Loading ...I was given a five-minute quiz on Sunday and I failed miserably…
I was to guess the winningest pitchers of all time by letter. That is, which pitcher whose last name began with “A” won the most games, which pitcher whose last name began with “B” won the most games…all the way through Z.
I was right on seven letters of the 26….in five minutes…remember…don’t look anything up right away.
As a hint…I will tell you one of the potential 26 alphabet winners is famous as a Red. Having researched this now to get the answers, I will also tell you that of the 100 winningest pitchers of all time (alphabet notwithstanding), four had their best years with the Reds and would be considered “Reds” by history. That doesn’t mean four of the alphabet pitchers are Reds…I mean four of the 100 winningest pitchers of all time are Reds.
Can you guess those four Reds, too?
Now, hold back….don’t post research before tomorrow (Wednesday)…let’s have fun and discuss first…and let’s not research until after midnight Pacific time (3 a.m. Eastern time) to give our West Coast readers a chance to play, too.
Have fun…let the guessing begin…!!
My early (and easy) guesses:
C = Clemens
Y = Cy Young
S = Tom Seaver?
N = Neikro, not sure which one
M = Maddux or Mathewson? I’m not sure how many Christy won
J = Walter Johnson
F = Bob Feller
G = Bob Gibson
That’s off the top of my head with a four month old screaming next to me.
So Redleg Nation has discovered Sporcle.com?
Biggest time-waster ever. Even worse than Redleg Nation.
Don’t know Sporcle, but that may be the origin. I was quizzed by my kid’s chess coach whose father is president of a local SABR chapter.
As for answers above
C is Roger Clemens
J is for Walter Johnson
F is Bob Feller
M is Christy Mathewson
N is Phil Niekro
Y is Cy Young
Other letters are still open
R for Nolan Ryan
G for Gibson(guess)
K for Kofax( I know he had a short career but I can’t think of other K’s)
Yes!! Nolan Ryan is the R
C is Roger Clemens
F is Bob Feller
J is for Walter Johnson
M is Christy Mathewson
N is Phil Niekro
R is Nolan Ryan
Y is Cy Young
No Gibson, no Koufax
G is for Glavine?
and V for Johnny Vander Meer?
S for Spahn?
Z for Zambrano?
P for Perry?
U for Underwood?
O for Osteen?
Why am I being moderated? Did I put my collar on backwards or something?
D for Dizzy Dean
F for Rollie Fingers
H for Catfish Hunter
V for Fernando Valenzuela
I was thinking G for Lefty Grove, but I think Glavine passed him
How about
Q for Dan Quisenberry (only Q I can think of)
S is Warren Spahn!!
G is Tom Glavine, if use post-1900 only; for all-time baseball, it is Pud Galvin
Gaylord Perry is 2nd on the P list; brother Jim Perry is 7th
Catfish Hunter is 3rd on H list
Carlos Zambrano is 3rd on Z list
Johnny Vander Meer is not in the top 3 for V’s…he wasn’t far behind there
Dan Quisenberry is 3rd, I believe, on the Q list
Tom Seaver, mentioned earlier, is 3rd on the S list
Lefty Grove was 1st on the post-1900 G list, until Glavine passed him
Fernando Valenzuela is not in the top 3 on V’s either
Bob Gibson is 5th on the all-time G list
Dizzy Dean is not in the top 3 on the D list
Sandy Koufax is not in the top 3 of the K’s
Latest count:
C is Roger Clemens
F is Bob Feller
G is Tom Glavine (post-1900); Pud Galvin all-time
J is for Walter Johnson
M is Christy Mathewson
N is Phil Niekro
R is Nolan Ryan
S is Warren Spahn
Y is Cy Young
Claude Osteen was my guess for O, too, but he’s second in the O’s
Tom Underwood is also 2nd…for the U’s.
You guys are doing very well….especially narrowing down the harder letters…but, there’s so still some very low hanging fruit on the trees….
One of the letters still open is owned by a famous Red…Vander Meer was a great guess…and it’s from that time period
Wait..wait…I’m mistaken on one…Phil Niekro is not the N…he’s second and brother Joe Niekro is 3rd. N is still on the board….
C is Roger Clemens
F is Bob Feller
G is Tom Glavine (post-1900); Pud Galvin all-time
J is for Walter Johnson
M is Christy Mathewson
R is Nolan Ryan
S is Warren Spahn
Y is Cy Young
Doi, top 5 in wins all time, Grover Alexander.
Here are some guesses:
B – Mordecai Brown
H – Carl Hubbell
L – Ted Lyons
P – Eddie Plank
W – David Wells
sorry to geek out but…
winning-est == most wins or == best winning %
the Reds pitchers I think of as winning-est pitchers that I can think of
B == Brietenstein
C == Charlton
D == Dwyer
E == Eller
G == Gullett
H == Harnisch
J == Jackson
K == Kurby
M == Maloney
N == Neagle
P == Purkey
Q == Queen
R == Ruether
S == Sallee
V == Volquez
W == White
Some names from my youth spring to mind: Bert Blyleven for B. Bob Welch at W. Gaylord Perry for P.
This is a stretch, but I can think of no other V… Frank Viola? And Jim Kaat is the only K I can think of. Then probably Randy Johnson or Tommy John for J. Or there’s Fergie Jenkins. Cripes!
I don’t foresee any work getting done this morning.
Yes, Grover or Pete Alexander is the A
A is Pete Alexander
C is Roger Clemens
F is Bob Feller
G is Tom Glavine (post-1900); Pud Galvin all-time
J is for Walter Johnson
M is Christy Mathewson
R is Nolan Ryan
S is Warren Spahn
Y is Cy Young
B winner is Bert Blyleven
K is Jim Kaat (post-1900); Tim Keefe is the all-time K leader
V is not Frank Viola, but good guess–he’s third
W is not Bob Welch–he’s 8th
Perry has already been guessed wrongly but good choice–he’s second;
J has already been guessed correctly in Walter Johnson, but those J’s are good–Randy Johnson is 2nd, Tommy John is 3rd, and Fergie Jenkins is 4th
New update–oh, and we still haven’t guessed the Red…even with Mike’s list; we’ve guessed 11 of 26 letters
A is Pete Alexander
B is Bert Blyleven
C is Roger Clemens
F is Bob Feller
G is Tom Glavine (post-1900); Pud Galvin all-time
J is for Walter Johnson
K is Jim Kaat (post-1900), Tim Keefe all-time
M is Christy Mathewson
R is Nolan Ryan
S is Warren Spahn
Y is Cy Young
Mike,
Very interesting Reds list…am looking for most career wins, not winning percentage…even your list of Reds pitchers does not include the Reds pitcher who “owns” the major league record for wins for the first letter of his last name.
Your list still found only ONE of FOUR Reds pitchers in the top 100 all-time career victories, that being Will White. Tom Seaver is in the top 100, but most of us think of him as a Met first. In addition to White, there’s three other Reds pitchers in the top 100 in major league career victories that haven’t been mentioned.
There’s actually a fifth guy that is more famous (or should I say “infamous”) and better known as a Red than his other teams, too….
Who are these other four?
Oh, Mike…Q for Mel Queen (father and son) was a good guess….but not winners; they won 47 games between the two of them
Oh right, of course Walter Johnson. I should read all the posts before commenting!
Don Drysdale for D? Carl Hubbell at H? Although Hershiser might not be far behind him.
The Red can’t be Rixey because we already have Ryan – is it Milt Pappas (one of my favorite names ever)?
One more: I’m going to say Eckersley for E, only because he used to start and played for like 40 years. And I can’t think of any other Es.
Hey, I think I got one, is W Early Wynn?
Z-Tom Zachary-186 wins
You guys knocked off several of the letters here…
H is Carl Hubbell
E is Dennis Eckersley
L is Ted Lyons
P is Eddie Plank
W is Early Wynn is the post-1900 winner; Mickey Welch is the all-time leader
Mordecai Brown is 2nd on the B list.
Don Drysdale is 3rd on the D list
David Wells is 5th on the W list
Orel Hershiser is 7th on the H list
Eppa Rixey is 5th on the R list
Milt Pappas is 9th on the P list
However, that does now name 3 of the 5 “known” Reds on the top 100 list for career wins: Eppa Rixey, Will White, and Milt Pappas…I say Pappas as a Red…his best years came as an Oriole, but most of baseball remember him from the Robinson trade
Rixey is tied for 36th
White is tied for 63rd
Pappas is tied for 95th with Drydale and Vida Blue
Not counting Seaver and Wells…there’s still TWO other pitchers best known as Reds from their playing careers…one who owns a letter…
The updated Letter Board:
A is Pete Alexander
B is Bert Blyleven
C is Roger Clemens
E is Dennis Eckersley
F is Bob Feller
G is Tom Glavine (post-1900); Pud Galvin all-time
H is Carl Hubbell
J is for Walter Johnson
K is Jim Kaat (post-1900), Tim Keefe all-time
L is Ted Lyons
M is Christy Mathewson
P is Eddie Plank
R is Nolan Ryan
S is Warren Spahn
W is Early Wynn (post-1900), Mickey Welch all-time
Y is Cy Young
That’s 16 of 26 letters—10 more letters to go….
Tom Zachary is the Z winner
Update:
A is Pete Alexander
B is Bert Blyleven
C is Roger Clemens
E is Dennis Eckersley
F is Bob Feller
G is Tom Glavine (post-1900); Pud Galvin all-time
H is Carl Hubbell
J is for Walter Johnson
K is Jim Kaat (post-1900), Tim Keefe all-time
L is Ted Lyons
M is Christy Mathewson
P is Eddie Plank
R is Nolan Ryan
S is Warren Spahn
W is Early Wynn (post-1900), Mickey Welch all-time
Y is Cy Young
Z is Tom Zachary
That’s 17 of 26 letters— 9 more letters to
Good call with Early Wynn, Jason.
Bob Ojeda or Roy Oswalt for O? Probably Oswalt.
No Ojeda; no Oswalt…Oswalt was in the top five, I believe
Here’s what we need:
D
I
N
O
Q
T
U
V
X
Hint on the D….it’s a Reds player…in the Reds Hall of Fame…he’s also a World Series hero and even lost 27 games one year…
He’s also one of the two remaining Reds we haven’t listed who are in top 100 in career major league wins.
The second Reds’ player we haven’t named in top 100 wins list is not a letter “winner”, but is 4th on a letter already guessed…and he was ambidextrous
Paul Derringer.
Alright, here’s another stab at it:
Frank Tanana
Jason Isringhausen (a long shot, but better than Jeff Innis!)
Yes, Paul Derringer…if he had not been on such bad Reds’ teams early in his career–he would probably be a Hall of Famer…and he wasn’t even the best pitcher on the Reds World Series teams…that was Bucky Walters–who, would probably have been a Hall of Famer if he hadn’t spent about five years pretending to be a third baseman.
Derringer is tied for 70th on the all-time Wins List…
One more Red in the top 100…
AND, YES, TWO MORE–Frank Tanana is the T and Jason Isringhausen is the I
At least, I think Isringhausen is the I…I couldn’t find any I’s above him…I tink Hideki Irabu was second…
Also, I’ll take another letter off the board…there’s never been a major league player whose last name began with X…that leaves 5 letters:
Unknown letters: N O Q U V
Winners by Letter
A is Pete Alexander
B is Bert Blyleven
C is Roger Clemens
D is Paul Derringer
E is Dennis Eckersley
F is Bob Feller
G is Tom Glavine (post-1900); Pud Galvin all-time
H is Carl Hubbell
I is Jason Isringhausen
J is for Walter Johnson
K is Jim Kaat (post-1900), Tim Keefe all-time
L is Ted Lyons
M is Christy Mathewson
P is Eddie Plank
R is Nolan Ryan
S is Warren Spahn
T is Frank Tanana
W is Early Wynn (post-1900), Mickey Welch all-time
X is not used
Y is Cy Young
Z is Tom Zachary
Hints for the last five:
All were before 1950, but pitched in the 20th century.
Two are Hall of Famers
One played only one game as a Red…his last game at age 49…the oldest Red ever
All but one of the five won 200 or more games; the one that didn’t win 200 is one of the Hall of Famers (197 wins). The other Hall of Famer had more than 300 wins.
The other three won 200 or more
The one Red we haven’t mentioned in the top 100 of all time career wins is 2nd on the Reds career win list between the aformentioned Will White and Paul Derringer…he pitched in the 19th Century
Here’s the link to the Sporcle quiz if anyone wants to try it. The correct answers show up as you type them:
http://www.sporcle.com/games/mlbwinsleaders_a2z.php
Since we’ve reached players from before most of us were born…here’s the last ones…
First, Tony Mullane is the other Red in the top 100 in major league wins.
Tony Mullane is tied for 29th
Rixey is tied for 36th
White is tied for 63rd
Paul Derringer is tied for 70th
Pappas is tied for 95th
the other letters:
N–Kid Nichols has more than 360 wins (Hall of Fame)
O–Al Orth
Q–Jack Quinn was the oldest Red ever, age 49 in 1933
U–George Uhle
V–Dazzy Vance (Hall of Fame–197 wins)
A is Pete Alexander
B is Bert Blyleven
C is Roger Clemens
D is Paul Derringer
E is Dennis Eckersley
F is Bob Feller
G is Tom Glavine (post-1900); Pud Galvin all-time
H is Carl Hubbell
I is Jason Isringhausen
J is for Walter Johnson
K is Jim Kaat (post-1900), Tim Keefe all-time
L is Ted Lyons
M is Christy Mathewson
N is Kid Nichols
O is Al Orth
P is Eddie Plank
Q is Jack Quinn
R is Nolan Ryan
S is Warren Spahn
T is Frank Tanana
U is George Uhle
V is Dazzy Vance
W is Early Wynn (post-1900), Mickey Welch all-time
X is not used
Y is Cy Young
Z is Tom Zachary
Even with that rotation Dusty would only win 60 games.