Sick MLB: Pt. 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Willard Hershberger

Catcher Hershberger, despondent about his pitch calling in a game against the New York Giants days before, slit his own wrists in a Boston hotel room while his Cincinnati Reds were preparing to face off against the Boston Braves in an August 3rd, 1940 doubleheader.

The Reds would go on to win their second World Series that year, and Hershberger's number 5 would be retired-then unretired-then retired for another Reds catcher, Johhny Bench.

Answer: Billy Martin

Martin was a passenger in a one-car accident that took place near his farm in upstate New York. He and a friend had been drinking heavily on Christmas Day of 1989, and his friend was driving the vehicle.

Answer: Harry Pulliam

Many say that the pressure of the 1908 National League pennant race got to sensitive NL President Pulliam. Forced to make a controversial decision regarding the "Merkle's Boner" game (where Giant rookie Fred Merkle cost his team a run, the game and ultimately the NL pennant by not touching 2nd base on what should have been a game winning single in a key contest against the Cubs), Pulliam took some time off from work and mulled retirement. Shortly after returning, the 44 year-old Pulliam put a bullet in his head at the New York Athletic Club.

Answer: Jimmie Foxx

Foxx, who many considered the right-handed Babe Ruth, was partly the inspiration for Jimmie Dugan's character (played by Tom Hanks) from the 1992 movie "A League of Their Own."

Answer: Eddie Waitkus

These stories could all be ripped straight from today's headlines. Waitkus, the Philadelphia Phillie star first baseman, was shot and nearly killed by an obsessed fan n 1949; his story was later used as the inspiration for the Bernard Malamud novel "The Natural." Larkin shot himself, his wife and a police officer in 1883 (all three survived, but Larkin would succeed in slicing his throat in a mental hospital years later), Moore shot his wife and himself in 1989 (she survived, he didn't), and in the most tragic of all, Bergen took an axe to his family before cutting his own throat in 1900.

Answer: Ray Chapman

Although the other three suffered significant injuries from beanings, Chapman's was the only one that directly led to his death. He was hit by a submarine pitch from Yankee spitballer Carl Mays in the 5th inning of a game between the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees on August 16, 1920 at the Polo Grounds, and never regained consciousness after being helped from the field by teammates. Ironically, the Indians would go on to win the World Series that season; the rookie shortstop who replaced the uber-talented Chapman, Joe Sewell, would have a Hall of Fame career.

Answer: Len Koenecke

Koenecke was killed on September 17, 1935, after picking a fight with the flight crew (not always a good idea) during a chartered flight between Detroit and Toronto. Newspaper reports stated that the pilot smashed Koenecke over the head with the fire extinguisher after he inexplicably became rowdy on the plane, attempting to take the controls and jeopardizing the lives of all aboard.

Answer: Doc Powers

Ironically, A's catcher Powers (an actual medical doctor, no less) took his hit during the inaugural game at Shibe Park on April 12, 1909. He passed on two weeks later from from surgical complications, becoming the first player to die from an injury suffered on-the-field (beaning victim Ray Chapman was the second). Resier and McCray, though known for running into walls (McCray's famous minor-league crash through a fence is a favorite of blooper reels), lived to tell their tales.

Answer: Steve Olin/Tim Crews

Submarining closer Olin and recent free-agent pickup Crews were killed as a result of the March 22, 1993 accident that also seriously injured pitcher Bob Ojeda. Young, another Indian pitcher, died in a car accident after the 1993 season.

Answer: Lyman Bostock

Although the others were all Angel players who died while still active major leaguers, Bostock's was the only one that came as the result of a murder. He was shot while traveling in a car in Gary, Indiana on September 23, 1978 after a game against the White Sox in Chicago.

The assailant believed that his wife had been having an affair with Bostock; as it turned out, the two had only met a few minutes before and Bostock's uncle was giving the woman and her sister a ride home. It was a tragic case of wrong place, wrong time.