Fascinating and Obscure Baseball Trivia, Part 2 Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which of these four World Series featured two teams, neither of which won over 90 games during the regular season?

Answer: 2014 San Francisco Giants vs. Kansas City Royals

That 1906 Chicago Cubs team actually had one of the winningest regular seasons of all time with a 116-36 (.763) record. Ironically they lost that 1906 World Series. With almost as many regular season victories, the 1998 Yankees were 114- 48, and they swept the Padres.

It was the Giants/Royals World Series that featured two teams with less than 90 wins each. The Giants 88-74 record was just a win shy of the Royals' 89-73 mark. The combined winning percentage of the two teams was only .546 (177-147) one of the lowest for any World Series.

2. Which of the following players did *not* start a season hitting at least 25 home runs and 7 triples before the All-Star game?

Answer: Billy Martin in 1955

Billy Martin not only never had 25 home runs and 7 triples by the All-Star break, he NEVER had 25 home runs or 7 triples in an entire season. In that 1955 season with the Yankees he had only 1 triple and no home runs for the season. Granderson's 2011 season was an incredible one for the Yankees; in addition to the question's accomplishment, he became the first player in MLB history to hit 40 HRs, 10 triples and 25 stolen bases in one season. Eddie Mathews had 8 triples by the end of the season, so his triples production did slow down after the break but he did end the season with 46 home runs. And the Say Hey Kid Willie Mays would end up with 13 triples and 41 home runs.

3. Who was the first MLB player to raise his batting average by at least 120 points in consecutive seasons in which each season featured 400 at-bats for him?

Answer: George Burns

In 1917, George Burns hit .226 for the Detroit Tigers in 443 at-bats. The next season his batting average went up to .352 while playing for the Philadelphia Athletics on 505 at-bats. The closest anyone's come since then was Casey Kotchman who had been hitting .337 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays which was 120 points higher than his previous season's .217 batting average when he was playing with the Seattle Mariners. But unfortunately, he couldn't keep that average up and it dropped down to .306.

4. Which was the first team in MLB history to hit three grand slams in one Game? (It happened in 2011)

Answer: New York Yankees

The three Yankees who hit the slams were Robinson Cano, Russell Martin, and Curtis Granderson. The field was wet but they still managed to slam those homers in a 22 to 9 victory over the Oakland Athletics. The Yankees were actually trailing in that game 7-1 after just three innings, causing a lot of fans to leave early after an 89-minute rain delay and rain still falling.

5. Of all the MLB players with 10 or more career grand slams this player, who played for the Mets and Pirates, has one of the lowest career total home runs. Who is he?

Answer: John Milner

Nicknamed "The Hammer", John Milner played for the New York Mets from 1971 to 1977 and for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1978 to 1980, and again in 1981 and 1982. Throughout his career he had a total of 131 home runs. Which when you think about it actually means he had a very high ratio of grand slams to non-grand slam homers. That ratio for him would be 10 out of 131, or 1 out of 13.1 of his homers was a grand slam. Compare that to the players among those with the most grand slams in MLB history: Alex Rodriguez's 25 grand slams and 696 home runs. That's a ratio of 1 out of 27.84 homers being a grand slam.

As for the rest of the career grand slam leaders, Lou Gehrig's ratio was 1 out 21.43, Manny Ramirez's ratio was 1 out of 26.42, Eddie Murray's was 1 out of 26.52, Willie McCovey's was 28.944, Robin Ventura's was a bit closer--1 out of 16.33 homers was a grand slam. Jimmy Foxx (1 out of 31.41), Carlos Lee (1 out of 21.05), Ted Williams (1 out of 30.64), Hank Aaron (1 out of 47.18), Babe Ruth (1 out of 44.62), Dave Kingman (1 out of 27.62).

6. We know of Joe DiMaggio's storied 56-game hitting streak. But who has reached base safely for more consecutive games than that, reaching base safely (with either a hit, a walk, or hit-by-pitch)?

Answer: Ted Williams

Playing for the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams reached base safely in 84 consecutive games during the 1949 season, from July 1st to September 27th. That hitting streak of DiMaggio's was part of his own 74-game on-base streak. The closest anyone else has come to Williams' streak was Orlando Cabrera in 2006 when he reached base in 63 straight games.

7. Derek Jeter was the fourth NY Yankee who held the distinction of being the MLB's active hits leader. Of the following, who was NOT one of those first three Yankees to be the active hits leader?

Answer: Don Mattingly

Paul Waner was the first Yankee who was the active hits leader. He held that title for three seasons before going to the Yankees to finish his long career with them in 1944. After Luke Appling retired in 1951, Joe DiMaggio became the second Yankee to become the active hits leader. And then Johnny Mize became the active hits leader when DiMaggio retired after the 1951 season. Mize's reign didn't last long.

He started the 1952 season with 120 more career hits than Stan Musial of the Cardinals, but with his playing time being limited, he had only 36 hits during that season, and so was passed by Musial who remained the active hits leader until he retired in 1963.

8. Three Yankees have had a World Series in which they hit over .500 and also had at least 3 home runs. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

Answer: Reggie Jackson

Lou Gehrig actually did it twice: in 1928 he hit .545 with 4 home runs, and then in 1932 he hit.529 with 3 homers. Babe Ruth joined Gehrig in that same 1928 World Series with a .625 batting average and hitting 4 home runs. And in 2009, Hideki Matsui hit .615 with 3 home runs. We all remember Reggie Jackson's thrilling 3-home runs in just ONE game of the 1977 World Series, but he batted "only" .357 in that Series.

9. This player was perhaps the most deserving candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame, that was never admitted. That is until 2021 when he received the necessary 75% of the votes from the Golden Days committee. He excelled as both a player (first baseman) and a manager. Who is he?

Answer: Gil Hodges

As a player, in his 18-year career (2071 games), Gil Hodges had 1,921 hits, 370 home runs, and made 8 All-star game appearances. When he retired, he held the record for home runs hit by a National League right-handed batter. His National League record of 14 grand slams stood from 1957 to 1974.

He was the foundation of the Brooklyn Dodgers' World Series win in 1955, driving in the two runs that won the victory in Game 7. And famously he was the manager of the Amazin' Mets World Series in 1969.

10. Who were the first pair of teammates who played together for 15 or more years that were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the same day?

Answer: Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford

Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford were both inducted into the Hall of Fame on January 16, 1974. They had been teammates for 15 seasons, from 1953 to 1967. Biggio and Bagwell came close to being the second pair in 2012, but Biggio wound up being voted in in 2015 and Bagwell in 2017.

Source: Author Billkozy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

I will tell you from the start that most of these baseball trivia questions are difficult, but I believe the upside will be the fascinating and entertaining stats and stories and trivia they reveal.

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