The Pecan Park Eagle

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2015, Everybody!

Charlie Pallilo
Sports Talk Show Host
790 AM Radio
SABR”s March 16th Speaker Was Big Hit

Unless you attended last night’s meeting of SABR’s Larry Dierker Chapter at the Spaghetti Western Ristorante on Shepherd, you missed out on a great baseball talk by Charlie Pallilo of 790 AM sports talk radio. The young man who came to Houston from Syracuse NY and Syracuse University has grown up with us since moving his career here in 1989, wrapping his expansive intellect around all sports in a manner that few other media types ever attain as aspiring experts. He is known for his logically constructed ideas on all subjects he feels equipped to speak, but never hesitates to halt if he feels he does not have enough information to offer s worthwhile opinion on a given subject. He is known for building opinions on carefully constructed pillars of factual logic – and for never attacking his callers when he disagrees with an unfounded or poorly constructed opinion that a fan may offer – or simply shouts – over the air. He innately understands that you cannot really resolve anything in an emotional word fight – and I’ve never heard him attempt to do so. Instead, Charlie simply “lets the whirling dervishes whirl” – and he only argues with the constructs of another’s argument when he disagrees with another’s rationally offered opinion. Thanks for a great evening, Charlie Pallilo! The members of SABR enjoyed their time with you last night.

Folks, if you weren’t at the SABR meeting last night, you also missed out a on a fun-to-take, Irish-flavored and Lesser-Hall-of-Fame bloated St. Patrick’s Day Quiz. But no fear, here it follows for all of you who were not, or could not, be with us Monday evening.

The Quiz follows – and the answers will be found as the first entry in the comment section. Don’t go there until you’ve given your chance to answer the questions without the help of the answer sheet, Google, or any other source beyond the material already contained between you ears.

And please post your “honest” total scores as comments when you are done. Tal Smith of the Sugar Land Skeeters won the live version of the quiz. Let’s see if there is anyone out there who can beat Tal – and there may be. Tal got 20 of the 28 possible points that are out there, so, who knows? Maybe you can do it. – If you do, just do it honestly.

Here we go – and remember – don’t scroll down past the shamrocks falling from the leprechaun’s hat until you’ve given the quiz your honest best shot.:

A St. Patrick’s Day Baseball, Etc. Quiz

1) Who was the 19^th century MLB pitcher from Ireland who finished his career in 1894 with a record of 284 wins and 220 losses, who was known also by either of his two nicknames – “The Count” or “The Apollo of The Box”?                                              

2) Who was the Irish-American catcher who went on to the Hall of Fame after an outstanding American League career at Philadelphia and Detroit?

3) Name the hard-playing, hard-drinking 19^th century Hall of Fame Irishman whose name became the middle part of the famous “Slide, _______, Slide” exhortation?

4) Who was the Irish-American third baseman who played against Jackie Robinson in the latter’s first organized baseball game for Montreal in 1946?

5) Who was the Irish-American catcher who also made it to the Hall of Fame, but who is less often remembered as the player who popularized the early use of protective gear for receivers behind the plate? He also developed the first batting helmet.

Name this Irish-blooded Edison of early catchers: _________________        

6) Name the city in Ireland that is also the name of an ingredient that has been used legally and illegally in two essential pieces of baseball equipment:

7) What famous major leaguer’s physical stature would have allowed him to fit in most easily with the leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day?

8) From the poem, “Casey at the Bat”, name the two Irishman who were on base when Casey struck out to kill the hopes for joy in Mudville? (One point for each correct name answer.)

______________________ and _______________________

9) Place the correct names on the correct bases where these players each resided when Casey took his swing into the historical realm of failure. (One point for each correct match. – (Each correct match is worth 2 points each)

_____________ was on ______ and ______________ was on ______

10) In the old movie, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”, the “Wolves” had a 6-4-3 double play combination to rival Tinker to Evers to Chance, and two of their surnames were as Irish as they come. Name all three, for a point on each correct answer:

________________ to ________________ to ___________________

11) What former major leaguer could have been the author and screenplay writer for the book and movie, “Cheaper By the Dozen”?        

Name him: ____________________        

12) What was the legal first name of the early 20^th century ball player known best as “Irish” Meusel?

Name him: ____________________

13) Ten Lesser Known Halls of “Fame” and the Groups They Each Serve: All of the answers are easy. Match the lettered group from Table Two to the numbered Hall in Table One:

Each correct answer is worth a single point addition to your test score on the St. Patrick’s Day Quiz:

Scoring: 28 points are available for correctly answering all questions in the entire quiz.