All Things Immaculate Grid-related (MLB, NBA, NFL)

[coolhandgopher]

I hit 2050 unique players today with the recently referenced Mark Lemongello.

I recently re-read Ball Four and not only did it take on a different resonance since I originally read it just out of college, but it’s a treasure trove of forgotten, if ever known, ball players, especially since Bouton spent time with the Pilots and Astros (I had forgotten about his late season trade to Houston).

 

[Ope3]

I hit 2050 unique players today with the recently referenced Mark Lemongello.

I recently re-read Ball Four and not only did it take on a different resonance since I originally read it just out of college, but it’s a treasure trove of forgotten, if ever known, ball players, especially since Bouton spent time with the Pilots and Astros (I had forgotten about his late season trade to Houston).

I totally plagiarized your Lemongello selection who happens to get the Honor of # 1800 Player Used for me.

Dan Haren is sneaky good on several teams and pitching categories.

 

[Ope3]

Twins Alert on the Grid Today. The only New Player for me today would have been good fodder for Chris Berman had he played in the Golden SportsCenter era, Reno Bertoia.

Reno was the first ever to man the Hot Corner for the Twins, as he was the 1961 Opening Day Starter at 3B. He was born in Italy but raised in Canada and is a member of the Canadian HoF.

He actually would have worked in any of the Third Base categories today.

Tried to fish out another Newbie on the Bottom Row, but no dice. I'm content with the Total Rarity Score of 4.

Reno Bertoia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[coolhandgopher]

Twins Alert on the Grid Today. The only New Player for me today would have been good fodder for Chris Berman had he played in the Golden SportsCenter era, Reno Bertoia.

Reno was the first ever to man the Hot Corner for the Twins, as he was the 1961 Opening Day Starter at 3B. He was born in Italy but raised in Canada and is a member of the Canadian HoF.

He actually would have worked in any of the Third Base categories today.

Tried to fish out another Newbie on the Bottom Row, but no dice. I'm content with the Total Rarity Score of 4.

View attachment 41939

Reno Bertoia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thank you for the Bertoia insight, I never knew and will have to tuck him away in the memory bank. My top row was clean newbies:
Sergio Ferrer
Chris Latham
Luke Hughes

I'd been sitting on those first two for awhile, Ferrer because he makes me think of the actor Jose Ferrer and Latham as he was part of the Tapani/Guthrie trade with the Dodgers. Regarding Hughes, I believe you jogged my memory on him some time ago. Did the Twins have some player development system established in Australia? If you look at the small number of Australians who have played in MLB, there's a significant number of Twin alums (Grant Balfour, Lewis Thorpe, Glenn Williams, Hughes, Liam Hendriks, Brad Thomas, and perhaps more). All from the early to mid 00's.

 

[Ope3]

I revisited this article for today's Grid, and simply plugged them in for 7 of my 9 choices which is for Black History Month

The history behind Negro Leagues’ best nicknames

The practice of giving nicknames is probably as old as the history of humans forming social groups. Whether you're a member of a sports team or part of the mafia, getting a nickname is a clear sign that you belong, that you're well-liked and part of the in-crowd. Sure, sometimes

www.mlb.com

Hilton Smith is not part of the nickname group, but I remembered him from Reusse writing about him playing Town Team ball in Fulda.

Peanuts Davis, I stumbled upon while trying to find Mamie "Peanut" Johnson.



8 of the selections bolstered my New Player Stats, Mule Suttles was my only repeat.

 

[coolhandgopher]

I revisited this article for today's Grid, and simply plugged them in for 7 of my 9 choices which is for Black History Month

The history behind Negro Leagues’ best nicknames

The practice of giving nicknames is probably as old as the history of humans forming social groups. Whether you're a member of a sports team or part of the mafia, getting a nickname is a clear sign that you belong, that you're well-liked and part of the in-crowd. Sure, sometimes

www.mlb.com

Hilton Smith is not part of the nickname group, but I remembered him from Reusse writing about him playing Town Team ball in Fulda.

Peanuts Davis, I stumbled upon while trying to find Mamie "Peanut" Johnson.

View attachment 42093

8 of the selections bolstered my New Player Stats, Mule Suttles was my only repeat.

I had a similarly great day with unique players-partially fueled by our recent conversation about poultry-related named players (Turkey Stearnes and Goose Tatum), the discovery of the Preachers not named Roe whose experience was in the Negro Leagues, a couple of Cuban born players in the Negro Leagues (Martin Dihigo and Rogelio Linares), and then finally blind searching on nicknames (Candy Jim Taylor and Bobo Leonard). We shared Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe and my only repeat player was Leon Day. I'll need to read the article you shared to be prepared for the next time this category comes up.