5fouls Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 77 today. Not super familiar with any of these teams. And, the Rockies being a recent expansion team limits choices for most of the career categories. I struggled most with the Twins/Rockies square. When that happens, I start trying to think of former reds that moved around a lot. Not sure I would have ever thought of Jeff Reed if he had not been a former Red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 (edited) Good day with a 26. 4 ex-Reds and a pair of Black Sox come through. Edited January 22 by 5fouls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 50 today. Enjoying doing these more now that I stopped trying to get the super low score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 17 today. Could have been a lot better had I put more thought into the Brewers / Red Sox square. It was just one of those combinations, though, that I just didn't want to put a lot of thought into. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 5 minutes ago, 5fouls said: 17 today. Could have been a lot better had I put more thought into the Brewers / Red Sox square. It was just one of those combinations, though, that I just didn't want to put a lot of thought into. On my Brewers column, it's the "Ball Four" effect... All were Seattle Pilots 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 (edited) 9 minutes ago, IUFLA said: On my Brewers column, it's the "Ball Four" effect... All were Seattle Pilots 🙂 I actually tried to think of some Pilots, but that was a little bit before my prime. I knew Bouton pitched for them, but did not realize he pitched for Houston as well. I thought Cooper would be single digits, which is why I did not think harder. I thought most of the day on the Cubs / Brewers square. i was just going to settle on Wade Miley, but on my way home from work, I had to stop at a restaurant to pick up a take-out order for my daughter, and I was going through ex-Reds, and David Weathers popped into my mind. Edit: I have read Ball Four, but that was back in 1980 or 1981. Edited January 24 by 5fouls 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 17 minutes ago, 5fouls said: I actually tried to think of some Pilots, but that was a little bit before my prime. I knew Bouton pitched for them, but did not realize he pitched for Houston as well. He got traded at the deadline in 1969, going from the last place Pilots, to a young Astros team that was in the middle of a pennant race... Bouton is kinda conundrum to me...I loved "Ball Four" and his follow up "I'm Glad You Didn't Take it Personally." but his ex-wife revealed that he did as much screwing around as anybody, yet in "Ball Four" he acted innocent. You probably already know this, but he was exiled from the Old Timer's Game in Yankee Stadium for years until his son wrote George Steinbrenner a letter... He thought it was because of the things he wrote about Mickey Mantle (which were mild compared to what eventually came out) but a few months before Mantle died, he called Bouton and told him that he'd never asked the Yankees to ban him, and they reconciled... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 25 Report Share Posted January 25 40 today. I'm always surprised when I can get a Hall of Famer for less than 1%. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Got an 11 today. Very good grid for me. Completed 7 of the 9 while eating breakfast this morning. Knew I had a good grid going. Thought about the other two while at work (Grossman and Orosco) and decided to shoot for low scores (i.e. no Jack Morris on the Tigers/Twins square). @IUFLA Kind of interesting that we both got Jim Perry, but on a different square. Max Alvis is your name today that I've never heard of. You always seem to find one of those. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 14 minutes ago, 5fouls said: Max Alvis is your name today that I've never heard of. You always seem to find one of those. Baseball cards 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 1 minute ago, IUFLA said: Baseball cards 😉 I've had some baseball cards snags in the past, but not as many as I would have thought. On this grid, Ray Chapman and Ron Swoboda are names familiar to me from reading baseball history. My score could have been even better. When I filled in the square this morning at breakfast, Jose Barrero was 0.2%. I guess by the time I got off work and finished my grid, all the Reds fans had woken up and his score doubled. 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 2 minutes ago, 5fouls said: I've had some baseball cards snags in the past, but not as many as I would have thought. On this grid, Ray Chapman and Ron Swoboda are names familiar to me from reading baseball history. My score could have been even better. When I filled in the square this morning at breakfast, Jose Barrero was 0.2%. I guess by the time I got off work and finished my grid, all the Reds fans had woken up and his score doubled. 😁 I didn't even think of Chapman, tragic figure that he is... I remember Swoboda as a marginal outfielder... Except one play in the 1969 World Series 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 (edited) 35 today. I went too quick with Olerud. Should have gone someone less obvious, like Tony Fernandez. I beat my head against the wall for probably 30 minutes, drawing a blank on Blue Jays first round draft picks. I was just going to give up, but decided to read the rules and found out it did not have to be a Blue Jays first round pick, just a player that played for them who was a 1st rounder. Edited January 27 by 5fouls 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 7 minutes ago, 5fouls said: 35 today. I went too quick with Olerud. Should have gone someone less obvious, like Tony Fernandez. I beat my head against the wall for probably 30 minutes, drawing a blank on Blue Jays first round draft picks. I was just going to give up, but decided to read the rules and found out it did not have to be a Blue Jays first round pick, just a player that played for them who was a 1st rounder. Like the Ray Schalk pick...I did the same on Olerud... The Dick Dietz pick on mine was another baseball card assist... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 28 Report Share Posted January 28 (edited) 35 today. I settled for Cey too soon. Thought of multiple better options as I was finishing my grid. Otherwise, I have no complaints. Just not a whole lot of super-low guys came to mind. 40 home runs and 200 hits have limited options. Probably did about as good as I could on those. Edited January 28 by 5fouls 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 29 Report Share Posted January 29 This is why I went with Frank McCormick... I had this card set That's how I learned all of the World Series winners 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 29 Report Share Posted January 29 Cey naturally popped into my head. My first little league baseball glove was a Ron Cey, Wilson model. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 29 Report Share Posted January 29 One of my better grids. Got an 11 and finished it before leaving for work. Probably could have done a little better if I would have given any thought at all to Yankees 1B. But, Wally Pipp is just one of those historical figures that you fee obligated to use when the opportunity arises. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted January 29 Report Share Posted January 29 Guerrero killed me... Funny that we both had the (in)famous Wally Pipp... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted January 29 Report Share Posted January 29 (edited) Some strategies I'm employing that is making this easier. - For statistical categories, I immediately start thinking about pre-1970 players. I read a lot of baseball history growing up and am better versed on players who hit .300 or won 20 games back then than I am from 1990 forward. Of course, this strategy does not work for the post-1970 expansion teams. - For the 'played for these two teams' squares, I focus on the 1970's through the early 1990's. This is the period in which I collected baseball cards and had baseball board/computer games. I also try to think of Reds players that played for those teams. This is how I snagged Fred Norman today for the Padres/Nationals square. I knew the Reds originally acquired him from the Padres and later sent him as an extra piece to the Expos as part of the Tony Perez trade. - For 'position' squares, instead of using someone that regularly played that position, I try to think of players who are predominantly known for playing a different position. For example, Johnny Bench is a better answer for Reds 3rd Base than he would be for Reds Catcher. - When all else fails think of a journeyman that you associate with a particular team. And, when you are stuck on a square involving that team, consider deploying the journeyman strategy. For example, when I think of Mets journeyman, Jesse Orosco comes to mind. If I need a player for a Mets/Team B square and am having trouble, I know I can go with Orosco for the Mets piece and have a 30-40 percent chance of a match with the other team. - I struggle most with expansion teams, the Rays in particular. If the square is Tampa and another team, I always initiate my thinking with the other team. The pool of players I immediately associate with the Rays is very small. Edited January 29 by 5fouls 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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