MLB 2006 Season Highlights Trivia Quiz

Answer: Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers slugged five homers in the 4th inning on their way to a 11-0 trashing of the Cincinnati Reds on April 22, 2006 at Miller Park. The 5 home run hitters were Bill Hall, Damian Miller, Brady Clark, J.J. Hardy, and Prince Fielder. The "Brew Crew" became the 5th team in Major League history to smack 5 HR's in a inning.

The Reds have the dubious honor of having it accomplished four times against them. The other three teams that hit 5 HR's against the Reds were; the New York Giants on June 6, 1939 (4th inning), the Philadelphia Phillies on June 2, 1949 (4th inning), and the San Francisco Giants on August 23, 1961 (9th inning).

The Minnesota Twins also hit five dingers in a single inning against the Kansas City Royals on June 9, 1966 during the 7th inning.

Answer: Johan Santana

Johan Alexander Santana led the American League with a 2.77 ERA, 245 strikeouts, and tied Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang with 19 wins. He became the first hurler to win this award with only 19 victories. Santana's performance in 2006 earned him his second career Cy Young Award.

He won his first award in 2004. On June 20, 2006, Rick Helling of the Milwaukee Brewers became the 36th different pitcher to throw exactly 9 pitches for 9 strikes and retire-the-side. He did it in the 1st inning against the Detroit Tigers at Miller Park.

It was all down hill from there, he only lasted 2 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs and getting the loss as the Tigers pounded the Brewers 10-1. Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, and Lefty Grove are two-time members of the 9 pitches, 9 strikes, and side-retired club.

Answer: Alfonso Soriano

The first three players to accomplish this feat were Jose Canseco in 1988, Barry Bonds in 1996, and Alex Rodriguez in 1998. Washington Nationals' Alfonso Soriano also smacked 41 doubles in 2006 and became the first member of the 40/40/40 club.

Answer: Joe Mauer

Joseph Patrick Mauer of the Minnesota Twins finishing the 2006 season with a .347 batting average. He became the third catcher in history to win a batting title. The first two were Bubbles Hargrave with the 1926 Cincinnati Reds (.353 BA) and Ernie Lombardi, who won it twice, first with the 1938 Cincinnati Reds (.342 BA), and then with the 1942 Boston Braves (.330 BA).

It wasn't easy for Mauer as the title came down to the last game of the season. A pair of Yankees were right on his heels. Derek Jeter entered the final day of the regular season .001 points behind Mauer, but went 1-for-5 and finished at .343. Robinson Cano went 2-for-4 in the last game and finished the season with a .342 batting average.

Answer: Cleveland Indians

The 2006 Cleveland Indians became the second team in history to smack 14 grand slams in a season. The first team to hit 14 was the 2000 Oakland Athletics. The Chicago White Sox became the third team in history to hit grand slams in 3 consecutive games in 2006 on June 23, 24, and 25th. Scott Podsednik, Joe Crede and Tadahito Iguchi hit the slammers respectively.

The first two teams to hit grand slams in 3 consecutive games were the 1978 Milwaukee Brewers and the 1993 Detroit Tigers. On July 16, 2006, the New York Mets became the 7th team in history to hit 2 grand slams in one inning. Carlos Beltran and Cliff Floyd hit the slammers in the 6th inning in route to a 13-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Answer: Anibal Sanchez

In only his 14th Major League appearance, Anibal Sanchez threw his no-no against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a 2-0 victory, on September 6, 2006 at Dolphin Stadium. Sanchez became the 6th Marlins starting pitcher to win his Major League debut. He tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the New York Yankees in a 5-0 victory at Yankee Stadium, in the second game of a doubleheader on June 25, 2006.

The first five Florida Marlins to win their first career starts were A.J. Burnett in 1999, Brad Penny in 2000, Jason Grilli in 2000, Josh Beckett in 2001, and Scott Olsen in 2005.

Answer: Gary Mathews Jr.

On September 13, 2006, Mathews' cycle helped the Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers 11-3. He became the 7th American League player and the 14th in the Majors to hit for a natural order cycle. The first six American Leaguers were Bob Fothergill of Detroit on September 26, 1926, Tony Lazzeri of New York on June 3, 1932, Leon Culberson of Boston on July 3, 1943, Charlie Gehringer of Detroit on May 27, 1939, Bob Watson of Boston on September 15, 1979, and Jose Valentin of Chicago on April 27, 2000.

The first seven National Leaguers were Bill Collins of Boston on October 6, 1910, Jim Hickman of New York on August 7, 1963, Ken Boyer of St Louis on June 16, 1964, Billy Williams of Chicago on July 17, 1966, Tim Foli of Montreal on April 21, 1976, John Mabry of St Louis on May 18, 1996, and Brad Wilkerson of Montreal on June 24, 2003.

The four other players that hit for the cycle in 2006 were; Chone Figgins of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on September 16, 2006, Luke Scott of the Houston Astros on July 28, 2006, Carlos Guillen of the Detroit Tigers on August 1, 2006, and Jose Reyes of the New York Mets on June 21, 2006.

Answer: Kaz Matsui

Kazuo Matsui became the first player to hit a home run in his first plate appearance in 3 consecutive seasons (2004, 2005, & 2006). On April 20, 2006, he hit a inside-the-park homer against San Diego Padres' Jake Peavy at PetCo Park. On April 4, 2005, his first at-bat of the season round-tripper came off Cincinnati Reds' Paul Wilson at Great American Ballpark. On April 6, 2004, the very first pitch he ever saw as a Major Leaguer was a home run off Atlanta Braves' Tom Glavine to lead off the game at Turner Field. What makes this feat amazing is that Kaz Matsui is not a power hitter.

He hit a total of 7 HR's in 2004, his rookie season. In 2005, he hit 3 HR's. And in 2006, he finished the season with 3 home runs.

Answer: Los Angeles Dodgers

On September 18, 2006, Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin, and Marlon Anderson of the Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs against the San Diego Padres. The Padres scored three runs in the top of the 9th inning and took a 9-5 lead. The Dodgers countered with the four homers in the bottom of the 9th inning to tie the game at 9-9.

As the game moved into extra innings, the Padres scored once in the top of the 10th and led 10-9. The Dodgers did not give up as Nomar Garciaparra hit a 2-run walk-off home run in the bottom half of the inning for a 11-10 dramatic victory for the men in blue.

The Dodgers became the second National League team to hit four consecutive home runs in a game. Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Frank Thomas of the Milwaukee Braves were the first.

They did it against the Cincinnati Reds in the 7th inning on June 8, 1961, but it wasn't enough as the Reds won 10-8.

Answer: Kevin Kouzmanoff

Kevin Kouzmanoff also became the first American League player to hit a grand slam in his first at-bat and the third in the Majors. The first two were Bill Duggleby of the Philadelphia Phillies on April 21, 1898, and Jeremy Hermida of the Florida Marlins on August 31, 2005. Kouzmanoff cracked his monumental bases-loaded homer in the 1st inning on September 2, 2006 off Texas Rangers' pitcher Edinson Volquez in route to a 6-5 win.

He became the 23th player to hit a home run on the first pitch ever seen. On May 24, 2006, St. Louis Cardinals' Adam Wainwright hit the first pitch he saw in his career over the left field wall off of San Francisco Giants' Noah Lowry. Wainwright, a relief pitcher, collected the win in a 10-4 Cardinals victory.

He became the 11th National League player to smack a homer on his very first pitch.