Every now and again something happens that makes you question everything about yourself. For me, the most recent experience of this was when I saw some news story about the Boston Red Sox and didn’t immediately glower. Am I getting soft in my old age? Have I forgotten my roots? Am I ignorant or apathetic? I don’t know and I don’t care. I just want to get to the bottom of this, install my update, and get back to hating the teams I hate because of, I don’t know. Tradition? Geography? Jealousy? All of the above?
In the early 2000s, I played pub trivia with and against a guy who used to joke about how the ultimate justice would be the Yankees team plane hitting the Red Sox team plane in midair. As a Jays fan, this was funny for a few minutes but of course after those few minutes were over, I would feel like a bad person and do something else. I’m a big softy, reader. I can’t kill spiders and shed tears when I have to trap mice. I am smiling as I write this, though, because I knew that Oddball has a few new subscribers — pals from my current favourite place on the world wide webternet, and it’s precisely because of this new blood that I have written my first questions in a while. I don’t know if this qualifies as auspicious, but I don’t think it has to.
I know this isn’t as poetic as some of my intros of late, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Sometimes you want to get into all the intrigue and drama of sports and relate it all back to the real world and the human/meatbag experience, and sometimes you just want to crack a beer, sit back, and enjoy. Good night and good luck on the trivia!
— DJ
Answers from last week’s issue
What former NBA champion and head coach is the all-time leader in playoff points, assists, steals, and blocks among players who are listed 5’11” or shorter?
The Little General, Avery Johnson, made the playoffs in ten of his sixteen seasons as a player, including three Finals appearances with the San Antonio Spurs. He won a championship ring in 1999.
What quarterback has thrown the most career touchdown passes while playing as a reserve? (Passers he backed up over the course of his 17-year career include John Elway, Steve Young, and Vinny Testaverde. He even came out of retirement, at age 44, to back up Chris Chandler.)
During his career, the QB In Red, Steve DeBerg, threw 27 TD passes as a reserve QB. Tied for second are Don Strock and Mike Tomczak with 20 each, and the active leader is Ryan Fitzpatrick with 16.
Oddball’s large adult son Vladimir Guerrero Jr. recently became the youngest player to have a 3 HR/7 RBI game. On the opposite end of the age scale, two 40-year-olds accomplished this — one as a California Angel and the other as a Colorado Rockie. Both players began their careers with the Oakland Athletics, and they combined for over 1,000 career long-balls. Who are they?
Both Reggie Jackson (1986) and Jason Giambi (2011) accomplished a 3 HR/7 RBI game in their forties.
The Washington Capitals are one of two NHL teams to retire both the numbers 5 and 11. What is the other team? (Hint: at some point in their careers, both players played on this team with two of their siblings simultaneously, and both went on to coach that team.)
The St. Louis Blues are the other team to retire these two numbers. The #5 was worn by the recently deceased Bob Plager, and the #11 was worn by Brian Sutter, whose twin brothers Rich and Ron played for the Blues, with Brian as head coach.
(I mistakenly thought that Brian, Rich, and Ron played together, but Brian actually retired before the twins joined the Blues. I ragret the error. — JY)
#navwhatia
What two former NBA Coach of the Year award winners also once served as head coach of the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association? They went on to face each other in the NBA Finals during the 1990s.
Future Minnesota Timberwolves owner Álex Rodríguez was one of the first three Latino players to go #1 overall in the MLB Entry draft. Who were the other two? (Hint: one of them is still active.)
Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid just completed a phenomenal regular season, tallying 105 points in only 56 games. McDavid’s career regular season output of 574 points puts him 8th on the Oilers’ all-time scoring list. Who are the seven players above him?
What two NFL teams are named for individual people?
#postscript
Many thanks to Basketball Hall of Famer Nav Bhatia for being named his name and to you for being named your name, unless your name is @LordTreeSap, whose mother was a hamster and whose father smelt of elderberries.
Want to help Oddball out? Please click the heart and share this issue (and all the other issues!) with likeminded friends, enemies, and frenemies you think may enjoy the challenge.
Until next week, be the Ezequiel Carrera you wish to see in the world.
— DJ/JY