Win a Free Copy of THT 2014!
Just as we did yesterday, we’re giving you a chance to win a free copy of The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2014. If you miss out today, don’t worry, there will be one more trivia contest tomorrow.
In case you haven’t heard, The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2014 is now available to purchase on ye ole internets. You can find my post on the book here, Dave Studeman’s post on the book here, and listen to Carson Cistulli’s FanGraphs Audio episode with Studes here.
After you’re done consuming those posts, you can buy it from Createspace (where we get the biggest cut of sales), from Amazon (in both print and for the Kindle) and from Barnes & Noble on the Nook.
Because we’re giving folk, and since it’s the beginning of the holiday season and all, we want to give you a chance to win yourself a free copy of the book. So today, tomorrow and Wednesday, we’ll be running a trivia contest based on one of the articles in the book. The first person to post the correct answer in the comments will win a free physical copy of the book (sorry, no free Kindle or Nook versions). It’s just that simple!
Today’s question comes from the article entitled “Shifty Business, or the War Against Hitters,” by Jeff Zimmerman. In it, Jeff uses data from Inside Edge to break down how teams and players shifted and were shifted against, respectively, and what the ramifications of said shifts were. It’s a great read, and in it we find the nugget for today’s trivia question. Jeff found that seven players successfully bunted a ball in play against a shift more than once. Of those seven, just one player reached base four or more times. So the question before you, dear reader, is this:
Who was the only player to successfully reach base via a bunt against a shift four or more times during the 2013 season?
If no one is able to answer that question correctly, then the secondary question is:
Name as many of the seven players who successfully bunted a ball in play multiple times against a shift in 2013.
You might want to try to answer both questions, just for funsies.
Good luck!
Paul Swydan used to be the managing editor of The Hardball Times, a writer and editor for FanGraphs and a writer for Boston.com and The Boston Globe. Now, he owns The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Acton, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @Swydan. Follow the store @SilUnicornActon.
Brian McCann