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Frank Thomas Trivia I'm Surprised I Did Not Know

Edgy DC Jan 13 2006 08:24 AM

When the Mets took the field on April 11, 1962 they had an outfield of Gus Bell, Frank Thomas and Richie Ashburn. That trio set a major league record by having the most __________ of any outfield to play together on a major league team.

Yancy Street Gang Jan 13 2006 08:41 AM

I already read the book, so I know the answer, and I won't spoil it here. Was it really a record, though? I don't recall Frank mentioning that in the book. Or did you read that somewhere else?

Edgy DC Jan 13 2006 08:42 AM

Elsewhere. Thanks for your restraint.

MFS62 Jan 13 2006 11:24 AM

Birthdays? Grey hairs? Assists? Later

Yancy Street Gang Jan 13 2006 11:28 AM

I think they probably tied the record for most birthdays.

Methead Jan 13 2006 11:52 AM

Career errors? My calculations ended up with 302 total. It's probably elevated more than usual not only because everyone was old, but Thomas had played 3B quite a bit during his career.

Edgy DC Jan 13 2006 12:02 PM

Hinty-poo: it'd take a lot of research to authenticate this as a legitimate record, though it's certainly do-able.

Bret Sabermetric Jan 13 2006 12:11 PM

Also the total is only the ones they know about.

seawolf17 Jan 13 2006 12:19 PM

My first thought on Bret's comment is ex-wives, but I guess they should know about all of those.

Frayed Knot Jan 13 2006 12:22 PM

Children

MFS62 Jan 13 2006 12:23 PM

seawolf17 wrote: My first thought on Bret's comment is ex-wives, but I guess they should know about all of those. But they might not have known about children fathered while on road trips. Later

Yancy Street Gang Jan 13 2006 12:27 PM

I have a hunch that any outfield with Darryl Strawberry in it might own the record.

Bret Sabermetric Jan 13 2006 12:41 PM

MFS62 wrote: ="seawolf17"]My first thought on Bret's comment is ex-wives, but I guess they should know about all of those. But they might not have known about children fathered while on road trips. Later The funny part is that you would need to search pretty long and hard to find three more straight-laced family-type guys (by reputation anyway). Yancy's line about Straw is probably truer than we might suppose. Wasn't there some pro basketball "playa" who had sixty gazillion kids with forty-eleven women or something?

MFS62 Jan 13 2006 12:45 PM

Bret, I'd guess there would be more than one, from the stories we occasionally hear or read. In his book Wilt Chamberlain boasted that he had over 10,000 sexual encounters. Whew! Just reading that makes me tired. And then there was Magic Johnson. Seems like he was trying to proove that name was correct. Later

Frayed Knot Jan 13 2006 12:50 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 13 2006 12:51 PM

]Wasn't there some pro basketball "playa" who had sixty gazillion kids with forty-eleven women or something? If by "some" you mean "the vast majority of the league" then, yes, you're correct. Steve Kemp was the primo example most cited (7 or 8 .. maybe 9?) but, at one point, it was estimated that they were more illegitimate children by NBA players than there were players in the league. Not sure any "official" records actually exist.

seawolf17 Jan 13 2006 12:51 PM

Bret Sabermetric wrote: ="MFS62"] ="seawolf17"]My first thought on Bret's comment is ex-wives, but I guess they should know about all of those. But they might not have known about children fathered while on road trips. Later The funny part is that you would need to search pretty long and hard to find three more straight-laced family-type guys (by reputation anyway). Yancy's line about Straw is probably truer than we might suppose. Wasn't there some pro basketball "playa" who had sixty gazillion kids with forty-eleven women or something? Calvin Murphy, IIRC. I visited his high school in CT this fall; they have a big shrine to him outside their gym. No mention of the kids. edit: Perhaps not. A quick search find that he was indicted a year and a half ago for child molestation. Perhaps I was just thinking of that.

Bret Sabermetric Jan 13 2006 12:54 PM

Most men have over 20,000 sexual encounters in their lives. The vast majority, of course, are while no one else is in the room.

Bret Sabermetric Jan 13 2006 12:57 PM

Frayed Knot wrote: ]Wasn't there some pro basketball "playa" who had sixty gazillion kids with forty-eleven women or something? If by "some" you mean "the vast majority of the league" then, yes, you're correct. Steve Kemp was the primo example most cited (7 or 8 .. maybe 9?) but, at one point, it was estimated that they were more illegitimate children by NBA players than there were players in the league. Not sure any "official" records actually exist. While you're editing, you might try crediting the progeny to Shawn (sp?) Kemp, who I was thinking of, and reducing the lifetime totals of ex-White Sock/Tiger/Yankee Steve Kemp

seawolf17 Jan 13 2006 12:59 PM

But Steve Kemp is funnier.

Edgy DC Jan 13 2006 01:05 PM

Well, children is the correct answer. They had 18 confirmed kiddies at the time, and would eventually broaden their collective brood to 21. Thomas (8) Frank William, Peter, Paul, Mark, Joanne, Patricia, Sharon, and Maryanne. Bell (7) Buddy, Randy, Timmy and Bobby, Debbie, Becky, and Terry. Ashburn (6) Jan (pre-deceased him), Karen, Jean, Sue Ann, Richard, and John.

MFS62 Jan 13 2006 01:09 PM

IIRC, Paul Horning holds (held?) the all time NCAA record for having beat seven paternity suits while at Notre Dame. Later

Centerfield Jan 13 2006 02:52 PM

In his book Wilt Chamberlain boasted that he had over 10,000 sexual encounters. Whew! Just reading that makes me tired. You should have seen me on my trip to Latvia...

seawolf17 Jan 13 2006 02:59 PM

Centerfield wrote: You should have seen me on my trip to Latvia... I just spit water out my nose. Classic. That's my favorite spam thread ever in the history of spam threads.

Frayed Knot Jan 13 2006 03:25 PM

]While you're editing, you might try crediting the progeny to Shawn (sp?) Kemp, who I was thinking of, and reducing the lifetime totals of ex-White Sock/Tiger/Yankee Steve Kemp D'oh!!

Edgy DC Jan 14 2006 08:39 PM

Here's an interesting trivial fact I didn't know. They're may be more than one answer for all I know, but which Met played for one team that was a World Series champion, another that won a pennant, and two that won their division, but never appeared himself in a post-season game for any of them?

seawolf17 Jan 14 2006 08:51 PM

Can we get the hint as to which of those teams was the Mets (the WS, pennant, or division winner)?

Edgy DC Jan 14 2006 08:52 PM

Maybe you can. Maybe it was none of them!

seawolf17 Jan 14 2006 08:55 PM

Ass.

Edgy DC Jan 14 2006 08:57 PM

Ah come on. I can definitively say that the Mets were one of those teams.

seawolf17 Jan 14 2006 08:58 PM

Just kidding about the "ass" comment. Let me run around b-r.com and I'll hazard a guess.

Edgy DC Jan 17 2006 12:21 PM

Boomp.

Yancy Street Gang Jan 17 2006 12:32 PM

Randy Niemann? I know he didn't play in the 1986 Mets postseason. He was also with the Twins in 1987 and the Astros in 1980. But that gives him two World Champions and one division title. And I don't know whether or not he saw any postseason action with either of those teams.

Edgy DC Jan 17 2006 09:49 PM

That's a great guess. Randy Niemann appeared with the 1986 Mets, who won a championship, but he didn't appear in any post-season games. He appeared with the 1987 Twins, who won a championship, but he didn't appear in any post-season games. I suppose this team could qualify as the pennant winner in my question, although they exceed that. He appeared with the 1980 Astros, who won the National League West Division, but he didn't appear in any post-season games. But that's it. None of the other teams he played for won so much as a division, though the 1983 Pirates came in second, six games behind the Philadelphia Wheeze Kids.

Edgy DC Jan 18 2006 10:32 AM

The answer is Bob Heise. He played ten years and probably even earned a pension, despite hitting only one home run in 1232 plate appearances. (The victim was Dan "Puffy" Coombs of the San Diego Padres.) Despite a career .293 slugging percentage that would make most typical milquetoast reserve infielders blush, Bob got around with some big teams. He got 10 plate appearances with the champion 1969 Mets, 11 with the division-winning 1971 San Francisco Giants (before being traded), a whopping 138 backing up Rico Petrocelli for the 1975 pennant-winning Red Sox, and finished his run of luck grabbing 66 plate appearances behind Frank White with the division-winning 1977 Royals.

TheOldMole Jan 18 2006 01:40 PM

An irrelevant piece of trivia which just popped into my head. My friend Ray Barry ( Dead Man Walking, Year of the Dragon, Born on the Fourth of July, Training Day) holds the Ivy League record for longest punt in the wrong direction.

MFS62 Jan 18 2006 01:43 PM

TheOldMole wrote: An irrelevant piece of trivia which just popped into my head. My friend Ray Barry ( Dead Man Walking, Year of the Dragon, Born on the Fourth of July, Training Day) holds the Ivy League record for longest punt in the wrong direction. Sounds like there's a story there. Care to provide it? And, check my response in the comic book thread. Later

TheOldMole Jan 18 2006 02:59 PM

Basically, Ray brought the same intensity to football (for Brown) that he was later to bring to acting, and he gave his all to this particular kick. But he got a little out in front of it, and and it went sailing over his head, Pele-bicycle-kick style, and landed about 30 yards behind him.

MFS62 Jan 18 2006 03:11 PM

TheOldMole wrote: Basically, Ray brought the same intensity to football (for Brown) that he was later to bring to acting, and he gave his all to this particular kick. But he got a little out in front of it, and and it went sailing over his head, Pele-bicycle-kick style, and landed about 30 yards behind him. LOL! Thanks. Later