Are You Kidding Me? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ted Williams

The others weren't in the top ten voting for the MVP in 1941. DiMaggio hit 43 doubles to Williams' 33, 11 triples to Williams' 3, and had 193 hits to Williams' 185. This was a somewhat legitimate MVP award, although Ted hit over .400, and Ted had been allegedly 'blackballed' due to his avoidance of the media.

Answer: Nolan Ryan

The 1973 season was the closest that Ryan had ever come to the reality of a Cy Young award. Nolan broke Sandy Koufax's single season record of 382 strikeouts in 1965, when he struck out the last batter of his season in 1973 as a California Angel. Gaylord Perry of the Indians went 19-19 in 1973. Pena of the Orioles went only 1-1 in the season with one save along with only 23 strikeouts. Fryman went 6-13 for the Tigers. Woodie's best season was 12-9 as a rookie with the Pirates in 1966.

Answer: Cito Gaston

The Manager of the Year award went to LaRussa of the Athletics, who took Oakland to an identical record of 96-66 as the Blue Jays did, and yet lost to the Blue Jays in the AL Championship series. The other managers listed didn't win more than 65 games in 1992. Lasorda was with the Dodgers and Plummer with the Mariners.

The second and third place balloting for the Manager of the Year award in 1992 went to Phil Garner of the Brewers, and Johnny Oates of the Orioles, respectively. Neither the Brewers or the Orioles made it to the playoffs in the season.

Answer: Lou Gehrig

The others were never Yankees, and did not begin their Major League careers until the 1930s. Although Ruth hit a massive 60 home runs in the season, breaking his own season record of 59 in 1921, he had only 192 hits and batted .356 for the Yankees in the season. Lou Gehrig, in a quiet way, had 218 hits and batted .373 in the season along with his own 47 home runs.

It was the first of two AL MVPs that Lou would win, including the Triple Crown award in 1934.

Answer: Eric Gagne

In 82 innings pitched, Gagne struck out 137 batters with a 1.20 ERA along with 55 saves. Ortiz helped the 2003 Braves to the NL Eastern Division crown, but lost NL Division series 3-2 to the Chicago Cubs. Jason Schmidt of the Giants was the runner-up to the Cy, then Mark Prior of the Cubs finished third.

Answer: Albert Pujols

The others listed did not make into the top 20 of the MVP voting in 2005. Lee had more hits, more home runs, and a higher season batting average than Pujols. But, because the Cubs didn't make the playoffs in 2005, supposedly, Lee wasn't a MVP value. Runner-up MVP Andruw Jones who hit .263 for the Braves to Lee's .335, also had 45 hits less than Lee. Pujols of the Cardinals hit 41 home runs with a .330 batting average, compared to Lee's 46 home runs and a .335 average.

Answer: Jack McDowell

The Cy Young award began in 1956, and all the others had died long before the Cy Young award was created. McDowell of the Indians went 22-10 in the season while Johnson went 19-8. Sam had an ERA of 3.37 to Randy's 3.24. McDowell also 158 strikeouts to Johnson's 308 in the season. Johnson would go on to show them all, winning five Cy Young awards in his career.

Answer: Joe Girardi

The others were American League managers in 2006. Girardi and his Florida Marlins finished fourth in the NL East, 19 games behind the Mets. Girardi did so poorly with the team, that he wasn't asked to return in 2007, but yet still won the award.

Answer: Joe DiMaggio

Williams batted almost .020 points higher and had 12 more home runs than DiMaggio. Still, because of Williams' dislike for the media, lost yet another MVP. It was the third time that Ted took a backseat to DiMaggio in the MVP department.

Answer: Heinie Manush

The others did not begin their careers until the 1940s. Manush was in his sixth season in the big leagues, and his first with the St. Louis Browns of the American League in 1928. Heinie set many career highs in 1928, but it was all for not. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1964.