had to cheat a bit on the middle square
andrew miller - jackie bradley jr. - jonathan papelbonluis arraez - kyle lohse - joe nathanmiguel cabrera - prince fielder - mariano rivera
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 4 July 2023 17:39 (ten months ago) link
7/9 today, I usually blank out on the "played for team A and team B" squares. I don't look anything up, where's the fun in that?
Sammy Sosa - Albert Belle - Cal Ripken Jr.x - Francisco Lindor - Mike Piazzax - Carlos Santana - Ichiro
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 5 July 2023 13:14 (ten months ago) link
guessed a couple wrong today, shouldn’t try to get so cute
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 5 July 2023 13:16 (ten months ago) link
😎My Giants knowledge getting it done today.https://i.postimg.cc/6qRdYSCM/IMG-4548.jpg
― half the population ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (gyac), Thursday, 6 July 2023 06:54 (ten months ago) link
ok this is great
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 6 July 2023 15:26 (ten months ago) link
i biffed the houston/tb one today.
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 6 July 2023 15:32 (ten months ago) link
Literally only got that one cos it was mentioned in the commentary of some game I was watching
― half the population ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (gyac), Thursday, 6 July 2023 15:36 (ten months ago) link
I finally figured this out a few days ago (duh)...Same as Thermo for today's: 8/9. Stared at the screen for 10 minutes, couldn't think of anyone for Houston/TB. I don't know how to copy/hide my grid, but my most obscure correct answer was Dickie Thon for Houston/Philadelphia.
― clemenza, Thursday, 6 July 2023 16:06 (ten months ago) link
having infinite time to stare at the thing is not going to be good for my productivity
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 6 July 2023 16:18 (ten months ago) link
Having checked the Houston/TB answers (five, I think), I'm just glad I gave up--I would have still been sitting there in 2029.
― clemenza, Thursday, 6 July 2023 16:56 (ten months ago) link
got 9/9 this time, all higher profile and/or al east teams made it easy for me
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Thursday, 6 July 2023 16:57 (ten months ago) link
8/9 the only Phil/LA player I could think of was Dick Allen
― papal hotwife (milo z), Thursday, 6 July 2023 20:39 (ten months ago) link
i went with Utley
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 6 July 2023 22:43 (ten months ago) link
Looking at the NFL/NBA versions, man I don't know a damn thing about those aside from the 49ers (sort of) and Mavericks.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Thursday, 6 July 2023 23:03 (ten months ago) link
I had Utley too, although I like Dick Allen better as an answer. I expect I'll ace all the stat/award stuff and struggle with the upper-left part of the grid; I just don't pay enough attention to player movement that doesn't involve Jays and/or stars.
― clemenza, Friday, 7 July 2023 01:10 (ten months ago) link
8/9 again--missed Tigers/Rockies. Rockies are extra-hard because who can name any Rockies pitchers? Tried to hide/display my grid on a testing thread, all I got were 8 green squares and one white one.
― clemenza, Friday, 7 July 2023 04:55 (ten months ago) link
That’s the one I missed too
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 7 July 2023 05:43 (ten months ago) link
got lucky with Todd Zeile for CO/NY - I was thinking of his time with the Mets
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 7 July 2023 06:59 (ten months ago) link
8/9, struggled even with the Tigers/Braves
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 7 July 2023 07:12 (ten months ago) link
Yeah 8/9 for me too but a different one I thinkhttps://i.postimg.cc/Z5VjSyh2/IMG-4668.jpgI watched a LOT of bad baseball this year for this one.
― half the population ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (gyac), Friday, 7 July 2023 08:34 (ten months ago) link
for the Barves answers i really knocked the rarity numbers out of the park: Darrel Evans, 1%; Ron Gant, 2%; Gary Sheffield 3%
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 7 July 2023 14:01 (ten months ago) link
Yeah, you should include your rarest answers along with your score; mine were Eddie Matthews for the Braves/Tigers and Joe Torre for the Braves/Cardinals, both 2%.
― clemenza, Friday, 7 July 2023 14:20 (ten months ago) link
8/9, I got tripped up by the Tigers/Rockies square (as did most people).
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Friday, 7 July 2023 14:29 (ten months ago) link
killed the braves column: mike hessman (det), ken oberkfell (stl), claudell washington (nyy) all 0.2%
but i had no col/det and i tried to get too fancy with the 40+ homers
― mookieproof, Friday, 7 July 2023 16:48 (ten months ago) link
Yeah if it helped I put Goldie for the middle right one and in retrospect, why
― half the population ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (gyac), Friday, 7 July 2023 16:56 (ten months ago) link
So is the rarity score actually one of the objectives? I haven't been playing that way, but I will if it is.
― clemenza, Friday, 7 July 2023 17:20 (ten months ago) link
i would guess that most people playing the game can probably answer most of the questions (rockies/tigers aside), so yeah rarity is a thing. which is nice for you, as i bet you'll totally kick ass at it
― mookieproof, Friday, 7 July 2023 20:18 (ten months ago) link
Just a function of being older. When I answered Joe Torre for the Braves/Cardinals, that for me is an obvious answer: perennial All-Star with the Braves, an MVP with the Cardinals. But he was 2% of the correct answers. I'll still struggle with the intersecting teams--and will usually be happy if I can come up with even one answer--but I will go for more offbeat stat/award answers.
― clemenza, Friday, 7 July 2023 22:21 (ten months ago) link
9/9, really concentrated on less obvious answers: all but one under 10%, six 5% or under, three under 1%. The one name that escaped me was J.A. Happ for the Jays 20-game winner, so I settled for Morris--who surprisingly was only 3% anyway.
Rarity Score: 62.
― clemenza, Saturday, 8 July 2023 06:30 (ten months ago) link
If they added a time component to this, I'd be dead.
― clemenza, Saturday, 8 July 2023 06:48 (ten months ago) link
8/9.Could not FOR THE LIFE OF ME name a single A/Pirate, the only reason I got the reliever is cos I read about him being picked up by the Pirates off waivers.https://i.postimg.cc/63hPG7Ct/IMG-4734.jpgSorry for letting you down with my lack of Pirates knowledge, Mookieproof.
― half the population ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (gyac), Saturday, 8 July 2023 09:17 (ten months ago) link
What’s funny is your top right answer could have been used for the one you didn’t get!
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 8 July 2023 14:48 (ten months ago) link
That's who I used for my top left (I was pretty sure but not 100%). Could have used Jeff Kent twice too, if you were allowed to. I actually found Cy Young/MVP a little tricky since double-winners have been somewhat arbitrary. Best example: Rice beat out Guidry in '78, but Clemens beat out Mattingly in '86. I thought that's what happened, but again, wasn't 100% sure, so I went with a safe 36% choice there.
― clemenza, Saturday, 8 July 2023 15:01 (ten months ago) link
xp I didn’t know that until you said so, I had two answers for that top right square and Cutch was a more obvious choice
― half the population ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (gyac), Saturday, 8 July 2023 15:05 (ten months ago) link
Let me know what your Jays answers were, Thermo. I had (working down) Al Oliver, Candy Maldonado--both under 1%--and Morris at 36%.
― clemenza, Saturday, 8 July 2023 15:18 (ten months ago) link
Those are all solid 80s answers!
I had Liriano, Pillar & Clemens (6%, 10% & 21%)
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 8 July 2023 16:49 (ten months ago) link
Unfortunately I chose the most obvious answers Jose Bautista, Brandon Belt, Roy Haaladay. I have plenty of room for improvement in this game.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Saturday, 8 July 2023 17:32 (ten months ago) link
I came up with what might be the only Immaculate Grid with the same answer for all nine squares (if you include a major award and a major statistical benchmark--there are guys who've played for nine teams, so that would be the other way to go). This is extremely easy.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ib_kzXqxUdy4qWeNf2c_Q72Ka0UHxIZXq1d9ufTfll8/edit?usp=sharing
― clemenza, Saturday, 8 July 2023 17:40 (ten months ago) link
8/9, couldn't start to think of a Pirates/Jays crossover. Rarity score:304
Jason Kendall - Ray Knight - Barry BondsBarry Zito - Brandon Belt - WillieBob Welch - Roy Halladay - Sandy Koufax
― papal hotwife (milo z), Saturday, 8 July 2023 21:26 (ten months ago) link
Ray Knight was supposed to be Gary Carter - 'long career, played in Canada, might have made a pit stop in Pittsburgh?' - and still wrong
― papal hotwife (milo z), Saturday, 8 July 2023 21:28 (ten months ago) link
I had Bob Welch for his 27 win season my first year playing rotisserie baseball, age 9 - also Bobby Thigpen & Cecil Fielder... my roto talent scout career was all downhill from there
― papal hotwife (milo z), Saturday, 8 July 2023 21:30 (ten months ago) link
We don't need to get into specifics, but not good at all today. (I did figure out that you can think in terms of franchises, so I was able to use the Expos in place of the Nationals.)
― clemenza, Sunday, 9 July 2023 05:07 (ten months ago) link
4/9 - Chris Young for Rangers X Padres and Johnny Damon/Julio Franco/Paul Molitor for SB
― papal hotwife (milo z), Sunday, 9 July 2023 06:58 (ten months ago) link
The highlight for me was using two Seattle Pilots for Brewers answers.
― clemenza, Sunday, 9 July 2023 07:21 (ten months ago) link
5/9, nothing doing down the left side at all.https://i.postimg.cc/v8Lr1JgG/IMG-4800.jpg
― half the population ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (gyac), Sunday, 9 July 2023 08:43 (ten months ago) link
I can’t believe I fucked up the KC sb one. A solid decade of speedy players and I pick one who never broke 30 with them. Also lol at me forgetting the obvious answers to SD & Tex/Mil and landing guys with 2% rarity
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 9 July 2023 15:17 (ten months ago) link
Here's your cheat sheet if you ever want to check yourself after the fact:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/friv/multifranchise.cgi
― clemenza, Sunday, 9 July 2023 15:30 (ten months ago) link
Another single-answer grid, marginally tougher than the first one I posted (had to cut some slack on the statistical benchmark):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kOwakO07O_liYBPBCYHoDJuvEFKz-Zrs0lQnbjjhM98/edit?usp=sharing
― clemenza, Sunday, 9 July 2023 16:06 (ten months ago) link
8/9, Bert Blyleven never won a Cy
― papal hotwife (milo z), Monday, 10 July 2023 04:34 (ten months ago) link
8/9...Flubbed my first Cubs/Red Sox guess (Josh Beckett), tried a second correct one, so never got to Cubs/Guardians. Rarity score 197: seven correct answers 1-10%, settled for the easy Twins/Red Sox answer. I almost boxed myself in with Rick Sutcliffe as the Cubs Cy Young winner--I should have used him for the Cubs/Guardians box. So there is some strategy involved.
― clemenza, Monday, 10 July 2023 04:54 (ten months ago) link
9/9, 22. Heading out for the day--crossing over into Michigan, appropriately enough--so I settled for a few easy ones. I think Carl Furillo was the least celebrated core Boy of Summer--him or Junior Gilliam.
https://i.postimg.cc/8PkCyZD4/grid.jpg
― clemenza, Thursday, 9 May 2024 13:42 (three weeks ago) link
you guys have me glory chasing - which leads to wrong guesses. but for the first time in a while i got two back-to-back. but both in the low 50s.
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 9 May 2024 22:08 (three weeks ago) link
I messed up on the weekend by assuming Eddie Collins as a sure thing for A's/200-hits, but he only did it with the White Sox.
― clemenza, Thursday, 9 May 2024 23:33 (three weeks ago) link
Didn’t even know he was on the As! Came in handy for me when I needed him for the Sox tho. Usually the black and white guys are easy low scores - but was surprised Al Simmons was 11% for the A’s.
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 10 May 2024 01:27 (three weeks ago) link
9/9, 9
https://imgur.com/a/eTuKw4f
― buzza, Friday, 10 May 2024 10:06 (three weeks ago) link
Here's some low-hanging fruit for you to beat, thermo: 9/9, 45. I'm retiring my Matt Stairs cheat--all four '69 expansion teams--which others have evidently started using too. The best part of today's is my Red Sox row: Flash Gordon, Smokey Joe, and El Tiante--my greatest nickname row ever.
https://i.postimg.cc/KYmvywpt/grid.jpg
― clemenza, Friday, 10 May 2024 23:03 (three weeks ago) link
9/9, 15. Amusing that Zolio Versalles is my most common answer today--in the first few months of this game, he was guaranteed to be under 1%.
https://i.postimg.cc/MGnmG5bT/grid.jpg
Why I know him (possibly my first baseball book as a kid):
https://i.postimg.cc/NjzRZTqw/book.jpg
― clemenza, Saturday, 11 May 2024 14:15 (three weeks ago) link
Ha! Even in the low hanging fruit I got one wrong. Did use Smokey Joe (I only know him because of a dead ball era sim I did of the BoSox in OOTP). also took advantage of Stairs.
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 11 May 2024 15:51 (three weeks ago) link
“In case of emergency use Stairs” as the tshirts used to say
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 11 May 2024 16:04 (three weeks ago) link
9/9, 20.https://i.postimg.cc/7Lb21Dbp/IMG-0607.jpgShout out to Alex Cora for being forced to play Pablo at first, in easily the worst lineup I’ve ever seen, in a game I saw with my own eyes 🫡
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Saturday, 11 May 2024 16:19 (three weeks ago) link
9/9, 25, almost all of it Thomas and Perry. For the first time, I thought to check if there was anybody who played for the Pilots (Brewers) and Mariners. One guy, Diego Segui, so I'm guessing others have clued into that too, and he's worth 5% at best.
https://i.postimg.cc/L8LM2P6f/grid.jpg
― clemenza, Sunday, 12 May 2024 15:34 (three weeks ago) link
You would think Gary Roenicke would be under %0.1, but I think the Roenicke/Lowenstein platoon is pretty well known as such things go.
― clemenza, Sunday, 12 May 2024 15:38 (three weeks ago) link
9/9, 15
https://imgur.com/a/skrGlT0
― buzza, Monday, 13 May 2024 04:35 (two weeks ago) link
Middle and right columns: 6/6, 5.75%. (Could have been better if I'd remembered Frank Duffy, the guy the Reds traded for Foster--had that committed to memory at one point.) Rays column: 3/3, 105%. Why would you ruin a good grid with Tampa Bay? So 9/9, 112--thermo and gyac, easy target.
https://i.postimg.cc/FRdmp7LD/grid.jpg
― clemenza, Tuesday, 14 May 2024 12:03 (two weeks ago) link
(Highlight today was turning the outfield column into a backdoor Jays column.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 14 May 2024 12:05 (two weeks ago) link
9/9, 10--may drop into single digits. Started off 3/3, under 1%, but Jason Thompson killed that. This will never happen again: I've got two guys in the same row--Billy Martin and Dave Boswell--who got into a famous barroom brawl that cost one of them his job: https://twins-time.com/2022/02/billy-in-the-bar-august-1969/.
https://i.postimg.cc/FzzhfLX1/grid.jpg
― clemenza, Wednesday, 15 May 2024 20:01 (two weeks ago) link
Not to mention Giles and Briles side-by-side.
Better come back, maybe next week, 'cause you see I'm on a losing streak. Things to remember: Curt Blefary never played center field (Wednesday), Scipio Spinks was born in Chicago (today). Yesterday's, with the Marlins, was a lost cause.
― clemenza, Saturday, 18 May 2024 20:23 (two weeks ago) link
9/9, 60. I was good through the first four, then Renteria, then Welch, then I just gave up and went for the 9.
https://i.postimg.cc/YSyBHgMk/grid.jpg
― clemenza, Sunday, 19 May 2024 14:19 (two weeks ago) link
Neither snow nor rain...9/9, 15. Could've used Stairs for the Perry box too, which has led me to the Kurt Bevacqua Rule: not Montreal, but the other three '69 teams. Took a guess on U.L. Washington, who I figured must have spelled off Brett occasionally. He did--exactly once. (Didn't he always have a toothpick in his mouth?)
https://i.postimg.cc/G3BMggW1/grid.jpg
― clemenza, Tuesday, 21 May 2024 11:57 (one week ago) link
Yes, he did (the toothpick). And he was on first when Brett hit the pine tar HR.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 21 May 2024 11:59 (one week ago) link
Periodically returned to this through the day, knowing full well I had nothing for Arizona.
https://i.postimg.cc/sDxQxqVK/grid.jpg
Was pretty good through the first seven, with an auto-fill-assisted guess on Miguel Dilone. I remembered Mark Reynolds from yesterday's strikeouts/power discussion. But the famous-again Ron Leflore still had me over 30%, so I threw in the towel with Schilling and Carroll. Tony Womack crossed my mind at one point, but forgot him by the time I finished.
So one of those grids: 9/9, 112.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 22 May 2024 22:01 (one week ago) link
Colourful curse words: 8/9, 106:
https://i.postimg.cc/8CNd9Xjq/grid.jpg
People I thought of for lifetime White Sox box: Minnie Minoso, Eddie Cicotte, Richard Dotson, Jason Bere, Al Lopez, none of whom would have been right--Al Lopez didn't even play for the Chicago (but managed them for 12 years). Who I guessed: Chico Carrasquel, who was there six out of 10 seasons. Who I should have guessed: Luke Appling or Red Faber. Who I could have guessed if I paid a lot more attention to Jays' games: Nick Nastrini, who's had three lifetime starts for the White Sox and got hammered by Toronto the other night.
― clemenza, Friday, 24 May 2024 14:41 (one week ago) link
Old Nick would have been 0.9%.
― clemenza, Friday, 24 May 2024 14:47 (one week ago) link
I don’t understand what’s going on with the no hitter cat. It’s paired with three different teams and the rules say that the no hitter has to happen with that team… when I was done (7/9) the number stated in the results screen was just over 2x the number that the bb ref page is giving me.
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 26 May 2024 17:08 (one week ago) link
Not sure what you mean by "the number"...I had two days in a row where one box kept me from scoring under 10%, then today was a wipeout.
― clemenza, Sunday, 26 May 2024 17:48 (one week ago) link
Number = number of guys who pitched a no-hitter for that team? (It is team-specific, you're right.)
― clemenza, Sunday, 26 May 2024 17:49 (one week ago) link
Ya. That number.
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 26 May 2024 19:00 (one week ago) link
It was higher than the actual amount should have been in the summary.
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 26 May 2024 19:01 (one week ago) link
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.
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 27 May 2024 02:22 (six days ago) link
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%!.
― clemenza, Monday, 27 May 2024 03:40 (six days ago) link
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.
― clemenza, Monday, 27 May 2024 13:57 (six days ago) link
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.
― clemenza, Monday, 27 May 2024 13:59 (six days ago) link
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
― clemenza, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 22:02 (five days ago) link
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.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 22:10 (five days ago) link
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
― clemenza, Wednesday, 29 May 2024 10:57 (four days ago) link
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).
― clemenza, Thursday, 30 May 2024 18:57 (three days ago) link
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
― clemenza, Friday, 31 May 2024 20:49 (two days ago) link
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
― clemenza, Saturday, 1 June 2024 12:50 (yesterday) link
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/fkGjcrMFI 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!
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 1 June 2024 16:23 (yesterday) link
I get caught on that kind of stuff all the time. Garvey's solid on 200 hits and 100 RBIs at the seasonal level.
― clemenza, Saturday, 1 June 2024 16:26 (yesterday) link
Harry Heilmann fan club in session.
― clemenza, Saturday, 1 June 2024 16:28 (yesterday) link
THE MAN WAS A GOLDEN GOD!
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 1 June 2024 16:47 (yesterday) link