Immaculate Grid

[metsmarathon]

hmm. i usually only allow myself one guess per square. that way i get to spread my misses all over the grid instead of concentrating them in one spot.

[dgwphotography]

I feel fortunate to have gotten 6 of 9 today...

Diamondbacks/White Sox: --
Diamondbacks/Mariners: Randy Johnson
Diamondbacks/100RBI: Steve Finley
Marlins/White Sox: --
Marlins/Mariners: --
Marlins/100RBI: Jeff Conine
Rookie of the Year/White Sox: Ron Kittle
Rookie of the Year/Mariners: Ichiro
Rookie of the Year/100RBI: Mike Piazza

[Edgy MD]

When entering a 100-RBI guy for the Marlins, do I pick Giancarlo Stanton or Mike Stanton?

[Fman99]

Got 7 - apparently I know equally little about the White Sox.

CWS/ARI - JJ Putz 2%
ARI/SEA - The Big Unit 54%
ARI/100 RBI - Luis Gonzalez 41%
CWS/FLA -
SEA/FLA - Dee Gordon 21%
FLA/100 RBI - Preston Wilson .5%
CWS/ROY -
SEA/ROY - Ichiro 41%
ROY/100 RBI - Fred Lynn 4%

[Fman99]

When entering a 100-RBI guy for the Marlins, do I pick Giancarlo Stanton or Mike Stanton?

Type Stanton and let it auto populate for you...

[Benjamin Grimm]

Seven of nine today. For some reason, I thought Alan Trammell had been a Padre.

Tigers/Rockies: Howard Johnson 0.8%
Tigers/Padres: --
Tigers/500HR: Gary Sheffield 8% (I wasn't sure of Hank Greenberg's numbers, nor Al Kaline's)
A's/Rockies: --
A's/Padres: Rollie Fingers 4%
A's/500HR: Reggie Jackson 20%
Giants/Rockies: LaTroy Hawkins 2%
Giants/Padres: Willie McCovey 5%
Giants/500HR: Willie Mays 24%

[Fman99]

I got 7 as well. I know diddily-poo-poo about the Rockies it would seem. I thought of Matt Holliday for COL/OAK but not in time for this quiz.

COL/DET - Octavio Dotel 7%
DET/SD - Rob Deer .3%
DET/500 HR - Sheffield 7%
COL/OAK -
OAK/SD - Rickey Henderson 24%
OAK/500 HR - Jimmie Foxx 7%
SF/COL -
SF/SD - Jake Peavy 24%
SF/500 HR - Willie McCovey 12%

[dgwphotography]

Today was..... bad. I only got 5.

Tigers/Rockies:
Tigers/Padres: --
Tigers/500HR: Miguel Cabrera
A's/Rockies: --
A's/Padres: Rollie Fingers
A's/500HR: Reggie Jackson
Giants/Rockies:
Giants/Padres: Kevin Mitchell
Giants/500HR: Willie McCovey

[batmagadanleadoff]

7/9



I guess now that BBRef acquired this game, we won't be seeing too many pictureless players.

[metirish]

[Benjamin Grimm]

I guess now that BBRef acquired this game, we won't be seeing too many pictureless players.

I've confirmed that we can now see Willie Mays, and few things are more important than that.

[G-Fafif]

Gridmania hits the Times before it phases out original sports reporting.

“I love it,” said Mike Cameron, the former outfielder who coached in the Futures Game in Seattle on Saturday and played for eight teams across 17 seasons. “I think of all the guys I played against and my mind starts to turn. I played in every division against every team, and I had a lot of teammates from the start. My first couple of years, all I did was sit on the bench and watch, so I know a lot of those guys.”

Todd Greene, a former catcher for six teams from 1996 through 2006, plays every day, comparing grids with his two sons and son-in-law. He has used himself twice, and said he playfully scolded his family members for not doing so.

“I try to fill it with backup catchers from when I played,” Greene said. “We all bounced around a little bit. At first I was just trying to get all nine answers, but now I take more time.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/spor ... -grid.html

The NYT-owned Athletic’s got the fever, too.

That rarity score is part of the evolution of the game. At first, scoring was simple: how many you got right in the nine guesses. After that came the individual rarity scores, with each guess revealing just how popular your answer was with all players. That led to the total rarity score, adding up the percentages of each guess, which can now be shared on Twitter.

That rarity score came out of the way fans played the game; it was the users, not Minter, who were finding ways to compete beyond the basics. Still, you can play the game however you like. The rarity score just offers more of a challenge.

This fits, as Shusterman noted, both the casual players and the dorkiest of the baseball dorks who remember Steve Farr’s baseball card with Cleveland and then the disappointment of seeing a Royals card emerge from a pack only to find out it was Farr, a journeyman reliever, and not George Brett. But at least, 38 years later, Farr comes in handy (for reference, he also played for the Yankees and Red Sox. You’re welcome.)

Now that it’s part of Baseball-Reference, the first addition to the game was a link to all possible answers, made possible thanks to the website’s infrastructure.

Forman was at last week’s Society for American Baseball Research Convention in Chicago, and Immaculate Grid bragging was in full force. Although Tuesday’s announcement was already in the works, he couldn’t talk about it yet.

One of Forman’s friends, Chris Jaffe, had an ace up his sleeve, knowing the Matt Stairs played for all four of the 1969 expansion franchises, so he was just waiting to use Stairs for the Royals, Padres, Nationals (Expos count, and Stairs played for both the Expos and Nationals) or Brewers (Seattle Pilots). Stairs played for 12 different organizations in total. So, Forman said, he’s been thinking about memorizing all the teams of Edwin Jackson or Octavio Dotel, as kind of a chess opening move or Wordle starter word. Jackson played for a record 14 teams, breaking Dotel’s record of 13.

(Editor’s note: Jackson played for the Rays, Dodgers, Cubs, Nationals, Tigers, White Sox, Diamondbacks, Braves, Cardinals, A’s, Padres, Orioles, Marlins and Blue Jays. Dotel played for Astros, A’s, Tigers, White Sox, Royals, Mets, Rockies, Pirates, Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers, Yankees and Blue Jays.)

The ability to set your own definition of a win is part of the appeal, as is the social aspect, like Wordle before it. Forman plans on monetizing the game by putting an ad on the page. He’s also seen an uptick in traffic on certain days, as players research answers or simply remember some guys as a result of playing. Subscribers may get access to older puzzles.

There shouldn’t be too many changes, Forman said, because the game stands on its own. While there are those on Twitter bragging about their rarity scores of 1 or 2, Forman said nine-of-nine is where he finds his satisfaction.

“To be honest with you, it’s enough of a struggle for me that I’m mostly happy to get it correct every day,” Forman said. “But being my age, the rarity score comes on its own for free.”

https://theathletic.com/4684416/2023/07 ... -game-mlb/

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm generally quite pleased to get nine of nine. I've played every day for a few weeks now, and I've only gotten all nine squares four times. But I did take an extra sense of pride in getting that Rarity Score of 5 that one time.

It's a terrific puzzle. I wish I had thought of it!

[Chad ochoseis]

I've definitely thought about guessing Octavio Dotel when I have no idea what the answer is.

[Benjamin Grimm]

That's how I am with LaTroy Hawkins.

[G-Fafif]

From the SI article posted upthread.

Mets visiting clubhouse manager Dave Berni loves the game, and after hearing a few Brewers discuss it in the player dining room last month, he began printing out copies to place alongside the crossword puzzles and Sudoku games he already offers. One of his assistants laughed when he saw it. “Immaculate Grid for boomers,” he said. But the analog version has helped introduce the game to ballplayers who, eschewing social media and the death threats that often accompany a bad game, would not otherwise have seen it.

And baseball players must be destroying the game, right?

“That’s what you would think,” says Milwaukee first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who is most proud of remembering that Steve Cishek pitched for the Marlins and for the Angels. “But I bet if you ask any of these guys that are under a year of service time or two, they don’t know.” He used Tom Seaver for a square asking for Mets and 20-game winner; afterward, he says, “One guy was like, ‘Who’s that?’ I was like, ‘He’s like a top-15 best pitcher ever.’” He shakes his head sadly.

[Edgy MD]

Name that Brewer so that I may boo him lustily.

[G-Fafif]

Hooray for Rowdy Tellez, however.

[batmagadanleadoff]

[Tellez] used Tom Seaver for a square asking for Mets and 20-game winner; afterward, he says, “One guy was like, ‘Who’s that?’ I was like, ‘He’s like a top-15 best pitcher ever.’” He shakes his head sadly.

Told youse we're getting old. Talking to a grade schooler today about Tom Seaver would be like someone telling me about Firpo Marberry or Burleigh Grimes when I was a kid.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Immaculate Grid 103 9/9:
Rarity: 21
IMMACULATE!
🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩
Play at:
https://immaculategrid.com
@immaculategrid x @baseball_ref

[nymr83]

Maybe next time i should look at all the squares before filling any in. Fred McGriff was the only BlueJays hall of famer I can think of and i already used him.

Screenshot 2023-07-14 004137.jpg (91.75 KiB) Viewed 4495 times

I looked it up afterwards. I had no recollection that Roy Halladay was a hall of famer or that Scott Rolen, Jack Morris, Frank Thomas, Rickey Henderson, or Dave Winfield played for the Blue Jays. I am pissed I forgot Roberto Alomar though.

[Fman99]

I actually went with Paul Molitor for that square.

Did whiff on a few others. Still aiming for my first immaculate grid.

ATL/PIT - Sid Bream 12%
ATL/TOR -
ATL/300 BA - Chipper 38%
PIT/CIN - Sean Casey 7%
CIN/TOR -
CIN/300 BA - Pete Rose 33%
PIT/HOF - Honus Wagner 10%
TOR/HOF - Paul Molitor 6%
HOF/300 BA - George Sisler .3%

[dgwphotography]

8 of 9, I whiffed on my last guess....

ATL/PIT - Sid Bream
ATL/TOR - EDWIN JACKSON
ATL/300 BA - Hank Aaron
PIT/CIN - Dave Parker
CIN/TOR -
CIN/300 BA - Pete Rose
PIT/HOF - Ralph Kiner
TOR/HOF - Roberto Alomar
HOF/300 BA - Tony Gwynn

[metirish]

Immaculate Grid 103 5/9:
Rarity: 451
🟩🟩🟩
⬜️⬜️🟩
⬜️⬜️🟩
Play at:
https://immaculategrid.com
@immaculategrid x @baseball_ref

Dotel and Jackson 😀

[Methead]

Immaculate Grid 103 6/9:
Rarity: 414
⬜️⬜️🟩
🟩⬜️🟩
🟩🟩🟩