Grid 219

The one with Norm Charlton and Bake McBride fails

ERIK: I don’t know why I thought Norm Charlton played for Detroit.

Here’s something I haven’t done enough: explaining how I know what I know. Let’s try it out with the above. Clockwise from upper left:

• Robinson Cano: Easy. He was the best player on the M’s for several years, and the highest-priced free agent we ever snagged. Then the ignominy. Then the trade to the Mets. Then more ignominy. He ended his career with the Padres. No, Braves! Yankees M’s, Mets Pads, Braves. Should’ve been a Hall of Famer. Instead, a cautionary tale.

• Tom Seaver: This was the last slot I filled in. Not because it took that long to think of Tom Seaver but because, with those two teams, I could only think of Tom Seaver. Who else should I/could I have thought of? Mike Cameron, Kevin Mitchell, Vince Coleman, Frank Viola. Actually, I didn’t know Viola pitched for the Reds, but he did, in 1995. Right, 3 games, 0-1, 6.28 ERA. That’s why I didn’t know.

• Richie Ashburn and the .300 column: The big question was whether I’d choose Ashburn for the Phillies, his HOF team, or the Mets, his “Yo la tengo” team. Remembering Al Oliver for Phils/.300 sealed the deal. Gehringer’s .300 was just an educated guess about a HOFer who played in an offensive era. But it could’ve been wrong. He was a great defensive second baseman, so maybe he got by on that? Nope: .320 career. He hit .300+ every year but one from 1927 to 1940—and even that year he hit .298.

• Ethan Allen: Research from earlier in the gridding season—a guy who played for the three original NL “pinks”: Reds, Cards, Phils. Plus his name was Ethan Allen. Easy to remember. Who else played for the NL “pinks”? A few names: Bobby Tolan, Scott Rolen, Cookie Rojas, Del Ennis, Danny Jackson, Alex Johnson. And Jim Konstanty! Also Dick Sisler. Yes, son of.

• Dave Cash: He and Al Oliver were just rote memorization. They were two guys I liked on the early ’70s Pirates, and they had three teams in common: Pirates, Phils, Expos. Cash was also Padres. For Oliver: Rangers and Dodgers sound similar, Dodgers and Giants are great rivals, plus Blue Jays. TBH, I don’t know why I remember all that when I sometimes forget my friends’ names.

• Johnny Podres: Another great gridding discovery. Podres was on the mound when the Brooklyn Dodgers finally won the World Series in 1955—that’s the easy part. The hard part is remembering he also played for the Tigers. But the REAL easy part, and the super-fun discovery, is that he finished his career with the nascent San Diego Padres in 1969. Podres on the Padres. You don’t need a mnemonic for that one.

• Norm Charlton: Seriously, I don’t know what I was thinking.

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TIM: Not too shabby. Too bad Seaver kicked up your score like that, otherwise… I had a similar experience today, with slightly different personnel.

Where I drew my blank was Phils/Reds, and oddly I did think of Scott Rolen I just also thought he’d have been wrong. Phillies, yes, Cardinals, yes, but Reds…? Nah. (Oops.)

McReynolds’ was a name that just popped into my head. I don’t remember him particularly well or anything, just one of those ’80s Mets that were the bane of my Cardinals’ existence. But he worked, four years with the Padres including their first division win in ’84. Cam, obvs, and since I forgot him last time there was opportunity to use him well, might as well put him in here. He would have worked for Mets/Pads too.

Brad Ausmus took a while to come up with. The Tigers aren’t a strength for me and I knew there must be some bunches of relievers that played for both I wasn’t coming up with anything I felt sure about. And when I did think of Ausmus I wasn’t sure if I was confusing him with Andy Ashby. Couple of “A” name catchers from the same era at more or less the same tier of non-stardom. Coin flip in my favor here. And don’t ask me how I knew Tony Gwynn Jr. had time as a Phillie. I’ve no idea how I knew that.

Lower-right wasn’t one I drew a blank on, I was pretty sure about my guess of Bake McBride. When it failed I did a double-take and of course had to confirm it. And there it is, Bake McBride’s career average is .29925. Cue Maxwell Smart.

Went in for more dental work today. I had a crown put on. Which wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be, but boy does it hurt now. I get to go back for the permanent crown and some preventive sealants to head off future similar problems in a couple weeks. And some more after the calendar flips and my insurance coverage resets. Still costing me a few grand. Kids, orthodontia is not necessarily your friend in the long run. It contributed to a lot of pain for me.