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Quiz about Yankee Captains The First Fifteen

Yankee Captains : The First Fifteen Quiz

On December 21, 2022, Aaron Judge was named as the sixteenth player to captain the New York Yankees. Here's a quiz about ten of the first fifteen Yankee captains.

A matching quiz by chessart. Estimated time: 3 mins.

Author
chessart

Time
3 mins

Type
Match Quiz

Quiz #
411,324

Updated
Jan 09 23

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Very Easy

Avg Score
9 / 10

Plays
158

Awards
Top 5% quiz!

(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.

Questions		Choices
1. This first baseman served as Yankee captain from 1935 until the disease ALS forced his retirement in 1939.		Babe Ruth
2. This Hall of Fame shortstop had the longest tenure as captain, when he served from 2003 until his retirement following the 2014 season.		Willie Keeler
3. This "wee" player liked to "hit 'em where they ain't".		Clark Griffith
4. This Yankee, whose career was tragically cut short in 1979 when he died in a plane crash, is the only catcher among the first fifteen captains.		Willie Randolph
5. This first baseman, best-known for a famous poem, was Yankee captain in 1913.		Graig Nettles
6. He is the only second baseman on the fifteen-captains list.		Frank Chance
7. Nicknamed "The Sultan of Swat", this slugger hit 714 home runs during his major eague career.		Don Mattingly
8. This pitcher was Yankee captain from 1903 to 1905, and later owned the Washington Senators from 1920 to his death in 1955.		Lou Gehrig
9. This smooth-fielding first baseman was Yankee captain 1991-1995.		Derek Jeter
10. This Yankee captain is the only third baseman on the list of first fifteen Yankee captains.		Thurmon Munson

Select each answer

1. This first baseman served as Yankee captain from 1935 until the disease ALS forced his retirement in 1939.

2. This Hall of Fame shortstop had the longest tenure as captain, when he served from 2003 until his retirement following the 2014 season.

3. This "wee" player liked to "hit 'em where they ain't".

4. This Yankee, whose career was tragically cut short in 1979 when he died in a plane crash, is the only catcher among the first fifteen captains.

5. This first baseman, best-known for a famous poem, was Yankee captain in 1913.

6. He is the only second baseman on the fifteen-captains list.

7. Nicknamed "The Sultan of Swat", this slugger hit 714 home runs during his major eague career.

8. This pitcher was Yankee captain from 1903 to 1905, and later owned the Washington Senators from 1920 to his death in 1955.

9. This smooth-fielding first baseman was Yankee captain 1991-1995.

10. This Yankee captain is the only third baseman on the list of first fifteen Yankee captains.

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This first baseman served as Yankee captain from 1935 until the disease ALS forced his retirement in 1939.

Answer: Lou Gehrig

Known as "The Iron Horse", Gehrig held the consecutive games played record until it was broken by Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1995.

2. This Hall of Fame shortstop had the longest tenure as captain, when he served from 2003 until his retirement following the 2014 season.

Answer: Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter was the heart and soul of the Yankees during his amazing 20-year Major League career, all spent with the Yankees. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

3. This "wee" player liked to "hit 'em where they ain't".

Answer: Willie Keeler

Wee Willie Keeler was Yankee (then known as the Highlanders) captain in the 1908 and 1909 seasons. He was one of the best contact players in MLB history. In 19 seasons, he struck out only 136 times in 9,619 plate appearances. By contrast, in 2021 Major League hitters struck out in 24% of their plate appearances, a rate which would have given Wee Willie 2,308 strikeouts.

4. This Yankee, whose career was tragically cut short in 1979 when he died in a plane crash, is the only catcher among the first fifteen captains.

Answer: Thurmon Munson

Munson was captain from 1976 until his death in 1979. He had learned to fly and would often fly home to Canton, Ohio on his off days. He died during one of those trips home.

5. This first baseman, best-known for a famous poem, was Yankee captain in 1913.

Answer: Frank Chance

The famous poem, 'Tinker to Evers to Chance", was written in 1910, when
Chance was with the Cubs. The double-play combination led the Cubs to four National League pennants in the five-year period of 1906-1910. Beset by injuries following the 1912 season, the Cubs released Chance and he signed a three-year contract with the Yankees, becoming both their manager and their captain for the 1913 season.

The famous poem, written by a disgruntled Giants fan in 1910 after yet another loss to the Cubs rivals, begins:

"These are the saddest of possible words:
Tinker to Evers to Chance.
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance."

Thanks largely to the famous poem, all three of the Cubs infielders in the poem were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.

6. He is the only second baseman on the fifteen-captains list.

Answer: Willie Randolph

Willie Randolph had an 18-year career in the majors, 13 of them with the Yankees. He was Yankee co-captain, along with pitcher Ron Guidry, for the last three of those years, from 1986 to 1988.

7. Nicknamed "The Sultan of Swat", this slugger hit 714 home runs during his major eague career.

Answer: Babe Ruth

Ruth was named captain for the 1922 season, but the American League President Ban Johnson ordered him stripped of his captainship after he threw dust on an umpire and then climbed into the stands to confront a heckler.

8. This pitcher was Yankee captain from 1903 to 1905, and later owned the Washington Senators from 1920 to his death in 1955.

Answer: Clark Griffith

Griffith's stingy policies as Senators' owner resulted in the famous saying about the Senators, "First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League". The Senators' ballpark was known as Griffith Stadium until it was torn down in 1965.

9. This smooth-fielding first baseman was Yankee captain 1991-1995.

Answer: Don Mattingly

Mattingly was a six-time All Star and won nine gold gloves during his 14-year career, all spent with the Yankees. He retired after the 1995 season.

10. This Yankee captain is the only third baseman on the list of first fifteen Yankee captains.

Answer: Graig Nettles

Nettles played for six different teams during his 22-year Major League career, but he is best known for his tenure with the Yankees, which lasted from 1973 through the 1983 season. His time with the Yankees coincided with the first eleven years of George Steinbrenner's ownership of the team. Reflecting on those turbulent times, Nettles famously said that "when I was a little boy, I wanted to be a baseball player and join the circus. With the Yankees I have accomplished both."

Source: Author chessart

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