Baseball Smoothie Trivia Quiz

Answer: Satchel Paige

After playing in numerous seasons in the Negro Leagues, Paige was given a contract by the Cleveland Indians. Paige joined Major League Baseball as a 42-year old rookie in 1948. His final game was on September 25, 1965, at the age of 59. The others were all less than 40 years old when they retired.

Answer: New York Mets

The other teams did not exist in 1986. It was game six of the 1986 World Series, the Red Sox vs the Mets. The Red Sox scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning, and the outcome looked good for Boston. In the bottom of the 10th, the Mets' Gary Carter singled. Kevin Mitchell then singled sending Carter to second base. Ray Knight singled to centerfield, scoring Carter while Mitchell went to third.

Here comes Mookie Wilson to bat. While new pitcher Bob Stanley threw a wild pitch to Wilson, Mitchell scored and Knight was standing on second base with the game now tied. Wilson's ground ball went through the legs of Buckner at first base, rolled into right field, and Knight scored the winning run.

Some may not be aware that Buckner was playing on two very bad ankles, and the ball passed just underneath his glove.

It is a shame that Buckner took all the heat for "losing the game" when it was actually due to the poor pitching of Calvin Schiradi, Bob Stanley, and managing strategies.

Answer: 1929

On May 13, 1929, the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees met, both with numbers, so the fans could see who their favorite players were. The Indians won the game 4-3, and the Yankees would go on to watch the Philadelphia Athletics win the AL pennant, 18 games ahead of them in second place.

Answer: Ted Williams

The All-Star Game began in 1933, and the others listed were all out of baseball long before then. Williams hit the first walk-off for the American League in 1941 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, to give the AL a 7-5 victory over the National League. In 75 All-Star games, only three walk-off home runs were hit.

They were Ted Williams of the Red Sox, Stan Musial of the Cardinals in 1955, and Johnny Callison of the Phillies in 1964.

Answer: Phil Niekro

All the others listed wore the number 1 in their career. The Yankees' Alex Rodriguez (number 13) won the AL MVP in 2007. Boston's second baseman Dustin Pedroia won the MVP in 2008. He wore the number 15. Joe Mauer, the 2009 MVP winner wore the number 7 with the Twins. Those three numbers total up to 35, the number of 1997 Hall of Fame inductee Phil Niekro.

The Braves retired his number in honor of his 21 seasons with the franchise.

Answer: Hughie Jennings

The first World Series was held in 1903. The Detroit Tigers were over-shadowed by losing three consecutive World Series from 1907-1909, instead of seeing what a great team they had. In those seasons, there were led by manager Hughie Jennings, and they lost to the Cubs twice, then the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Tigers were led by Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, George Mullin, and Ed Willett.

Answer: Phillies

The Phillies franchise began in 1883 as the Philadelphia Quakers in the National League. In 1890, the franchise took on the "Phillies" team name. After five consecutive seasons of losing 100+ games in a season from 1938-1942, the Phillies changed their name to the Philadelphia Blue Jays.

In two seasons with that name, they lost 90 and 92 games, respectively. In 1945, they went back to the Phillies team name and lost 108 games in the season.

Answer: Chuck Essegian

Although unlikely for them, the others were all pitchers. Essegian came from the Cardinals mid-season in a trade, and the outfielder was a Los Angeles Dodger in the 1959 World Series against the White Sox. His two pinch-hit home runs came in game 2 and game 6 in the Dodgers' four games to two win. Both home runs were hit at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Essegian was not a home run threat as he played in only six seasons in the Majors, and retired with 47 home runs.

Answer: 1957

Although some American League teams were already wearing batting helmets due to the amount batters being hit in the head, American League Commissioner Ford Frick made the wearing of them mandatory in 1957. Frick was appointed the American League Commissioner in 1951.

The National League, being around a lot longer than the American League, made it mandatory for all their NL teams in to wear them in 1955.

Answer: Gary Carter

Carter played for 19 seasons, mostly with the Montreal Expos and the New York Mets as a catcher. He was the runner-up for the NL MVP in 1980, won the 1981 and 1984 All-Star MVP all with the Expos, and won the Roberto Clemente Award in 1989 with the Mets. Gary went to only one World Series in his career in 1986, and made it count with two doubles and two home runs against the Red Sox to earn a World Series ring.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.