All in the Numbers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cincinnati Reds

Although the Athletics would appear in three consecutive World Series from 1972-1974, that would be it for them. The Yankees appeared in three consecutive series also from 1976-1978. Pittsburgh appeared in two in the decade. The Reds took the honors by earning the rights to a World Series appearance in 1970, 1972, 1975, and 1976.

They won two of those appearances as they defeated the Red Sox in 1975 and the Yankees in 1976. They lost the other two to the Orioles and Athletics.

Answer: Satchel Paige

The others never played for the St. Louis Browns. Paige was the star of the Negro Leagues of Baseball and came into the Major Leagues in 1948 with the Cleveland Indians. The 1951 season found him with the St. Louis Browns while wearing the number 29 and he retired in 1953. For whatever reason other than marketing, he came back to the Kansas City Athletics for a one game appearance in 1965 at the age of 58. Appling was a 20-season career player with the White Sox and wore the number 5 in his rookie season in 1930. Carew played 19 seasons in his career all with the Twins and Angels.

He wore the number 21 as a rookie. A-Rod played for 22 seasons with the Mariners, Rangers, and Yankees. He donned the number 3 as a rookie in 1994 with Seattle. Satchel wore the number 29 with the Browns from 1951-1953.

Answer: Gene Mauch

Mauch managed the Phillies from 1960-1968, then the Expos from 1969-1975. He then took over the Twins from 1976-1980 and that didn't pan out so he retired with the Angels after managing them from 1981-1987. Gene's career managing record was 1902 wins against 2037 losses. He died in 2009 at the age of 79.

Answer: Pete Alexander

Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander pitched from 1911-1930 with the Phillies, Cubs, and Cardinals. He threw his first Triple Crown in 1915. His second was with the same Phillies in 1916, then threw for a third in 1920 with the Cubs. Amazingly, Pete never won the MVP Award although winning five season pitching titles. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1938.

Answer: 8

Gwynn played his entire career with the Padres from 1982-2001. The outfielder, although winning eight batting titles, amazingly never won a league MVP or was even a runner-up for the award. He helped the Padres to two World Series but lost them both. Gwynn batted .394 in 1994, the closest that anyone had come to a .400 average during the 20th Century since Ted Williams' season average of .401 in 1941. Tony retired with a .338 average and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

He died in 2014.

Answer: 1

Bonds hit 73 in the 2001 season with the Giants. This was the only season that he reached the 50-mark. He was a Pittsburgh Pirate from 1986-1992 before coming to San Francisco as a free agent. Bonds stepped away from baseball amongst PED accusations in 2007 after 22 seasons. Barry hit 762 career home runs after winning the MVP Award seven times.

Answer: Octavio Dotel

The others were all one-team career players. Dotel was a pitcher and played from 1999-2013 in 15 seasons. Amazingly, he played for 13 different franchises via trades or free-agency. The most wins that he had in a season was as a rookie with the Mets when he won eight games.

He also pitched for the Astros, Athletics, Yankees, Royals, Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, Cardinals, and finally with the Tigers.

Answer: 1

Restrictions in early baseball prevented a player from winning the MVP more than once in the American League, although Walter Johnson was an exception to the rule. The Babe won it in 1923. After some controversies and a few rule changes concerning awards between the American and National Leagues, they came to terms in 1931 and opened the doors for multiple MVP winners. Gehrig won his first in 1927, then a second in 1936 after the rule changes.

Some fans feel that the restrictions of awards prevented Ruth from winning many more than one.

The MVP Award began in 1911.

Answer: Hal Newhouser

Newhouser pitched for 17 seasons and mostly with the Cleveland Indians. He wore the number 16 throughout his entire career. Hal retired in 1955 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992. Cepeda was a 1999 Hall inductee. Orlando wore the number 30 with the Giants, Cardinals, Braves, and Royals. Griffey Jr. wore the number 30 with the Reds from 2000-2005. Smoltz wore the number 30 in his 21st and final season of baseball in 2009 with the Cardinals.

Answer: Chicago Cubs

The Cubs were in command of the National League from 1906-1910. In 1906 the team went a tremendous 116-36 in the 152-game season. They were led by a list of future Hall of Famers but still lost the World Series to the White Sox. They came back in 1907 with a 107-45 season record and defeated the Tigers in that World Series.

The following season they won the NL pennant and beat the Tigers again in the World Series. In 1909 they finished in second place with a 104-49 record. They won the NL pennant again with a 104-50 record in 1910 but lost to the Athletics in the big series.

It was an amazing run of five seasons by the Cubs. The Seattle Mariners also won 116 games in 2001.