Here’s another good piece of sports trivia, and this time it comes straight from The Union-Recorder archives. The answer will be at the end of the article, but please don’t skip through the good stuff in between.
Georgia Military College brought back its football program in 1991 after not playing the game since 1959. The first game of that ’91 season was held on a Monday in another state. The question is: This game was played against the junior varsity squad of what university with a four-year program?
•••
It’s amazing to me how this doesn’t happen much more often, like on a daily if not weekly basis. And when it does happen, it’s usually against a high-profile target. Just think about how any baseball pitcher at any level has ability to change the outlook of a team in one fleeting instant.
The latest victim hit close to home, and that is when Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley took a pitch to the hand last Sunday at Anaheim. The result was a fracture that will keep the All-Star with one of the best gloves in the game out the rest of the regular season.
Mookie Betts, who was playing shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers, missed two months after taking a pitch to the hand in mid-June. When he returned in mid-August, yes, he hit a home run but was put in the outfield. Betts is still manning right field, and the Dodgers never lost their Western Division lead.
Flashback to two years ago. Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper needed surgery on a broken thumb when a pitch caught him on the grip of his bat. It took a little less than two months for him to return to action, and the Phillies reached the World Series.
The Braves may not have three powerful forces in their lineup now as they precariously cling to postseason hopes, but the pitching is still there. The big boost came Tuesday with 10 strikeouts from Renaldo Lopez in his first start in almost a month. That was against the Eastern Division leading Phillies, and the Braves won even though it didn’t add anything to Lopez’ personal record.
Max Fried wasn’t shabby either in seven innings Wednesday despite the close loss. And then Spencer SomeoneElse was masterful Thursday, and the series is won.
All a team can do now that it is August is look to the waiver wire, and the best Atlanta could find was someone named Gio Urshela, formerly of the Detroit Tigers. No offense to the nine-year veteran, but he’s no Anthony Rendon (Angels) or Nolan Arenado (Cardinals), both of whom have hefty contracts and couldn’t get through waivers even with the speed of The Flash.
And I don’t think neither George Brett nor Chipper Jones are coming out of retirement.
One thing those three hand injuries have in common: fastballs in the high 90s (two 97s and one 98). I’m not suggesting any of these were the intent of the pitcher involved, that they were aiming for that vulnerable not to mention valuable spot. It is a lot less obvious than aiming for the batting helmet or the small of the back.
This is a reason why so many old-schoolers don’t like designated hitters. They like the idea that if you hit one of my batters, you are likely to have to face my pitchers in the box, if not in this game but somewhere down the road. We won’t forget it. We never forget.
I can also recall hearing some pitchers screaming about how they need to pitch inside. They need to get those batters off the plate or else they are going to get drilled time and time again.
Here’s something I just learned this week – and maybe it means a little bit of karma against the Braves. Another trivia question you don’t need to wait for the answer. Did you know that one of the pitchers on Major League Baseball’s top 10 list all time for hitting batters sits in the Atlanta dugout? Yes, 40-year-old Charlie Morton, who has 16 hit batters to his credit so far in 2024 with his next start today (Saturday, Aug. 24) against Washington.
This would mean, by the chart, that Morton climbed into the top 10 this season with 184 total. He was pitching in that infamous game with the Riley injury and did plunk an Angel. A few more starts for Morton and he could surpass The Big Unit, Randy Johnson, at 190 for fifth all-time. Is 200 a possibility?
It’s interesting to note that the top three pitchers in HB totals did most of their work in the 19th Century. Gus Weyhing is No. 1 with 277. He had 496 career decisions (264-232, and Morton only has just over 250 decisions), pitched for the Phillies, Pirates, Cardinals, Reds, Athletics, the Louisville Colonels and Cleveland Blues, and never used a glove.
Not surprisingly, some knuckleballers like the late Tim Wakefield (186) and Charlie Hough (174) are high on the list. One would think Nolan Ryan would be higher than 16th with 158 with his headhunting style. It’s a bit of a shock that the one who really lamented about pitching inside, Pedro Martinez, is barely in the top 30 at 141, only four ahead of Atlanta legend Greg Maddux.
Martinez has admitted in a book that about 90% of his HBs were intentional.
•••
Now for the trivia answer. GMC played the Furman University JV team in Greenville, South Carolina, to start its new era in 1991. The Bulldogs under coach Glen Wolfe won 31-6.
(If at all possible, give pet adoption a try through the Animal Rescue Foundation in Milledgeville. Donations of any kind are also in great need. ARF is a little red building at 711 S. Wilkinson St., and more information is available at animalrescuefoundation.org.)
