Baseball Unstitched [5] Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tommy Tucker

The first baseman was in his third season with the Baltimore Orioles in 1889 when he batted .372 to win the batting crown. He played the following eight seasons with the Boston Beaneaters, played with four teams in four seasons, then retired in 1899 with one of the worst teams in history, the Cleveland Spiders. He retired after 13 seasons with only a .290 average.

Answer: Russ Van Atta

Russ made his debut on April 25, 1933, with Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and the New York Yankees. Van Atta hit four singles, scored three runs, and had one RBI with his bat. From the mound he threw a five-hitter, walked three, and shutout the Washington Senators 16-0. He finished the season off with a 12-4 record.

Answer: Their manager was in a stage play with "Colt" in the title

Player-manager Cap Anson appeared in the play in the late 1880s, and the players decided to change the name from White Stockings to Colts to honor him. When Anson did not get a share of the franchise as promised, he quit as player and manager in 1897, leaving the team to be called the Chicago Orphans until 1902.

Answer: Satchel Paige

Paige wore four different numbers in his six seasons in the Majors. He began it all with the 1948 Indians wearing the 31, then changed it to 29 in 1949. Satchel wore the 22, 29, and 47 with the 1951 St. Louis Browns, then went back to 29 with the 1952 Browns. Medwick wore the 21 with the Cardinals in 1947 and 1948. Ruffing wore the 21 on his back as a rookie with the 1930 Yankees. Sutton was most noted for wearing the number 20, but wore the 21 with the Brewers in 1982 and 1983.

Answer: 1925

After the spitball being banned in 1921 (with exceptions) due to the death of Indian Ray Chapman, pitchers had problems gripping the ball. After four seasons of pitching struggles, the league allowed the bag on the mound to afford pitchers somewhat of a better grip without using illegal substances.

Answer: Louisville Colonels

The Louisville Colonels had the dubious honor of going 27-111 in 1889 with the American Association. The team went through four managers in the season which didn't help matters either. They had no starters batted over .295, and no pitcher win more than 10 games.

These were horrendous numbers for an 1880s/1890s team. The Cleveland Spiders were famous for two things with Cy Young, and going 20-134 in their final 1899 season before going defunct. The 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys went 23-113 under Guy Hecker in his only managerial season.

The Browns of the National League went 29-102 in 1897.

Answer: 1929

On May 13, 1929, both the Indians and Yankees had numbers on their jerseys, while most of the rest of the leagues did not. The game took place at League Park in Cleveland, and fans watched pitcher Willis Hudlin beat the Yankees 4-3. The American League set the rule for the 1931 season that all players of teams wear numbers that could be seen by fans.

Answer: Philadelphia Athletics

From 1910-1914, Connie Mack's Athletics went to four World Series while winning three. The 1915 season saw them go 43-109 and finish in last place for the first time in franchise history. The 1916 season was the record-setter by having a record of 36-117.

They would find the World Series again in each season from 1929-1931. The Browns' worst season record was 43-111 in 1939. The Senators, only three seasons before the arrival of Walter Johnson, went 38-113 in 1904. The Tigers went 50-104 in 1952 for their worst season in the century.

The Tigers later went 43-119 in 2003.

Answer: Rogers Hornsby

Hornsby played most of his 23-season career with the Cardinsls. He won seven batting titles. The third baseman Boggs pitched in two games during his career. He threw a one-inning no-hitter with the Yankees in 1997, then appeared in another game with Tampa Bay in 1999, allowing three hits in an inning. Cobb played over 2900 games in the outfield, and pitched in three games. Ty appeared in two games in 1918 and one in 1925, all with the Tigers.

In five total innings, he allowed six hits, two runs, and two walks. Williams of the Red Sox played in 2151 games in the outfield and one as a pitcher.

In 1940, Ted threw two innings allowing three hits, one run, and struck out one.

Answer: Bill Holbert

With 2335 career at-bats, Holbert never hit a home run in his career over 12 seasons. He played with five teams from 1876-1888. Oliver never hit a home run either, but didn't quite reach 2000 at-bats. Force had 4256 at-bats and hit only one career home run (a home run percentage of .00023).