Japan?

...which big upset win Brett Cederblad picked up for Australia?

...that Pablo García led an international tournament in triples despite his team withdrawing partway?

...what historic start Marko Vykoukal made for the Slovakian national team?

...what records Tony Metoyer set in the CPBL?

...what first Mario Martínez had for the Venezuelan national team?

...what historic game Ramón Roger won in Cuba?

...what Vojtěch Menšík accomplished in 2021 that none of his countrymates had ever done before?

...what is PitchCom?

...what award Janiliz Rivera won in 2021?

...what Taiwan Series record Chun-Yu Huang set?

...that Víctor Canales topped 100 RBI four times in the minors?

...what history Daniel Alio made for Uganda?

...that Yuki Kawabata was the first three-time batting champion in the Japanese Women's Baseball League?

...how Kestas Vilimas helped a history-making pitcher on his way to the majors?

...what Famke Gildemacher was the first Dutch player to accomplish?

...what big save Po-Yu Chen registered in 2019?

...what history Martin Brunegraf made for Slovakia?

...what international tournament Giddelys Cumaná‎ led in shutouts?

...what record Michal Puškár tied in 2021?

...what Ming-Shan Kang was the first person to accomplish in the Taiwan Major League?

...what Jordan Díaz did that no Colombian League player had done in a Caribbean Series before?

...what historic win Herbert North had in Japan?

...what record Étienne Coste holds for the French national team?

...what Hall of Fame Skeeter Jarquín is in?

...what Hirofumi Ogawa was the fifth player in NPB history to accomplish?

...in what event Brittany Gomez was All-World?

...what record Matt Gilbert set in Britain?

...that Johnny Kerr was the first player to hit a ball out of Honolulu Stadium?

...that Ruben Leysner was named the best all-around athlete in his country one year?

...what Kazuhiro Takeda did that only two players had done before?

...what award Benito Malavé won in the winter of 1991-1992?

...that Matt Weagle was the first All-American in his college's history?

...what record Kenji Koike set?

...what key start Esquía Rengel made for Venezuela?

...in what league Tony Antista holds the record for best batting average in a season?

...what Josué Peley was the first person to do for the Toronto Blue Jays?

...what big league record Jay Powell holds?

...in what 2021 event Gustavo Campero won MVP honors?

...what record Amado Ibáñez set in the Cuban Winter League?

...what decades-old franchise record Kenji Morozumi broke?

...what MVP honor Dmitry Shtykher took home?

...how Endeavor/Diamond Baseball Holdings is upending the structure of ownership in the minor leagues?

...what big game-ending play Léo Jiminian made for France?

...in what key game Yu-Chen Hsu got the starting nod for Taiwan?

...what Pan American Games record Astrid Rodríguez is co-holder of?

...in what league Marcos Molina was named the top prospect?

...what happened in the 1991 NPB All-Star Game that had never happened before?

...what record Hung-Yuan Lin set in Taiwan?

...that Yuma Mune had the most hits in the 2021 Japan Series?

...in what event Kostiantyn Chukhas was named MVP?

...that Anton Kuznetsov began his minor league career with over 20 consecutive shutout innings?

...what trade turned out terribly for the 1966 Cincinnati Reds?

...what history Irum Shahzadi made for Pakistan?

...what two records Arnol Rizo set in Nicaragua the same season?

...that Jae-woong Shin struck out more batters in an Intercontinental Cup than any other hurler in the event's final two decades?

...what major record John Powell set in NCAA Division I?

...what historic at-bat Jesen Merle was involved in?

...what two leagues Henry Centeno won ERA titles in?

...how close George Wehmeyer came to being the first major leaguer born in Honduras?

...what medal game Rafael García starred in for the Dominican national team?

...what award Shosei Togo was the second-youngest player (and youngest in 64 years) to win?

...what event Hsiao-Mei Chen led in RBI?

...that Osvaldo Bidò led the league in losses his first pro season yet made AAA four years later?

...in what tournament Geidys Soler averaged a homer-and-a-half per game?

...that Katsuki Matayoshi added 24 mph to his fastball between the start of college and being drafted?

...what Pitcher of the Year award Dilmer Mejía‎‎ won?

...what Terrell Joyce did that no foreigner had ever done in the Extraliga?

...what clutch medal-winning hit Osmari García had for Venezuela?

...what history Bianca Smith made in 2021?

...what big hit Marek Chlup had in a 2021 upset?

...what is the link between Italian aristocrat Prince Steno Borghese and baseball?

...what key win Andrii Boiko got for Ukraine?

...what Chia-Wen Shen was the first Taiwanese player to achieve?

...in what 2021 event Yunior Valiente won MVP?

...what is the history of the Boston Doves?

...what MVP honor Jose Herrera won this year?

...what was Baltimore, MD mayor Tom D'Alesandro's connection to baseball?

...what title game Sergii Shtapura won?

...what category Ray-Patrick Didder led all minor leaguers in during 2016?

...what distinction Gabriel Lino shares with only six other baseball players in history?

...what Lou Helmig was the third generation in his family to accomplish?

...who the members of the Professional Scouts Hall of Fame are?

...what game-ending grand slam Vito Friscia hit in 2021?

...what big run Itai Goldner scored for Israel?

...what gem Ben Onyshko completed for Team Canada?

...what record Édgar Arredondo set in Mexico?

...what title game Akino Tanaka saved for Japan?

...what notable firsts Isaac Rodríguez accomplished for the Mexican national team?

...who were the minor league Philadelphia Phillies?

...that Megan Baltzell is the career home run leader in the Women's Baseball World Cup?

...how many times Frank Stattler won Best Pitcher honors in Germany?

...in what event Nana Sasanuma was named the top starting pitcher?

...what Assaf Lowengart was the first Israeli native to accomplish?

...what historic win Alex Seidl pitched for Austria?

...how Tal Erel played in an official Hoofdklasse game - only to never officially play in the league?

...what historic hit Nalor Gniatou had for Laos?

...what Koyo Aoyagi was the third pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball to do in his first start?

...what crucial start Yapson Gómez made for the Venezuelan national team?

...what honor Jack López won in 2013-2014?

...what Pitcher of the Year award Denyi Reyes took home?

...that the 1992 Mets set a record for payroll - and lost 90 games?

...what gem Kye-hyun Cho pitched in the Korean Series a year after being released and assumed to be washed up?

...what Shane Hogan did to win Australian Baseball League championship MVP?

...why Teddy Stankiewicz was released when he had a 1.07 ERA?

...what event Rak-yung Kim led in both strikeouts and walks issued?

...what controversial call went against the 1913 Philadelphia Phillies to cost them a win?

...that Stephen Ridings was the first major leaguer from Haverford College?

...what the 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal was all about?

...what 65-year-old record Ryutaro Umeno broke in 2019?

...how Jacob Robson saved Team Canada from being no-hit?

...that Frank Marsh was the first black player for the Johnson City Cardinals?

...what historic win Jhonathan Díaz got for Venezuela?

...what unusual role Emilio Vargas has filled in the clubhouse?

...what major tournament Raico Santos led in OPS?

...what home run title Jiandido Tromp won?

...that Raynel Espinal had the lowest WHIP by a minor league reliever in 2017?

...that Arij Fransen was the youngest player in the 2021 Final Olympic Qualifier?

...that Ryder Ryan was twice traded straight-up for players with multiple All-Star appearances - despite having an ERA of infinity in college?

...what championship game Luis Felipe Castillo won in 2021?

...what award Joe Ryan won in 2019?

...what record Eric Patterson set after finishing his MLB career?

...in what event Sammy Hackl won the MVP?

...what famous boxing fight Zack Clayton refereed years after his baseball career ended?

...that Andy Rodríguez led Cuba in saves when he was 20 years old?

...that Daniel Pinero made All-Star teams for four different events in the 2010s?

...what year Luis Tissert was named Cuba's best pitcher?

...what award Erick Leal won in 2021?

...what Reversible baseball is?

...what history Griffin Jax made in 2021?

...what role Yudier Rodríguez in the first title for Las Tunas?

...that Julio Rodríguez is a consensus pick as one of the top five prospects in baseball?

...what historic hit Peun Silouanglath had for Laos?

...what medal game Tetsu Suzuki started for Japan?

...what record Pedro Díaz set in Puerto Rico?

...what honor Luis Báez won in the first Dominican League campaign?

...what historic hit Amila Pushpa Kumara had for the Sri Lankan national team?

...what minor league record Hal Gordon set?

...that Joe Strong pitched the longest no-hitter in major league annals?

...what Moritz Hackl was the first Austrian to do?

...what history Don Lohse made in 1966?

...what award Dan Floyd was the inaugural winner of?

...what the highlight was for the 1991 Montréal Expos?

...what Gold Medal Game Donny Breek started at age 19?

...that the 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords are considered the best Negro League team ever by many sources?

...that Rhéal Cormier is second all-time in games pitched by a Canadian?

...that Josh Jones threw 273 pitches in three days to help his country win a Gold Medal?

...how a state supreme court ruling benefited the 1902 Philadelphia Athletics?

...what national record Joe Roberts held?

...what distinction is held by the 1932 East-West League?

...how the 1902 Baltimore Orioles almost collapsed?

...what records Jerod Edmondson set in the Canadian-American Association?

...what non-baseball record Tyrone Omar holds in the Northern Mariana Islands?

...what was unusual about Iván Correa's home run title?

...what league Tobias Kiefer led in both total bases and wins in 2020?

...what historic hit Vitally Romanov got for the Ukraine?

...in what event Triston Casas won the MVP award?

...what big start Ryoga Tomiyama made for the Japanese national team?

...that Matt Huff topped .400 in the minors before becoming the first CPBL slugging champ?

...that Ormond Sampson was the first big leaguer from the Bahamas?

...that Yuhei Takai was the ace on a staff that had Yu Darvish but made his only All-Star teams as an outfielder?

...in what country Matt Bennett threw the second no-hitter?

...what was unique about the 1932 Negro Southern League?

...in what four departments Aneury Tavárez once led all Red Sox farmhands?

...what history Alli Schroder is on pace to make?

...in what stadium Gregorio Pérez recorded the first win?

...what president Frank Yeager protected with the Secret Service?

...what Moritz Scheicher was the first Austrian to do?

...that Roy Helser won twenty games three straight seasons in the minors' highest level but never played in the majors?

...what records Randy Choate set in the big leagues?

...that Jesse Hubbard led the California Winter League in both wins and batting average?

...what Hall of Fame Nick Carter belongs to?

...what historic save Tharidu Madumal got for the Sri Lankan national team?

...what country Claudio Manela was the first major leaguer from?

...that Phithak Hopkhop was the first starting pitcher for Laos and also got the country's first RBI?

...what major league record Yimi García holds?

...what was notable about Brian Cakebread in the first Australian Baseball League campaign?

...that Emosi Gotegote led his country in both ERA and RBI in one tournament?

...what career record Eriel Sánchez holds in Cuba?

...what dynasty Bobby Williams started at short for?

...how the statistical record is unfair to the 1934 Chicago American Giants?

...what team record Takayuki Kajitani set?

...that Kun-woo Park played a major role in two straight 9th-inning winning runs in a Korean Series?

...that Harold Treadwell once pitched 20 innings in a postseason game?

...what was controversial about the 1933 Negro National League title?

...what historic first Soua Xong had for the Laotian national team?

...that Pedro San was recognized as the first Dominican major leaguer 94 years after his debut?

...in what event Ryan Battaglia was named the All-Star catcher?

...what record Vicente López holds in Nicaragua?

...in what country Ryan Rupp won pitcher of the year honors?

...what tournament Carlos Lowell led in wins?

...that Rémi Couarraze led his team in both RBI and ERA in the 2011 Pacific Games?

...that Chris Ryba was the first player from his college to be drafted?

...what role Yasiel Santoya played in the first Premier 12 extra-inning game?

...what Shota Imanaga was the second pitcher (after Yu Darvish) to accomplish?

...what two events Rico Castro led in batting average?

...which country Sidney Thompson was the first minor leaguer from?

...what Wei-Chen Wang accomplished in 2020 faster than any player had done before?

...what historic first Sameera Rathnayake had for the Sri Lanka national team?

...that Esix Snead's baseball career was over within a year of leading the International League in steals for three straight years?

...what league Jose Vargas won MVP in?

...that Francisco Contreras had the highest average of any Venezuelan over the Venezuelan League's first three seasons?

...how Pete Dowling pitched the first American League no-hitter but was mostly uncredited for over a century?

...what Eigoro Mogi did that no one had done for 24 years?

...that dozens of baseball players have been Track and Field Stars?

...what category Marco Cardoso led the 2019 European Championship in?

...that Manny Estrada was an All-Star in AAA at age 23 yet never made the majors?

...what three titles John Polonius won in 2019?

...that Francisco Dávila‎‎ was the first minor leaguer from Nicaragua?

...that Ivo Kučera is among the career top-10 in doubles, triples and home runs in the Extraliga?

...what CPBL record Yueh-Ping Lin has held for eight years?

...that Luís Saint-Claire was the first Dominican to play in five Caribbean Series?

...what award Darryl Collins won in 2018?

...that Dan Parra led Washington Senators farmhands in wins each of his first two years as a pro?

...what accomplishment Adrix Paradizo was the first Puerto Rican to achieve?

...in what league Manny Barreda has both won an ERA title and finished second in the ERA leaderboard?

...that Jean Afterman was only the third woman to hold the title of Assistant General Manager in Major League Baseball?

...how Enrique Lantigua nearly died the year he guided the Dominican national team to a historic title?