Baseball Lies [1] Trivia Quiz

Answer: He won the 2009 MVP by only 14 ballot votes

Albert was the 2001 NL Rookie of the Year winner. Pujols banged out 47 home runs in 2009 to lead the league. He hit 49 in 2006, but took a backseat to Ryan Howard of the Phillies and his 58 big ones. Albert was the only MVP entry that took first place votes in 2009, and took the award with 100% balloting to runner-up Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins with 52% of the balloting.

Answer: He began his career with the St. Louis Cardinals

Joe began his career with the Milwaukee Braves in 1960. The Braves traded him to the Cardinals in 1969. He was a Cardinal when he won a batting crown by hitting .363 in the 1971 season. He also won his only MVP in that season. Joe was primarily a catcher in his career. Torre retired as a Met in 1977.

Answer: They had a batter win a home run crown

The only shining light in their first four seasons was Frank Thomas (1951-1966) who hit 34 home runs in 1962. He would still finish sixth behind Willie Mays' 49 home runs in the season. The 20-game losers were Roger Craig twice, Al Jackson twice, Tracy Stallard, and Jack Fisher.

In their first four seasons, the Mets lost 120 games, 111, 109, and 112, respectively. Both Hall of Fame greats, Spahn and Berra, played on their 1965 team.

Answer: He played his entire career with the New York Giants

Buck's career began with the 1880 Troy Trojans of the National League. He joined the New York Giants in 1883 where he won his home run title with 10. In 1890, he joined the New York Giants of the Players League, then rejoined the NL Giants again in 1891.

He also played for the Cleveland Spiders and Cincinnati Reds. Ewing played 636 games as a catcher (for which he was inducted), 253 games at first base, 235 between all three outfield positions, 127 at third base, 51 at second base, 34 games at shortstop, and nine as a pitcher while going 2-3. What a versatile player.

Answer: He won the National League MVP in 1950

Even with Ralph hitting 51 home runs in 1947, then 54 in 1949, he never came closer than fourth place to winning the season MVP. He won all his home run titles with the Pirates from 1946-1952, then they stopped when they traded him in 1953 to the Cubs. Kiner was a 1975 hall inductee.

Answer: They both won six Cy Young awards each

When Maddux won his fourth consecutive NL Cy Young in 1995, Johnson won it the American League with the Mariners. When Maddux retired in 2008 with 355 wins, Randy didn't have a chance to catch him at the age of 45 with his 295 wins. Maddux retired with 3371 strikeouts, while Johnson ended the 2009 season with 4875, second to the all-time high of 5714 set by the great Nolan Ryan. Greg's four consecutive Cy's was all he won. Johnson won five, with his Mariner addition in 1995, the same season that Greg won his fourth Cy Young. Randy's other four came with the Diamondbacks.

Answer: They hit over 150 home runs in each season

In order, beginning with 1949, the Yankees as a team hit 115, 159, 140, 129, and 139 home runs in the seasons. They did lead the league in team batting in each season. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers in the World Series in 1949, 1952, and 1953. Their other victories were against the Phillies and Giants.

Answer: He never hit a home run

One of Sandy's no-hitters was a perfect game came in 1965 against the Cubs. His career record was 165-87, and retired in 1966 with elbow problems. His three Triple Crowns came in 1963, 1965, and 1966. His Cy Young awards were presented in those same seasons. Koufax hit only two home runs in his career, one in 1962 and one in 1963. You can imagine the smile from one who was almost an 'automatic out'.

Answer: They won their only World Series appearance

The Browns had only one 25-game in St. Louis. He was Urban Shocker who went 27-12 in 1921. Shocker along with George Sisler who had a record 257 hits in the 1920 season, were very few highlights that the Browns had in their existence. The only World Series that they appeared in was in 1944, against crosstown rival Cardinals in 1944.

The Cardinals won that series, four games to two. The Browns only won 90+ games in a season once, in 1922 when they won 93. The Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Orioles in 1954.

Answer: He won a batting crown

Roger played from 1957-1968. He began it all with the Indians, where he hit 14 home runs as a rookie. He never batted over .285 in a season, and retired with a .260 batting average. From 1974-1988, the BBWAA could not muster more than 45% of the balloting to induct Maris into the Hall of Fame.

His MVPs came in 1960 and 1961, both times seeing teammate Mickey Mantle as the runner-up. Roger died in 1985, and missed St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire break his season home run record in 1998 with 70.