Baseball for Dummies #92 Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1969

The Mets' franchise began in 1962. In their 8th season in the Majors, the Mets went from 9th to first in 1969. Both these seasons, the Mets were led by Gil Hodges. They went from 73-89 in 1968, to 100-62 in 1969. They were eagerly met by the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles.

After winning the first game, the Orioles then lost the next 4 to the 'Amazing Mets'. The Mets' Donn Clendenon was named the Series MVP, after he hit 3 home runs, and batted .357, while Jerry Koosman won 2 games for the New York team.

Answer: Deacon Phillippe

The other pitchers listed, had not begun their careers yet. In 1903, in the first World Series with the Boston Pilgrims battling the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pirate pitcher Phillippe won game 1 by a score of 7-3. Phillippe started 5 of the 8 games in the Series, winning all 3 games that the Pirates won.

They were all complete games. However, the Pilgrims won the Series 5 games to 3. Deacon played for 13 seasons from 1899-1911.

Answer: Dave McNally

Although these were all Oriole greats, McNally was the only pitcher listed. In Dave's 14 seasons, he was a powerhouse southpaw pitcher. He went to 4 World Series with the Orioles. His final 6 games were with the Expos in 1975.

Answer: Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks won their first Series in 2001, after beginning their franchise in 1998. They went head-to-head against the New York Yankees, and won the Series 4 games to 3. After winning the first 2 games, the Yankees came back and won the next 3 games. Game 6 saw the Diamondbacks embarrass the Yankees 15-2, and topped it off with a 3-2 game 7 win. Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling of Arizona, shared the Series MVP honors.

Answer: Roger Clemens

Infielder Nick Johnson is the youngest on the team, and the other two are 10 years younger than Clemens. Roger was born on August 4, 1962, well ahead of the others listed. Clemens will be 41 at seasons end. In 2003, Roger was in his 20th season with his 3rd team. He had won 6 Cy Young Awards, and approached the 300 career mark entering the season.

Answer: Alex Rodriguez

The others listed were all pitchers. Alex also led the Majors with 57 home runs in 2002. This Texas Ranger was in his 9th season, and his 2nd as a Ranger. He also batted .300 in 2002. Alex was the runner-up MVP in the American League, behind Oakland's Miguel Tejada.

Answer: Most strikeouts

This 20 season first baseman, mostly with the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, led the league an amazing 7 times by striking out the most times in a season. This slugger who belted 534 career home runs, also failed on the other side of the plate.

In 13 of his seasons, he ranked in the top five for strikeouts. Vince DiMaggio led the league 6 times in his career, in this unfortunate category.

Answer: Casey Stengel

Houk managed the team in the 60s, Martin in the 70s, and Piniella in the 80s. Mr. Stengel and his Yankees had a streak in the 1950s, winning 6 of the 8 World Series attended. He took the Yankees to 1149 wins, in his 12 seasons with the Yankees.

Answer: Lou Brock

The others listed, were all American League players. After a 3 season stint with the Cubs, Brock played the rest of his career with the Cardinals. This #20 jersey outfielder was a speedster indeed. He stole more than 30 bases, 14 times in his career. In the 1967 World Series against the Red Sox, he batted .414 and stole 7 bases in St.Louis' win. Bob Gibson won the MVP.

Answer: 2

Randy Johnson ranked number 7, and teammate Curt Schilling rounded out the top 10. Diamondback Junior Spivey ranked #14.