Dave's Baseball, Ghost Pepper Style 4 Quiz

Answer: Ed Delahanty

Delahanty played in 13 of his 16 seasons with the Philadelphia Quakers/Phillies from 1888-1903. All three times of batting .400 he was with the Phillies. His .400 seasons were in 1894, 1895, and 1899. He just missed a fourth .400 season in 1896 when he batted .397. "Big Ed's" career average was .346.

He died before his career was over in 1903 when he fell off Niagara Falls in an unsolved mystery. Cobb and Hornsby also batted .400 three times in their career but many seasons after Delahanty. Tip O'Neill batted over .400 only one time in his career with the St. Louis Browns of the American Association. Ross Barnes of the Boston Red Stockings in the National Association batted over .400 four times but in two of his seasons did not meet the minimum requirements to be official.

Answer: George Selkirk

After a glorious career with the Boston Red Sox, then the Yankees from 1920-1934, Ruth signed with the Boston Braves of the National League in hopes of getting a foot in the door to become manager. Although he wore the number 3 of the Braves in 1935, his managing hopes didn't come to be and he retired. Selkirk was a rookie Yankee in 1934 and wore the number 1 in the outfield in only 46 games.

After Ruth left the Yankees at the end of the 1934 season, Selkirk took Ruth's number 3 and continued to wear it until he retired in 1942. Metheny wore the number 3 with the Yankees after Selkirk, then Clark wore it after Metheny. Ruth's number 3 was retired in 1948 shortly after the organization made Yankee Cliff Mapes give up the uniform to give way to the Babe. Ruth also died in 1948.

Answer: Ned Garver

Garver was the only team highlight with the St. Louis Browns of the American League in 1951. It was the season that found Satchel Paige on the mound and little Eddie Gaedel as a pinch-hitter. Garver was in his fourth season of baseball and went 20-12 in the season which was his only 20-game season.

The Browns went a dismal 52-102 and couldn't find another pitcher that could win more than six games in the season. St. Louis finished 46 games behind the AL pennant-winning Yankees.

Answer: Toronto Blue Jays

After losing to the Twins in the ALCS in 1991, the fans came back with vengeance in 1992 to support their Blue Jays. Averaging over 47,600 fans in their first 21 home games, they topped the one-million fan attendance mark which was one-quarter of their season attendance and one-quarter of their home games.

The Blue Jays went all the way to the World Series under manager Cito Gaston and defeated the Atlanta Braves for the crown. Toronto's season fan total was 4,028,318. Their fans set a record in 1991 by being the first team in history to reach the four-million fan plateau in a season also.

Answer: Chet Hoff

Hoff was a pitcher in three seasons with the New York Highlanders/Yankees and one season with the St. Louis Browns in 1915. In 1911, in his Major League debut, he struck out the first batter that he ever faced. The batter's name was Tyrus Raymond Cobb. Hoff died on September 17, 1998, at the age of 107 years and 132 days old. Both Doerr of the Red Sox and Jordan with the White Sox, Indians, and Browns did not pass away in the 20th Century and even surpassed the first decade of the 21st Century.

Answer: Rube Waddell

Although Grove with the Philadelphia Athletics did this twice in the 1928 season, Waddell was in his first season also with the Athletics in 1902 when he opened the eyes of fans. His nine pitch-count retired the side in the third inning against the AL Baltimore Orioles on July 1, 1902.

He struck out Billy Gilbert, Harry Howell, and Jim Cronin to enter the record books. Rube finished the season with a 24-7 season and led the league in strikeouts with 210. Waddell was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1946.

Answer: Cal McVey

After playing in five seasons with the National Association, McVey was there in the new National League in 1876 with the Chicago White Stockings. Cal batted .347 for a fifth place finish for the batting title and hit safely in 30 games. He led the league in the NA in many categories but only a couple in the NL.

He helped the White Stockings win the first-ever National League pennant. McVey retired after nine seasons in 1879 with the Cincinnati Reds.

Answer: Tom Zachary

It was September 30, 1927, when the Bambino hit his 60th big one off Washington Senator pitcher Tom Zachary. Ruth went 3-for-3 in the game scoring three runs and two RBIs. The Yankees won the game 4-2. With only one game left in the season after that game, the Babe went 0-for-3. Zachary went 8-13 in the season and gave up only six home runs, but none bigger than the Bambino's.

The Yankees went on to win the World Series against the Pirates four games to none. Ruth was the only player on both teams to hit a home run in the series, and he hit two.

Answer: 9

Atlanta's Tony Cloninger and the Cardinals' Fernando Tatis were the only NL players in the century to accomplish this feat. Tony Lazzeri of the Yankees was the first American Leaguer to hit two in a game in 1936. He was followed by eight more in the century in the names of Jim Tabor, Rudy York, Jim Gentile, Jim Northrup, Frank Robinson, Robin Ventura, Chris Hoiles, and Nomar Garciaparra. Both Tatis and Garciaparra hit theirs in the 1999 season.

Answer: Bill Lefebvre

Lefebvre was a rookie Boston Red Sox pitcher on June 10, 1938, when he debuted against the Chicago White Sox. Bill came in relief and pitched four innings while allowing eight hits and six runs. The only highlight of the game was his eighth inning solo home run off pitcher Monty Stratton in Boston's 15-2 loss to Chicago.