Extra! Extra! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Willie Wilson

The others were all out of baseball in 1988. Wilson played for Royals, Athletics, and Cubs, but did his triples damage in Kansas City. He led the league five times between 1980 and 1988. Stan Musial set a National League record by leading the league five times, with the last being in 1951.

Answer: Hack Wilson

The others never hit 50, but Hack Wilson sure did in 1930 with the Cubs. Hack had a MVP season by leading the league with his 56 home runs, 191 RBIs, and 208 hits. Unfortunately, there was no MVP Award in 1930 in either league. Wilson was a 1979 Hall of Fame inductee.

Answer: Harmon Killebrew

Killebrew spent 21 of his 22 seasons with the Washington Senator-Minnesota Twin franchise. In addition to hitting 573 home runs, Harmon hit 24 triples while stealing 19 bases. Kruk spent most of his career with the Phillies. He hit 34 triples and stole 58 bases. Powell played 14 of his 17 seasons with the Orioles. He hit 11 triples while stealing 20 bases. Believe it or not, Mo Vaughn stole 30 bases in his career while hitting only 10 triples.

Answer: St. Louis Cardinals

The others did not exist in the NL in the 1930s. The Cardinals hit an amazing 373 doubles as a team in 1930. This was the famous 'Gas House Gang' of the 1930s. Eight players on the team had more than 30 doubles in the 1930 season. The team was led by 46 doubles off the bat of Frankie Frisch. The Red Sox set an American League record in 1979 with 310.

Answer: Earl Webb

The Red Sox outfielder played for only seven seasons, and never hit more than 30 except for his record in 1931. In 2000, Todd Helton hit 59 and Carlos Delgado hit 57, but both still came up short. The others listed were all out of baseball well before 1931, and none of them ever hit 50 doubles in a season.

Answer: Babe Ruth

The Sultan of Swat took this one hands down. He led the American League and his New York Yankees 12 times. Aaron and Mays were next with four, and Bonds led the league only three times.

Answer: Hank Aaron

Aaron had at least 100 more than the others listed. Hank retired in 1976 with 624 doubles, 98 triples, and 755 home runs. Gehrig had 1190, consisting of 534 doubles, 163 triples, and 493 home runs. Musial, the St. Louis Cardinal, and arguably the greatest player in baseball history, retired with 1377 extra base hits.

They included 725 doubles, 177 triples, and 475 home runs. Frank Robinson hit 528 doubles, 172 triples, and 586 home runs.

Answer: Bob Lemon

Lemon was a career Cleveland Indian. He helped his cause 37 times with a season high of seven in 1949. Drysdale of the Dodgers hit 29, Gibson 24, and Cy Young hit 18 career home runs. Another big hitting pitcher was Red Ruffing. Ruffing played in 22 seasons, mostly for the Red Sox and Yankees. Of his career 36 big ones, his season high was five in 1936 in the pinstripes.

Answer: Sam Crawford

In 100 seasons of Major League Baseball, Crawford was the only one to reach 300. Sam played from 1899-1917. He played 15 of those seasons as a Detroit Tiger. Taking away his seven in 1899, he was still hit 302, and was the only player to hit 300 in the 20th century. Four times he hit more than 20 in a season, and his season high was 26 in 1914. Crawford was inducted into the hall in 1957, then died 11 years later at the age of 88.

Answer: Babe Ruth

The others hadn't begun their Major League careers yet. Ruth hit 44 doubles, 16 triples, and 59 home runs for the Yankees in 1921. It was the only time in his career that he topped the 100-mark. Yankee Lou Gehrig would be the only player in the century to reach the 100-mark twice for extra base hits, with 117 in 1927, and another 100 in 1930.