Baseball #1000 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Herb Pennock

One of the greatest teams in baseball history, the 1927 Yankees went at it against the Pirates in the World Series. After Waite Hoyt and George Pipgras put the Pirates down in games one and two, Pennock took the mound in game three. He was perfect with one out in the eighth inning, when Pirate Pie Traynor hit a single.

The next batter, Clyde Barnhart, then doubled. Pennock ended up with a three-hitter, and the win with the 8-1 Yankee victory. The Yankees would win game four and the series in a wild finish. Facing the top of the order with the scored tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Pirate pitcher Johnny Miljus walked Earle Combs, then Mark Koenig bunt-singled Combs to second, and the world watched as Babe Ruth came to bat.

The first pitch to Ruth was a wild pitch and the runners advanced. Miljus then walked Ruth intentionally, loading the bases for Lou Gehrig. But, both Gehrig and Bob Meusel struck out. Now facing Tony Lazzeri with two out and the bases loaded, Miljus threw another wild pitch and Combs scored the game and series-winner.

Answer: Boston Red Sox

Dale Alexander won the first in 1932, after being traded mid-season from Detroit Tigers. The next batting title winner was Jimmie Foxx in 1938 when he won his first of two. Six were won by Ted Williams, five by Wade Boggs, three by Carl Yastzremski, two by Nomar Garciaparra and Pete Runnels, then one each by Billy Goodman, Carney Lansford, and Fred Lynn.

The Pittsburgh Pirates led the National League with 22 also from 1901-2000. Honus Wagner had seven of those and Roberto Clemente won four to lead Pittsburgh.

Answer: Atlanta Braves

The Braves started off by scoring 2 runs in the second inning, followed by Philadelphia's 2 runs in the eighth. Both teams scored 2 more runs in the 13th. In the 20th, the Phillies' Denny Doyle opened the bottom of the 20th with a triple to right field.

After two intentional walks from Tom Kelly to load the bases, Jose pagan hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Doyle, and the 5 hour and 16 minute game was finally over.

Answer: He broke his toe in an All-Star game

Dean broke his toe when he was hit with a line drive in the first inning of the 1937 All-Star game. The Indians' Earl Averill was on the other end of the bat. Dean continued to pitch for another three innings with a broken toe, but had to leave the game.

He came back to too early in the season after the injury, and as a result of favoring his foot, he hurt his arm as he was altering his delivery. Dizzy was never the same again, and went only 16-8 over the next five seasons. Prior to the injury, he was 134-75.

He won the MVP in 1934, and was inducted into the hall in 1953. He died at the age of 64 in 1974.

Answer: 1987 Blue Jays

The Blue Jays went wild against the Baltimore Orioles on September 14, 1987. Hitting 10 home runs at home, actually batting only through eight innings, they defeated the Orioles 18-3 with their 21 hits. Jim Clancy took the win for his 13th of the season, while Ken Dixon took his 10th loss after being pounded for five runs and chased in the second inning.

The Blue Jays also added 7 runs in the seventh inning. Catcher Ernie Whitt hit three home runs, while Rance Mulliniks and George Bell hit two each.

The others were Fred McGriff, Rob Ducey, and Lloyd Moseby. Jesse Barfield also went 4-for-5 in the game.

Answer: Bob Gibson

While Don Drysdale struck out Willie 27 times in 230 appearances, it was the great St. Louis Cardinal, Bob Gibson. Gibson had Willie's number and struck out Mays 30 times in only 108 plate appearances. Gibson gave up only three home runs to Mays, compared to Dodger Don Drysdale, Braves Warren Spahn, and Braves Bob Buhl, who all gave up 11 each.

Answer: Chicago White Sox

In this game on May 8, 1984, the White Sox hosted the Brewers. After being tied 2-2 in the ninth inning, both teams scored three runs in the 21st inning, and the game continued. The game was finally over when Chicago's Harold Baines hit a one-out home run off Brewer Chuck Porter.

The game consisted of 43 hits but with only two home runs, and 23 of those hits belonging to the White Sox. The game lasted 8 hours and 6 minutes. A meager 14,754 in attendance certainly got their dollar's worth with that game.

Answer: Alex Johnson

Johnson played for six seasons in the National League before being traded to the California Angels in 1970. It was here that Alex won the only batting title of his career, and the first for any expansion team in history. Although playing for seven teams in 13 seasons, Johnson could not hook up with a winning club, and never saw a postseason game in his career.

Other than his batting title, his only accolade was being a 1970 all-star.

Answer: Kid Nichols

They were all a part of the Braves franchise too. Charles "Kid" Nichols was a pitcher from 1890-1906, and 12 of his 15 seasons were with the Boston Beaneaters. Nichols went 361-208 in his career, and was a Hall of Fame inductee in 1949. Maranville was next.

He played 15 of his 23 seasons with the Braves, and was on the team that Babe Ruth spent his final season with in 1935. The shortstop batted only a career .258, but had over 100 hits in a season, 16 times. Robert's hall induction came in 1954.

The great Warren Spahn, who won 363 career games and had 363 career hits, retired in 1965. Spahn was inducted in 1973. Mathews hung up his cleats in 1968, winning a World Series with the Braves, and was inducted in 1978.

Answer: Matty Alou

Matty Alou was a San Francisco Giant with Marichal, but Matty also played for three other National League teams. Matty hit .368 against Marichal, and Juan could only strike him out four times in his career. Torre batted a career .350 against Juan. He also hit 8 home runs against the Giant. Hank Aaron, Ken Boyer, and Dick Allen, tied with Torre for hitting the most home runs off Marichal. Alou retired in 1974 as a Padre, with a World Series championship ring with Oakland. Torre played for the Braves, Cardinals, and Mets. With over 100 at-bats, Marichal had the Pirates' Stargell's number, as Willie would bat only .174 and struck out 28 times against Juan. Pedro Guerrero began his career with the Dodgers after Marichal retired.