Baseball Stitches [1] Trivia Quiz

Answer: Shawn Green

The others were all American Leaguers. On May 23rd against the Brewers, Green went 6-for-6 in the nine inning game that his Dodgers won, 16-3. Green hit four home runs, a double, and a single, while having seven RBIs in the game.

Answer: 1920

In one of the positive changes for baseball following the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, the spitball was banned in 1920, and only a few pitchers were grandfathered into the new rule until they retired. Gaylord Perry wasn't born until 1938, so he missed that meeting. Staying firm with this rule creation, it wasn't until 1925 that Major League Baseball allowed even a resin bag on the pitcher's mound. Also, Nels Potter was the first pitcher ever ejected from a game for throwing the spitter.

Answer: 1908

The Chicago Cubs met the Detroit Tigers in 1907 and 1908. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they won only one game in both series combined. The Cubs were led by Mordecai Brown, Frank Chance, and Johnny Evers. They overcame the stigma of Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford of the Tigers.

The Tigers would three-peat for appearances in 1909, but still couldn't come up with the series championship against the Pirates. They would wait until 1935 to win the franchise's first World Series.

Answer: Jack Taylor

None of the others were pitchers. From June 1901 to August 1906, Taylor showed the stamina with the Cardinals and Cubs. The Brooklyn Dodgers finally stopped his streak on August 13, knocking him out of a game in the third inning. Taylor's record of 1727 consecutive innings pitched without being relieved, also set a record. Jack pitched from 1898-1907.

In 1904, Taylor was under investigation by baseball for allegedly throwing games. Although never convicted, he was never found innocent either.

His case was known as the "Scots Verdict".

Answer: Robins

Only two NL teams were listed. On May 1st, the Braves hosted the Robins (now the Dodgers) in a 26-inning game. Stranger than that, the Dodgers' Leon Cadore and the Braves' Joe Oeschger both went the distance from the mound. The following day it was the Phillies against the Dodgers in a 13-inning game. May 3rd saw the Dodgers against the Braves again, this one going 19 innings.

Answer: Phil Niekro

Other than Perry, the other two were career relief pitchers, never started a game, and neither won 75 games in their entire career. Niekro set a record by having only 31 wins at that age. He broke the record of Gaylord Perry, who had won 76 at his age of 30.

In his rookie season, Phil was 26 years old in 1965. Niekro went on to win 318 games over 24 seasons, and retired in 1987. He was 48 when he retired. His brother Joe retired when he was 43, winning 221 games. Joe died in 2006. Phil was a Hall of Fame inductee in 1997.

Answer: The Pirates didn't have a 15-game winner

Contrary to most World Series teams, the Pirates had a five-pitcher starting rotation, but none could come up with 15 wins in the season. They were John Candelaria who went 14-9, Bruce Kison who was 13-7, Bert Blyleven who went 12-5, Don Robinson who was 8-8, and finally, Jim Rooker who was 4-7.

The Pirates hit 148 home runs in the season. The Orioles' Mike Flanigan did win the AL Cy Young award for the season, but this was the only award that a Baltimore player received.

Answer: Clark Griffith

The others listed were not pitchers, or ever managed in the Major Leagues. Griffith and his Chicago White Sox did this by winning the first American League pennant in 1901. Griffith went 24-7 with five shutouts in the season, that saw the White Sox win the AL pennant by four games over the Red Sox. In 20 managerial seasons, it would be Clark's only league pennant.

Answer: Cy Young

The others all retired before the American League existed in 1901. Young pitched for the Cleveland Spiders of the National League from 1890-1898, then two more seasons with St. Louis before moving to the American League in 1901. It was with Boston of the AL that he set this mark. Cy Young retired in 1911 as a Boston Brave with 511 career wins, the most wins in baseball.

He was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1937, and had the pitching Cy Young Award named after him in 1956.

Answer: Brad Lidge

The others retired at least five years earlier. Throwing from the Astros' bullpen in 2004, Lidge threw 157 strikeouts in less than 95 innings in the season. Brad went only 6-5 in 80 games with no saves.