Baseball Team Potpourri Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chicago White Sox

None of the other teams existed in the American League in 1901. The White Sox were led by manager Clark Griffith. Amazingly, the team did not have a player that led the league in anything. They took the AL pennant by four games over the Boston Americans. Chicago would have to wait until 1906 to appear in their first World Series in a four games to two win over the crosstown Cubs.

Answer: Milwaukee Brewers

None of the other teams ever existed in the American League. The franchise started with the new American League in 1901 as the Milwaukee Brewers. After winning only 48 games and finishing in last place, the team moved to St. Louis to become the Browns.

The Browns were a pretty dismal team and squeaked out one World Series appearance in the entire century in a loss. In 1954 the franchise moved again to become the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles won their World Series in 1966, 1970, and 1983.

Answer: Detroit Tigers

The other teams listed were not represented with the initial inauguration in 1936. Tiger Ty Cobb led the field of inductees with a 98.2% of the voting. The others were Yankee Babe Ruth and Pirate Honus Wagner with 95.1%, Giant Christy Mathewson at 90.7, and Washington Senator Walter Johnson at 83.6. A player must have had at least 75.0% of ballot voting to be inducted.

Answer: 1953

The franchise was located in Boston in 1876 as the Boston Red Caps in the new National League. The franchise played in Boston with many team name changes before moving to Milwaukee in 1953. Not long after that the Milwaukee Braves put down the Yankees in the 1957 World Series.

The franchise moved to Atlanta in 1966. While in Atlanta, the team won their first World Series in Georgia in 1995 against the Indians.

Answer: St. Louis Cardinals

The other teams listed never won more than five World Series in the 20th Century. The Cardinals never changed their team name during the entire 20th Century. Their first appearance resulted in a title over the powerful 1926 New York Yankees. The franchise won their 10th and milestone World Series crown in 1982 against the Milwaukee Brewers four games to three.

Answer: Boston Red Stockings

Although the great Pete Alexander, Robin Roberts, and Walter Johnson fell a little short by leading or tying the league in four consecutive seasons, their team wasn't listed. Al Spalding stands on the top of the heap. Al was a 20-year old rookie with the Boston Red Stockings of the National Association in 1871.

He would lead the league in wins throughout the entire existence of the NA for five seasons. When the NA closed their doors in 1875, Spalding would jump over to the Chicago White Stockings of the new National League in 1876.

He showed his strength by leading that league in wins for his sixth consecutive title. He retired after pitching in only seven seasons after the 1877 season.

Answer: New York Yankees

The others listed were all National League teams. Arndt Jorgens was a backup catcher for the dominant New York Yankees from 1929-1939. He was a backup to Hall of Fame great Bill Dickey. Jorgens wore two numbers as a rookie in 1929. He first wore the number 15 but switched midseason to the number 32.

In 1930, he wore 28. The following season in 1931 he wore the number 10. He settled down and wore the number 9 from 1932-1935, then finished his career off with number 18 from 1936-1939. Nobody knows why he changed numbers so many times in his 11-season career.

Answer: Athletics

The other teams listed never won consecutive World Series titles in the 20th Century. The Oakland Athletics were in charge of Major League Baseball in the 1970s. They won three consecutive crowns in 1972, 1973, and 1974. Manager Dick Williams had the team in the first two seasons, then Alvin Dark in 1974. With a host of future Hall of Fame players, the rich-in-talent Athletics rostered Gene Tenace, Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi, and other bats.

Their pitching staff was one that any owner would salivate over.

They had the arms of Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter, and Blue Moon Odom.

Answer: Kansas City Athletics

The other teams did not exist in the 1950s. The Athletics played in Philadelphia as an American League team under the watchful eye of Connie Mack. Mack stepped down after 53 managerial seasons in 1950. The franchise moved to Kansas City to become the Athletics in 1955.

The Athletics played at Municipal Stadium until the franchise moved again in 1968 and became the Oakland Athletics. They began their new life playing at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Answer: Dodgers

The other teams did not exist even in the 1960s. The Dodgers were in Brooklyn in 1945 and moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Their streak of 1,000,000 fan attendance started in 1945 and continued through the end of the 20th Century and beyond. The Yankees have always had the attendance marks and started a 1,000,000+ streak in 1946 but fell below the 1,000,000 attendance mark in 1972 to end their streak.