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Our Special Bonds: Hall of Fame (Answers)

Answers to the trivia quiz of July 27, 2007
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2007/07/our-special-bonds-hall-of-fame.html

1) Stan Musial, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969, was the first to be able to say that he was an inductee who had played (and played very well) against the Mets. He could also say that he played in the first Mets game ever, netting three hits and the first RBI against the Mets that day. By the way, on Julio Gotay...did you know he was the only Cardinals starter not to get a hit in that first Mets game?

2) Of the 35 pitchers whom the Mets beat in 1962 (poor Dick Ellsworth lost three times), the Hall of Famers were Warren Spahn (lost on a walk-off HR), Don Drysdale, and Bob Gibson.

3) For whatever reason, the baseball career of Ray Sadecki lends itself to great trivia, as he's served as an answer here on multiple occasions, including this one as Stargell's dominator.

4) The Mets frustrated Joe Morgan throughout his career, striking him out every 6.9 at-bats. The two guys who got him three times in a game were Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack.

5) Orlando Cepeda hit into a triple play in the 14th inning of the 23-inning contest between the Mets and Giants on May 31, 1964. A Hall of Famer, Gaylord Perry, was the winning pitcher that day.

6) Ripken, Banks, and McCovey had one each. Ryne Sandberg, somewhat surprisingly, didn't have any of his 7 walk-off hits against the Mets.

7) Eckersley, Gibson, and Carlton had one each. Don Drysdale had none.

8) Willie Randolph's faced Steve Carlton as both rookie (in his 2nd MLB game in 1975) and a grizzled vet (1987, when Carlton was with the Indians) but could not get a hit in any of their meetings.

9) You'd think a Hall of Famer would have gotten at least 1 hit in 22 tries against Tom Seaver, but Don Sutton was incapable of getting one.

10) It would have been wrong for us to have gone through this whole quiz and not mention new inductee Tony Gwynn at least once, so we do so here. Gwynn had 9 career 5-hit games, including the one against the Mets on April 30, 1993.

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