California Major League Teams Trivia Quiz

Answer: San Francisco Giants

The Giants hosted the Dodgers in San Francisco on opening day April 15, 1958. The Dodgers were embarrassed with the 8-0 loss. The Giants' Ruben Gomez took the win while Don Drysdale took the loss. The first California strikeout was the first batter of the game, when Dodger Gino Cimoli went down. Giant shortstop Daryl Spencer hit the first California Major League home run.

It came in the fourth inning off Drysdale. By season's end, the Giants (80-74) finished in third place behind the NL pennant-winning Milwaukee Braves, and the Dodgers finished in seventh place with their 71-83 record.

There were only eight National League teams in 1958.

Answer: Angels, Athletics, Padres

The Angels joined the American League along with the Texas Rangers in 1961. The Kansas City Athletics franchise moved the team to Oakland in 1968. One season later in 1969, the expansion team San Diego Padres joined Major League Baseball along with the Montreal Expos, Seattle Pilots (later Brewers), and the Kansas City Royals.

Answer: Dodgers

The Dodgers, although finishing in seventh place in their inaugural 1958 season, won it all in 1959 against the Chicago White Sox in the World Series four games to two. Both White Sox wins were shutouts, including game one's 11-0 fiasco. Johnny Podres of the Dodgers took California's first World Series win in game two, and Roger Craig took the first loss in game one. Dodger second baseman Charlie Neal hit California's first World Series home run in game two. Larry Sherry of the Dodgers was the series' MVP.

The first California World Series shutout win would have to wait until 1962, when Jack Sanford of the Giants shutout the Yankees in game two.

Answer: Willie Mays

Mays hit 52 home runs in 1965 for the Giants. It was the second time that he hit 50+, with his first being in New York in 1955. The Athletics waited until 1996 when Mark McGwire hit 52. The Padres saw Greg Vaughn hit 50 in 1998. In the first 40 seasons of the Angel franchise, and the first 50 seasons of the Dodger franchise in Los Angeles, neither would see one of their own hit 50.

Answer: 1974

Those listed were all-California World Series, but in 1974 the Athletics and Dodgers went at it. Oakland won the series four games to one. 1988 saw a remake of the two, but this time the Dodgers won four games to one. 1989 was the 'Earthquake Series', with Oakland embarrassing the Giants in a four-game sweep. Game three found a 6.9 to 7.1 earthquake which delayed the series by 10 days. Oakland provided the Giants with their own shake-up. 2002 saw the Angels win their first-ever World Series against the Giants.

Answer: Don Drysdale

Newcombe won the inaugural Cy Young Award in 1956 with the Dodgers of Brooklyn, New York. Drysdale won it for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962, then Sandy Koufax followed in 1963, 1965, and 1966. Chance prevented a Koufax sweep and won it for the Angels in 1964. Hunter won the Cy Young for Oakland in 1974, preventing Oriole pitcher Jim Palmer from winning four consecutive Cy Young awards.

Answer: Dodgers

The Dodgers only had two managers in their first 25 seasons. Manager Walter Alston made the move with the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, and managed the team until near the end of the 1976 season. Tommy Lasorda stepped in and managed the team for another 20 seasons until 1996.

The Giants changed managers 11 times. Manager Bill Rigney made the move with the team from New York to San Francisco in 1958, then at the end of the era, Frank Robinson was at the helm in 1983. The Angels changed managers 12 times from Bill Rigney in 1961 to Gene Mauch in 1986.

The Padres made 14 changes from Preston Gomez in 1969 to Jim Riggleman in 1994. The Athletics made the change 15 times from Bob Kennedy in 1968, all the way to Tony LaRussa in 1993.

Answer: Walter O'Malley

O'Malley was the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Major League Baseball ruled against O'Malley from moving the Dodgers to Los Angeles, unless a second team moved to Los Angeles also. O'Malley pushed the Giants' majority owner Horace Stoneham into submission, and both teams eventually moved to California in 1958.

Answer: Maury Wills

Wills was the first player in Major League history to reach the 100-mark in a season. The Dodger shortstop stole 104 in 1962. Henderson lit the basepaths on fire in 1980 when he stole 100 bases for the Athletics, another 130 in 1982, then another 108 in 1983.

Answer: Tim Salmon

With the franchise getting its start in 1961, the Angels would wait 33 seasons before having a Rookie of the Year. Salmon hit 31 home runs and had 146 hits in 1993. He won the award over Jason Bere of the White Sox and Aaron Sele of the Red Sox. Pearson was an Angel and won a Rookie of the Year Award, but with the Washington Senators in 1958.