Baseball's Little Bites Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bob Feller

Feller's 348 was the only time in his 18-season career that he would reach the 300-mark. His strikeout count wasn't good enough for the Indians, as they finished in sixth place, 36 games behind the AL Champion Boston Red Sox.

Answer: Ted Williams

The "Splendid Splinter", "The Kid", "The Thumper", "Teddy Ballgame", and a mix of other nicknames, Williams smacked 521 home runs for Boston. This was with him missing virtually six seasons due to the war effort. Ted's season high was in 1949 when he hit 43. Williams won two AL MVP awards, and was in the top five voting another seven times. Ted found only one World Series in his 19 seasons with the Red Sox.

It was in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1946.

Answer: Gary Sheffield

Although the others all hit 500+ home runs, they all retired at least 10 years earlier. Sheffield was a Detroit Tiger in 2008, and finished the season stuck on 499. Winding down the 2008 season in late September, Sheffield and Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona were suspended for their participation in a bench-clearing brawl. Gary lost four games as a result.

He came back as a New York Met in 2009 to join the 500 Home Run Club. Sheffield became the 25th player in Major League history to hit 500 big ones.

Answer: 38

With Dickey wearing the number 8 behind the plate for 17 seasons, Yogi took the number 38. In 1947, he changed to 35, then later changed it to number 8. Berra won three American League MVPs in the 1950s, and was in the top five for MVP voting seven times in the decade. Amazingly, Yogi never led the league in a major category in his entire career.

He helped take the Yankees to 14 World Series, winning 10 of them. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972. The Yankees retired the number 8 in 1972.

Answer: Bobby Richardson

The others never went to a World Series. Podres helped the Dodgers win their first-ever World Series crown in franchise history in 1955, four games to three over the Yankees. Richardson, a second baseman with the Yankees, watched Pittsburgh Pirate Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run in game seven to win the 1960 World Series. Bobby had 11 hits and 12 RBIs in the series, setting a new record by two RBIs.

Answer: Tony LaRussa

The others listed never managed a team. Mack managed the NL Pittsburgh Pirates from 1894-1896, then took the reins of the new Philadelphia Athletics from 1901-1950. McGraw managed the Baltimore Orioles of both the American and National League in the 1890s, then took over the New York Giants in 1902 for the next 30 seasons. LaRussa made his managerial debut with the 1979 Chicago White Sox.

In 1986, Tony took over the helm of the Oakland As and took them to three AL pennants, winning one World Series.

In 1996, he took over the Cardinals and took them to a World Series crown in 2006. In 2002, LaRussa won his fourth Manager of the Year Award.

Answer: 38-115

The Braves went from a fourth place finish in 1934 to a last place finish, 61.5 games behind the NL Champion Cubs in 1935. Babe Ruth began his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1914. After making a name for himself, he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1920.

After 15 seasons with the Yankees, he joined the Boston Braves in his final season in 1935. Although he played in only 28 games in his final season, he went out with a bang by hitting three home runs in a game, five games before he retired.

The Babe hit 714 home runs, and was a charter member of the Hall of Fame in 1936.

Answer: Jimmy Sheckard

Jimmy Sheckard was in his fifth season of baseball, and in 1901 he was an outfielder with the Brooklyn Superbas (later Dodgers). 1901 was by far his stellar season. In addition to hitting two special grand slams, he hit nine other home runs in the season, batted .354 and had 196 hits. Ty Cobb of the Tigers hit 12 of his career 13 inside-the-park home runs in 1901 also, but none were grand slams.

Answer: Christy Mathewson

Mathewson played his entire career of 17 seasons except for one game with the New York Giants. He threw for the Triple Crown in 1905 and 1908, and helped the Giants to four World Series. While winning 372 games for the Giants, his lonely final game with the Reds in 1916 resulted in a win. Both Lou Gehrig and Anson were inducted in 1939, and Hornsby in 1942.

Answer: His own

Gibson struck out 35 Tigers in his three games, but it was a futile World Series effort in a four games to three loss. Gibson broke his own 1964 World Series record in which he struck out 31 New York Yankees in a four games to three victory. In 100 seasons of World Series action beginning in 1903, Bob was the only pitcher to strikeout 30 in a single World Series, and he did it twice.