Dave's Baseball, Ghost Pepper Style 8 Quiz

Answer: Pete Alexander

The other pitching greats won two Triple Crown Awards from the mound. Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander was a pitching wonder in the early 20th Century. Pete was a National League pitcher from 1911-1930. His three consecutive Triple Crowns came in 1915, 1916, and 1917 as a Philadelphia Phillie. Six times in Philadelphia he won 20+ games in a season including three 30-win seasons. Ironically, the Phillies traded him to the Chicago Cubs in December 1917 in a two-for-two player trade and cash. In 1918 with Chicago he went 2-1. Strangely enough that Alexander never won the league MVP, he led the league in strikeouts and wins during six seasons.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1938. Pete died in 1950 at the age of 63.

Answer: Brooklyn Atlantics

The Atlantics were in the National Association from 1872-1875. In their four seasons in the league they never had a winning season. The league closed their doors in 1875 but Brooklyn got the last word in by going a pathetic 2-42. Among those 42 losses were 31 consecutive.

Their 'star' starting pitchers were John Cassidy who went 1-21 and Jim Clinton who went 1-13. Even with Brooklyn's extremely poor performance, the Keokuk Westerns finished by winning only one game in the season with their 1-12 record.

The Boston Red Stockings won the final pennant of the National Association by 15 games over the Athletics. The Phillies set a National League record in 1961 by losing 23 games. The Orioles set an American League record by losing 21 in 1988.

Answer: Jack Billingham

Aaron and the Braves began their 1974 against the Cincinnati Reds on April 4. Hank hit his 714th home run on his first pitch of the season against Billingham at Riverfront Stadium to score himself, Ralph Garr, and Mike Lum in the historical swing in the top of the first inning.

The Braves still lost the game 7-6 in 11 innings but the Riverfront fans received their money's worth for sure. After the 1974 season the Atlanta franchise showed their misguided loyalty and traded Hank to the Milwaukee Brewers.

He played for the Brewers in two seasons and retired with 755 career home runs, 733 for the Braves and 22 for the Brewers.

Answer: New York Giants

The Giants first appeared in the second World Series in 1905. They came back from 1911-1913, 1917, 1921-1924, and 1933. Manager John McGraw was there for each World Series with the exception of 1933. McGraw retired in 1932 and new manager Bill Terry took over the team.

The Giants won four of those 10 World Series. It would not be until 1938 when the Yankees appeared in their 10th series. The Athletics franchise would not appear in their 10th World Series until 1973 (in Oakland). The Pirates appeared in only seven World Series during the entire 20th Century.

Answer: Charlie Radbourn

Charlie 'Old Hoss' Radbourn made his name with the Providence Grays of the National League from 1881-1885, including a season pitching record in 1884 of 59-12. The infamous team photo was taken with him as a Boston Beaneater in April 1886 before a game in New York City. Radbourn later became known for flashing these gestures during photo shoots.

He was also known for drinking up to a quart of whiskey during a game. Photographers knew the nastiness of 'Old Hoss' and how intimidating he was so they said nothing but later touched up or blemished out his gesture in the future photos. Charlie was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939 with his 309-194 career record after 11 seasons.

Answer: Jimmy Dykes

lthough Mauch managed for 26 seasons between 1960 and 1987, Dykes was way ahead of him. When Jimmy retired from baseball as a player after being player-manager for six seasons with the White Sox in 1939, he had sole rein of the team in 1940. He left the White Sox in 1946 after 13 seasons at the helm, then took over the Philadelphia Athletics for three seasons from 1951-1953. Dykes then took the Baltimore Orioles in 1954 to a 54-100 record. Jimmy reappeared in 1958 as manager for Cincinnati with a fourth place finish.

In 1959 and 1960 he was in charge of the Tigers. He retired in 1961 while never finishing better than third place. In 21 seasons his teams had a career record of 1406 wins against 1541 losses. Jimmy died in 1976 at the age of 79.

Answer: Philadelphia

Philadelphia fans were into baseball and the owners thought there was money to be made. There were three teams rostered in the National Association in 1875. They were the Philadelphia Athletics, who finished in second place to the Boston Red Stockings, the Philadelphia Whites who finished in fifth place of 13 teams, and the Philadelphia Centennials who finished in 11th place.

The National Association was the first official and organized league in baseball and existed from 1871-1875 before the National League opened their doors in the following season.

Answer: Boston

The Boston Americans / Red Sox even changed their managers more often than the lowly St. Louis Browns. Boston experienced their 10th different manager by only 1913. Those who received their pink slips were Jimmy Collins who managed from 1901 until he was fired midseason 1906. Taking over was Chick Stahl who lasted only until the end of the season.

It took three different managers to finish out the 1907 season with Cy Young, George Huff, and Bob Unglaub. Deacon McGwire was hired for the 1908 season but was replaced by Fred Lake to finish out the season. Lake also lasted the entire 1909 by himself, but 1910 had Patsy Donovan who also managed throughout the 1911 season. Jake Stahl was hired for 1912, then was fired midseason 1913 and replaced by Bill Carrigan.

Answer: No other Yankee ever wore the number 4

Nobody else wore the number 4 in Yankee history. The Yankees and Indians were the first teams to display jersey numbers in an entire season in 1929, and it found Gehrig with the number 4. Lou wore the number 4 because he was fourth in the batting order.

He stepped down from baseball in 1939 due to a disease later named after him and the Yankees immediately retired his number. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the same year then died in 1941.

Answer: Stan Musial

Musial was a career St. Louis Cardinal from 1941-1963. Stan lost the 1945 season to WWII. Eight times in his 22 seasons he led the league in doubles. He also reached the 50-plateau three times. Three times in his career he won the NL MVP Award and was runner-up for the MVP another four times. Musial had a career batting average of .331 and hit 475 home runs.

He found four World Series with the Cardinals and won three while hitting one home run against the Browns in 1944. With the number 6 over his shoulder, Stan was inducted into the Hall in 1969.

He died in 2013 in Missouri at the age of 92.