Easy Peasy Baseball Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kansas City Royals

With only two American League teams listed, the Royals surprised everyone in their endeavors to reach the promised land. In the wildcard game they defeated the Athletics in one game to advance to the ALDS. There they defeated the Angels three games to none.

In the ALCS they blanked the Orioles four games to none. In the World Series against the San Francisco Giants, they lost it all in a four games to three outcome.

Answer: Catfish Hunter

The others were not in baseball in 1975. Hunter was an Oakland Athletic in 1974 and won the Cy Young Award. He fought for free agency, and due to Curt Flood's endeavors in his battle with Major League Baseball over free-agency, Hunter was granted free agency before the 1975 season so he signed with the Yankees. Catfish picked up where he left off in New York by being the runner-up Cy Young Award winner to Jim Palmer of the Orioles. Jim retired as a Yankee in 1979 with a 224-166 career record.

The Hall inducted him in 1987.

Answer: Roy Face

The other pitchers listed were not in Major League Baseball at the time. The 1959 season was interesting from the mound for the Pirates. Not only did pitcher Harvey Haddix lose a perfect game in the 13th inning of a game, reliever Roy Face went an outstanding 18-1. Starting pitcher Vernon Law also went 18-9 in the season.

Unfortunately, they still finished fourth in the National League with a 78-76 record.

Answer: 2

After six triple crowns were hit in the 1930s and 1940s, things seemed to settle down until Yankee great Mickey Mantle finally broke the drought in 1956 with the only triple crown of the decade. It would not be until 1966 when Baltimore Oriole Frank Robinson hit for one, then Boston's Carl Yastrzemski batted for another in 1967.

Answer: Walter Johnson

The others were all National League pitchers. Johnson of the Washington Senators threw 110 career shutouts. In his early days with the Senators in 1909, his Senators were shutout 10 times in the season while he was on the mound. Ironically, five of those shutouts were at the hands of the Chicago White Sox.

Answer: New York Yankees

The Yankees won all five World Series with manager Casey Stengel at the helm. The Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers three times, and the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies once each in that World Series span. In total, the Yankees went 20-8 in those World Series.

Answer: Jay Hanna Dean

Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was more than a promising pitcher in baseball. After going 1-0 in his rookie season in 1930, he just quit baseball. In 1932, the Cardinals convinced him to come back. In that season Dizzy went 18-15, then 20-18 in 1933, then won the MVP Award in the 1934 season with his 30-7 pitching record.

He was the runner-up MVP in the next two seasons also. After an All-Star game accident, his career went south and he retired after 11 seasons in 1941. He attempted a comeback in 1947 but it wasn't to be.

The Hall inducted him in 1953.

Answer: Connie Mack

Mack began his managing career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1894 for three seasons, then took over the Philadelphia Athletics for another 50 seasons in 1901 with the new American League. As a result, he retired in 1950 with the most wins as a manager with 3731. Mack also played the game for 11 seasons, primarily as a catcher. The Hall of Fame inducted him in 1939.

Answer: Mark McGwire

McGwire took the Rookie of the Year honors in 1987. His 70 came with the Cardinals in 1998, then followed that up in 1999 with 65. Strangely enough, he hit 58 in 1997 which was more than anyone else, but did not win the home run crown. In that season, he hit 34 with the Athletics before being traded midseason to the Cardinals, then hit 24 for them. Mark split his season between leagues. Larry Walker of the Rockies took the NL title with 49, and Ken Griffey of the Mariners hit 56 in the AL.

Answer: Madison Bumgarner

2014. In 15.2 innings against the Cardinals, Bumgarner struck out 12. In the World Series against the Royals, he struck out 17 in 21 innings. He was in his sixth season with the Giants.