Baseball for Dummies No. 16 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Greg Pinchbeck

Pinchbeck never won the Award. All others listed not only won it, but were all Dodgers at the time of presentation. Newcombe was the very first Cy Young recepient in 1956, when he went 27-7 with Brooklyn in a stellar year. In 1962, Don Drysdale showed his stuff and took the Cy one year before the great Sandy Koufax, by going 25-9 with an ERA of 2.83. Finally, during 'Fernando Mania' in 1981, Valenzuela took the award by going 13-7 and striking out 181 batters while walking only 61.

Answer: Seattle Pilots

The Pilots' inaugural and only season was in 1969 under the helm of manager Joe Schultz, before becoming the Milwaukee Brewers in 1970. The Pilots finished in last place in the American League Western Division, while playing at Sicks Stadium with a dismal 64-98 season.

They were rostered with no real stand-outs to mention. The following season in Milwaukee, they were managed by Dave Bristol to a fourth place finish.

Answer: Oakland A's

The Athletics dominated the early 70s under manager Dick Williams in 1972 and 1973, and then Alvin Dark in 1974. The A's had a roster of All-Stars with the likes of Ray Fosse, Gene Tenace, Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Joe Rudi, and 'Mr. October' Reggie Jackson.

The talent didn't stop at the plate, as Oakland had some great arms with Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, Blue Moon Odom, Rollie Fingers, and Darold Knowles. In 1972 they beat the Reds 4-3, and in 1973 they beat the Mets by the same score. Under manager Alvin Dark in 1974, they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 1.

Answer: New York Mets

The 'Say Hey Kid' played an illustrious 22 seasons from 1951 to 1973 with the New York/San Francisco Giants, retiring after playing less than two seasons with the Mets. This All-Star and Hall of Famer is in the top ten of many career statistics. He hit his last 14 of 660 career home runs with the Mets. No other team listed existed in 1973.

Answer: None of them have

No manager has reached that milestone and never will. In this absolutely untouchable statistic, Connie Mack leads all managers with 3,731 career wins. Mack is almost 1000 games ahead of runner-up John McGraw, who is almost 600 games ahead of Sparky Anderson. Mack managed for 50 years in baseball.

The 1970's saw the last of the multi-year career manager. Just like one-pitcher ball games, the manager's longevity is no longer.

Answer: Phil Niekro

What a list of pitching greats, but Phil was the only right-hander listed. Playing most of his 24 seasons in a Braves uniform, Niekro broke the 300-win marker with 318. He was a 5 time All-Star, a season ERA winner, and led the season in wins twice. In 1974 he won an amazing 20 games. More remarkable, in 1979 he won 21 games at age 40. He retired in 1987 at age 48 with the Braves.

Answer: Babe Ruth

Although the great 'Joltin Joe' hit .381 in 1939 for the Yankees, the Babe was first in 1923 when he hit .393. In Ruth's 2nd non-pitching year, he smacked 41 home runs along with an astonishing 205 hits. The following year in 1924, the Babe backed up his bat by hitting .378. That would be his 8th consecutive season of hitting over .300. Unknown to many, the Babe mostly known for his home runs, retired with a .342 lifetime batting average.

Answer: Bill Mazeroski

Mazeroski was the first to belt a World Series winning home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, when the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the 1960 heavily-favored New York Yankees 4 games to 3. It was Maz's 2nd home run of the Series. The Yankees out-hit the Pirates in the Series but Pittsburgh prevailed as the victor.

In Mazeroski's only other World Series, the Pirates won the 7th game against the Baltimore Orioles 2-1, with the help of a home run by Roberto Clemente.

Answer: Johnny Mize

All listed except for Mize, played in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1960's. Mize smacked 51 home runs in 1947 with the Giants of New York. He was in his 13th of 15th seasons in the Major Leagues, and retired with 359 home runs. He only broke the 40-barrier two other times in his career.

Answer: 1

Bench was Rookie of the Year in 1968 with the Reds of Cincinnati. He hit .275, smacked 15 home runs, and distributed 155 hits. The power of this catcher retired him with 389 career home runs, all with the Reds. The Rookie of the Year Award can only be won in a player's rookie year.