Not-So-Basic Nightmare Baseball [13] Quiz

Answer: New York Mets

A catcher who moved on to manage and coach teams after nineteen seasons competing in the Major Leagues, Berra spent all but one year of his time on the field with the Yankees before taking a spot on the Mets' 1965 line-up. Of the thirteen World Series championships he was a part of across his five-decade span in the sport, only one ended up being with the Mets, who he coached to victory in 1969.

The only team he would be affiliated with that wasn't from New York would be the Houston Astros; he coached them for four seasons in the late 1980s.

Answer: Jim Krebs

Jim Krebs is the odd one out in this set of athletes seeing as he was a basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers.

All others listed were on the 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates roster, and that might be a deep cut, but it was a season year for the team as they'd won their second National League pennant with this line-up. All three pitchers were critical in helping the Pirates have one of their historical best years, letting the fewest home runs through for any MLB team in history-- a record that would persist into the twenty-first century. The Pirates, of course, started in the league in 1887.

Answer: Stolen bases

The record for fewest stolen bases, at seventeen over the season, would be a record held by the 1949 line-up into the next century. The Cardinals would end up placing second in the National League this year (behind only the Brooklyn Dodgers, who would lose the World Series to the Yankees at the end of the season). Red Schoedienst led the team with a whopping 8 thefts and the player line-up included greats like Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, and Marty Marion, the first shortstop in the MLB to win the league's MVP award.

Answer: Gold Glove Award

A second baseman with the Pirates for his entire career from the 1950s to the early 1970s, Bill Mazeroski would have a strong run in the MLB, being a ten-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion. The 1958 Gold Glove, won for his strong fielding in the league, was only his first of said awards-- he'd go on to claim another seven of them over the course of his career, all in the 1960s.

It should come as no surprise that these feats led to his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Answer: Four

DiMaggio retired as a player with a total of three hundred sixty-one in 1951, having spent his entire career as a center fielder with the New York Yankees. With this in mind, he still managed to be an American League batting champion, a World Series winner nine times, an MLB All-Star thirteen times and an early hall of famer. Only four players had more home runs than him at the time: Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, and Lou Gehrig. All five of these men would be beaten by Hank Aaron by the mid-1970s and then Aaron would be passed by Barry Bonds at the turn of the century.

Answer: Tony Gwynn

While Tony Gwynn would go on to become one of the most famous members of the Padres, his twenty-season career with the San Diego team wouldn't commence for another couple years (in 1982). The other listed options were all part of that year's team with Richards collecting 61 bases, Smith taking 57, and Momphrey stealing 52. Ozzie Smith would also end the season with the Gold Glove Award.

Answer: Houston Astros

Though Mathews spent fifteen seasons with the Braves before this and two with the Tigers after, his single season with the Houston Astros was the one to get him the 500-homer milestone. Hitting it off a pitch from San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal, it would make him the seventh person in history to achieve the number.

He would be sixth in the MLB, with 512, upon his retirement as a player in 1968, at which point he would also have two World Series wins and be a twelve-time All-Star.

Answer: Shortstop

Aparicio spent most of his career with the Chicago White Sox but also had stints with the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox over the course of his seventeen season career as a shortstop between 1956-1973. Despite being a highly-regarded White Sox Player (and a thirteen-time All-Star), Aparicio's only World Series win occurred while he was a player for the Orioles in 1966. Retiring at the end of the 1973 season, he would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, becoming the first Venezuelan player to be added.

Answer: 4

The pitchers in question were Jim Bibby, Bert Blyleven, Kenny Rogers, and the great Nolan Ryan (who threw two). Kenny Rogers' no-hitter, the latest one of the group, also ended up being a perfect game. Occurring in 1994, the July 28th game against the California Angels proved to be the big deal, becoming the Rangers' first-ever perfect game and the fourteenth to occur in MLB history. Rogers would have a noteworthy career as a pitcher, winning five Golden Gloves and winning the World Series in 1996 (with the Yankees).

Answer: Andy Ashby

Ashby dished this up to McGwire in August 5, 1999 while Mark was with the St. Louis Cardinals. By the time McGwire wrapped his career in 2001 he would have 583 home runs to his name, becoming one of the most prolific hitters in the sport. His career would be marred by his notorious performance-enhancing drug scandal. Ashby, however, would have a relatively varied career, becoming a pitcher for five different teams across fourteen seasons in the MLB.

He would be an All-Star twice, including the year he gave McGwire that number 500 hit.