Did I Do That? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Grapefruit

Wilbert Robinson heard about Gabby Street catching a baseball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument. He wanted to do something similar so the Robins trainer, Jack Coombs, hired a pilot and a biplane to drop a baseball. The plan hit a snag, though, when neither brought a baseball. Thinking on her feet, the pilot gave Jack her grapefruit she was going to eat for lunch. Jack dropped the grapefruit from six hundred feet in the air. The grapefruit hit Wilbert's glove, splattered, and knocked Wilbert to the ground. While everyone else thought it was funny, Wilbert wasn't amused.

FYI, while Wilbert Robinson was manager, the Brooklyn baseball team was known as the Robins in his honor.

Answer: Detroit Tigers

It was the first game Kirk Gibson had played in his home state of Michigan. In practice he had been playing left and center field. On opening day, he was supposed to play right field. The sun was already in Kirk's eyes when Blue Jays Willie Upshaw knocked the ball in his direction.

The baseball bounced off Kirk's head. Kirk dropped the second ball. In the sixth inning, the sun was again in Kirk's eyes. Kirk saw the ball too late and it hit him on the right ear and bounced off. The Detroit Tigers won the game over the Blue Jays, but after the game Kirk said, "I'd never been booed like that in my whole life".

Answer: Hot dog

At a game on June 9, 1968, Detroit Tigers pinch hitter Gates Brown was in the dugout eating two hot dogs when he was unexpectedly called to bat. He wasn't allowed to eat in the dugout and didn't want to leave his hot dogs as evidence so Gates stuffed the food down his pants.

When he rounded first base and headed toward second, he slid into base. Gates stood at second base with mustard and hot dog bits down the front of his clothes. After returning to the dugout, Tigers manager Mayo Smith fined Gates $100 for eating in the dugout.

Answer: Washington Post

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt threw out the opening pitch on May 16, 1940 at Griffith Stadium in D.C. The game was being played by the Washington Senators and the Boston Red Sox. President Roosevelt's pitch was so wild that he broke the camera of "Washington Post" photographer, Irving Schlossenberg. In response, President Roosevelt told Mr. Schlossenberg that he wasn't going to pay for the camera because Schlossenberg took horrible pictures of him at the White House.

FYI, President Taft was the first president to throw out the opening pitch when umpire Billy Evans asked him if he would like throw the first pitch at a 1910 game.

Answer: Frankie was tying his shoe

During the Pittsburg Pirates game, shortstop Frankie Zac needed to tie his shoe. He motioned for a time out. Ziggy Spears, the first umpire, saw Frankie motioning for a time out. The problem was, when Ziggy called for a time out, it wasn't heard. The Pirates would have had three home runs, but the wins didn't count because Frankie and Ziggy had already called for a time out.

The next day, Pirates manager Frankie Frisch gave Frankie Zac a pair of shoes that buttoned.

Answer: New York Yankees

At the April 19, 1948 game NY Yankees pitcher Allie Reynolds hit a fastball into the bleachers behind left field at Griffith Stadium. Allie was running with his head down so he didn't see where the ball landed. Allie stopped at second base and wouldn't go any further. Both teams tried to persuade Allie to finish his run, but he wouldn't budge. Finally, Yankees manager Bucky Harris went out and coaxed Allie to finish his run. Everyone was laughing at Allie's predicament, even President Truman who was in the stands.

FYI, the April 19, 1948 home run was Allie Reynold's first and only home run hit.

Answer: Snowball fight

A heavy snowstorm had wreaked have on the Polo Ground stadium. The snow that had fallen on stadium seats around the perimeter of the baseball field. During the Giants/Phillies game on April 11, 1907, fans used the discarded snow to start a snowball fight in the stands. Pretty soon, it was the players being pelted with snowballs. Umpire Bill Klem called the game on account of the snowball fight and the Phillies won by forfeit.

It was the first opening day forfeit in baseball history.

Answer: The superintendent left the key at home

Thousands of fans gathered early in the morning at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York to see the new stadium and watch the game. There was only one problem. The superintendent left the keys to the stadium at his house so the stadium was opened late. A late start wasn't the only thing that went wrong that day. Charlie Ebbets was on his way to center field to welcome everyone when he dropped fifteen cents on the ground.

He wouldn't let anyone help him because he was afraid they would steal the change.

After Charlie found his money, the flag he was going to use to open the game wasn't at the stadium. Members of the press who had shown up for the game had to sit in the stands and report because Ebbets Field had no press box.

Answer: His son

Babe took his son to Crosley Field with him while his wife stayed home with their youngest child. With his son in the stand cheering him on, Babe played a great game. Afterward, he showered, changed, and got a ride home from his manager Dan Howley. Herman and Howley were half way to Babe's house when Babe remembered his son was still at Crosley Field.

A quick phone call revealed that the team secretary had found Babe's son and was going to bring him home.

Answer: His mother

Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller was playing against the Chicago White Sox when he hit his mother in the face with a foul ball at Comiskey Park. The hit to the face broke her glasses and cut her face. Fuller helped the Cleveland Indians win the game and his mother was taken to the hospital for six stitches. It was Mother's Day.