Welcome to the “Mystery Player World Series Tournament!”

Here’s What It’s All About!

There’s nothing like a little friendly competition to get the juices flowing! I’ve decided to turn the weekly Mystery Player game into a three-round tournament. 

To use as much baseball lingo as possible, I’ll be referring to each of the three rounds as the East, Central, and West Divisions. The divisional play will consist of six weekly contests. Each division winner and two wild card players will advance to the Mystery Player World Series tournament! 

West Divisional Play, Week Four

We’re currently in Week Four, with competition for the West Division title. If the same player wins more than one division, the second-place player will advance to the World Series.

To mix things up a bit, I’ll be throwing some “curves”: the posting of each weekly entry will always be on the weekend (Friday to Sunday), but the time will be varied and unannounced…I’ll be “mixing it up,” so that no one will be sitting on my “fastball” anticipating the post at a set time!

The weekly entries will go out automatically to all the subscribers of the Baseball History Comes Alive website, so you don’t have to do anything…just be ready each weekend!

And to be clear…the tournament is “open book.” Feel free to use any resources you want. As always, the underlying objective is to enhance our knowledge of baseball history while having some fun with a little competition. 

Tournament Prizes

The winner of the tournament will receive a $50 Amazon gift card and a complimentary copy of my newly released book, The Best of Baseball History Comes Alive. The runners-up will also receive complimentary copies of the book.

As you send me your answers, I will grade them and return them to you with your score for the round. As each round progresses, I’ll keep a running tally of players’ scores and weekly standings.

Participation is open to all readers of Baseball History Comes Alive and our Old-Time Baseball Photos Facebook page. Also, please extend an invitation to any friends or relatives who might enjoy playing.

 So as to give everyone a chance to participate without the player’s identity being immediately revealed, send me your answers via e-mail instead of leaving your answers in the comments section.

Send your answers to me at: Livac2@aol.com.

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“The Mystery Player World Series Tournament!”

Let’s Play Ball!

West Divison, Week Four

Some of you know how much I enjoy Old-Timers’ photos. Well, I’ve got a good one here today. All are in the Hall of fame.

This week there are a total of 20 points available: One for each of the 13 players in the featured photo (13 points total), one each for each of the bonus questions (six points total), and one for the first person to get all the players and the bonus questions correct.

Who are the Old-Timers in this week’s Mystery Players photo?

(1 point awarded for each correct identification)

This week’s bonus questions:

1. One of the players died in a car crash. Which player? (1 point).
2. Within two years, what year was this photo taken? (1 point).
3. One of the players was known as the Mechanical Man. Which player? (1 point).
4. One of the players was known as the Fordham Flash. Which player? (1 point).
5. One of the players led the National League in K’s seven years in a row. Which player? (1 point).
6. How many of these players became managers at some time in their careers, either as player-managers or after their playing days? Which players? (1 point).

Good luck! Remember you don’t have to answer everything to submit an answer. Just give it your best shot!

Send your answers to me at: Livac2@aol.com

 

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Last Week’s Results for Western Division, Week Two:

The Mystery Players were:

Monte Irvin, Artie Wilson, Hank Thompson, Ray Noble

Answers to the Bonus Questions:

Monte Irvin is in the HOF; The year was 1951; Two-time Negro League batting champes were either Artie Wilson or Monte Irvin; Ray Noble was born in Cuban; Hank Thompson was the first African-American to play in the NL and the AL; Monte Irvin or Artie Wilson mentored Willie Mays

Congratulations to:

Mike Bresina

He was the first to identify last week’s Mystery Players correctly and also answer all the bonus questions correctly. He received 11 points.

The following also scored points by identifying some or all of the Mystery Players and the bonus questions:

Bob Rambo (9), James Pearn (10), Mark Moreno (10), William Carter (10), Everett Shockley (10), Cary Seidman (8), George Curcio (10), Kevin Barwin (10), Pat Hanson (10), Russ Bravender (10), Ed Cassidy (10), Tom Marshall (10), Bill Cunniff (10), John Shreve (10).

Appeal Plays: If you think I’ve made a mistake with your score, you can request an appeal, just like an appeal in a major league game. Send me your appeal request at: Livac2@aol.com. It won’t go to New York, but I’ll address the issue as fairly as I can…and probably quicker than most major league appeals!

Thanks to all who have participated this week! 

Click on this link to see where you rank in the current race for the Western  Division title after three weeks of play.

Click on this link to see the current Wild Card Standings after three weeks of Western Division play. 

Click here to see previous Mystery Player entries