Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #17

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Both of these Pittsburgh Pirates of days-gone-by are mentioned by name in this post at Graham Womak’s blog, Baseball Past and Present.

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I’m wondering if even the redoubtable Mr. Womak can match their portraits with their names? Or, if someone else can beat him to it?

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Update: anyone who wants to know the answers to this quiz can follow the links below. If you want to keep guessing, don't click on 'em:

Player on the left

Player on the right

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #16

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After his brilliant career was cut short by arm trouble, this legendary pitcher later went on to team with Buddy Blattner as the color announcer for the Saturday Game of the Week, back when they played baseball in the daytime. His deliberately hayseed delivery, which included some country crooning, served as the model for that of Dandy Don Meredith on Monday Night Football, a decade or so down the line:

Who is he?

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #15

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This one goes out to Moose, my Philly Phanatic Phriend:

Your clue is that these two Philly greats are in the same configuration here as they would have been on the field of play. The contemplative fellow on the bottom, sadly, passed away just this year. Who are they?
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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #14

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Watching bp today from a better place. The Major. May he Rest In Peace:

How did he earn his nickname?
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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #13

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It would be no hoax if I were to tell you that the man on the left below was always on the right side of the subject of our last Baseball Quiz, and that the man on the right was also his good friend:

You've had your clues--so, who are they?

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #12

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Okay, sports fans--the All-Star break is over. Your clue to this handsome lad's identity is that Graham Womak had nice things to say about him in a recent article:

So, who is he?

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #11

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Below are pictured a couple of diamond dawgs relaxing at home. One of them is still very prominent in the game.

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See if you can supply the first name of each man and then the family name they share.
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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #10

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Okay, sports fans—here’s an easy one. This is Mister Ed. He was, however, better known during his playing days by his nickname, which was given to him by…oh, I don’t know…Malcolm X? ...Richard Pryor? …Elston Howard?

Hint: This is not Luis Arroyo. So, who is it?

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #9

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Heavy hitters all...
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...these four studs all played the same position. Name the position and the men.

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #8

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On June 15, 1958 future Yankee great, Roger Maris, was traded by the Cleveland Indians, along with Dick Tomanek (who?) and Preston Ward, to the Kansas City Athletics for the rather insecure looking player pictured below and the slick fielding, good hitting, Vic Power.


Since Preston Ward and Vic Power, first basemen both, cancel each other out, and since Dick Tomanek basically cancelled himself out, you can do the math so that this fellow—a lifetime .240 hitter, with 179 dingers over a 14-year career—was essentially traded for Maris. And with a pitcher thrown in along with Roger! Name this embodiment of the bad deal.

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #7

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Known for his hustle, this man broke in playing with Gashouse Gang remnants such as Pepper Martin and Joe Medwick and finished his career 19 seasons later as a teammate of Hank Aaron and Eddie Matthews. Retiring in 1959 with a lifetime BA of .300, he missed playing in four decades by one year.

Name the man, and also cite his classic nickname.

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #6

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Although there were certainly others whom you could name, when I think of the premiere southpaws in the American League during the period we're considering here, three names come immediately to mind: Whitey Ford of the Yankees, Mel Parnell of the Bosox, and the subject of Quiz #4, Billy Pierce of the Chisox.

When he first came onto the scene, the man pictured here seemed poised to join them. Alas, it was not to be.







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Name this hurler, and the Yankee middle infielder who may be best remembered for having been so inextricably linked to his fate.
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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #5

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Here, from the banks of the O-hi-o, is a threefer fer ya. Of this trio of precursors to the Big Red Machine, one of them should be--in the words of the immortal Latka Gravas--"a piece of pie." So, in addition to naming him, what (jointly held) record of his was demolished by Mark McGwire?


Of the remaining two, one a had son who played in the majors four years longer than he did (1972-1989), but finished with a lifetime BA two points lower (.279 vs .281).


The third man set the bench mark for backstops before there was Johnny. Name all three.

And because 3 is the number of the day, don't miss the other two highly amusing new posts below this one.

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #4

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[Here you go, Womack] This Hall of Famer has the distinction of being the first player whose baseball card I owned to die (so far as I was aware, anyway.) Sadly, he was only age 48. Amazingly enough, the cause of death was not cancer of the jaw.

In addition to being a pretty good hitter, this dude saved a whole lotta runs for our previous quiz subject with his glove. Who is he?

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #3

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What did this rather benign looking player who was nonetheless formidable on the diamond have in common with presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama?

And what is his name?

Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #2

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Beyond being a big enough star to warrant a full-page color portrait in a national periodical

what was this pensive player's main claim to fame?

(Make your best guess in the comment section)

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Rodak Remembers: Baseball Quiz #1

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I saw both Elvis and then the Beatles make their debuts on The Ed Sullivan Show. If you have any idea what I'm talking about, you have some idea of my age. Just about the time Elvis hit the Big Time, so did Mickey Mantle and Al Kaline. Duke Snider and Willie Mays were in their prime. Stan "the Man" Musial and Ted Williams were the WWII-era "super-stars" (before the term was invented) still representing my father's generation for the National and American leagues respectively. We are talking late 1950s and early 1960s here. In those years, I ripped dozens of pictures of the baseball stars from the pages of Sport Magazine and Sports Illustrated, as well as many other baseball publications. To honor those players who provided me with so many thrills in my mid-western boyhood, and who have now been largely forgotten other than by hard-core baseball aficionados, I have decided to post some of their portraits here. I will post the pictures without the names, giving the true fans a chance to identify them and prove to the world how much they know.


I will begin with this Cleveland Indian. This time I will provide a hint: there was a book, and then a Hollywood movie, about this player, who was arguably better looking than the actor who portrayed him in the film. If you think you know who he is, state your guess in the comments section:

Who is it?
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