Wayne Stewart - Name That Ballplayer: The Ultimate Baseball Whodunnit? Quiz

W ayne Stewart was born and raised in Donora, Pennsylvania, a town that has produced several big league baseball players, including Stan Musial and the father-son Griffeys. Stewart now lives in Lorain, Ohio, and is married to Nancy (Panich) Stewart. They have two sons, Sean and Scott.

He has covered the sports world as a writer for more than 30 years, beginning in 1978. He has interviewed and profiled many stars, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird, as well as numerous baseball legends such as Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson, Tony Gwynn, Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson, and Ken Griffey Jr.

In addition, Stewart has written more than 20 baseball books and one book on basketball. Some of his works have also appeared in seven baseball anthologies, one which has sold over 70,000 copies to date. He has also written over 500 articles for publications such as Baseball Digest, USA Today/ Baseball Weekly, BoysLife , and Beckett Publications.

He has written for many major league official team publications, such as the Braves, Yankees, White Sox, Orioles, Padres, Twins, Phillies, Red Sox, As, and Dodgers. Furthermore, Stewart has appeared as a baseball expert/historian on Clevelands Fox 8, on an ESPN Classic television show on Bob Feller, and on numerous radio shows. He also hosted his own radio shows, including a callin sports talk show, a pregame Indians report, and pregame shows for Notre Dame football.

J ust as players routinely take batting practicethey shorten the term to B.P.to loosen up and work on their game, in this chapter you will be presented with some easy offerings, soft tosses, as it were, for you to jack out of the park. Build up your points early, because in the late innings of the book, things will become a bit nastyagain, its just like a real baseball game. Some pitches early in the game dont seem to have quite the importance of those deep into the game. Then the blazing fast and filthy breaking stuff comes at you late in the game off a starter who has lasting power, like a Bob Gibson or a closer such as a Billy Wagner or a Mariano Rivera.

• 
  1. This Hall of Fame flamethrower of a pitcher was traded along with three other players from the Mets to the Angels in December of 1971, when he was just 24 years old, for Jim Fregosi (who would wind up with a .265 lifetime batting average) in one of the most lopsided trades ever engineered.
  2. The first player to earn $1 million in a season, he packed fans into ballparks across the nation with his 100+ mph fastball; fans knew that the possibilities of a no-hitter occurring and/or a strikeout record tumbling were palpable every time he took to the hill.
  3. This ageless wonder broke Sandy Koufaxs single-season record when he whiffed 383 batters in 1973, one of 11 times he led his league in Ks. In fact, he was still fanning 200 to 300 hitters when he was as old as 44. His best total as an old-timer came in 1989 when, at the age of 42, he struck out 301 men. Bottom-line numbers: an ungodly 27 seasons pitched, 324 wins, a best-ever total of 5,714 strikeouts, and a lifetime ERA of 3.19.
• 
  1. During the off-season after the 2006 World Series, this man inked a $126 million contract (leaving the As for the Giants) that would cover seven years and make him the highest-paid pitcher of all time, earning about a half-million dollars each time he took to the hill.
  2. A three-time All-Star, this southpaw won 23 games in 2002, which propelled him to capture the Cy Young Award that year. However, by 2008 things had soured, and he posted a 10-17 record with a bloated ERA of 5.15.
  3. He is one of only a smattering of men with the last initial of Z to make it to the majors.
• 
  1. This Yankees center fielder hit .325 lifetime and was married to one of Hollywoods most glamorous stars.
  2. His brothers, both big leaguers, were Vince and Dom. The man in question had more homers than strikeouts in a record seven seasons.
  3. He was known as the Yankee Clipper and he was baseballs first $100,000-per-season player (1949).
• 
  1. This smooth center fielder, who spent nearly his entire career with the Giants, robbed so many batters on deep drives to the outfield that a writer once gushed that this players glove was where triples go to die. His catches were often as spectacular as a Hawaiian sunset.
  2. Until his godson Barry Bonds came along, only Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth had hit more than his 660 homers, but this Hall of Famer was much more than just a power hitterhe could do it all, and was a true fivetool ballplayer. Surprisingly, even though he chased home 1,902 runs, he never led his league in RBI. Seemingly only a pact with Lucifer could produce a more complete package of a player.
  3. His colorful nickname was The Say Hey Kid.
• 
  1. His real name is listed as Denton True _________ , but because he threw like a cyclone, he earned a different name. Any way you look at it, though, hes the ultimate name in pitching. He owns fifteen 20-win seasons, best ever, and his 511 lifetime victories is one record experts believe will endure forever.
  2. He won nearly 62 percent of all his decisions, racked up three no-hitters (one of them was a perfect game), and lived from just after the Civil War until several years after the Korean War. He is the only man to throw a no-hitter in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
  3. If you havent got this one by now, try this clue: The premier yearly award given to the games top pitcher is named after this man.
• 
  1. Hardly a superstar, this former St. Louis Cardinal is as pesky and as tinylisted at 5-foot-7 and 165 poundsas a splinter.
  2. He came to the Cardinals via the Angels, where he was a member of the 2002 World Champions.
  3. When his Cards won it all in 2006, he once again proved his worth, winning the MVP of the World Series. He spent 2008 with Toronto and Arizona.
• 
  1. When the first-ever election was held for the Baseball Hall of Fame, this man received more votes than any other baseball legend, and thus became one of five charter members in the Hall.