20th Century Baseball Quiz | Baseball

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This team had the worst season record in all of the 1990s.

Answer: Detroit Tigers

The Tigers went a pathetic 53-109 for an obvious last place finish in the American League East. Bobby Higginson batted .320 to lead the team, but no other starter batted over .270. No pitcher won more than seven games either. The second worst team in the season was the California Angels who won 17 more games than the Tigers.

2. This team in the 1980s was nicknamed "Harvey's Wallbangers" for being all offense and no defense.

Answer: Milwaukee Brewers

It was the 1982 team managed by Harvey Kuenn. The Brewers led the league in home runs with 216, runs scored with 891, and second in hits with 1,599. They also had five pitchers win in double-digits led by Pete Vuckovich going 18-6. They went to the World Series but lost to the Cardinals in seven games.

3. Catchers in the 1970s became much safer after the invention of the neck guard by this catcher.

Answer: Steve Yeager

Yeager was in his third season with the Dodgers and had taken a few balls in the neck and throat area. The guard was a flap that hinged on and below the catcher's mask itself. All catchers soon modified their masks throughout Major League Baseball. Steve's only award in baseball was co-sharing the 1981 World Series MVP with teammates Ron Cey and Pedro Guerrero.

4. This player had the highest season batting average in the 1960s.

Answer: Norm Cash

Norm was in his fourth of 17 seasons in 1961 and his second with the Detroit Tigers. He led the majors for the entire decade with his .361 batting average. He finished fourth in the AL MVP Award voting and helped the Tigers to a second place finish behind the Yankees. Ironically, it was the only time in his 17-season career that he batted over a .300 average.

5. The 1955 season saw the Brooklyn Dodgers win their first-ever World Series. They won the National League by 13.5 games over this runner-up team.

Answer: Milwaukee Braves

The Dodgers owned the National League with their double-digit pennant win. The Dodgers were led by Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Carl Furillo, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, and Don Newcombe from the mound. The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

6. In 1942, Boston's Ted Williams was thoroughly robbed of his first AL MVP Award. This player won it instead with much lesser stats.

Answer: Joe Gordon

After taking a backseat to Joe DiMaggio and his 56-game hitting streak in 1941, Williams batted .356 with 36 home runs and had 186 hits in 1942. Gordon of the Yankees batted .322 with 18 home runs and 173 hits but would somehow take the MVP in 1942 away from Williams. Ted would lose the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons due to WWII.

He returned in 1946 to win the AL MVP, be runner-up in 1947, finish third in 1948, then finally win it again in 1949.

7. In 1932 Jimmie Foxx batted for what appeared to be the Triple Crown but lost the batting title to this player who had less than 400 at-bats.

Answer: Dale Alexander

Foxx was with the Philadelphia Athletics when he led the league with 58 home runs, 169 RBIs, and batted .364. Alexander was a Boston Red Sox first baseman and played in only 124 games in the season while having less than 400 at-bats, 392 times with an average of .367. Rules in 1932 gave Alexander the batting title making Foxx lose his bid for the Triple Crown. Jimmie would still win the AL MVP, win another in the following season of 1933, and a third in 1938 with the Red Sox.

8. After fans experienced the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, this team had the lowest attendance total in all of the entire 1920s.

Answer: Boston Braves

By 1924 the fans were coming back to the ballparks setting record numbers, but not the Braves fans. The team continued to show no shine by averaging 60 wins per season in the 1920s. Attendance at Braves Field totaled 2,499,518. The Yankees drew over 10,000,000 fans in the decade for comparison.

9. This pitcher in the 1910s was credited which learning how to scuff a baseball which made it drop like a rock and tried to keep it secret.

Answer: Russ Ford

Ford was a New York Highlander when, before the season started in 1910, he accidentally threw a ball against a concrete wall but continued to use it. He found that the scuffed ball did unnatural things. In the 1910 season he covertly scuffed the ball or would put a 3/4" scratch on the ball and it did indeed make crazy movements by the time it got to the batter. Ford knew how to control it.

He was disguising these scuffed balls thrown as spitballs which were legal. In 1910 he went 26-6, then 22-11 in 1911.

By then his secret was out and almost all other pitchers tried their own scuffing method.

10. This team won the most American League pennants from 1901-1909 with three crowns.

Answer: Detroit Tigers

The Tigers didn't get off to a good start in the new American League in 1901, but finished out the decade strong. They made it to the World Series in three consecutive seasons from 1907-1909. They unfortunately lost to the Cubs twice and the Pirates once. Detroit would find their first World Series crown against the Cubs in 1935.

Source: Author dg_dave

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Fifiona81 before going online.
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20th Century Baseball Trivia Quiz

Match the answer for each decade of the 20th Century. Hope you have fun.

Questions		Choices
1. This team had the worst season record in all of the 1990s.		Norm Cash
2. This team in the 1980s was nicknamed "Harvey's Wallbangers" for being all offense and no defense.		Detroit Tigers
3. Catchers in the 1970s became much safer after the invention of the neck guard by this catcher.		Joe Gordon
4. This player had the highest season batting average in the 1960s.		Dale Alexander
5. The 1955 season saw the Brooklyn Dodgers win their first-ever World Series. They won the National League by 13.5 games over this runner-up team.		Milwaukee Braves
6. In 1942, Boston's Ted Williams was thoroughly robbed of his first AL MVP Award. This player won it instead with much lesser stats.		Detroit Tigers
7. In 1932 Jimmie Foxx batted for what appeared to be the Triple Crown but lost the batting title to this player who had less than 400 at-bats.		Steve Yeager
8. After fans experienced the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, this team had the lowest attendance total in all of the entire 1920s.		Russ Ford
9. This pitcher in the 1910s was credited which learning how to scuff a baseball which made it drop like a rock and tried to keep it secret.		Milwaukee Brewers
10. This team won the most American League pennants from 1901-1909 with three crowns.		Boston Braves