Baseball for Sports Haters Trivia Quiz

Answer: Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth Jr, better known as Babe Ruth, made his debut as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox on July 11, 1914. He won the game, but subsequently spent some time with one of their Minor League teams, the Providence Grays, before returning to the Major League side for the 1915 season. Playing as a pitcher, he managed a record of 18 wins and 8 losses during that season. He remained a pitcher through the 1917 season, when it was decided that his powerful batting should be available on a more regular basis than was possible when he played as a pitcher, and he began to play in the outfield more often.

Mickey Mantle played for the New York Yankees from 1951 through 1968. Lou Gehrig also played only for the Yankees from 1923 through 1939. Ted Williams played his entire career from 1939 through 1960 for the Boston Red Sox.

Answer: Babe Ruth

For most of Babe Ruth's time with the Boston Red Sox (1914-1919) he was a pitcher, although the balance between pitching and playing in the outfield shifted during his final two years with the team. In his 15 years with the New York Yankees, he recorded five wins and no losses as a pitcher.

Cy Young had a career win-loss record of 511-316, achieved in the years from 1890 through 1911. Sandy Koufax's career record was 165-87, and Nolan Ryan's was 324-292.

Answer: Babe Ruth

All these were valuable batters for the Red Sox during their time with the team, but it was Babe Ruth whose sale is said to have laid 'The Curse of the Bambino' on the team. Bambino, being Spanish for baby, was yet another of Ruth's nicknames. The Red Sox, who had won the World Series in 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918, did not have another championship season until 2004.

Answer: Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth's prowess as a hitter was behind his nickname as 'The Sultan of Swat'. In 1927 he hit a season total of 60 home runs (breaking his own record of 59 set in 1921), a record that stood until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961. This record was always somewhat disputed, as Maris had a longer season, and played more games before getting his 61st home run than were available to Ruth. Mark McGwire broke that record with 70 home runs in 1998, a performance that was tarnished by his later admission to having taken performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. Barry Bonds broke that record with 73 home runs in 2001.

Roger Maris hit a total of 275 home runs with a batting average of 0.260. Mark McGwire hit 584 home runs with a batting average of 0.263. Barry Bonds' total of 762 home runs with a batting average of 0.298 was achieved in a career spanning 21 seasons.

Answer: Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth won the World Series with the Boston Red Sox (1915, 1916, 1918) and the New York Yankees (1923, 1927, 1928, 1932). Ted Williams (played 1939-1960) and Carl Yastrzemski (played 1961-1983) spent their entire careers with the Boston Red Sox, who did not win any World Series titles between 1918 and 2004. Cal Ripken Jr played on the Baltimore Orioles team that won the World Series in 1983.

Answer: Babe Ruth

These were all great Yankee players, who were beloved of the New York fans of their eras, but the other three did not play until after the 1920s. Babe Ruth's slugging prowess was one of the factors behind the revival of Yankee prospects during the 1920s and 1930s.

When they moved into the newly-built Yankee Stadium in 1923, it was quickly nicknamed 'The House That Ruth Built'. Fittingly, Babe Ruth hit the first home run in the new stadium on its opening day in 1923.

Answer: Babe Ruth

The Hall of Fame was established in 1936. Its first five inductees were Ty Cobb (who received votes from 98.23% of the electors), Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner (95.13%), Christy Matthewson (90.71%) and Walter Johnson (83.63%). Yogi Berra was inducted in 1972, Willie Mays in 1979, and Hank Aaron in 1982. None of the others had even made their Major League debut by 1936.

Answer: Babe Ruth

All these players have had their numbers retired in recognition of their contributions to the Yankees. Lou Gehrig's #4 was retired in 1939, the year he announced his retirement due to the developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis that led to his death in 1941, ending a streak of 2130 consecutive games that had extended over a period of 14 seasons. Babe Ruth's #3 was retired in 1948, the year he died from cancer. Joe DiMaggio's #5 was retired in 1952, the year after his career finished. Mickey Mantle's #7 was retired in 1969, also a year after his retirement from the game.

Answer: Babe Ruth

At a ceremony in December of 1999, "Sports Illustrated" also made the following awards: Football Player of the Century - Jim Brown, Ice Hockey Player of the Century - Wayne Gretzky, Basketball Player of the Century - Michael Jordan, Olympian of the Century - Carl Lewis, Best Individual Female Athlete of the Century - Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Best Individual Male Athlete of the Century - Jack Nicklaus, and Sportsman of the Century - Muhammad Ali.

Babe Ruth was also named the Associated Press Athlete of the Century and ESPN's #2 Athlete of the Century (coming second to Michael Jordan), while "The Sporting News" judged him to be the greatest baseball player of all-time.

Answer: Babe Ruth

The 1993 survey found that both Muhammad Ali and Babe Ruth were correctly recognized by over 97% of respondents, giving them the highest recognition rating for the 800+ athletes on the list. The survey was, of course, only conducted in the United States. International recognition levels might well fall significantly, especially in places where baseball is not a part of the culture. Then again, my Australian daughter uses the Babe as her go-to response for any baseball question.

Manny Ramirez debuted playing for the Cleveland Indians in September 1993, Alex Rodriguez made his debut playing for the Seattle Mariners in July 1994, and Derek Jeter's first game for the New York Yankees was in May 1995.