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 instability over the years, though you don’t really need me to tell you that. To underscore the point, however: the 2025 opener will mark thirteen consecutive Opening Days with a new guy at second.
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 1930. That is, once again, 190 entries: how many can you get? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I’ve allotted 25 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 ruffian Frank Shugart. According to Baseball Reference: "While playing for the Chicago White Sox on August 21, 1901, Shugart punched umpire John Haskell after a disputed ball four call. He was expelled from the game, arrested, suspended for 23 games, and after the season blacklisted from the major leagues. He did play for years after that in the minors and also managed. However, in 1911 he was in another altercation - he was arrested for shooting a saloonkeeper in the arm."
All names from baseballreference.com
