Spicy Peppered Baseballs Trivia Quiz

Answer: J.R. Richard

Houston went up against Burt Hooton and the Dodgers on April 10, 1979. The Astros still won the game 2-1. Richard threw 19 wild pitches in the season, one short of his career high of 20 in 1975. He was a 10-season career Astro and retired in 1980. Only four months later, 300-game winner Phil Niekro of the Braves tied this record.

Answer: Seattle Mariners

The Mariners went an amazing 116-46 in 2001, but lost to the Yankees in the ALCS, four games to one. This 2001 Mariner had Rookie of the Year Ichiro Suzuki, who led the league in hits, batting average, and stolen bases. The Yankees would go on to lose the World Series to the Diamondbacks, four games to three.

Answer: Joe McCarthy

Before being known for managing the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901-1950, Mack played 11 seasons beginning with the Washington Nationals of the National League in 1886. This included being player-manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1894-1896. McGraw was mostly known for managing the New York Giants for 31 seasons, but played for the Baltimore Orioles in three different leagues in a total of 16 seasons. Walter Alston played in only one game with the Cardinals in 1936 before taking on the helm of the Dodgers in 1954 for over 20 seasons. McCarthy managed the Cubs, Yankees, and Red Sox over 24 seasons from 1926-1950, and never played the game. Joe was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1957 with 2125 career wins.

Answer: John Michaelson

John Michaelson was the only Finnish player in Major League Baseball in the 20th century. His pitching tenure did not last long as 1921 was his only season with the Chicago White Sox. He pitched in 2.2 innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs. That was it for his career.

Answer: 1907

The game was played on Opening Day in 1907, pitting the Philadelphia Phillies against the host New York Giants. After a heavy snow storm, and the grounds crew feverishly clearing the field, the New York fans didn't like the 3-0 Phillies lead at the Polo Grounds.

They began to throw snowballs at players, then went on to the field and continued their unruliness. When home plate umpire Bill Klem was hit in the head, that was it, and he forfeited the game to the Phillies. The game resulted as not having any affect on the season's standings with the Phillies finishing third, 21.5 games out, and the Giants finishing in fourth, 25.5 games out.

The Cubs won the NL pennant.

Answer: Boston Red Sox

The Orioles were the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901, the St. Louis Browns in 1902, then the Baltimore Orioles in 1954. The Indian franchise was the Blues in 1901, the Bronchos in 1902, the Naps in 1903, then the Indians in 1915. The Yankees began their franchise in 1901 as the Baltimore Orioles.

In 1903, they moved and became the New York Highlanders. They took on the Yankee name in 1913. The Red Sox franchise began their endeavors in 1901 as the Boston Americans, while also unofficially being named 'Pilgrims'.

In 1908, the Red Sox name came to the scorecards.

Answer: Leo Durocher

Durocher managed the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939-1948, but was suspended by baseball during the Jackie Robinson rookie season of 1947. Nicknamed "Leo the Lip", Durocher also managed the Giants, Cubs, and Astros over his 24-season managing career. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994.

Answer: New York Yankees

On September 21, and with only 10 games left in the season, the Yankees got complacent. They met the Red Sox on that day and left 20 base runners in the pinstripes on the basepaths. They lost the game 13-7. Ironically, they went on to win the World Series four games to three, and watched Don Larsen throw a perfect game against the Dodgers in game five.

Answer: Willie Keeler

Keeler set his record in 1897 with the Baltimore Orioles of the National League. His 44-game hitting streak ran from April 22 to June 18. Willie retired after 19 seasons with 2932 career hits. Rose retired in 1986 after 24 seasons with 4256 hits, the most in baseball at the time.

Answer: Julio Franco

Julio hit this two-run home run on May 4, 2007, as a New York Met. It was against of all pitchers, Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks, a five-time Cy Young Award winner. It was Franco's final home run of his career, number 173.