Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In a totally amazing thought, the great strikeout king, Nolan Ryan, never finished better than 14th in the MVP voting, and never won a Cy Young award in his career, finishing second only once. In his runner-up Cy Young season, he took a backseat to Catfish Hunter of the Oakland Athletics. Nolan led the league 11 times in strikeouts and retired with 5714 career strikeouts. At the time of his retirement in 1993, he was the only other pitcher to reach 4000 strikeouts other than the great Steve Carlton. Nolan was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.
2. Willie McGill was the first officially documented teenager to win 20 games in a season. He did this in the American Association in 1891 at the age of 17 with the Cincinnati Kelly's Killers and St. Louis Browns. He was also the youngest to ever pitch a complete game as a 16-year old, a record which still stood throughout even the 20th century, defeating the the Chicago Pirates. Willie retired in 1896 after only seven seasons.
3. The 1920 Cleveland Indians were a pretty special team. After going 98-56, earning a trip to the World Series, they continued to amaze fans. Pitcher Stan Coveleski won three games for the Indians, a feat not duplicated for another 26 years. Tris Speaker hit the first World Series grand slam, Jim Bagby hit the first series home run by a pitcher, and the Indians had seven hitters bat over .300 in the five games to two win over the Brooklyn Robins.
4. The first west coast Bay Area World Series took place in 1989. It pitted the Oakland Ahletics and the San Francisco Giants. The series was so dominating by the Athletics, that a 10-day delay due to an earthquake, didn't stop them from a total sweep. The A's were so strong a team, that the Giants never led in even one inning, or had a tying batter even come to home plate. Oakland pitcher Mike Moore was the series MVP, winning two games. Kevin Mitchell 'led' the Giants with five hits including a home run.
5. In 1974, Robin Yount became the youngest regular in American League history, shortly after his 18th birthday when he won the starting shortstop duties for the Brewers. The youngest National League player record in 1974, was still Johnny Lush, who in 1904 played for the Cardinals. Yount played in the Major Leagues for 20 seasons, while Lush was shown the door after seven. Lush did lead the Cardinals in wins and ERA in a season, but the Cardinals were terrible, and his numbers did not stand out. Lush did throw a no-hitter in 1914, but lost the game 1-0.
6. Pitcher Butch Metzger was a rookie in 1976 with the Padres. He broke a rookie record by winning 11 straight games, all in relief. He broke the record of Eddie Yuhas, who in 1952 with the Cardinals, won 10 straight. Ironically, Yuhas never won another game in his life after his 10. Metzger, for his rookie efforts, shared the Rookie of the Year award with Cincinnati pitcher Pat Zachry. Metzger retired after five seasons in the big leagues.
7. In 1916, the New York Giants set a few records in the season. They won 17 consecutive games while being on the road, breaking the record of the Washington Senators. The Giants' 17th win was Christy Mathewson's final shutout in his career. Another record was going on a 26-game winning streak. They won all these consecutive games at home in the Polo Grounds. After these two tremendous streaks, the Giants finished the season by winning the National League title, but losing in the World Series to the Red Sox.
8. The 2001 World Series saw the Arizona Diamondbacks, in only their fourth season of existence, go up against the infamous New York Yankees. The series was played after the horrendous events of September 11. Although the Yankees were outscored in the series 37-15, they still led going into the bottom of the ninth inning in game seven. The Diamondbacks won the game and the series via a Damian Miller bases-loaded bloop single over the drawn-in infield. It was Arizona's first World Series title. Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were co-MVPs.
9. The MVP award began as the Doubleday Award from 1911-1914. Ty Cobb was the first to receive the award in the AL, alongside Frank Schulte of the NL. The award was in the form of a new car, given to each MVP of each league. The award was stopped in 1914 because rules stipulated that a player could only win the award once. In 1922, the award resurfaced in the American League, named the MVP Award. George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns won it. The National League resumed the award in 1924, also named the MVP Award, with Brooklyn's Dazzy Vance winning it. The award was based on only one player from each of the eight teams in the league. In 1931, the Baseball Writers Association of America took over the award and balloting.
10. In probably the longest three days for a team in baseball history, the 1920 Brooklyn team took on Boston in a 26-inning National League battle in May. The 1-1 tie was called and never made up again. In this game, both starting pitchers went the entire distance. Burleigh Grimes of Brooklyn, and Joe Oeschger of the Boston. The following day, Brooklyn found a 13-inning game against the Phillies. Their following game was a 19-inning loss to the Giants. The three-game total of 58 innings was not even remotely challenged throughout the entire 20th century. Brooklyn did win the National League title by seven games over the Giants.
Source: Author
Nightmare
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