Blistery History [4] Quiz | MLB Historical

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In 1959, the Los Angeles Dodgers brought the first World Series championship to county of Los Angeles by defeating the Chicago White Sox four games to two in the promised land. Who was the only American League team that did not hit 100 home runs in that season?

Answer: Chicago White Sox

The White Sox hit only 97 in the season, and were led by Sherm Lollar who hit 22 and Al Smith who had 17. Those were their only two players to hit home runs in double-figures. The Cleveland Indians led the American League by hitting 167, 70 more than the White Sox but still finished in second place, five games back of Chicago.

2. In the mid-1970s, the Detroit Tigers had a pitcher who would make wild gyrations and talk to the ball before he went into his delivery of a pitch. In a game during one of his rituals, the batter began talking to his bat saying, "Now, don't you listen to that ball. When it comes in here, you hit it right up in the upper deck, there." The pitcher was Mark Fidrych. Who was this Yankee hitter that talked to his bat at homeplate?

Answer: Graig Nettles

It was 1976, and Nettles struck out during that at-bat. He started to walk away, then came back to the homeplate umpire Dale Ford and said, "That's it, its a Japanese bat and doesn't understand English!"

3. In early baseball in the National League, a foul ball was never considered a strike. In which year did the National League begin to count foul balls as strikes?

Answer: 1901

Although the foul balls were considered strikes in 1901, it still was not counted as a third strike, even if it was foul-tipped and the catcher caught it. The American League adopted the new NLs foul ball rule in 1903. There were still many factors and rule differences between the American and National Leagues, which also contributed to being no World Series in 1904.

4. Which Negro League pitcher in the 1930s struck out 27 batters in one game?

Answer: Joe Williams

In 1937, Pittsburgh Grays pitcher 'Smokey' Joe Williams struck out 27 Kansas City Monarchs in a night game played in Kansas City. Monarchs pitcher Chet Brewer struck out 19 Grays. The game went 12 innings and the Grays won it 1-0. The Grays won every league pennant from 1937-1945. They were loaded with future Hall of Fame greats in the names of 'Cool' Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, Buck Leonard, and others.

5. Although illegal, which Major League pitcher was the first to scuff baseballs and use them in a game to make a pitch drop dramatically?

Answer: Russ Ford

After appearing in only one game for the New York Highlanders (later Yankees) in 1909, Ford wanted to be noticed. He had experimented with scratching the surface of the balls, then watching how the ball responded. In 1910, he was scuffing the ball to the size of a dime. Russ hid the fact that it was scuffed and tried to pass it off as a spitball, which was legal at the time.

In his first full season in 1910, Ford went 26-6 with 209 strikeouts. After his secret got out in very late 1911, the umpires were on the lookout for defaced balls from him, and he ended up going 13-21 in 1912.

6. Due to war time, the 1941 season was accused of having a new lifeless ball, because the military using materials from the 'old' baseball. Most batting averages dropped tremendously except for three players. Ted Williams of the Red Sox batted .406 and won the batting title. Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees had a 56-game hitting streak and finished third in batting. Who was the meat in the sandwich and finished runner-up for that batting crown?

Answer: Cecil Travis

Williams' .406 was the final .400 hitter of the century. DiMaggio's consecutive 56-game hitting streak set a new record. Travis was a career 12-season Washington Senator shortstop. In 1941, he batted a career high .359 while leading the league with 218 hits. DiMaggio won his second of three MVPs in 1941 with Williams finishing second, and Indian pitcher Bob Feller taking the third spot. Travis was sixth in the voting for the MVP.

7. Which Major League speedster stole the most bases in the entire 1960s?

Answer: Maury Wills

Wills was the first player in modern-day baseball to steal 100 bases in a season. In 1962, he stole 104 for the Dodgers. Maury led the National League in six consecutive seasons from 1960-1965, including stealing another 94 in 1965. He stole a Major League leading 535 in the decade. Aparicio of the Orioles led the American League in nine consecutive seasons from 1956-1964.

8. Which of these four Hall of Famers had the lowest career batting average in World Series play?

Answer: Eddie Murray

Murray, who hit 504 career home runs, went to the World Series three times with the Orioles and Indians. Although Eddie had four World Series home runs to his credit, he could only go 11-for-65 with a .169 average. Williams went to only one World Series with the Red Sox, and he batted .200 in a loss to the Cardinals in 1946. Spahn was a pitcher with the Braves and went to three World Series.

He matched Williams' .200-mark. Wagner saw two World Series with the Pirates in 1903 and 1909. He batted a .275 career series average.

9. All these managers had the helm for at least 20 seasons in their careers. Which one never took their team to a postseason game?

Answer: Clark Griffith

Williams took the Red Sox to an American League pennant in 1967, two World Series crowns in 1972 and 1973 with the Athletics, and the 1984 Padres to the NL title. McKechnie had his Pirates win the 1925 World Series, then 1928 with the Cardinals to the NL crown, the NL pennant with the Reds in 1939, then the World Series with the Reds in 1940. Mauch managed for 26 seasons, took the Angels to the ALCS twice and lost them both. Griffith managed from 1901-1920.

He had the helm of the White Sox, Highlanders, Reds, and Senators.

Although Griffith's only shining season was taking the White Sox to the AL crown in his first managerial season in 1901, there was no postseason.

10. Which player in the 1990s was on track to break Roger Maris' season record of 61 home runs, but the dream was halted by a players strike?

Answer: Matt Williams

Williams was a San Francisco Giant third baseman in 1994. Through 112 games, he hit 43 home runs for an average of a home run every 2.6 games. With only 50 games remaining in the season, he would have needed the same 2.6 average but it wasn't to be.

His 43 led the league, even in a partial season, and ironically that was his career high. He retired in 2003 with 378 home runs. Ken Griffey Jr of the Mariners also had 40 home runs at the time of the August 12th season-ending shutdown.

Source: Author Nightmare

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Blistery History [4] Trivia Quiz

The fourth in a series of five quizzes with some really hard baseball challenges for those who don't care about their scores! :)

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