Here are the top answers and connections available for Independence Day's iteration of the Immaculate Grid baseball game.
Happy birthday America! Today, you can eat all the hot dogs and hamburgers you want, play lawn games, and just be a glutton in the name of patriotism. But before you get to those very exciting obligations, time to punch in at the Immaculate Grid factory.
The popular MLB trivia game is back for the 92nd time. Today's game features team-by-team squares including the Red Sox, Marlins, Brewers, and Twins. The limited history of the Marlins makes those grids a little challenging but perhaps bodes well for those with more shallow MLB history knowledge.
The vertical right-most grid is seasons with 40+ saves.
The horizontal bottom grid is an All-Star.
Let's look at the most popular answers and other possible solutions. As always, we recommend you give the game a go without looking at the answers first, but you do you.
Immaculate Grid 92: Top answers and connections for each square (July 4)
Here were the most popular answers. Avoid these if you want a low rarity score.
- Player that played for Red Sox and Marlins: Hanley Ramirez (40%)
- Players that played for Red Sox and Brewers: Jackie Bradley Jr. (36%)
- Players that played for Red Sox and had 40+ saves: Jonathan Papelbon (53%)
- Players that played for Twins and Marlins: Luis Arraez (57%)
- Player that played for Twins and Brewers: Paul Molitor (33%)
- Player that played for Twins and had 40+ saves: Joe Nathan (85%)
- Player that played for Marlins and was an All-Star: Giancarlo Stanton (29%)
- Player that played for Brewers and was an All-Star: Christian Yelich (40%)
- Players that had 40+ saves in a season and was an All-Star: Mariano Rivera (40%)
Players that played for Marlins, Brewers, Red Sox and Twins
There is no player that would fit all four of the team connection squares today. That's due largely in part to the Miami Marlins short existence as a franchise.
One player played for the Brewers, Red Sox and Twins: Garry Roggenburk. Roggenburk started his career with the Twins, made his way to Boston mid-career, and then went to the Seattle Pilots, who eventually became the Brewers, for seven games in 1969 to end his career.
He abandoned the team midseason in disgust over his own pitching according to an old newspaper clipping. His game logs tell a slightly different story. Roggenburk's first four starts resulted in two wins and two losses with a 4.7 ERA. The next three games, he was used out of the bullpen, facing eight batters in total in the three games. His role was changed entirely.
After his playing career, he spent some time as a general manager of the Red Sox minor league team in Winter Haven.
As pointed out by the Seattle Times, Roggenberg was a multi-sport success, leading Dayton basketball in scoring in 1962, a year in which the school won the NIT.
And if you're wondering, Seattle Pilots? What is that?
Yes, it was a real team! They spent one glorious (I say that entirely facetiously) year in Seattle before relocating to Milwaukee. Stadium issues and poor play made the team's survival a near impossibility in the Pacific Northwest.
The Pilots colors were the same as the Mariners City Connect jerseys this season: Royal blue, gold, and white.
5 players who played for Red Sox and Marlins
You can choose from 77 players in total to answer this one. Here are five:
- Mike Lowell
- Hanley Ramirez
- Alex Gonzalez
- Cody Ross
- Kevin Millar
5 players who played for Red Sox and Brewers
There are 118 possible answers to this square.
- Cecil Cooper
- Bill Hall
- Ed Romero
- Joe Lahoud
- Jackie Bradley Jr.
5 players who played for Red Sox and had 40+ saves in a season
You can choose from six here:
- Craig Kimbrel
- Jonathan Papelbon
- Ugueth Urbina
- Derek Lowe
- Tom Gordon
- Jeff Reardon
5 players who played for Twins and Marlins
47 possible options here, one of the least-populated team-by-team squares.
Here are five:
- Luis Castillo
- Mike Redmond
- Josh Willingham
- Donovan Solano
- Jacque Jones
5 players who played for Twins and Brewers
Of the 71 possible answers here, here are five:
- Paul Molitor
- Carlos Gomez
- John Briggs
- Jeff Roggenburk
- Ken Sanders
4 players who played for Twins and had 40+ saves in a season
Four options here:
- Joe Nathan
- Eddie Guardado
- Rick Aguilera
- Jeff Reardon
5 players who played for Marlins and was an All-Star
58 players have been named to All-Star teams representing the Marlins (though several of those were repeats). Here are the 10 most recent, excluding 2023:
- Sandy Alcantara
- Jazz Chisholm Jr.
- Garret Cooper
- Trevor Rogers
- J.T. Realmuto
- Marcell Ozuna
- Giancarlo Stanton
- Jose Fernandez
- A.J. Ramos
- Dee Gordon
And the five first:
- Gary Sheffield
- Brian Harvey
- Jeff Conine
- Kevin Brown
- Al Leiter
5 players who played for Brewers and was an All-Star
The 10 most recent, excluding this year:
- Corbin Burnes
- Josh Hader
- Devin Williams
- Omar Narvaez
- Freddy Peralta
- Brandon Woodruff
- Yasmani Grandal
- Mike Moustakas
- Lorenzo Cain
- Christian Yelich
The first five:
- Mike Hegan
- Don Mincher
- Tommy Harper
- Marty Pattin
- Ellie Rodriguez
5 players who had 40+ saves in a season and was an All-Star
Typically, if you can put up a pace of 40 saves in a season, chances are you were selected to the All-Star team. Here is a list of the top 10 pitchers to get 40 saves in a season multiple times:
- Mariano Rivera (9)
- Trevor Hoffman (9)
- Francisco Rodriguez (6)
- Craig Kimbrel (5)
- Kenley Jansen (4)
- Joe Nathan (4)
- Robb Nen (4)
- Joe Mesa (4)
- John Wetteland (4)
- Dennis Eckersley (4)
- Greg Holland (3)
- Rafael Soriano (3)
- Heath Bell (3)
- Jose Valverde (3)
- Francisco Cordero (3)
- Erig Gagne (3)
- John Smoltz (3)
- Armando Benitez (3)
- Jeff Shaw (3)
- Lee Smith (3)
- Jeff Reardon (3)
- Jeurys Familia (2)
- Mark Melancon (2)
- Trevor Rosenthal (2)
- Huston Street (2)
Immaculate Grid 92 results using the bolded answers above:
Today, I tried something new. If you know the answers, you have to challenge yourself somehow to make this more than just a research project. I'm going to hunt the lowest rarity score possible.
Today, I got a 10, which means each of my answers were guessed by less than a percent of the players on average.
IMMACULATE!
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Rarity score: 10