...using no hints: _____ x 3 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #1: _____ x 2 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #2: _____ x 1 point  each = ______
# of blanks answered incorrectly: _____ x 0 points each =    0

 19-21 pts:   4      0        2      0             5               3

 16-18 pts:   3      0        1      0             4               2

 13-15 pts:   2      0        0      1             3               1

 10-12 pts:   1      0        0      2             2               0

   7-9 pts:   0      0        0      3             1               0

   4-6 pts:   0      1        0      4             0               0

   0-3 pts:   0      2        0      5             0               0

               ...using no hints: _____ x 3 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #1: _____ x 2 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #2: _____ x 1 point  each = ______
# of blanks answered incorrectly: _____ x 0 points each =    0

 23-26 pts:   4      0        2      0             5               3

 19-22 pts:   3      0        1      0             4               2

 15-18 pts:   2      0        0      1             3               1

 11-14 pts:   1      0        0      2             2               0

  7-10 pts:   0      0        0      3             1               0

   4-6 pts:   0      1        0      4             0               0

   0-3 pts:   0      2        0      5             0               0

               ...using no hints: _____ x 3 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #1: _____ x 2 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #2: _____ x 1 point  each = ______
# of blanks answered incorrectly: _____ x 0 points each =    0

 27-30 pts:   4      0        2      0             5               4

 23-26 pts:   3      0        1      0             4               3

 19-22 pts:   2      0        1      1             3               2

 15-18 pts:   1      0        0      2             2               1

 11-14 pts:   1      1        0      3             1               0

  7-10 pts:   0      1        0      4             0               0

   3-6 pts:   0      2        0      5             0               0

   0-2 pts:   0      3        0      6             0               0

               ...using no hints: _____ x 3 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #1: _____ x 2 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #2: _____ x 1 point  each = ______
# of blanks answered incorrectly: _____ x 0 points each =    0

 60-66 pts:   5      0        2      0             5               3

 53-59 pts:   4      0        1      0             4               2

 46-52 pts:   3      0        1      1             3               1

 39-45 pts:   2      0        0      1             2               0

 32-38 pts:   1      0        0      2             1               0

 25-31 pts:   0      0        0      3             0               0

 18-24 pts:   0      1        0      4             0               0

 11-17 pts:   0      2        0      5             0               0

               ...using no hints: _____ x 4 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #1: _____ x 3 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #2: _____ x 2 point  each = ______
                ...after Hint #3: _____ x 1 point  each = ______
# of blanks answered incorrectly: _____ x 0 points each =    0

 25-28 pts:   3      0        2      0             5               3

 21-24 pts:   2      0        1      0             4               2

 17-20 pts:   1      0        0      0             3               1

 13-16 pts:   0      0        0      1             2               0

  9-12 pts:   0      1        0      2             1               0

   5-8 pts:   0      2        0      3             0               0

   0-4 pts:   0      3        0      4             0               0

               ...using no hints: _____ x 4 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #1: _____ x 3 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #2: _____ x 2 point  each = ______
                ...after Hint #3: _____ x 1 point  each = ______
# of blanks answered incorrectly: _____ x 0 points each =    0

 28-31 pts:   4      0        2      0             5               3

 24-27 pts:   3      0        1      0             4               2

 20-23 pts:   2      0        0      0             3               1

 16-19 pts:   1      0        0      1             2               0

 12-15 pts:   0      0        0      2             1               0

  8-11 pts:   0      1        0      3             0               0

   4-7 pts:   0      2        0      4             0               0

   0-3 pts:   0      3        0      5             0               0

     FYI, the next 12: Barry Zito (145), Randy Johnson (143), Greg Maddux (134), Mike Mussina (134), Johan Santana (133), Jon Garland (132), Freddy Garcia (128), John Lackey (128), Josh Beckett (125), Bartolo Colon (125), Ted Lilly (125), Carlos Zambrano (125)

               ...using no hints: _____ x 4 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #1: _____ x 3 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #2: _____ x 2 point  each = ______
                ...after Hint #3: _____ x 1 point  each = ______
# of blanks answered incorrectly: _____ x 0 points each =    0

 33-36 pts:   3      0        1      0             5               3

 29-32 pts:   2      0        0      0             4               2

 24-28 pts:   1      0        0      1             3               1

 19-23 pts:   0      0        0      2             2               0

 14-18 pts:   0      1        0      3             1               0

  9-13 pts:   0      2        0      4             0               0

   4-8 pts:   0      3        0      5             0               0

   0-3 pts:   0      4        0      6             0               0

I Dug This Up:
Leaving Their Mark

Batters feared facing Sandy Koufax, yet he hit only 18 guys in his 12-year career -- an average of one every 129 innings. So which pitchers have had the biggest tendency to hit batters?

     Among pitchers with at least 700 innings pitched, Rolando Arrojo has the highest ratio, hitting one batter every 10.44 innings. He's followed by Byung-Hyun Kim (1 HB /10.51 IP), Victor Zambrano (1/11.2) and Jeff Nelson (1/12.25).

     Among pitchers with at least 2000 innings, Tim Wakefield has hit the most – one batter every 17.34 innings. Then Darryl Kile (1/18.5), Aaron Sele (1/19.22) and Pedro Astacio (1/19.78)

     And what about Bob Gibson? He mighta knocked a lot of guys down, but he didn't hit many -- just one every 38 innings. Nolan Ryan? One hit batsman every 34 innings. Clemens? One every 31 innings.

     Finally, there's this: the (likely) new closer for the Red Sox, Andrew Bailey, has worked in 157 games in the major leagues, and pitched 174 innings. He has never hit a batter. Yet, working in the minors in the A's chain in 2007, he drilled a dozen guys in 125 innings – about one every 10 frames. Go figger.

               ...using no hints: _____ x 4 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #1: _____ x 3 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #2: _____ x 2 point  each = ______
                ...after Hint #3: _____ x 1 point  each = ______
# of blanks answered incorrectly: _____ x 0 points each =    0

 40-44 pts:   3      0        1      0             5               3

 34-39 pts:   2      0        0      0             4               2

 28-33 pts:   1      0        0      1             3               1

 22-27 pts:   0      0        0      2             2               0

 16-21 pts:   0      1        0      3             1               0

 10-15 pts:   0      2        0      4             0               0

   5-9 pts:   0      3        0      5             0               0

   0-4 pts:   0      4        0      6             0               0

I Dug This Up:
Brave Attempts

Tony Gwynn is in the Hall of Fame, and Greg Maddux will be. Gwynn faced Maddux more than he faced any other pitcher --- 107 plate appearances --- and, incredibly, Maddux never struck Gwynn out. Gwynn hit .415 off Maddux, with 11 walks.
     Matter of fact, none of the Braves' big three had much of a clue against Gwynn. Tony struck out just once in 75 plate appearances against John Smoltz, and only twice in 105 PA against Tom Glavine. That's a staggering three K's in 287 plate appearances against two will-be Hall-of-Famers (Maddux and Glavine) and a third (Smoltz) who could be. And while we're at it, throw in longtime Brave Rick Mahler, who never whiffed Gwynn in 85 duels --- that's four guys with the same franchise (with Mahler preceding the other three) who sent him down on strikes just thrice in 372 meetings. Joe Sewell would've been proud.
     By contrast, someone named Mike Madden, who pitched for the Astros for parts of four years in the mid-'80s, struck Gwynn out five times in 15 PA.
     In case you're wondering --- and this one makes sense --- the all-time strikeout king whiffed Gwynn more than any other pitcher. Nolan Ryan K'd him nine times (in 67 PA). No one else got him more than six times.

               ...using no hints: _____ x 4 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #1: _____ x 3 points each = ______

                ...after Hint #2: _____ x 2 point  each = ______
                ...after Hint #3: _____ x 1 point  each = ______
# of blanks answered incorrectly: _____ x 0 points each =    0

 90-99 pts:   4      0        2      0             6               3

 80-89 pts:   3      0        1      0             5               2

 70-79 pts:   2      0        0      0             4               1

 60-69 pts:   1      0        0      1             3               0

 50-59 pts:   0      0        0      2             2               0

 40-49 pts:   0      1        0      3             1               0

 30-39 pts:   0      2        0      4             0               0

 30-39 pts:   0      3        0      5             0               0

 20-19 pts:   0      4        0      6             0               0

  0-19 pts:   0      5        0      7             0               0

About Rich Burk's Baseball Trivia

   Why is the trivia presented here different? Well, a few reasons.
   First, you'll actually have the opportunity to think.
   I love baseball trivia. Baseball is made great by its history, its individual performances, its characters. And the pace of baseball, more than any other sport, provides the fan with the opportunity for conversation and comparison.
   On the other hand, I hate baseball trivia... at least, in the dry, uninspiring way it's presented in many places. "Who led the American League in doubles in 1962?" Unless you're Floyd Robinson's mother, who cares? You either know the answer or you don't... no amount of thought is going to help you.
   But how about this one: "Eight New York Yankees have won the American League batting title, and one of them did it twice. Can you name these eight players?" That's a better question --- by giving it some thought, you'll increase your chances.

   "Gimme a hint."

   Good trivia, like a good detective novel, provides clues along the way. When a friend asks you a question and you don’t know the answer, you might say, "Give me a hint." With my trivia, I accommodate this request.
   Let’s say, after you had a chance to think about the Yankee question above, I told you, “The years a Yankee has won the AL batting crown are 1924, ’34, ’39, ’40, ’45, ’56, ’84, ’94 and ’98.” That should increase your chances to answer correctly, right?

   Play a Nine-Inning Game

   Each time a question is posted, it's actually an "Inning"... and by returning to this site often, if you like, you can keep track of your own nine-inning game. Follow me on Twitter --- @RichBurk1 --- to get updated when a new Inning is posted. You’ll score runs by answering questions correctly, and you score better by using fewer hints.
   You can play by yourself against a fictitious opponent (“the Visitors”), or let your friends know about it and play against them.
   Note: there is no computer record of your score, or anyone else's score. This is simply for you to have fun. And if you're playing against friends, you're on the honor system!
   You’ll have fun whether you’re a baseball expert or a relative rookie. My goal is this: create a challenge for people with deep baseball knowledge, yet keep the game within reach of the typical fan. Because of this, I’ve created a two-tiered scoring system, “Standard,” and “Ultra-Fan.”
   So read the following section on “The Ground Rules”… and then enjoy playing the Rich Burk's Baseball Trivia!

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The Ground Rules

   Okay… I realize many of you aren't going to play the game as I've designed it. And that's fine. The bottom line is, I want you to have fun.

   That said, I believe you'll get the most enjoyment out of my trivia by following these Ground Rules. So bring your lineup card to home plate… the umps are waiting.

Play Ball!

   2. Read Hint #1, and change all or part of your answer, if necessary.

   3. Repeat this process for each subsequent Hint.

   4. When you're finished with all the Hints, click on "Go to Answers and Scoring for Today's Inning." Follow the instructions for that Inning's scoring --- each Inning will have separate scoring for one-player and multiplayer games. If you are playing alone, you'll compete against a fictitious foe (the "Visitors").  If there are two or more players, you'll play against each other. Many innings will have a two-step scoring process, during which you'll tally points, which then translate to runs.

   5. Return to the site the next time a question is posted to continue your game!

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Important: WHEN did you answer correctly?

   You must be able to look back and determine the point in each Inning where you answered correctly --- the fewer hints you need to give a correct answer, the better you'll score. This will be challenging when there are eight or 10 blanks to a question, but you'll get the hang of it.

   Let's say the correct answer to a question is "Casey Stengel." See these four examples:

   • Suppose you read the question and answer "Casey Stengel." Then Hint #1 confirms your answer, and you stay with that answer as you read the remaining hints. You'll achieve the best possible score.

   • Now let's say you answer "Casey Stengel" after Hint #1, and you stay with that answer throughout the remaining hints. You have answered correctly, but will not score as well as if you'd answered correctly before reading Hint #1.

   • Perhaps you answer "Casey Stengel," but after one of the hints you change your answer to "John McGraw." If you stick with McGraw, you've answered incorrectly, even though you had earlier said Stengel.

   • Suppose you answer "Casey Stengel," but after Hint #1, you change your answer to "John McGraw."  Then, after Hint #2, you go back to Stengel and stick with him the rest of the Inning.  You've answered correctly, but because you came back to the correct answer after reading Hint #2 you must accept the scoring given for using Hint #2.

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Choose your scoring system

   The scoring --- particularly for a multiplayer game --- may be high. Just imagine you're at Wrigley with a strong wind blowing out.

Other Ground Rules and points to remember

-- Definition of "primary team": Many questions will refer to a player's "primary team." This is the team he played the most games with during his career or during the period in question. Likewise, "primary position" is the position at which he played the most games during the specified time frame.

-- Use of initials: As a last resort to many questions, I'll give a player's initials as a clue. The initials will refer to the name by which the player was known best. That is, Pepper Martin (whose given name was John) will be referred to by the initials "PM," not "JM." 

-- Group outfield positions together: Unless otherwise noted, consider the outfield positions as one. So, if you're asked to "name the major leaguers who played the most games at each position during the 1970s," your answer will include three outfielders, all of whom could be center fielders. (I don’t necessarily like doing it this way --- there is, after all, a big difference between playing left field and center field --- but this is the way baseball kept records for decades.)

-- Most important, have fun! That’s what Rich Burk's Baseball Trivia is all about!

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