The 2010 Season Trivia Quiz

Answer: Roy Halladay

Halladay retired 27 straight Florida Marlin hitters on May 29th to record his perfect game. Dallas Braden was the Oakland Athletics pitcher who had thrown one on May 9th. Jim Bunning was the only other Phillie to ever throw a perfect game, back in 1964. Bunning later represented Kentucky in the United States Senate, retiring in 2010. Randy Johnson threw a perfect game for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004, but he never pitched for the Phillies.

Answer: Kendry Morales

At the time of his injury, Morales was leading the Angels in most hitting categories, and manager Mike Scioscia said, "It's going to change the way we celebrate".

Answer: Ubaldo Jimenez

Jimenez threw a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves on April 17th, the first no-hitter in the history of the Rockies, and through 12 starts had an ERA of 0.78. Jimenez went on to have a sparkling 15-1 win-loss record at the All-Star break, becoming the first pitcher with 15 wins at the break since David Wells in 2000.

Jimenez' lifetime stats prior to 2010 showed a 31-28 win-loss tally, and an ERA of 3.80. To say that Jimenez had a breakout year in 2010 would be a gross understatement.

Answer: Jim Joyce

Joyce was in his 24th year of MLB umpiring in 2010, and was considered one of the best umpires in the game. After seeing the replay, he immediately acknowledged his mistake and tearfully apologized to Galarraga. Both Joyce and Galarraga handled the fiasco with class.
The other umpires listed also had famous blown calls. Denkinger was the umpire who blew a similar call at first base in the 1985 World Series, and Garcia was the umpire who mistakenly gave the Yankees a home run in the 1996 postseason, even though a fan clearly reached over the fence to catch the ball, thereby interfering with the Orioles right fielder who was poised to make the catch himself.

Bruce Froemming was involved in two such controversies. In 1972 Froemming robbed Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas of a perfect game with some questionable ball calls on the 27th batter, giving the hitter a walk. Then in the 1977 postseason, he called Dodgers batter Davey Lopes safe at first, even though replays clearly showed Lopes was out. The Dodgers went on to beat the Phillies and go to the World Series. This event was remembered by Phillies fans for decades afterwards as "Black Friday".

Answer: Washington Nationals

The Nationals had a rare standing room only crowd on June 8th for Stasburg's debut, and he lived up to all the hype by striking out 14 in seven innings and walking none. This was said to be the most talked about game in the history of Washington baseball since the last time Washington played in the postseason, which was way back in 1933. Washington more typically finished last, which is how it came to have the number one overall pick in 2009.

Answer: J. R. Richard

Richard went on to become one of the top pitchers in the Majors during the late 1970s, but he suffered a stroke in 1980 and his Major League career was suddenly over at the age of 30.

Answer: Daniel Nava

Nava became only the second player ever to accomplish this, the first being Kevin Kouzmanoff in 2006. The other choices were also Red Sox players in 2010, but none were rookies.

Answer: Jamie Moyer

Moyer made his Major League debut way back in 1986, and was still pitching successfully in 2010 for the Phillies at the age of 47. His 506th homer allowed broke the record of 505 set by former Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts. The other choices listed also pitched into their 40s, but all retired before 2010.

Answer: Joe Mauer

Mauer is the Minnesota Twins catcher who was the American League Most Valuable Player for 2009. The other choices were also American League starters, but none received as many votes as Mauer.

Answer: Albert Pujols

Pujols was widely considered to be the best player in the game in 2010, and his vote total reflected that reality. The other choices were also picked as National League starters.