Baseball Nicknames --- Hall of Famers Quiz

Answer: Bob Feller

Bob Feller pitched 18 seasons and won 266 games in his career despite missing three years during World War II when he served in the military at age 25. His other nickname was "The Heater from Van Meter" which described his fastball and his hometown of Van Meter, Iowa. Without official radar guns his fastball was estimated to be over 100 miles per hour consistently.

Answer: Jimmie Foxx

Jimmie Foxx played for 20 years and was noted primarily for his home runs. He recorded 30 or more for 12 consecutive seasons and was the second person to have hit over 500 homers in his career. His record of being the youngest to have hit 500 stood for 68 years and he won three Most Valuable Player awards.

Answer: Adrian Anson

"Cap" Anson played for 27 seasons in a row which is a record which still stands today. He was a first baseman and most archival sources acknowledge he was the first major leaguer to have accumulated 3000 hits. In 1881 his batting average was 77 points higher than the second best average in the league. That is the widest margin of difference in the National League.

Answer: Luke Appling

He acquired his nickname by constantly complaining about how sore different parts of his body were. While he hit .310 during his career, amazingly just under 79% of those hits were just singles. His expertise was fielding though. When he retired he had taken part of more double plays as a shortstop than any other in the history of the major leagues.

Answer: Leo Durocher

He was always a feisty player who was a loud "bench jockey" who yelled out insults to opposing players. A popular phrase which is attributed to Leo was "Nice guys finish last."

When he retired as a manager he was fifth on the all time list for wins and second for the most ejections.

Answer: Rogers Hornsby

Rogers Hornsby's career batting average of .358 is second only to that of Ty Cobb and is the leading average for right-handed hitters. He is the only major leaguer to have hit over .400 with 40 home runs in the same season. He also won two Triple Crowns by leading the league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in.

Answer: Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig was the first player to have his uniform number retired by a team. He had set major league records of having played in 2130 consecutive games and the most career grand slam home runs (23) when he retired. Both have since been eclipsed. His career was shortened when he suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis which is commonly known as Lou Gehrig disease.

Answer: Walter Johnson

Walter Johnson won more games as a pitcher than any other with the exception of Cy Young. He also had 110 shutouts which helped him accumulate a career ERA of .217. He was a member of the first group who were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1936.

Answer: John McGraw

While John McGraw is mostly known as a manager, as a player only Ted Williams and Babe Ruth have a higher career on base percentage than "Little Napoleon."
He managed in the major leagues for 33 years and won more games than any other manager with the exception of Connie Mack who did that for 52 years.

Answer: Christy Matthewson

In the 1905 World Series, Matthewson pitched three complete games and did not allow any runs and only 14 hits were made by the opposition. He is the only pitcher to rank career wise in the top ten for wins and ERA. He also was a charter member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.