Four of a Kind Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sandy Koufax

Koufax owned the 1960s from the mound, specifically from 1963-1966. His fourth no-hitter was a perfect game against the Cubs in 1965. In those four seasons, the Dodgers benefited from Koufax's three Triple Crowns, season and World Series MVPs, and Cy Young awards. The others listed threw three no-hitters in their careers, with Ryan throwing seven.

Answer: Mark McGwire

McGwire was the second behind Ruth to hit 50 in four seasons, and beat Sosa to the punch by two seasons. Mark touched the plateau in four consecutive seasons from 1996-1999. He hit 52, 58, 70, and 65. Sosa hit 50+ each season from 1998-2001, including three 60 home run seasons.

Answer: Dodgers

The Dodgers not only was the only team with four, but they had five award winners, and all consecutive from 1992-1996. They were Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth.
Oakland had three in the 1980s with Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, and Walt Weiss. The Reds had Pete Rose, Tommy Helms, and Johnny Bench in the 1960s. The Yankees had Gil McDougald in 1951, Bob Grim in 1954, and Tony Kubek in 1957.

Answer: Barry Bonds

Bonds won two with the Pirates in 1990 and 1992 before becoming a San Francisco Giant in 1993, where he picked up number three. Number four, five, six, and seven all came consecutively from 2001-2004 with the Giants also. Barry left baseball with 762 career home runs under a shroud of controversy and speculation of illegal substance use.

Answer: Walter Alston

Alston, the Hall of Famer, took the Brooklyn Dodgers to the franchise's first World Series crown in 1955. Three more would follow in Los Angeles in 1959, 1963, and 1965. McGraw took the Giants to 10 National League pennants in his 31 seasons with them, but won only three World Series pennants.

He won them in 1905 against the Athletics, then twice against the Yankees in 1921 and 1922. Chance managed for 11 seasons and took the Cubs to World Series crowns in 1907 and 1908. McCarthy won seven World Series crowns with the American League Yankees.

Answer: Nap Lajoie

Although the others all won four or more batting titles, Lajoie beat everyone to the punch with his four consecutive batting crowns beginning when the new American League began in 1901 with the Philadelphia Athletics. Lajoie was in his sixth season when he started his streak with a .4265 average in 1901, a record average which stood throughout the entire 20th century. Wagner won four consecutive with the Pirates from 1906-1909. Cobb won five consecutive batting crowns from 1911-1915 with the Tigers. Brouthers won five titles, but no more than two consecutive.

Answer: Rollie Fingers

Amongst all these great relief pitchers, Fingers won four of the first six awards from 1977-1981. The award began presentations in 1976. Rollie won three relief awards with the Padres, then his fourth with the Milwaukee Brewers. Quisenberry won all his five with the Royals, with number four coming in 1984. Sutter won his first award with the Cubs, then his other three with the Cardinals with his fourth award coming in 1984. Lee Smith won three in his career with the Cardinals and the Orioles.

Answer: New York Giants

After winning the second World Series in 1905 against the Athletics, the Giants would lose three consecutive World Series from 1911-1913, twice by the Athletics and once by the Red Sox. Their fourth series loss would come in 1917 against the White Sox.

Although the Tigers lost three consecutive from 1907-1909, they would not see another World Series until 1934 in a loss to the Cardinals. The Cubs' fourth world Series loss came in 1929. The Brooklyn club lost their fourth series in 1947.

Answer: Rube Waddell

All the others won four consecutive strikeout crowns, but it was Waddell who not only one four consecutive, but won six from 1902-1907 with the Philadelphia Athletics. Rube average 178 strikeouts per season over his 13 seasons. Alexander won his four consecutive from 1914-1917 with the Athletics also.

The great Walter Johnson won eight consecutive strikeout crowns from 1912-1919, and won a total of 12 strikeout crowns from 1910-1924. Vance won seven consecutive titles from 1922-1928 with the Brooklyn Robins (later Dodgers).

Answer: St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals made three consecutive appearances from 1942-1944, winning twice against the Yankees and Browns. Their fourth appearance in the decade was in 1946 in a win against the Red Sox. The Dodgers made three appearances while losing them all to the Yankees. The Braves made only one appearance while the Giants didn't have any.