The countdown has begun. There are 29 days until Christmas. During the baseball season, I spend my time counting down magic numbers, the time until a team clinches a postseason berth, and tragic numbers, the number of wins or losses it takes until a team is eliminated. But as a baseball stats guy, historian and the Quizmaster, I spend most of my time thinking about numbers.

When I was a student, I never was great at math. Then again, I had no math teachers who taught me while using baseball as a tool. So I ask you: Was it my fault or my teacher’s fault for my poor grades in math?

Today’s quiz uses the code one uses when scoring a game. If you know it, you honestly can state that you are bilingual because anyone who watches a game anywhere in the world will understand your scorecard. So have fun and learn a lot.

Let’s get to the quiz:

1. Pitcher: There has been one perfect game in World Series history, thrown by the Yankees’ Don Larsen in 1956. In the World Series this past season, the Astros threw a combined shutout in which they permitted no hits. Their starting pitcher, Cristian Javier, was lifted after six innings and 97 pitches. Did he throw more, less or the same number of pitches as Larsen in the one game of perfection?

2. Catcher: Sherm Lollar starred for the White Sox behind the plate for 12 seasons and was an All-Star eight times. He started his career with the Yankees before moving on to the St. Louis Browns. In 1947, Lollar played in 11 regular-season games and two World Series games for the Yankees. In one of those Series games, the first postseason pinch-hit homer was hit. Who hit it?

a. Sherm Lollar b. Roy Campanella

c. Yogi Berra d. Joe DiMaggio

3. First baseman: Since 2017, first-base power in Chicago primarily has come from two players: Jose Abreu and Anthony Rizzo. In 2017, they each hit their high point in homers while playing first base.

a. Did Abreu have more homers?

b. Did Rizzo have more homers?

c. Did they hit the same number of homers?

4. Second baseman: Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg was a Gold Glover for nine consecutive seasons (1983 to 1991). Now, more than ever, we judge Gold Glove candidates by many factors. But in those days, the number of errors weighed heavily. What was the lowest number of errors that “Ryno” committed in a season in which he played at least 150 games?

a. 4 b. 5

c. 6 d. 7

5. Third baseman: There have been 19 third basemen who have won an MVP Award. Mike Schmidt won it three times, the most ever. Two have won the award twice. Who are they?

a. Ron Santo b. Alex Rodriguez

c. Miguel Cabrera d. Brooks Robinson

Be a part of the quiz. Send me a date, or just a year, and I will try to craft a quiz question around it. I will credit you in the quiz with your first name and last initial. Type “YEAR” in the subject line of your email. This has become very popular, so it might be a week or two before you are included.

6. Shortstop: Ken K. offered the date of Sept. 18, 1972, for the quiz. That’s when the No. 1 song in America was Three Dog Night’s “Black and White.” This prompted me to ask about two great players, Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. and Ernie Banks, who were known for their amazing play at shortstop. Ripken played 2,297 games at shortstop and 670 at third base. Banks played 1,068 games at shortstop and 1,241 games at first base. Ripken hit .269 as a third baseman with 86 homers, and Banks hit .260 with 210 dingers as a first sacker. Who had the higher batting average as a shortstop?

7. Left fielder: In the last seven seasons (since 2016), which Chicago player had the most RBI while playing left field?

a. Melky Cabrera b. Eloy Jimenez

c. Kyle Schwarber d. Ian Happ

8. Center fielder: Here’s a fun question (at least I really like it): Mickey Mantle played 322 games against the White Sox. Willie Mays played 358 games against the Cubs. Who hit more homers against Chicago?

a. The Mick b. Willie c. The same

9. Right fielder: Reader Bill M. suggested I write a question about 1952, so here goes: Below are the outfielders who played in the 1952 All-Star Game. Who were the two starting right fielders?

a. Stan Musial b. Hank Bauer

c. Hank Sauer d. Jackie Jensen

e. Dale Mitchell f. Enos Slaughter

g. Minnie Minoso h. Dom DiMaggio

i. Larry Doby

Don’t forget, “In Scoring Position,” published by Triumph Books, is a great holiday gift for the baseball fan in your life.

ANSWERS

1. Cristian Javier was lifted after 97 pitches. Don Larsen threw 97 pitches in his perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

2. In Game 2 of the 1947 World Series, the Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Yankees 9-8, despite Yogi Berra’s pinch-hit home run for the Yanks.

3. In 2017, Jose Abreu hit 33 homers and Anthony Rizzo hit 32. But the Quizmaster was very specific in his instructions. In 2017, Abreu hit one homer as a DH. That means they each hit 32 homers that season as a first baseman. Rizzo also hit 32 HR at first in 2016 and 2014. Those were the most homers by a Chicago first sacker since Paul Konerko hit 34 in 2010.

4. In 1991, Ryne Sandberg had 786 chances in 157 games and made only four errors. He had a .995 fielding percentage.

5. A-Rod won in 2005 and 2007, and Miggy won in 2012 and 2013.

6. At short, Junior hit .278 with 345 homers; Mr. Cub hit .292 with 269 homers.

7. The winner, with 218 ribbies, is Kyle Schwarber. Whatever happened to that guy?

8. Mickey hit 72 homers against the Sox (30 in Comiskey), and Willie hit 92 against the Cubs (54 in Wrigley).

9. The Yankees’ Hank Bauer started for the AL (Bauer later managed the 1966 world champion Orioles). The NL starter was ”Country” Enos Slaughter of the Cardinals. Slaughter is famous for his mad dash in Game 7 of the 1946 Series that enabled the Cardinals to top the Red Sox.

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Bulls center Nikola Vucevic knows Twitter exists. Heck, he had sent out 2,080 tweets on his own account, as of Friday.

Vucevic just refuses to put value in any type of social media. For him, it isn’t the real world. It’s the angry guy who lost a bet on the Bulls or the disgruntled fan who doesn’t understand the sacrifice Vucevic makes game in and game out.

So while many NBA players get worked up about comments and even get into back-and-forths with those who make them, Vucevic rarely reads negativity. And when he does, it’s for a laugh.

”Fans get caught up in the moment a lot,” Vucevic said in a discussion with the Sun-Times. ”Honestly, since I’ve been [with the Bulls], even when things weren’t going well for me personally, I’ve mainly felt support from Bulls fans in person.

”Now social media is something else. People on social media write whatever they want. This team wouldn’t work if I tried to play the same way I did in Orlando. I can’t help it if people don’t see that. We have two big-time scorers [in DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine], so it’s about me adjusting my game to them.

”One of my best qualities is I’ve adjusted my game while still being effective in different ways. Some of the stuff I’m the best at, I’m not able to do in this offense. But it’s for the good of the team. That’s what matters.”

But when the Bulls have bad nights — and they have had more than a few this season — it’s Vucevic who often has the blame pointed in his direction.

In the Bulls’ 123-119 overtime loss Friday in Oklahoma City — a game in which DeRozan scored 30 points and LaVine 27 — Vucevic barely got a sniff of the ball in the paint during the extra session, despite having some success in the post against the Thunder’s smaller frontcourt. He did take two three-pointers that missed and finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Still, his 1-for-7 showing from three-point range undoubtedly didn’t sit well with his critics — and he seems to have many.

That was obvious last week, when the Bulls lost a stunner to Vucevic’s former Magic team, even though he put up 14 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.

The critics flocked to point out that not only was Vucevic outscored by Wendell Carter Jr., the big piece the Bulls sent to the Magic in the deal to acquire Vucevic, but that Franz Wagner scored 20 points. The Magic drafted Wagner eighth overall in 2021, courtesy of a draft pick they also obtained from the Bulls in the deal.

”I know some people want to bring back the trade, the picks that were given [also a first-rounder in 2023], but it happened,” Vucevic said. ”If it didn’t, it’s not for sure the Bulls would have picked Wagner or hit on the pick. Who knows what would have happened?”

And that’s what many like to forget.

When the Bulls acquired Vucevic at the trade deadline in 2021, they were still a laughingstock, even with the previous front office and coaching staff purged. Acquiring a player such as Vucevic not only added talent, but it also changed perception. If the Bulls didn’t have Vucevic, they wouldn’t have been able to lure DeRozan and Lonzo Ball in sign-and-trade deals.

In the bigger picture, it showed executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas wasn’t afraid to take big swings. The Bulls might not be holding the championship trophy anytime soon, but who knows where things will go? Vucevic was the first domino.

Now the question is whether his time with the Bulls is close to done. He will be eligible for free agency after the season and was hoping to have at least a conversation with the front office during camp. That didn’t happen.

That’s not a surprise because Karnisovas operates with the idea that everyone in and around the organization works on a need-to-know basis, and there’s not much he thinks anyone needs to know.

So Vucevic will wait.

”If it was something that they wanted to at least discuss, we would have been happy to do it,” Vucevic said of an extension. ”But it sounds like they want to take their time, see how things go. I understand that. I know how business works. I only control what I can control. So whether it’s later in the season or in the summer, we’ll see.”

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CHAMPAIGN, ILL.-Win or lose, the Class 4A state championship game on Friday at Memorial Stadium was going to be the final game for Sacred Heart-Griffin coach Ken Leonard. He’s retiring after 43 years.

Leonard, the winningest coach in state history, has won more than 400 games and after the Cyclones’ 44-20 win against Providence, he will retire with six state championships.

“It’s so hard to get here,” Leonard said. “Even when you have great teams. Some of my best teams never made it. Sometimes you just get on a roll. There are so many little things you have to get past.

“It went by in a blink. When I started I never dreamed I would coach 500 games.”

Sacred Heart-Griffin (14-0), a Springfield school, led for most of the game and took control in the third quarter, scoring on an 18-yard pass from Ty Lott to Madixx Morris and a one-yard run by Bill Sanders. That turned a seven-point lead into a 35-14 advantage.

The Cyclones won the Class 6A title in 2008 and 2006 and the Class 5A championship in 2014, 2013 and 2005.

On the opposite sideline, Providence coach Tyler Plantz was wrapping up his first season as a high school head coach. The 2010 Providence graduate and former University of Notre Dame player and coach made an instant impact in New Lenox.

The Celtics were just 3-6 last season and advanced to the state championship game after upsetting Joliet Catholic, Richmond-Burton and St. Francis. The Hilltoppers beat Providence during the regular season.

“When you walk into something you have to have one goal, to compete for a state title,” Plantz said. “That has to be the conversation from day one.”

Providence (9-5) tied the game at 7 on a four-yard pass from Lucas Proudfoot to Anthony Picciolini. Then the Celtics pulled within 21-14 just before halftime on a three-yard touchdown run by Kaden Nickel. But that was as close as it would get.

It’s been a return to prominence season for the Celtics, who have won eight state titles. Providence won the Class 7A title in 2014, the Class 6A title in 2004 and 2001, the Class 5A title in 2002 and 1994 and the 4A championship in 1997, 1991 and 1987.

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CHAMPAIGN — Williamsville’s star players had tears in their eyes as they nodded in agreement with coach Aaron Kunz’s assessment of IC Catholic senior Denzell Gibson.

”Denzell was amazing,” Kunz said. ”He’s at a different level. When he started chugging and had space, he was a locomotive.”

The Bullets hung with IC Catholic for about a quarter and a half. But when Gibson moved from receiver to running back, the Knights (13-1) took control and coasted to a 48-17 victory in the Class 3A state championship game.

Gibson had 51- and 34-yard touchdown runs and finished with 10 carries for 138 yards. He acknowledged he kicked things into another gear in the title game and said it was what he saw in the huddle that motivated him.

”Seeing in their eyes and seeing they wanted it as much as I did, I didn’t want to let those guys down,” Gibson said. ”I had a job to do.”

Gibson scored 22 touchdowns this season and junior KJ Parker 19. The two were willing to play multiple positions on offense and defense, succeeding everywhere and setting an unselfish tone for the team.

”Whether it was running or blocking or catching the ball, I just wanted to make sure I could build off my brothers and do anything I could possibly do,” Gibson said.

”It’s scary seeing him lower his shoulder,” Parker said of Gibson. ”His determination to get in the end zone every time he touches the ball is amazing.”

Williamsville (12-2) led 10-0 early in the second quarter. IC Catholic’s first strike was a 65-yard touchdown pass from Dennis Mandala to Parker.

”We haven’t called that play in, like, 12 weeks, but that kind of sparked it all, and the energy just never went back the other way,” Knights coach Bill Krefft said. ”We started rolling after that.”

Mandala was 10-for-17 passing for 200 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Parker had four catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Junior JP Schmidt contributed two receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown, grabbed two interceptions and made a game-high 16 tackles.

”I was really determined,” Parker said. ”I wanted the ball in my hands, and I knew I had the ability to make the play when the team needs me most. I want to be there for my guys.”

It’s the sixth state championship for IC Catholic. The Knights won the Class 4A title in 2018, Class 3A titles in 2017, 2016 and 2002 and the Class 2A title in 2008.

Williamsville quarterback Jake Seman threw touchdown passes to Jackson Workman and Harley Sharp. The Bullets won the Class 3A title in 2019 and lost in the title game in 2014.

”[The state playoffs] are better than the NFL playoffs, the college playoffs,” Kunz said. ”How it brings communities and kids together, there is nothing better.

”Our guys were playing just above-average football until around Week 8, and they turned it on and improved each week. It’s been a special run. These seniors have been unbelievable.”

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This hasn’t been nearly the season Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney was shooting for when he said he was on a mission to make the NFL respect him as one of the best at his position.

Coming off a breakout 1,000-yard performance last season, Mooney has just 40 catches for 493 yards and two touchdowns. He has been targeted just 61 times, which is the most on the team but ranks 44th in the NFL. With six games left, including Sunday at the Jets, he’s on pace to finish short of his 2021 numbers across the board.

In typical Mooney fashion, though, he doesn’t seem concerned with that. He likes the offense’s trajectory overall, his chemistry with quarterback Justin Fields is improving and he understands the Bears are going to lean on their NFL-best ground game.

“With what we’re trying to build, it’s not about me,” he said. “You have some guys that are that diva receiver that always say, ‘Yo, give me the ball, give me the ball,’ but that’s not me.”

So as the Bears head into the homestretch of the season, Mooney isn’t preoccupied by trying to salvage his numbers. Hitting 1,000 yards again is highly unlikely given that he’d need to average 84.5 per game the rest of the way, and there’s no telling what the offense will look like if Fields misses time with his separated non-throwing shoulder.

There was no mention of any statistics or individual aspirations when asked what he hoped to get out of the last six games. Mooney will be a candidate for a contract extension in the coming offseason because he’ll be heading into the final season of his rookie deal, but what he wants most is to win at least a couple games.

“I’m tired of losing,” he sighed, knowing that’s pretty much all the Bears have done during his three seasons with them. “It’s annoying. This year it’s the same old song every week: Get the ball at the end of the game and can’t really put it away. We’ve gotta get over that hump.”

But Mooney’s performance is intertwined with the offense’s. More production from him will help Fields and the Bears get where they want to go.

That’s true in the long run, too. General manager Ryan Poles has spoken highly of Mooney from the jump, and being able to count on him as a key part of the Bears’ future will put him one step closer to completing the rebuild. If the Bears add a top wide receiver in the draft or free agency to go along with Mooney and newcomer Chase Claypool, that position group would be strong.

In a season like this for the Bears, progress often is subtle, but every bit of it is important, so it’s worth noting that Mooney and Fields are developing a better connection. After a slow start between the two, they had a breakthrough in which they realized they both needed to loosen up a little.

“Everybody was just trying to learn the offense and be perfect for the new offensive coordinator, but you also have to go back to just playing football,” Mooney said. “Stop worrying and thinking too much. That makes you miss opportunities.”

Now, instead of a fixation on landmarks during passing routes, Fields and Mooney are playing more naturally. It’s more about Fields knowing Mooney’s speed than either player aiming for a particular spot.

After a total of four catches for 27 yards over the first three games, Mooney has averaged 4.5 catches for 58.3 yards since — modest, but close to what he produced last season.

If he can take another step forward, it’ll move him closer to what he really wants: success. The Bears are almost certainly going to be an underdog in every game the rest of this season, but any growth by Mooney the rest of the way will help make victories more attainable next season.

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