Baseball Challenged? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Maury Wills

The others weren't shortstops. Wills of the Dodgers broke Ty Cobb's record of 96 set in 1915. Maury was the first player ever to top the 100-mark for thefts in a season in 1962. Wills won six consecutive stolen base titles from 1960-1965. He retired with 586.

Answer: Al Spalding

Spalding led his Boston Red Stockings of the National Association from 1871-1875. After the league folded, he joined the new Chicago White Stockings (later Cubs) of the new National League in 1876 as the team's player-manager. He went 47-12 in the season, then retired the following season. Al's amazing career record was 253-65. The Hall of Fame inducted him in 1939.

Answer: Tommy Brown hit a Major League home run at 17 years of age which set a record

Young's season high for losses was 22 in 1891 with the Spiders of Cleveland. Satchel Paige joined the Indians in 1948 after many seasons in the Negro Leagues. Dan Bankhead of the Brooklyn Dodgers was the first African-American pitcher in the majors in 1947.

In three seasons with the Dodgers, Bankhead had a 9-5 record. It was a Niekro in 1986 who shutout the Blue Jays for his 300th win, but it was his brother Phil. Joe retired with only 221 wins. Tommy Brown joined the Dodgers in 1944 at age 16.

His home run in 1945 was off Preacher Roe of the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 20. He was 17 years, 4 months, and 14 days old, setting a record for the youngest player to hit one out. He went on to hit 31 in his career, and retired as a Cub in 1953 at the age of 25 after nine seasons.

Answer: Matt Kilroy

Kilroy was a rookie in 1886 with the Baltimore Orioles of the Union Association. He threw 512 strikeouts with a record of 29-34. The following season he went 46-19 with 217 strikeouts. Young's career high was in 1905 with Boston throwing 210, and Ryan threw 383 in 1973 with the Angels, setting a modern day record.

Answer: Connie Mack: Philadelphia Athletics

Minor League Baltimore owner Jack Dunn owned Ruth. His Minor League Baltimore team ran into financial problems when the new and upcoming Federal League were bringing the Baltimore Terrapins to the fans in 1914. Dunn had been known for exclusively selling his players to Mack of the Athletics in the American League. Mack passed on the offer for Ruth, so Dunn went to Boston Red Sox owner Joe Lannin, and the deal was made. McGraw of the Giants was infuriated when he found out that Dunn didn't approach him or the Giants with an offer first or even second. No one knows how this may have changed the history of baseball as in the dominating Yankee franchise, the "House that Ruth built", 50 or even 60 home runs in a season, etc.

Many scenarios can come from this 'almost' alteration in baseball history.

Answer: Charlie Robertson

All the others threw perfect games, but all were at home. Robertson of the Chicago White Sox threw baseball's fifth perfect game, and this one was the first on the road. He beat the Tigers 2-0 on April 30, 1922. Charlie went only 14-15 in the season, and retired after eight seasons with a 49-80 record.

Answer: Cy Seymour

Seymour of the Cincinnati Reds had the hard luck in 1905. Cy batted .371 with 219 hits, a slugging pct of .559, 21 triples, 40 doubles, and 121 RBIs, all leading the league. It was teammate Fred Odwell who hit one more home run than Cy in the season. Ironically, Odwell would never hit another home run again in his career, and Seymour would never lead the league in anything again.

Answer: Wilbur Wood

Wood played 17 seasons from 1961-1978, mostly with the White Sox. This double-loss day came on July 20, 1973, against the New York Yankees. Wilbur lost the first game 12-2, then the nightcap 7-0. Wood still finished this 1973 season with a 24-20 record, finishing fifth in the voting for the Cy Young award. He retired after 17 seasons with a 164-156 record.

Answer: Ryne Sandberg

Sandberg was a career Chicago Cub except for his intern season with the Phillies in 1981. He was sixth for the Rookie of the Year award with the Cubs in 1982, and won the NL MVP in 1984. He accomplished his error-free record in 1989 and carried it over into the 1990 season. He won nine Gold Glove awards with the Cubs and retired in 1997.

Answer: Atlanta Braves

Rose's streak of 44 stopped on August 1, 1978. It was the Braves on this day, with pitchers Larry McWilliams and Gene Garber who stopped Pete from hitting in that game. Atlanta won the game 16-4, with McWilliams taking the win.