A Nightmare of a Challenge [3] Quiz

Answer: Marty Marion

Marion was a St. Louis Cardinal in 1944. He won the award over Bill Nicholson, Dixie Walker, and Stan Musial. Both Marion and Musial helped the Cardinals to the World Series, and defeated the St. Louis Browns.

Before 1931 there was the Chalmers Award (1911-1914) and the League Awards (1922-1929). Roger Peckinpaugh (Washington Senators SS) won the League Award in 1925.

Answer: 2

Only Christy Mathewson of the Giants and Pete Alexander of the Phillies accomplished this. Mathewson won 30+ in 1903, 1905, and 1908. Alexander's 30-game seasons were consecutive from 1915-1917.

Answer: Rich Reese

Some say this is a controversy that mirrors Babe Ruth vs Roger Maris due to the amount of games played in a season. This is because Nolan broke the record on the very last batter that he faced in the season, Rich Reese of the Twins on September 27, 1973.

The strikeout occurred in the 11th inning of that game. Koufax struck out 382 batters in 1965 amongst 335.2 innings pitched. Ryan struck out 383 amongst 326.0 innings pitched. There should be no controversy.

Answer: Bill Lefebvre

Lefebvre was a rookie Red Sox pitcher when he hit one on June 10, 1938. In his debut against the White Sox, Bill pitched four innings in relief, allowed eight hits and six earned runs, and the Red Sox lost 15-2.

Answer: 1940

1940, 1941, 1943, 1950, 1958, and 1960 all saw no inductions into the hall.

Answer: 3

From 1956-1966, the award was given out to only one pitcher Major League wide. In 1967, the award was expanded to one pitcher in each league. Not only was Spahn a runner-up three times in his career, he also finished third in the first Cy Young voting when Don Newcombe of the Dodgers won it in 1956. From 1956-1963, Warren was a 20-game winner in seven of those eight seasons, and at the age of 42 won 23 games in 1963.

Answer: Charlie Robertson

On April 30, 1922, Robertson and his White Sox completed the perfecto against the Tigers at Navin Field in Detroit. It was the American League's fourth perfect game thrown in history. It would not be until 1956 before the league would experience another one with Yankee Don Larsen.

Answer: Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves retired the number 41 after the retirement of Hall of Fame great Eddie Mathews. Mathews played for the Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves from 1952-1966. Eddie was NL runner-up MVP in 1953 and 1959. The solid third baseman hit 512 home runs in his career.

He was inducted into the hall in 1978. The second team to retire the number 41 was the New York Mets, in honor of pitcher Tom Seaver.

Answer: Satchel Paige

The Special Negro League Committee was formed in early 1971 to look at possible inductions of players that played in the Negro Leagues. Later in the year, the committee recommended Satchel Paige, and it was done as he was inducted the same year. Paige won an undocumented 2000+ games in the Negro Leagues.

He joined the Major League Cleveland Indians in 1947, and was the oldest rookie at the age of 42. In six seasons in the big leagues, he went 28-31.

Answer: New York Giants

Thorpe played for six seasons, five being in a New York Giant uniform from 1913-1919. He was an outfielder and hit seven home runs in his career. Jim went to one World Series in 1917 to see a loss to the White Sox. He retired as a Boston Brave.