Hard Around the Diamond Quiz / Test | MLB Mixture

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which of these multiple Cy Young award winners, fell short of winning 300 games in their career?

Answer: Sandy Koufax

Koufax pitched for only 12 seasons from 1955-1966. He blossomed in 1961, and dominated the league until he retired with elbow issues in 1966. He won the Cy Young award in 1963, 1965, and 1966. Sandy won only 165 games. Seaver won three Cy Young awards also, retired at 311-205. Perry won two Cy Young awards (one in each league), and left baseball with 314 wins. Carlton leads this list with four Cy Young awards, and retired with 329 wins. Jim Palmer of the Orioles also won three Cy Young awards, and fell short in wins with 268.

2. Which of these batting greats hit over .350 in a season the most times, with enough at-bats to qualify them for a batting title?

Answer: Ty Cobb

While Williams hit .350 or more five times, Gwynn did it six times. Ruth hit over .350 an amazing eight times in his career. Ty Cobb doubled Ruth's total with 16, including hitting over .400 three times. Cobb took the American League's first MVP award in 1911 for his .420 batting average.

3. Ty Cobb was the first player in history to have 4000 hits in a career. What team did he play for when he hit his 4000th?

Answer: Philadelphia Athletics

Cobb didn't play for the others listed. The "Georgia Peach" spent 20 loyal seasons in a Detroit Tiger uniform, then was traded to the Athletics in 1927 at the age of 40. In his two seasons with Philadelphia, Cobb still cranked out 289 hits. He reached his 4000-hit milestone in 1927.

4. Hoyt Wilhelm appeared in 1070 games, while starting only 52 in his career. He hit only one home run while as a rookie in 1952. His rookie season from the mound was 15-3, but was runner-up to the Rookie of the Year award. Who beat him for the award?

Answer: Joe Black

The others weren't rookies for at least another 20 seasons. Joe Black was with the Brooklyn Dodgers and also a pitcher. Black went 15-4 with 23 less strikeouts than Wilhelm. Hoyt was a 1985 Hall of Fame inductee, while Black never made the hall.

5. Which of the following was the youngest player to steal 100 bases in a season?

Answer: Rickey Henderson

Rickey beat the others by at least two years, and Cobb never stole 100 bases in a season. Henderson was in his second season in 1980 with the Athletics. The 21-year old stole 100 in the season, and would go on to break the 100-barrier two more times.

He retired with 1406 thefts, and after 100 seasons of Major League baseball, was still the only player to reach 1000 career stolen bases.

6. Some baseball fans may know that Mickey Mantle set a record for hitting 18 World Series home runs in his career. Whose record did he break?

Answer: Babe Ruth

The others never played in a World Series game. Ruth hit 15 World Series home runs, including three in the 1923 and 1928 series, and four in the 1926 series against the Cardinals. Of the Babe's 42 career World Series hits, 22 were for extra bases. Ruth went to 10 World Series (two as a pitcher) while Mantle played in 12.

7. Sparky Anderson was the first manager in history to win two Manger of the Year awards in 1984 and 1987 for leading the Detroit Tigers. What team did Anderson play for in his playing days?

Answer: Philadelphia Phillies

Anderson was called "Sparky", although his birthname was George Lee Anderson. His official baseball nickname was "Captain Hook". Sparky played in only one season with the Phillies in 1959. The second baseman played in 152 games and committed 12 errors.

He also had a .218 batting average. Anderson began his managing career with the Reds in 1970, and took them to the World Series in that season. In nine seasons, he helmed the team to four World Series, winning two. He was founder of the 'Big Red Machine' in the 1970s. Leaving the Reds in 1978, he found himself at the head of the Tigers in 1979.

He would manage them until 1995. The Manager of the Year award began in 1983.

8. Which of the following Hall of Fame inductees was not on 99% of the ballots when they were inducted?

Answer: Yogi Berra

Yogi was inducted in 1972 with 'only' 86% of the ballots. Berra was more amazing than most fans think. Yogi won three season MVPs in 1951, 1954, and 1955. In the 1950s, he was in the top four for the award an amazing seven times in the decade, including being the runner-up in 1953 and 1956. Berra came close to winning four consecutive MVP awards.

He was runner-up to Cleveland's Al Rosen and teammate Mickey Mantle, respectively.

9. Which of the following did not steal 100 bases in a season, three times in their career?

Answer: Lou Brock

Brock broke Maury Wills' record of 104 in 1974, by stealing 118 for the Cardinals. It was Brock's only big theft season as he never stole more than 70 any other time. Amazingly, Brock was 35 years old with his record of 118. Henderson broke Lou's modern day record in 1982 by stealing 130.

10. Which of the following teams joined Major League baseball first?

Answer: Los Angeles Angels

The others were all expansion teams joined in 1969. The Angels began their baseball endeavors in 1961 under manager Bill Rigney. They finished eighth of ten teams and won 70 games. 1962 saw them finish third with 86 wins. They played at Wrigley Field in 1961, then shared Dodger Stadium until 1966 when they moved into Anaheim Stadium.

The Angels were eighth of ten teams for attendance in 1965, then led the league for 1966 in their new stadium.

Source: Author Nightmare

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Around the Diamond Trivia Quiz

All multiple choice quiz about some baseball stuff. I hope that you have fun! :-)

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