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Monday, January 02, 2012

Sporcle: Name the top 1,000 players by B-Ref’s WAR

You’ve twenty minutes; go!

You only need 100 of them really, provided that you get the right 100 - they’re in bunches of tens, so naming Babe Ruth (I spotted you one) gets you the 1-10 bucket, naming [redacted] gets 11-20 and so on. Must enter first and last names.

(h/t: sbnation)

Der-K's tired of these fruits from poisoned trees Posted: January 02, 2012 at 04:58 PM | 46 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: baseball geeks, history

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1. AndrewJ Posted: January 02, 2012 at 08:58 PM (#4027207)

I got 70 out of 100. A tougher quiz than it first looks.

2. Pat Rapper's Delight (as quoted on MLB Network) Posted: January 02, 2012 at 09:04 PM (#4027213)

69/100 here.

Highest one I missed: 181-190
Lowest one I got: 961-970

3. Santanaland Diaries Posted: January 02, 2012 at 09:12 PM (#4027220)

I got about 60/100.

BTW, starting with the players from "Van Lingle Mungo" got me 18. That would actually be a fun sporcle quiz too.

4. Eric J can SABER all he wants to Posted: January 02, 2012 at 09:22 PM (#4027230)

88/100, including all but 2 of the top 500 groups; highest miss was 281-290.

At some point, you stop actually thinking and just start guessing random players.

5. Walt Davis Posted: January 02, 2012 at 09:29 PM (#4027239)

I was 67 I think (66, 68, somewhere in there). Don't remember my highest and lowest. I'll admit I thought I had a better handle on mediocrity than that -- I am a Cub fan after all. Missed some obvious ones (e.g. Mark Grace would have gotten me one). Catchers and SS did me almost no good -- I could only think of the good ones or bad ones, no medium ones. And after a while it just gets hard to name guys who aren't already in a group you've named.

6. dlf Posted: January 02, 2012 at 09:37 PM (#4027243)

Ouch ... 57/100.

Highest missed 241-250 -- note that Doc Gooden is not acceptable (use Dwight) and I can never remember how many Ts in Pettitte or I would have had that one.

Lowest I got 981-990

7. JimMusComp misses old primer... Posted: January 02, 2012 at 09:39 PM (#4027246)

Man, that was harder than I thought. I got 59/100.

Missed 171-180 and 981-990...

8. JJ1986 Posted: January 02, 2012 at 09:50 PM (#4027255)

74/100. Highest miss was 321-330.

I got 991-1000 with the active (or recently active) player.

9. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:07 PM (#4027268)

BOOM.

83/100.

Just named as many random 80s players as I could (actually helped to think of all the free agents the Yankees signed through those years). Highest group I missed - 71-80 (Reggie Jackson), lowest 981-990 (Chris Hoiles).

10. Crispix Attacksel Rios Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:19 PM (#4027278)

I believe this quiz was originally called "Name random baseball players".

11. The Long Arm of Rudy Law Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:23 PM (#4027281)

I got 75. Scioscia was the lowest-ranked player I got. I was trying to name entire lineups and rotations for the teams I could remember.

12. AJMcCringleberry Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:28 PM (#4027285)

72.

Highest missed 231-240
Lowest got 981-990

13. Harvey Berkman Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:35 PM (#4027294)

83.

Guessing really helps, specially after you start filling out the top tiers.

14. Martin Hemner

Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:36 PM (#4027295)

I got 68. I think I nailed the same player in 991-1000 as JJ above. I misspelled Earle Combs, or I would have had another.

15. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:38 PM (#4027298)

I believe this quiz was originally called "Name random baseball players".

Yeah. I appreciate the effort that went into making this quiz, but I usually avoid sporcle typing exercises. Call me a humorless jerk, but this isn't much different from "Name every country in the world." I mean, can you really take much credit in "knowing" that Joe Rudi and Ian Kinsler are both correct answers, but that Larry Hisle and Roy Smalley are not?

16. Crispix Attacksel Rios Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:40 PM (#4027300)

I got 68 too, based on no method at all. Was not expecting "Chris Hoiles" to work.

Orel Hershiser, Chuck Finley, and Bret Saberhagen are all between 201 and 210 in career WAR? Who knew my childhood was such a golden age of pitching.

17. Crispix Attacksel Rios Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:45 PM (#4027304)

Just looking at the results is very interesting. Dan Quizenberry and Bruce Sutter are right next to each other. Apparently the greatest modern player I've never heard of is Willie Davis.

18. Dock Ellis

Posted: January 02, 2012 at 10:50 PM (#4027306)

79/100!

I did pretty well by naming Guys Who Hit Lots of Home Runs and Guys Who Played Up the Middle with Long Careers (Including Pitchers) in the last few decades. Highest miss is 121-130.

19. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: January 02, 2012 at 11:04 PM (#4027318)

Just played the game, naming only players who played on an AL East team in 1980. Got 34. Highest ranked player was Gaylord Perry. Lowest, Rick Dempsey.

20. Voros McCracken of Pinkus Posted: January 02, 2012 at 11:20 PM (#4027324)

I got 68 which is okay I guess, but my best achievement was correctly getting Mark Buehrle on the first spelling attempt.

I think Keefe got 0 out of 100.

21. JJ1986 Posted: January 02, 2012 at 11:25 PM (#4027327)

I think Keefe got 0 out of 100.

He can probably spell Carl Yastrzemski correctly. So, 1 out of 100.

22. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: January 02, 2012 at 11:31 PM (#4027332)

Apparently the greatest modern player I've never heard of is Willie Davis.

How could you have missed this? (Scroll down to the fifth inning.)

23. Shockliacci Posted: January 02, 2012 at 11:48 PM (#4027343)

62. Man that is tough. When you're asking youself questions like "OK, who had more WAR than Dennis Menke but fewer WAR than Howie Pollet?" You know you're doing a good quiz!

24. Ebessan Posted: January 02, 2012 at 11:57 PM (#4027347)

74/100.

25. Kiko Sakata

Posted: January 03, 2012 at 12:25 AM (#4027360)

Highest missed 241-250 -- note that Doc Gooden is not acceptable (use Dwight) and I can never remember how many Ts in Pettitte or I would have had that one.

I would have gotten them all through 480 if I remembered how to spell "Jamie" instead of thinking Moyer spelled his first name with the Hispanic spelling. But I only got 64 total (even counting Moyer).

When you're asking youself questions like "OK, who had more WAR than Dennis Menke but fewer WAR than Howie Pollet?"

Yeah, I spent too much time trying to fill in blanks in the first few hundred and not enough time just typing in names of random major-league baseball players as they occurred to me.

26. Slivers of Maranville descends into chaos (SdeB) Posted: January 03, 2012 at 12:52 AM (#4027381)

49/100, but then I don't know a lot of baseball players, except for those in the deadball era and random Cubs, Braves and Red Sox teams of the 80s and 90s. Highest player I didn't get was Jackie Robinson, but I assumed that he was already in one of the groups I got (after I hit seven or eight right, I didn't bother to look.)

27. cardsfanboy

Posted: January 03, 2012 at 01:34 AM (#4027392)

I would have preferred for the test to have been name the top 1000 players, it gets old naming people already listed.

28. Greg K Posted: January 03, 2012 at 01:49 AM (#4027400)

Agree that the format is frustrating
I got 65 out of 100

Names that I typed out of desperation which in retrospect make absolutely no sense

Mark McLemore
Ted Power
Jeff Pico

29. Shockliacci Posted: January 03, 2012 at 02:19 AM (#4027422)

Weirdest name I tried: Rafael Santana. No freaking clue what made me think of him.

I didn't get anyone in the 940-1000 range...I didn't realize how good these players are...Number 1000 has 23 WAR and I was guessing guys like Juan Pierre (13 WAR) and Alex Gonzalez (6.6)

30. Joyful Calculus Instructor Posted: January 03, 2012 at 03:11 AM (#4027433)

I got 69. The David Cone bracket was the highest that I missed. I pretty much just typed in the names of veteran and retired players as they came to me. I hit the last two brackets with Reyes and Varitek.

Like Cardsfanboy, I wound up typing a lot of names after I'd gotten them since I didn't actually read the brackets as I got them. It's faster just to delete answers than to read what I already have there.

31. Ivan Grushenko of Hong Kong Posted: January 03, 2012 at 03:25 AM (#4027435)

73 of 100

The worst player I got was in the 990-1000 group (Varitek). The highest group I missed was 151-160

Who the hell is Jeff Pico?

Willie Davis is famous for dropping two easy fly balls in the same inning in the 1966 World Series. He was supposed to be a good defender in CF and a key member of the 1960s Dodgers.

32. mex4173 Posted: January 03, 2012 at 05:33 AM (#4027444)

90/100

Unfortunately, that was a couple weeks ago so I'm unsure of my highest/lowest. Fairly sure I got all of the first 500 as well as 990-1000.

33. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: January 03, 2012 at 08:10 AM (#4027477)

Names that I typed out of desperation which in retrospect make absolutely no sense

Yea, after a certain time you just start typing random names. Frank DiPino. Jeff Lahti. Mike Gallego.

34. chisoxcollector Posted: January 03, 2012 at 08:22 AM (#4027480)

72/100

Highest I missed is 251-260... which is really embarrassing as that group has Sandy Koufax and Eddie Cicotte.

I did get the 981-990 (Ted Lilly) and 991-1000 (Tom Henke).

35. Shooty would run in but these bone spurs hurt!

Posted: January 03, 2012 at 09:10 AM (#4027491)

I did 80/100. It felt more like a typing contest than a test of my baseball knowledge.

36. Eric P. Posted: January 03, 2012 at 03:18 PM (#4027943)

81/100. Highest missed was 291-300. I also got 991-1000 because of Henke. Most ridiculous guess? Sid Bream.

37. Bourbon Samurai stays in the fight Posted: January 03, 2012 at 04:09 PM (#4028001)

I did not care for the format. I wish at least the name that was highlighted was the guy you guesses, rather than the first of the ten. That would have been easier to keep track.

38. Rafael Bellylard: The Grinch of Orlando. Posted: January 03, 2012 at 06:13 PM (#4028169)

59/100. Highest miss was 211-220, lowest miss was 961-970. That was tough.

39. /muteself 57i66135 Posted: January 03, 2012 at 06:46 PM (#4028197)

mid 40s

81/100. Highest missed was 291-300. I also got 991-1000 because of Henke. Most ridiculous guess? Sid Bream.

Mark McLemore

i'll see those 3, and raise you pete incaviglia.

40. Guapo Posted: January 03, 2012 at 06:59 PM (#4028208)

I thought the quiz was kind of dumb, but I was interested in the traffic. It's now the 23rd most played user-created game on Sporcle (over the last 7 days). I guess that's a BBTF effect?

EDIT: I missed that it was linked at sbnation as well.

41. Tom Nawrocki Posted: January 03, 2012 at 07:17 PM (#4028220)

I got 70/100. Part of the reason I wasn't crazy about the quiz is that when you guess a name, it doesn't tell you if that guy doesn't appear or if he's in a group you already guessed. So I still don't know if Abner Dalrymple didn't make the cut, or if he was already listed.

42. Howie Menckel Posted: January 03, 2012 at 08:00 PM (#4028246)

My dismal score of 54 is largely explained by the fact that missus put on one of those "Housewives" reality shows at a loud volume with 8 minutes to go.

I've heard of all 1000, really I have. Yet I couldn't think of anyone in the 41-50 group, or 121-130, among the top 200. I landed the last group with Tom Henke, and also scored with Lefty O'Doul, Jackie Jensen, and both Ray Chapman and Carl Mays, among others.

Even just overhearing those Housewives shows makes you dumber.

43. ray james Posted: January 03, 2012 at 08:31 PM (#4028268)

It's kind of unfair because in the 21-30 group, I named 3 separate players but didn't get credit because I spelled their first name differently than the test did, and I spent a ton of time trying to close that one out.

44. Crispix Attacksel Rios Posted: January 03, 2012 at 09:46 PM (#4028325)

I've heard of all 1000, really I have.

You've heard of Dave Orr? Sam Mertes? Jack Rowe? Bill Sherdel? Henry Larkin? George Stone? Willis Hudlin? Joe Dobson? General Crowder? I am impressed.

Even just overhearing those Housewives shows makes you dumber.

Better tune out soon or you'll forget which one is Steve Renko and which is Steve Gromek.

45. 185/456(GGC) Posted: January 03, 2012 at 09:58 PM (#4028334)

Play some historical Strat or DMB and you'll learn that Hudlin and Crowder both pitched in the 1930s. Crowder probably got his nickname because the guy in charge of the draft during WWI was a General by that name.

46. Howie Menckel Posted: January 03, 2012 at 11:36 PM (#4028372)

"You've heard of Dave Orr? Sam Mertes? Jack Rowe? Bill Sherdel? Henry Larkin? George Stone? Willis Hudlin? Joe Dobson? General Crowder? I am impressed."

Yeah, knew most of them already, but 8 years of Hall of Merit voting closed the deal.
The big year from Dave Orr. The short George Stone peak. General Crowder pitching in a crazy era......

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Monday, January 02, 2012

Sporcle: Name the top 1,000 players by B-Ref’s WAR

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