let’s play: Immaculate Grid!

It was higher than the actual amount should have been in the summary.

I think I figured out what was happening. The grid summary includes everyone ever involved with a no hitter - but when you click through to the BBref page, it only lists the guys who threw full games.

That'd be it, yeah. I'm not good on no-hitters. The ones I remember tend to be the famous ones--when I re-tried today's on a different browser, I typed in Dock Ellis for the Pirates--56%!.

9/9, 15.

https://i.postimg.cc/J4J9hYzC/grid.jpg

That's about the best I can do with Silver Slugger on there--don't think I could have got it under 10.

I mean, I'm surprised Dave Stapleton isn't under 0.1%--he'll definitely be my pick next time one-team-only turns up for the Red Sox.

Did this this morning but had to head out for the day--9/9, 9. Twice I got some auto-fill help: 1) couldn't remember Shin-Soo Choo's name, just the bizarre play in 2015 right before the bat flip. Tried three or four different things till I was fairly confident I had the right guy; 2) I knew who I wanted there, but when I started to type in Rick Helling for the Rangers' 10-game winner, Rick Honeycutt popped up at the top of the list. Figured he was an even better bet for a low rarity, so I went with him--a little cheap, I'll concede. (More likely, they're both about the same for rarity.)

https://i.postimg.cc/tgPY7npj/grid.jpg

Science fiction: in '83, Honeycutt's 2.42 led the A.L. in ERA; he struck out 56 batters in 175 IP. (His FIP was 3.52.)

9/9, 59. Easy day for a 9, but a low rarity requires threading the needle on those first two columns--probably Zito for A's Cy Young, and Jon Lester for their 2000 K.

https://i.postimg.cc/VvjtCT94/grid.jpg

I would like to register my vehement disagreement with R.A. Dickey not being 6.0 WAR the year he won the Cy Young (5.7).

As well as I can do with GG involved--9/9, 30. I thought Brett would do better, reasoning that people would use him for the middle column; we read left to right, so maybe if the columns had been reversed. Ray Burris immediately popped into my head this morning--no idea why.

https://i.postimg.cc/rpB0HfTQ/grid.jpg

8/9, 105. Second or third Saturday in a row I've flubbed an easy one (today's was pretty much all my strongest categories)--forgot how often Yastrzemski walked; never more than 191 hits, not even in '67 or '70. Just barely over 2% for seven of these.

https://i.postimg.cc/Kj9200dQ/grid.jpg

Ah! I managed to best you today! 8/9 104.
Came to post this one because, assuming I got under 5% with that last answer, it would have been my personal best score without that wrong guess.

https://postimg.cc/fkGjcrMF
I thought for sure Steve Garvey had over 300 HRs (to go with 200 hit season), but he fell short by like 28, the fucking bum!

I get caught on that kind of stuff all the time. Garvey's solid on 200 hits and 100 RBIs at the seasonal level.

Harry Heilmann fan club in session.

THE MAN WAS A GOLDEN GOD!

8/9, 104--yesterday once more. I'm not great on ROYs, so I set out with the intention of just getting a 9 and not fussing over rarity. But I started off with four under 1%, so that changed. Thought about Al Bumbry for ROY/RF, but wasn't 100% sure of the award or the position so initially passed; then I couldn't remember which Cub it was who won in '89, Jerome Walton or Dwight Smith (it was Walton--and he played center so wouldn't have worked anyway). I ended up going with Jackie Jensen, remembering that he won an award and assuming he was forgotten enough that it must have been ROY. No--MVP in '58.

https://i.postimg.cc/N05NzWvD/grid.jpg

ha! we're Arky Vaughn and Alfredo Griffin twins!

i managed to tie my best score of 9. Regret going with a more obvious choice for HOF/ROY at the onset.

https://postimg.cc/Cdn9J793

Nice! I've never heard of your middle square...which tells you how weak I am on ROYs. (Nixon's in his grave applauding our Arky Vaughn fandom--which I won't bother hiding now.)

Arrrgh--sorry prospective players, you hid that and I was looking at the unhidden post. As Pavement once said, NO ARKY VAUGHN!

I only remember him because his time on the jays when he jumped OVER a catcher to score a run

Arky had a great couple of years with the Jays. (Yeah, except for Bench, you had a real shot at 3 or 4%).

Was of course referring to my middle square

9/9, 36. All I could think of for Phillies/Guardians was Cliff Lee and Carlton; don't know why I thought Lee would be lower.

https://i.postimg.cc/QN9DwrQN/grid.jpg

9/9, 23. Not overly difficult, but got me thinking about stuff: 1) one of the rare times I was happy about a higher rarity--didn't expect Jim Abbott to be at 7%, but glad people still remember him; 2) if your default is the '70s like me, thinking of a lifetime Oakland player is hard thanks to Charlie Finley--if I hadn't remembered Washington, not sure if I would have come up with somebody there; 3) thought of a few possibilities for the Angels' 100-run guy before settling on Erstad. Most would have been right--Bobby Bonds, Tim Salmon, Carny Lansford, Troy Glaus--and a couple wouldn't have been: Grich and Fregosi. Will try to remember Brian Downing for next time. I figured Erstad's 240 hits were a sure thing. No one will have 240 hits and score fewer than 100 runs until Luis Arraez does it.

https://i.postimg.cc/1XDKX0Sc/grid.jpg

9/9, 87. Otis Nixon was my first guess, which immediately had me enter two other SB boxes I knew would be high. At that point my rarity was so high, I took some chances on the last few boxes I might not have otherwise.

https://i.postimg.cc/pdSxsPGh/grid.jpg

9/9, 18. New rule today, the David Wells Rule: if you want a low rarity score, avoid oversized personalities.

https://i.postimg.cc/4djqWSxR/grid.jpg

8/9, 115. Ken Phelps, Ken Phelps--my baseball people love Ken Phelps. But turns out he never hit 30 HR, not for Seattle and not for anybody.

https://i.postimg.cc/0yctVzs8/grid.jpg

9/9, 26. Garry Templeton, my last guess, is up to 17%--he's been rediscovered 100% because of this game. I had an 'S'-guy shortcut (Cardinals, Padres, Giants, Mariners) but of course couldn't remember him: Brett Tomko. Will try to remember Rich Wilkins instead, who had a classic outlier season in '93 for the Cubs.

https://i.postimg.cc/8cM8GPjR/grid.jpg

how the fuck did dave kingman never get 100 RBIs for the Mets?! 7 fucking seasons with over 30 home runs and he's only gotten 100+ RBIs twice! also why was he on 4 different teams in 1977? what happened there bro?!

Kingman's stats were freakish so many different ways. Don't ever use him for WAR (career high, 4.1, under 20 for his career); he did knock in 100 for the Cubs and A's (once each), never scored 100. Buzza alerted me to his bizarre '77 season, but I tend to forget the two non-NY teams.

9/9, 48. 31% of that is for the D-backs row, but that might actually be the lowest I've ever had for Arizona/Colorado/Miami/Tampa Bay.

https://i.postimg.cc/RVnxmYqk/grid.jpg

9/9, 25. 1970 AL batting crown: Alex Johnson, .32899; Yaz, .32862.

https://i.postimg.cc/D0CPdQkh/grid.jpg

9/9, 25. Stayed under 10% for the first seven, then gave in on Kingman and Palmeiro. Burt Hooton: when I was 12, I was able to throw a variation on the knuckle-curve (which probably still exists under some other name).

https://i.postimg.cc/0jbk7LVg/grid.jpg

Found this:

https://i.postimg.cc/FHmKBnRS/burt.jpg

9/9, 6

https://imgur.com/a/hJkdYjZ

jim gilliam is probably the most versatile <1 reliables in my arsenal, checks a lot of boxes

It takes the Mets and/or a lower score than mine to get you back here.

9/9, 16 today. Was glad that on Canadian HOF Induction Day, I was able to use Blue Jay legend--for one game--Doug Ault. He hit two HR in the snow on Opening Day, 1977. I was in Mr. Lightfoot's grade 12 history class listening on a transistor radio.

https://i.postimg.cc/tJRpJKq8/grid.jpg

Only 15 correct answers for 200 wins/one team, of which only five look good from a rarity standpoint: Ted Lyons, Red Faber, Hooks Dauss, Mel Harder, and (maybe) Bob Lemon.

Duh--Posnanski writes about Duane Kuiper all the time, you'd think I'd know he played second, not short.

9/9...121! Those strikeout boxes are hard--only 8 correct answers each for the Padres and Brewers. Thought of Clay Kirby for the Padres and Teddy Higuera for the Brewers, both of which would have been right; I also thought of moving Perry to the Padres and going with Vida Blue for the Giants, both of which would have been wrong.

https://i.postimg.cc/GhXj7tcY/grid.jpg

One good thing today: instead of Bouton for the Astros/Pilots (Brewers), Dooley Womack, the guy he was traded for. "I'd hate to think that at this stage of my career I was being traded even-up for Dooley Womack."

Rarity would have been just average today, somewhere in the 50s or 60s, but got as close to 9/9 without getting it as you can. Went with Lee Smith for Boston's 30-saves box; his best season there was 29.

9/9, 6

https://imgur.com/a/aJLZVOm

Wally Pipp did nothing wrong (Lenny Randle on the other hand....)

Was under 5% today, one answer to go, and for Negro League catcher I named Rube Foster--I thought he was a pitcher/catcher/mostly manager, but I think I have him mixed up with someone else. I didn't want to go with Gibson or Campanella, obviously. If that comes up again, there was someone else I knew: Double-Duty Radcliffe, a hard name to forget.

9/9, 61. No such thing as a sabbatical--when I disappear from this thread, it's only because I'm not getting 9s. Haven't had one since Monday, so I threw in the towel on my last two guesses today, Ordonez and Martinez.

https://i.postimg.cc/CLcwsPJS/grid.jpg

9/9, 29 (shut out on the weekend). Not naming the most obvious answers for the 2000-K column is about the best I can do.

https://i.postimg.cc/66SRDVz4/grid.jpg

9/9, 18. Big accomplishment today was remembering Choo Choo Coleman, and then half-intuitively remembering he was a catcher. Usually my rarities are higher than what I expect, but Winfield, Schiraldi, and (especially) Tovar were all lower.

https://i.postimg.cc/VLfHd2kJ/grid.jpg