I Barely Made It! Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Babe Ruth hit an astounding 60 home runs in the 1927. He held that record until the 1960s, when which slugger broke his season record by one home run?

Answer: Roger Maris

Maris hit 61 in the 1961 season with the Yankees. Baseball's runner-up in the season was Mickey Mantle who hit 54, and only due to injuries during the season.

2. Which American Leaguer retired with exactly 500 doubles hit in his career in 2005?

Answer: John Olerud

The others were all pitchers. Olerud began his career of eight season with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1989. He also played for the Mets, Mariners, Yankees, and Red Sox. He hit seven doubles in 2005 with the Red Sox to reach the 500 milestone. When Tris Speaker retired in 1928, he set an almost unreachable doubles record of 792.

3. Although hitting 30+ home runs in a season eight times, this slugger hit the 50-home run mark only once in his career by hitting exactly 50 in 1995. Who was this Cleveland Indian?

Answer: Albert Belle

The others all retired before 1990. Belle played from 1989-2000 in only 12 seasons. He retired with 381 home runs. His slugfest in 1995 won his only home run title.

4. The Major Leagues began in 1901 with the American and National Leagues. In 100 seasons of Major League Baseball, what was the lowest batting average that still won a batting crown?

Answer: .301

Boston's Carl Yastrzemski batted for the Triple Crown in 1967. In 1968, he took another batting title, but batted only .301 in the season. His crown was .011 more than runner-up Danny Cater of the Athletics. Over in the National League in 1968, Cincinnati's Pete Rose won the batting crown with his .335 average.

5. The 2007 National League Rookie of the Year Award went to Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. He barely won the award by only two points over which other rookie?

Answer: Troy Tulowitzki

The others were all American Leaguers. Tulowitzki, shortstop of the Colorado Rockies scored 126 ballot points compared to Braun's 128. For some reason, the balloting was closer than their statistics. Braun had an average of .324 compared to .291, 34 home runs against Tulowitzki's 24, and Braun's 146 hits compared to 177.

6. This American League manager won his second Manager of the Year Award in 2004, after his first in 11 seasons prior. Who was this that won the award by only 10 ballot points?

Answer: Buck Showalter

Showalter won his first Manager of the Year Award in 1994 with the New York Yankees, who won the AL Eastern Division with the best record in the American League in that strike-shortened season. Buck's 2004 award came with the Texas Rangers after they finished third in AL Western Division, and didn't even make the playoffs.

7. The great Ty Cobb batted for a Triple Crown in 1909 with the Detroit Tigers. He took the home run crown by only two home runs more than the runner-up. How many home runs did Cobb hit in the season?

Answer: 9

In 1909 and previous seasons, home runs were not a commodity until Babe Ruth came along later. Cobb's nine in 1909, out-hit the runner-up Tris Speaker's seven with the Red Sox. Ty's season-high was 12 that he hit in 1921 and 1925. "The Georgia Peach" retired with a career 117 home runs after 24 seasons.

8. I won only one season batting title in my career. I just barely made it by beating Ted Williams out by .0013 of a point in the 1940s. Who am I?

Answer: George Kell

Batting .343 with the Tigers in 1949, Kell prevented Williams from winning his third consecutive batting title. Williams would still win the American League MVP Award in the season, his second and final MVP Award.

9. Babe Ruth hit 29 home runs in the 1919 season with the Red Sox. Who was the last person, prior to this feat, to hit more than 20 HRs in a season?

Answer: Gavvy Cravath

Cravath was a Philadelphia Phillie in the National League in 1918. It was Gavvy's third consecutive National League home run crown in the season (19, 19 then 24 HRs), and he would go on to take three more home run titles in his career. Ruth's 29 home runs in 1919 was astounding to the fans, and because of that, created so much turmoil when Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold the Babe to the Yankees after the season. Ruth would show them all by hitting 54 home runs for the Yankees in 1920, then 59 in 1921, another 60 in 1927, and another 54 in 1928. Cravath retired with 119 home runs in 11 seasons, while the Babe retired with 714 in 22 seasons.

10. In 1999, I won the American League MVP Award, although having less first place points than the runner-up. I was a Texas Ranger catcher, and won the award over a Boston Red Sox pitcher. Who am I?

Answer: Ivan Rodriguez

The others had already died at least five years earlier. Pudge Rodriguez was in his ninth season as a Texas Ranger, after finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year balloting in 1991. In the 1999 season, Rodriguez batted .332 along with 35 home runs and 199 hits. He won the MVP Award by 13 balloting points over Pedro Martinez, who went 23-4 with 313 strikeouts for the Red Sox.

Source: Author Nightmare

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All multiple choice about some players who just barely set a record or met a milestone, or not. Good luck! :-)

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