Decade in a Box: 1920s Quiz | MLB by Season

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This player set a Major League record for most hits in a season with 257 in 1920. This amazing record stood until Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners broke it in 2004. Who was this St. Louis Brown Hall of Famer?

Answer: George Sisler

The others were all pitchers and never played for the Browns. Five times in his 15 seasons, Sisler had over 200 hits in a season. Although there was no MVP awarded in 1920, George won the MVP in 1922 for his 246 hits in the season. Ichiro broke his record in 2004 with 262 hits.

2. The New York Yankees saw their first World Series in franchise history in the 1920s. Which year did they first appear?

Answer: 1921

The 1920s were owned by the Yankees. They went to six World Series in the decade, winning three of them. The 1921 Yankees lost to the New York Giants five games to three in their first appearance. That series in 1921 was the last best-of-nine game format for the World Series.

3. Which of the following sluggers hit the most home runs in a season during the decade?

Answer: Babe Ruth

None of the others listed played in the 1920s. Ruth, after setting not only the decade record for home runs in 1920 by hitting 54 in his first season with the Yankees, then 59 in 1921, then went wild with 60 in 1927. The Babe also hit 54 in 1928. Nobody was close in the 1920s to Babe Ruth.

He retired with 714 home runs. The reason why Ruth never cleared the fence as a Red Sox player as he did with the Yankees, was that Boston saw him as a pitcher, and used his bat sparingly. In six seasons with the Red Sox, Ruth pitched in 158 games. With the Yankees in his first five seasons in the pinstripes, he appeared as a pitcher in only five games.

4. In 1920, Ray Chapman was the first player to die as a result of an on-field incident when he was hit in the head by a pitch from which Yankee pitcher?

Answer: Carl Mays

The other pitchers never played for the Yankees. Chapman, the Cleveland Indian shorstop in his ninth season, was hit on August 16 at the Polo Grounds in New York. He died the following day. The Indians went on to win the World Series without Chapman.

5. The year was 1927, and saw the Yankees win the American League by 19 games, then defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates four games to none in the World Series. Which pitcher in the same season quietly retired with 110 career shutouts?

Answer: Walter Johnson

The others did not begin their careers yet and never reached 50 career shutouts. The 1936 Hall of Famer, inducted in the first year of inductions, played for 21 seasons with the Washington Senators. His 110 shutout record stood throughout the rest of the 20th century, and when he retired in 1927, he was the strikeout king of baseball with 3509 strikeouts.

His career strikeout record had since been surpassed by many pitching greats. Walter died in 1946 at the age of 59.

6. Who was the only player in the 1920s to hit for the Triple Crown?

Answer: Rogers Hornsby

The others did not start their careers until the 1940s. Hornsby with the St. Louis Cardinals won it twice. The first was in 1922, but there was no MVP given in the National League that season. The second Triple Crown came in 1925, and this time he was awarded the NL MVP. Hornsby won another MVP in 1929 with the Chicago Cubs.

He retired with a career .358 batting average in 1937, which included a decade high of .424 in 1924.

7. In 1929, the first two teams to have numbers on their uniform backs and leave them there were the New York Yankees and which other American League team?

Answer: Cleveland Indians

None of the other teams existed in 1929, and only the Pilgrims were an American League team when they existed. The Yankees and Indians were the first two teams to keep the numbers on the back of their uniforms. It was all done for the fans. It really didn't matter in that season as the Philadelphia Athletics defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to one in the World Series.

8. The 1927 Yankees led the Major Leagues in the decade by winning 110 games in the season. Which team had the worst record in the decade?

Answer: Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies went an unbearable 43-109 in the 1928 season. The Phillies lost 100+ games four times each during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. In the decade combined, Philadelphia had the worst record of all the other franchises with a 566-962 record, for a .370 winning percentage.

9. Sam Rice of the Washington Senators led the majors by stealing the most bases in one season during the decade. How many bases did he steal?

Answer: 63

In 1920, Rice was in his sixth season with the Senators. This was the first time that he stole more than 35 bases in a season. After 20 seasons, the outfielder retired with 351 thefts, a .332 batting average, and 32 home runs.

10. I was the first pitcher in 1920s to strikeout 200+ batters in a season. I led the National League for seven seasons in the decade for strikeouts, even though I missed the first three seasons of the decade. I threw a Triple Crown in 1924, and won the NL MVP for my efforts. Who am I?

Answer: Dazzy Vance

All the other pitching greats retired before the 1920s. Vance began his career in 1915 as a Pittsburgh Pirate. His next season was in 1918 as a Yankee. His third season was with Brooklyn in 1922, then his arm took over. His Triple Crown season in 1924, he went 28-6, but his Brooklyn club still finished second in the National League.

Source: Author Nightmare

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Decade in a Box: 1920s Trivia Quiz

Another quiz about decades in the Major Leagues. I hope that you leave with something new. :-)

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