let’s play: Immaculate Grid!

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.

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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.

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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.

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