Stirring up the National League Quiz

Answer: Diamondbacks

Arizona traded Green to the Mets for cash and minor leaguer Evan MacLane. Prior to the Diamondbacks, Shawn played for the Dodgers, and began his career with seven seasons with the Blue Jays.

Answer: 5

The NL teams were the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and New York Mets.

The American League had seven teams. They were the Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Answer: 1

Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies was the only player to reach the 50 plateau. He helped the Phillies to a second place NL East finish. The NL runner-up was Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, who hit 49, his fourth consecutive season of hitting 40+.

Answer: Chuck Connors

Known for his trademark Winchester rifle, Connors also starred in the movie, "Geronimo", and had some roles in the television series, "Flipper". His first major movie role was "Pat & Mike", which he appeared with Spencer Tracy and Kathryn Hepburn in 1952. He retired with two home runs and a .239 average. Connors died in November 1992.

Answer: Chicago Cubs

The Cubs topped out at 116 in 1906. They were led by two 20-game winners in Mordecai Brown and Jack Pfiester. Ed Reulbach also won 19 games. 1906 was the first of three consecutive World Series appearances for the Cubs. Their 116 wins came in a 152-game season.

Answer: Hack Wilson

The others were all American Leaguers. Wilson hit 56 with the Chicago Cubs in 1930. Unfortunately for Hack, there was no MVP awarded in 1930. He would go on to hit 244 in 12 seasons. After his stellar 1930 season, alcohol would take over his life, and his career spiraled downward. He retired in 1934.

Answer: Braves

The Dodgers franchise was well known for having many name changes, but many of those were in the 1800s. The Braves franchise came into the 20th century with as the Boston Beaneaters. They were the Boston Doves from 1907-1910, Rustlers in 1911, then finished out the century with other names such as the Boston Bees, Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves, then finally the Atlanta Braves.

Answer: Joe Medwick

The others were all Cardinals, but none had begun their careers yet. Medwick played his first nine seasons with St. Louis. His 1937 Triple Crown also got him the NL MVP, winning it over Gabby Hartnett of the Cubs by only two points, and Gabby had more first place votes than Joe. After Medwick's Triple Crown in 1937, American League sluggers went on to hit five more in the century.

Answer: Cleveland Spiders

The others were all Federal League teams, in a league that only survived in 1914 and 1915. The Spiders spent 11 seasons in the National League, and were once a contender with rostered players such as Cy Young, Jesse Burkett, and Chief Zimmer. In 1899, the team finished last with a record of 20-134.

The Spiders did have an outfielder named Chief Sockalexis. He was the first American-Indian to play in Cleveland, and the White Sox were later named after him.

Answer: Greg Maddux

The others never won the Cy Young award. Greg was the first to win four consecutive. After winning the award with the Cubs in 1992, Maddux signed as a free agent with the Braves after the season. He then won another three with Atlanta from 1993-1995. In 1996, he finished in a tie for fifth in the Cy Young balloting, and watched teammate John Smoltz win it.