America's Game in the 1960s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jim Fregosi

The shortstop played for 18 seasons, 11 of which were with the Angels.
He batted for the cycle in July 1964 and May 1968. Jim won a Gold Glove at shortstop in 1967. He later went on to manage the Angels, White Sox, Phillies, and Blue Jays.

Answer: Mickey Mantle

Mickey played in 542 games in the decade while batting clean-up. Pepitone was next with 363 games, then Howard with 119. Mantle retired after the 1968 season, and hit 256 of his career 536 home runs in the 1960s.

Answer: 1

The Yankees were the only team to pull it off, in 1961 and 1962. They made five appearances in the promised land during the decade. Both the Cardinals and Dodgers won two World Series in the decade, but not consecutive.

Answer: Hit five home runs in the game

On April 12, the Red Sox tied an American League Opening Day record by hitting five out of the park against the Washington Senators. Boston won the game 7-2. The Red Sox would go on to finish in ninth place with a 62-100 record. They still hit the most home runs in the AL for the season with 165.

Answer: Sam McDowell

On April 25, centerfielder Jose Tartabull had the only Athletics hit in a 2-0 Cleveland win. On May 1, the White Sox's Don Buford was the spoiler by getting the only hit for the White Sox. McDowell won that game 1-0. Sam would not throw a no-hitter in his career.

Answer: Mets

The Mets began their franchise in 1962, and welcomed their fans with a 40-120 record. In 1963 they went 51-111, followed by a 53-109 record in 1964. They went backwards in 1965 going 50-112. Their fifth time was in season number six, going 61-101. Amazingly, they won the 1969 World Series, and were called the Amazin' Mets for it. 1969 was their first winning season in franchise history.

Answer: Kansas City Athletics

The Twins set a record on June 9 in the seventh inning against the Athletics. The blasts were hit by Rich Rollins, Zoilo Versalles, Tony Oliva, Don Mincher, and Harmon Killebrew. The Twins scored a total of six runs in the inning, and won the game 9-4.

Answer: Giants and Mets

On May 31, the lowly New York Mets took on the powerful San Francisco Giants. It was Bill Wakefield on the mound against Bobby Bolin. The game took 23 innings to finish, with Del Crandall and Jesus Alou getting RBIs each in the top of the inning. The Giants won it 8-6. Gaylord Perry, normally a starter, entered the game in relief in the 13th inning, and pitched 10 innings for the win.

The Mets were also involved in a 24-inning game on April 15, 1968, which they also lost to the Astros.

Answer: Norm Cash

Cash batted .361 for the Tigers in 1961. It would be the only batting title that Norm would win in his career. Runner-up for the decade was Roberto Clemente of the Pirates, who batted .357 in 1967.

Answer: Minnesota Twins

The Twins lost the World Series to the Dodgers, but other AL teams were afraid of the Twins. Don Mincher led the team with 15 intentional walks, with Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew being walked 12 times each. The Giants set a new National League and Major League record in 2002 for being intentionally walked 103 times in the season. Barry Bonds was intentionally walked 68 times of his 198 base on balls in that season.