Fascinating and Obscure Baseball Trivia, Part 1 Quiz

Answer: Bobby Doerr

"The Heater from Van Meter" Bob Feller pitched for the Cleveland Indians beginning in 1936 and until 1956. Tony Kubek didn't enter the MLB until 1957, Orlando Cepeda entered in 1958, and Willie McCovey was a rookie in 1959. There is another Bobby Doerr/Bob Feller connection: When Bob Feller died in 2010, he was the second oldest living member of the Hall of Fame...Bobby Doerr was the oldest. Mr. Doerr, has since died however, in 2017.

Other pitchers who have thrown three or more no-hitters: Nolan Ryan pitched 7 no-hitters. Sandy Koufax threw four. Larry Corcoran, Cy Young, Bob Feller and Justin Verlander each have three no-hitters.

Answer: Dennis Martinez

Juan Marichal had 242 career wins as a pitcher. Bartolo Colon passed Marichal in 2018 notching his 247th career win. Pedro Martinez had 219. Ramon Martinez, Pedro's brother, had 135 career wins. Another great Martinez pitcher, Dennis Martinez has 245 career wins in the majors but he is Nicaraguan-born.

Answer: Houston Astros

The 2004 Houston Astros signed Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens who had won 21 and 17 games respectively for the New York Yankees in 2003. Pettite spent three seasons with the Astros going 6-4, 17-9, and 14-13, before returning to the Bronx Bombers (Yankees). Clemens also stayed with the Astros three seasons, and he went 18-4, 13-8, and 7-6 before also returning home to the Yankees for the 2007 season.

Answer: Rickey Henderson

While Rickey Henderson had an astounding 493 stolen bases in his first six seasons, he only hit 51 home runs over those six years. Bobby Bonds had 165 homers and stole 222 bases during his first six seasons. Darryl Strawberry hit 186 round-trippers and had 165 stolen bases. And Alfonso Soriano had 208 homers and 210 stolen bases in his first six pro seasons.

Answer: Jose Lima

This is a strange distinction for a pitcher to have because it means that, yes, of course they must have been pitching badly that season to amass such a high earned run average but, having those 30 plus starts, would on the other hand seem to indicate that each pitcher's manager felt like he had enough ability/talent to keep around in the pitching rotation. Jose Lima in 2005 had a 6.99 ERA in 32 starts pitching for the Kansas City Royals.

It is the worst among these hurlers, but the other players on the list come in close behind: Hawkins had a 6.66 ERA in 33 starts in 1999, Cloude a 6.37 ERA in 30 starts in 1998, and Caraway a 6.22 ERA in 32 starts in 1931.

Answer: Mark Fidrych

As great a rookie season as Fidrych had, being an All-Star game starting pitcher and all, he didn't have a performance of that caliber that year. Roger Clemens had 16 strikeouts in his debut versus the Kansas City Royals on August 21, 1984 in his rookie showing for the Boston Red Sox. Dwight Gooden was Rookie of the Year for the New York Mets in 1984, a year in which he also had 16 KOs in one game, against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 12, 1984, in what many call the greatest pitching performance by any rookie ever. Gooden would finish that season with 276 strikeouts, a record. Uh oh but wait, perhaps the greatest pitching performance by a rookie came 14 years later when Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs whiffed 20 batters in one game with one walk. May 6, 1998 against a tough Astro team and Wood allowed only one hit which some say could've been ruled an error.

Answer: Babe Ruth

Overall yes, Mel Ott has more home runs in the Polo Grounds than anybody else with 323. He was a New York Giant after all and that was their home field. However, Babe Ruth also played his home games at the Polo Grounds from 1920 to 1922 before Yankee Stadium opened.

His home run totals were 54, 59, and 35 those three seasons. Out of his 54 HRs in 1920, he hit 41 of them at home there in the Polo Grounds. Out of his 59 HRs in 1921, 32 of them were at home in the Polo Grounds. And in 1922, out of his 35 homers, 17 of them were at the Polo Grounds. So that's 41 plus 32, plus 17 making it 90 home runs at the Polo Grounds in one 3-year span.

The most home runs Mel Ott ever hit in a 3-year span of time was 100, and that included ALL games home and away! So for instance during that 3-year span, from 1936 to 1938 he hit 20 home runs at home in the Polo Grounds out of 33 total (home and away) in 1936, 15 home runs at home out of 31 total in 1937, and 19 home runs at home out of 36 total in 1938. So, for a 3-year span, Mel Ott's best home run total at the Polo Grounds was 20 + 15 + 19 which add up to 54. And that is WAY short of Ruth's 90 home runs in the Polo Grounds during a 3-year span.

Answer: Steve Busby and Bill Stoneman

Steve Busby had just 70 career wins and Bill Stoneman notched a lowly 54. While pitching for the Kansas city Royals, Busby's two no-hitters were against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 19, 1974, and the Detroit Tigers on April 27, 1973. While a member of the Montreal Expos, Bill Stoneman's two no-hitters were against the New York Mets in the first gam of a doubleheader on October 2, 1972, and against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 17, 1969. All those other pitchers listed had 2 no-hitters in their careers as well, but they also all had well over 100 career wins.

Answer: Murderer's Row: The 1927 New York Yankees

We have to go all the way back to that legendary New York Yankees team of 1927 that went on to win the World Series. On Opening Day of 1926 the outfield consisted of Babe Ruth, Earle Combs, and Bob Meusal. The infield featured Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzari, Mark Koenig, and Joe Dugan. Those exact same players were starting in those positions on Opening Day 1927. Four of those players went on to be elected to the Hall of Fame: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs, and Tony Lazzari.

Answer: Bobby Richardson and Tony Kubek of the 1962 Yankees

In 1983, Ryne Sandberg led the league amongst 2nd basemen with a .986 fielding percentage for the Chicago Cubs. His teammate, Larry Bowa led the league at the shortstop position with a .984 fielding percentage.
In 1993, Jose Lind led the league amongst 2nd basemen with a .994 fielding percentage for the Kansas City Royals. His teammate, Greg Gagne led the league at the shortstop position with a .986 fielding percentage.
In 1999, Edgardo Alfonzo led the league amongst 2nd basemen with a .993 fielding percentage for the New York Mets. His teammate, Rey Ordonez led the league at the shortstop position with a .994 fielding percentage.