Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This player fell just short of 500 career home runs due to his illness, and he was forced to retire in the 1930s. Who was this two-time American League MVP and Triple Crown batter?
2. How pathetic is it to bat over .400 in a season, and still lose the batting title? This happened twice in the 20th century. In 1911, Cleveland's Joe Jackson's .408 fell short of Ty Cobb's .420 batting average. In 1922, George Sisler batted .420, and won the batting title over the runner-up, who hit .401 in the season. Who was this player that missed it by that much?
3. Babe Ruth never won a Triple Crown in his career, but came close twice. In 1924, he led in home runs and batting average, but finished second to Goose Goslin of Washington in RBIs. In 1926, he led in home runs and RBIs, but was runner-up by .006 to the batting title. Who made Ruth just miss the Triple Crown in 1926 by that much?
4. This pitcher came so close to winning his only Cy Young award in 1979, but lost to Bruce Sutter by a hair. His brother always over-shadowed him and won over 300 games, but never won the Cy Young either. Who was this Houston Astro pitcher that was the Cy Young runner-up in 1979?
5. New York Giant pitcher Carl Hubbell had an amazing win streak of 24 consecutive games in the 1930s. Which American League pitcher came so close, but settled for the American League record with 20 in the 1998-1999 seasons?
6. This Hall of Fame great played for 22 seasons. He led the league in batting seven times, and hit over .400 three times. Winning two season MVPs and two Triple Crowns, he fell short of the 3000 hit mark by only 70 hits. Who was this National League second baseman?
7. St. Louis Cardinal Bob Gibson was a Cy Young winner in 1968. He had an amazing ERA of 1.12 which set a modern day National League season record. Which American League Cy Young award winner threw a lower ERA in the 1980s?
8. Throughout the 20th century, three immortals won seven batting titles each. They were Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, and Rod Carew. Another baseball great won six, and could have won seven had it not been for George Kell of the Tigers, who beat him by less than .001 in 1949. Who was this player that missed it by that much?
9. In 1924, Roger Hornsby of the St. Louis Cardinals won a batting title for the National League with his .424 average. He came so close to setting a Major League record, but fell short by .002. Who hit a Major League record-setting .426 in a season prior?
10. Pitcher Wes Ferrell of the American League set a record for hitting 38 career home runs as a pitcher when he retired in 1941. A career Cleveland Indian pitcher almost broke this record when he hit 37 before retiring in 1958. Who was this Hall of Fame pitcher that missed it by that much?
Source: Author
Nightmare
This quiz was reviewed by our editing team before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
