Crash Test Dummies Baseball Quiz | MLB For Dummies

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The great Henry Aaron set a Major League Baseball record for hitting 755 home runs. Who came along and broke Aaron's record?

Answer: Barry Bonds

Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record of 714 home runs, and retired with 755 home runs of his own. Hank hit most of his home runs with the Braves in 21 of his 23 seasons, and retired with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1976. Bonds 'retired' with the Giants in 2007 with 762 home runs. The 'retired' in quotes was because no team wanted to sign him with enhancing-drug allegations.

2. After winning their first World Series ever in 1980, the Philadelphia Phillies won their second-ever World Series in 2008 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Which team did the Phillies lose to in the 2009 World Series?

Answer: New York Yankees

The Dodgers, Cardinals, and Pirates were all in the National League along with the Phillies. The Phillies were led by four home run sluggers who hit over 30 home runs with Ryan Howard leading the team with 45 big ones, although they didn't have a starter hit over .300, and didn't even have a 13-game winning pitcher. They lost the series to the Yankees, four games to two.

3. Which San Francisco Giant pitcher won the National League Cy Young Award in 2008 and 2009?

Answer: Tim Lincecum

The others listed retired more than 20 seasons earlier. Amazingly enough, Lincecum was only in his second season of Major League Baseball when he bagged his first Cy Young Award in 2008. He won the award over Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks and Johan Santana of the Mets. In 2009, he won the award over Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, both of the Cardinals.

4. The great Babe Ruth hit over 700 home runs in his career, and was the first to hit 400 home runs in a Yankee uniform. Who was the next Yankee to hit 400 home runs while wearing the pinstripes?

Answer: Lou Gehrig

The others never played for the Yankees. Ruth hit 659 of his career 714 with the Yankees, with the balance coming with the Red Sox and Boston Braves. Gehrig was next by hitting 493, although his career was still cut short due to illness. Lou played his entire career in the pinstripes from 1923-1939. He died in 1941.

5. Which of these Hall of Famers managed only one team throughout their entire career?

Answer: Walter Alston

Alston managed the Dodgers from 1954-1976. He took the Dodgers to their first-ever World Series Championship in 1955, then another in 1959, 1963, and finally in 1965. Although taking two more NL pennants in 1966 and 1974, he stepped down in the late 1976 season due to illness. Tom Lasorda would take over for him with only four games left in the season, then helm the team for another 20 seasons himself. Williams had the helm of six teams, Martin managed five teams, and Piniella had the Cubs as his fifth team in 2010.

6. The first-ever team to win four consecutive World Series was the New York Yankees, who won those from 1936-1939. Which team was the first to win five consecutive World Series?

Answer: New York Yankees

From the Yankees' streak from 1936-1939, they defeated the New York Giants twice, then the Cubs and the Reds. It wasn't much difficult with players like Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, and pitcher Red Ruffing. The Yankees did the 'pinstripe thing' again from 1949-1953, not only winning another four, but five consecutive World Series.

They defeated the Phillies, Giants, and the Dodgers three times in this run. The Yankees continued to have state of the art players with the addition of Mickey Mantle and others.

7. The first pitcher in baseball history to strikeout 3500 batters in a career was the great Washington Senator, Walter Johnson. He retired in 1927 with 3509 K's to his credit. Who was the next pitcher not only strikeout 4000 batters, but be the first to strikeout 5000 batters in their career?

Answer: Nolan Ryan

The others never even reached the 3000-strikeout mark. Ryan was on top of his games for 27 seasons, playing with four teams while striking out 5714 depressed batters from 1966-1993. Although being a fantastic but feared pitcher with his strikeout rate, he never won a Cy Young or MVP Award in his career.

He came close in 1973 when he broke Sandy Koufax's season strikeout record, but still finished runner-up in the Cy Young voting to Jim Palmer of the Orioles. Nolan was inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first season of eligibility in 1999.

8. Many baseball figures have had some pretty strange nicknames over the years, and few with body-part nicknames. Which Hall of Famer manager had the nickname of "The Lip"?

Answer: Leo Durocher

Durocher managed a few teams after becoming a great player in Major League Baseball. This is when he allegedly became 'The Lip'. Leo played for 17 seasons before managing the Dodgers, Giants, Cubs, and Astros. He gave the umpires his 'lip' many times as a manager, and most were comical.

9. Which of these statements is *not* true about Hall of Fame Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax?

Answer: He was a 300-game winner

Sandy spent his entire career with the Dodgers of Brooklyn, then made the move with the team in 1958 to Los Angeles. He won the Cy Young three times, the season MVP three times, and threw for the Triple Crown three times. Koufax retired with a 165-87 career record in 1966 after going 27-9 in the season.

He had elbow problems and was tired of taking injections for it. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972 in his first year of eligibility.

10. The American League began their endeavors when they combined with the National League to create Major League Baseball in 1901. How many teams did the American League consist of in their first season?

Answer: 8

The American League consisted of eight teams with the Chicago White Sox winning the first American League pennant in 1901. In 1901, the National League consisted of eight also, with the Pittsburgh Pirates winning the pennant. The first World Series between the two leagues happened in 1903 with the American League Boston Americans taking the crown over the Pittsburgh Pirates, five games to three.

Source: Author Nightmare

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Crash Test Dummies Baseball Trivia Quiz

An all multiple choice quiz for the baseball dummies like me. I hope that you enjoy it. :)

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