Baseball for Dummies #95 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jackie Robinson

The Award did not begin until 1947, and what a rookie who won the inaugural award! Robinson, who broke the color-barrier in the Majors, played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. In 1949, Jackie also won the National League MVP. Alvin Dark of the Boston Braves was the 2nd recepient of the rookie award in 1948.

Answer: Grover Cleveland Alexander

Alexander set many pitching records in baseball in his 20 season career. Amongst his accomplishments, he led the league 6 times in wins, 7 times in shutouts, and 6 times in strikeouts. This right-handed fireballer won 3 Triple Crown Awards in his career, 2 with the Phillies, and 1 with the Cubs. He retired in 1930 with 373 wins.

Answer: Rod Carew

The others listed never won the crown. Carew played 19 seasons from 1967-1985 with the Twins and the Angels. After winning the Rookie of the Year Award in 1967, he won his first title in 1969. He then won 4 consecutive crowns from 1972-1975, still as a Twin.

He won his 7th batting title in his last season with the Twins in 1978, and produced no more in his remaining 7 seasons with the Angels.

Answer: Ernie Shore

The others listed weren't even born for another 30 years. Shore relieved Babe Ruth in a game of his Boston Braves, against the Washington Senators in June of 1917. After the Babe was ejected after walking his first batter, Shore came in and retired the next 26 batters.

The batter that Ruth walked was thrown out at 2nd base on the Shore's first pitch, thus the out was credited to Shore. Ernie played only 7 seasons, retiring in 1920 with the Yankees.

Answer: Detroit

Denny never played for the others listed. He played 10 seasons, 8 being with Detroit. In his final season of baseball in 1972, he shared the uniforms of the Athletics and the Braves. In 1968, his 31-6 record earned him the Cy Young and the American League MVP Award. In 1969, he tied for the Cy Young with Baltimore pitcher Mike Cuellar.

Answer: Charles Dillon Stengel

Casey was born July 30, 1890, in Kansas City, Missouri. At age 22, he began his playing career of 14 seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, retiring in 1925. 9 years later he began managing the Dodgers, then the Braves, and then the Yankees. 10 times he took the New York Yankees to the World Series. From 1962-1965, he managed his final years with the New York Mets. He died in 1975.

Answer: Willie Wilson

The other players had already retired well before 1980. Wilson set his record with the Kansas City Royals, while going against the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. In the Royals' loss, he batted a mere .154. Wilson played for 19 seasons, and retired in 1994 as a Chicago Cub.

Answer: Texas Rangers

Manager Ted Williams helped transition the team with a record of 63-96 in 1971, to 54-100 in 1972. 1974 would be the Rangers' first season to finish over .500, for a 2nd place finish under Billy Martin.

Answer: Willie Mays

Of the others listed, nobody reached the 500 plateau except for Mays. It took the 'Say Hey Kid' 22 seasons to retire at the number 3 spot in career home runs. His seat is being threatened by other players. All but two seasons were with the Giants.

Answer: Whitey Ford

The others listed, never saw 2 World Series, not even Ryan in his 27 seasons. In 1960, Whitey pitched a remarkable 18 innings without allowing a run against the Pittsburgh Pirates. This Series saw the Pirates' Bill Mazeroski's, Series winning home run in game 7 in the bottom of the 9th inning.

In 1961, Ford followed up by pitching 14 innings against the Cincinnati Reds, helping to win the Series 4 games to 1.