MLB Season in Review: 2009 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gary Sheffield

The others were all retired. On April 17, Sheffield hit his 500th big one off Brewers pitcher Mitch Stetter in the seventh inning of the game. Sheffield's new team of the Mets were the advantaged ones with a 5-4 Mets win. Gary was stuck on 499 to end the 2008 season, possibly due to a multiple game suspension for brawling near the end of the season.

Answer: Cleveland Indians

The Indians got off to a dismal start, and by May 9th had a record of 11-20. The Nationals, Padres, Diamondbacks, Orioles, and Rockies were all within two games of the Indians' poor start. At the same point in the season, the Blue Jays were on top of the AL with a 21-12 record, and the Dodgers led the NL with their 22-10 record.

Answer: Randy Johnson

The others were all retired. Randy pitched for his sixth team in 2009, this time with the San Francisco Giants. His 300th win came on June 4th in game one of a doubleheader against the Washington Nationals in a 5-1 win. Randy became only the sixth left hander in history, and the 24th overall to join the 300 Win Club. Johnson won his first Cy Young Award in the American League with the Mariners in 1995, then four more with the Diamondbacks.

In 2009, and at 46 years old, he was the second oldest player in the Major Leagues next to Jamie Moyer of the Phillies.

Answer: Prince Fielder

The others did not make the finals. It was the Milwaukee Brewers' Prince Fielder up against Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers in the finals. Fielder hit a total of 17 including six in the final round. Cruz totaled 16 with five in the finals. It was Fielder's second derby appearance after finishing out of the top five in 2007.

Answer: Los Angeles Dodgers

The others were at either .500 or below by the All-Star break. The Dodgers led the Major Leagues at the break with a 56-32 record. The Red Sox had the second best record at 54-34. Including the Yankees' 51 wins, those three were the only ones to reach 50 wins by the All-Star break.

Answer: American League

The American League won the game 4-3. It was the 13th consecutive game that the American League would not take a loss. Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays started for the AL, and Tim Lincecum of the Giants started on the mound for the NL. Tampa Bay Rays Carl Crawford was the game's MVP.

Answer: 0

Pujols of the Cardinals had banged out 32 by the All-Star break. Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres, Carlos Pena of the Rays, and Mark Reynolds of the Diamonds were all tied for second with 24 by the break. Pujols ended 2009 with the Major League home run crown by hitting 47 home runs. The others listed finished the season with at least 10 home runs less than Pujols.

Answer: Randy Johnson

Johnson was wearing the uniform of the San Francisco Giants in 2009. Randy became only the 11th pitcher in history to allow 400 home runs in a career. He also passed the retired David Wells in the season to become number 10 on the list with this 408th.

By the end of the season, Randy gave up 411 career home runs, just four short of Steve Carlton's 415. Randy was in his 22nd season in the big leagues, while David Wells pitched in 21 seasons, and Carlton in 24 seasons.

Answer: Nobody did

The 4000-hit milestone is one of those plateaus that may never be reached again. Ty Cobb was the first to reach it, then Pete Rose broke Cobb's career mark and retired with 4256. Looking into the future, Derek Jeter was the only 2009 player who seemingly had a shot at 4000 hits, but at the age of 35, he would have to average 160 hits per season consistently for eight seasons, or 130 for 10 seasons. Cobb retired at the age of 41 in 1928, and Rose at the age of 45 in 1986. Cobb averaged 131 hits per season in his last four seasons. Rose averaged less than 100 hits in his last four seasons.

Answer: Pedro Martinez

The others were all retired. After leaving the Mets in 2008, Pedro became a Phillie in his 18th season in 2009. He ended the 2008 season tied with Gibson's 3117 strikeouts. Bob played in 17 seasons, all as a Cardinal. Pedro finished the 2009 season with 3154 strikeouts over 18 seasons.

Answer: Joe Mauer

The others batted at least .050 less than Mauer in the season. Joe Mauer was in his sixth season in the Major Leagues, and all with the Minnesota Twins in 2009. He won the batting crown with his .364 in the season. It was Mauer's his third batting crown in the American League.

Answer: 14

The teams that did not have a winning season include the Blue Jays, Orioles, White Sox, Indians, Royals, Athletics, Mets, Nationals, Brewers, Reds, Astros, Pirates, Padres, and Diamondbacks. The AL West had only one team with a losing record (Oakland). In the NL Central, four of the six teams had losing records.

Answer: Mariano Rivera

The others were all pitchers but were already retired. In interleague play, Rivera notched number 500 against the New York Mets. He was in his 15th season when he reached the 500 milestone. Trevor Hoffman was the first pitcher to achieve 500 saves. Hoffman was in his 15th also when he reached that plateau in 2007. Trevor was a Milwaukee Brewer in 2009, finishing the season with 591 career saves.

Answer: 1

Nobody came close to the Yankees or the 100-win mark in 2009. The Angels had the second best record in the Majors with a 97-65 season record. In 2005, the Cardinals were the only team to win 100 games. They went on to lose the NLCS to the Astros. In both 2006 and 2007, no team reached the century mark in wins.

In the 2008 season, the Angels were the only team to reach 100 with their 100-62 record. They would lose to the Red Sox in the ALDS.

Answer: Colorado Rockies

The Rockies won the wildcard with their 92-70 record, finishing three games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. "Da Bums" continued their tradition with having a six-game lead with only 12 games left, then going on a 3-7 run in the final days of the season.

The Rockies did just the opposite in going 7-3 while watching the Dodgers fall. In comparison, the Phillies won their NL East with a 93-69 record, but if the Rockies were in the NL Central, they would have taken the division title over the Cardinals (91-71) by one game.

Answer: Ichiro Suzuki

The others didn't come close to 200 hits in the season. Ichiro led both leagues with 225 hits. He was in his ninth season of Major League Baseball, and all with the Mariners. It was Suzuki's sixth time that he led the league in hits. Ichiro had won two batting titles titles earlier, but finished runner-up in 2009 to Joe Mauer of the Twins.

Answer: Joe Girardi

Girardi was in his third season of managing in 2009, and helmed the Yankees to the American League East crown. His rookie season as a manager in 2006, he won the Manager of the Year Award with the Marlins. After taking 2007 off, he took the reins of the Yankees in 2008.

His Yankees then took the American League East Division in 2009. Leyland of the Detroit Tigers was in his 18th season in 2009. Scioscia was in his 10th season with the Angels, and Charlie Manual was at the helm of the Phillies in 2009 for his eighth season of managing.

Answer: Alex Rodriguez

Still wearing the pinstripes, A-Rod's shot was even sweeter as it came against the Red Sox. The great Killebrew of the Senators/Twins played in 22 seasons. Rodriguez was in his 16th. Alex's 574th home run was provided by pitcher Jon Lester.

Answer: Ryan Zimmerman - Nationals

Zimmerman was a Washington National, and this was one of few bright spots for the team. His 30-game hitting streak lasted from April 8 to May 12. He was in his fifth season with Washington in 2009. Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners had a 27-game hitting streak in the season also.

Answer: 1

Unfortunately, the Washington Nationals saw another dismal season. After moving from Montreal after the 2004 season, the Nationals saw their fifth consecutive season of not having a winning record. Their 103 losses in 2009 was their second consecutive season of losing more than 100 games.

They did finish the season by winning seven of their last 10 games, but it just wasn't good enough.

Answer: Jim Thome

The others had already retired. Thome was in his 19th season and was with the White Sox. After his 564th blast, less than 10 days later Jim waived his no-trade clause and was traded to the Dodgers. He wanted a World Series ring. With Thome's 564th career home run, he passed Reggie Jackson who hit 563 home runs over 21 seasons.

Answer: Yankees

Although the Phillies took control of the NL East by a whopping 34 games over the last place Washington Nationals, it was the Yankees who dominated their division. They went 103-59 in the season, a tremendous 39 games over the Baltimore Orioles who finished 64-98 in the AL East.

Answer: Manny Ramirez

Manny began the season with a 50-game suspension. He passed Foxx of the Athletics and Red Sox (534), and Mantle of the Yankees (536). Ramirez ended the season with 19 in the season, and 546 career home runs. Mike Schmidt of the Phillies retired with 548 home runs.

Answer: Red Sox

Nothing to write home about, but 11 games is 11 games, and the Red Sox had the largest winning streak which came early in the season from April 15 to April 27. On April 27, the Red Sox were leading the American League East with the Blue Jays in second place. On the 28th, Cleveland stopped Boston's streak by winning 9-8, with an error and unearned run allowed by the Red Sox in the bottom of the ninth inning.

In the National League, the Colorado Rockies tied the Red Sox with their own 11-game winning streak. That occurred in their 11 games from June 4-14.

The Rays stopped the Rockies streak with a 12-4 win.

Answer: 0

It was the sixth consecutive season that a pitcher did not lose 20 games in a season. Only two pitchers in 30 seasons from 1980-2009 had lost 20. In 2003, Mike Maroth of the Tigers went a dismal 9-21. Before Maroth, it was Brian Kingman of the Oakland Athletics who lost 20 in 1980.