Matching the Greats of Baseball Quiz

Answer: Reggie Jackson

Jackson was a rookie in 1967 with the Kansas City Athletics. Although he hit only one home run in that season, he followed that up with 29 in 1968 and 47 in 1969. He retired with 563 after 21 seasons with four teams which averaged 26.8 home runs per season.

Answer: Hank Aaron

Aaron played with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves from 1954-1974. His final two seasons were with the Milwaukee Brewers. Aaron received his chance in baseball when Bobby Thomson was injured just prior to the 1954 season which gave the new rookie a chance to play. Aaron had 131 hits including 13 home runs in his rookie season.

Answer: Reggie Jackson

Jackson owned the World Series in 1977 against the Dodgers. Hitting five home runs, he also hit three home runs in game six on three consecutive swings. Reggie and the Yankees won the World Series in six games. Jackson hit 10 World Series home runs in his career.

Answer: Babe Ruth

Ruth began his career in 1914 with the Red Sox. In a headline that shocked the baseball world, he was sold to the New York Yankees and played with them from 1920-1934. Ruth and the owner had a falling out over him becoming a manager so they released him after the 1934 season.

He then signed with the Boston Braves of the National League in 1935 and retired after the season. Gehrig and Jackson never played in the National League, while Aaron spent more than 20 seasons there.

Answer: Lou Gehrig

All the others won only one Most Valuable Award for a season. Gehrig won two with the first coming in 1927 with the Bronx Bombers, and then another one with the Yankees in 1936.

Answer: Babe Ruth

Ruth hit 54 in 1920 during his first season with the Yankees. He topped that with 59 in 1921. In 1927 he came up with 60, then 54 in 1928. The Babe retired with 714 home runs.

Answer: Hank Aaron

Aaron batted right-handed and hit the most home runs of the four, retiring with 755 big ones over 23 seasons. Unable to reach the 50 home run season total, Hank's season high was 47 in 1971, 45 in 1962, and 44 four times.

Answer: Lou Gehrig

Although the other greats came fairly close, the Bambino led the league in home runs and hits in 1921, but amazingly finished third with his .378 batting average. It was Gehrig who batted for the coveted Triple Crown Award in 1934 with the Yankees.

Answer: Lou Gehrig

While the others all played 20+ seasons, Gehrig's career was unfortunately shortened to 17 due to a disease that was later named after him. His consecutive game playing streak of 2130 games also came to an end in 1939 when he pulled himself from the lineup. He retired in 1939 and died two years later in 1941. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1941 in a special ballot.

Answer: Reggie Jackson

Ruth wore the famous number 3, Gehrig the number 4, and Jackson wore the number 44 with the Yankees, Angels, and later in his career with the Athletics. Reggie also wore the number 31 and 9 early in his career with the Athletics.