Good morning!
This week, Sporcle Saturday shifts from the defensive corners of the diamond and moves to the middle infield positions: second base and shortstop. Second base has seen its share of, shall we say, instability over the years, though you don't really need me to tell you that. To underscore the point, however: this will mark twelve consecutive Opening Days with a new guy at second. Shortstop, of course, has had more continuity in recent years but will also see a new name appear on the ledger this season.
Moving forward, the hope will be for Colson Montgomery to begin a new streak --at least at shortstop-- but second base seems to be unsolved for now. Regardless, your task for today remains the same as it has been: name the starters manning second base and shortstop on Opening Day dating back to 1940. That is, once again, 168 entries: how many can you get? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I’ve allotted 20 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, you get the date of the game and the position of the player in question.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- The franchise record for most Opening Day starts at shortstop is 14, by, well, a player who appears in the quiz you should definitely get. Consecutive starts on Opening Day, however, is 13, from 1985-1997.
- The first-ever Opening Day second baseman for the franchise? A guy who makes the all-organ baseball squad: Dave Brain.
- As for the first-ever Opening Day shortstop, that honor belongs to Frank Shugart. Remember his name for a future Sporcle in, I dunno, four years?
All names from baseballreference.com
