Baseball for Dummies #93 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rafael Palmeiro

In 2003, Rafael was in his 18th season of Major League baseball, and his 5th season with the Rangers. Number 500 came in the month of May. It was his 10th home run of the season.

Answer: 6

Only two players ever led the league 10 times in the 20th century. Max Carey of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who retired in 1929 led 10 times. Rickey Henderson of too many teams to mention, also led the league 10 times. Cobb led the league 6 times in his 24 year career.

His season high was 96, which speedster Maury Wills broke almost 50 years later. Wills also led the league 6 times, in his 14 seasons.

Answer: Eddie Mathews

Mathews joined the club almost 30 years earlier than the others listed. Murray joined the club in 1996, where Palmiero and Sosa joined up in 2003. Mathews, mostly with the Braves organization, hit his 500th in 1967 as a Houston Astro.

Answer: Tom Lasorda

The Manager of the Year Award was not presented until 1983. Lasorda of the Dodgers, and Tony LaRussa of the Chicago White Sox, were the first recepients.

Answer: Providence Grays

None of the other teams existed in 1884. The Grays, winners of the 8 team National League with a record of 84-28, defeated the winners of the 13 team American Association, New York Metropolitans, who had a record of 75-32. The Grays won the Series 3 games to 0.

The Grays' Charley Radbourne who had a record of 59-12 and 441 strikeouts in the regular season, pitched the entire Series, winning all 3 games.

Answer: Randy Johnson

The others listed were all batters. Entering his 16th season in 2003, Johnson was still pitching like a rookie. The Arizona Diamondbacks was Johnson's 4th team in baseball. Johnson doesn't remember because he had not retired in 2003, and his numbers were still climbing.

Answer: Detroit Tigers

Before Detroit won their 10th game, the others listed already had won more than twice as many. The Tigers got off to another dismal start in 2003, after finishing with the worst record in baseball in 2002. Every team goes through phases, and the Tigers will turn the their club around in time.

Answer: Atlanta Braves

The Braves topped off the century with a 103-59 record in 1999. They were met by the New York Yankees (98-64) in the World Series, and saw the Yankees skunk them 4 games to 0. In 1998, the Yankees won 114 games in the season.

Answer: 0

In 2002, the Devil Rays' pitching numbers were backwards. No pitcher won more than 8, while 4 pitchers lost 10 games or more, the most being Tanyon Sturtze who went 4-18. The Tampa Bay club won only 55 games in the 2002 season.

Answer: Ferguson Jenkins

Ferguson Arthur Jenkins, was a pitching force to deal with in his 19 seasons of baseball. He won the Cy Young Award in 1971 with the Cubs, and was runner-up in 2 other seasons. He played with 4 different teams, and retired in 1983 with 284 wins.