Obscure sports trivia

Framber Valdez is the second Dominican to start a postseason game for the Astros. Who was the first?

 

The obvious guess would be the ever eloquent Joaquin Andujar.

 

That was my thought, but no.

 

The answer is Lima Time Jose Lima.

 

Rajon Rondo became just the second player ever to win a championship with both the Lakers and the Celtics. Who’s the first?

 

My first thought is Rick Fox, but I don’t think he got to the Celtics until after their 1980s run was over. Also thought, McAdoo, but I’m pretty sure he was with the Celtics when they were in bad shape in the late 1970s.

 

Neither of them, but good guesses.

 

Need to go back farther than that -- like to the Minneapolis Lakers and the first Celtics dynasty.

It's the great Clyde Lovellette.

 

That's it.

Lovellette won his first championship with George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers in 1954, and then won two more alongside Bill Russell on the Celtics in 1963 and 1964.

 

Backed up Mikan as a rookie and backed up Russell in his final two seasons.

In between, he was a Hall of Famer in his own right -- averaged 20-plus ppg in six of those eight seasons (and averaged 18.7 in another) and averaged double-digit rebounds six times.

 

This player set a MLB record for most consecutive wins by a reliever to start a career by going 12-0 from September of 1974 to August of 1976. Despite this impressive start, he was out of MLB by age 26. Who is he?

 

No idea here. Looked it up. Not sure i ever heard of the guy.