The Arms of Baseball Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cy Young

After watching Lee Richmond and John Ward throw perfect games in the National League in the 1880's, Young threw the first American League perfecto in 1904 while with the Boston Americans. This was after playing in the National League for 11 seasons, mostly with the Cleveland Spiders. Young's perfect game came at the expense of the Philadelphia Athletics at the age of 37.

He had 25+ wins in 12 seasons throughout his career. Denton True "Cy" Young retired in 1911 after 22 seasons with a leading 511-316 pitching record.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1937, the second round of inductions into the Hall. He died in 1955 at the age of 88.

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Amazingly, the strikeout king of baseball was left out of the most prestigious pitching award in history. The closest that Nolan came to the Cy Young Award was in 1973 as a runner-up to the Orioles' Jim Palmer. Nolan played with four teams beginning in 1966.

They were the Mets, Angels, Astros, and Rangers in his 27 seasons. Ryan had a tremendous season in 1973 going 21-16 and setting a Major League record 383 strikeouts while Palmer threw 158 strikeouts in the season. Nolan retired being on top of the pile in strikeouts with 5714.

At the time of his retirement in 1993, no other pitcher had even reached 4000 career strikeouts.

Answer: Hal Newhouser

Newhouser was a Detroit Tiger from 1939-1953, then spent two seasons with the Indians and retired. With two tremendous seasons in 1944 and 1945, "Prince Hal" became the only pitcher in the 20th Century to bag two consecutive MVP's. His first was won over teammate Dizzy Trout, then again over teammate Eddie Mayo.

He was also the runner-up MVP in 1946 to Ted Williams. Newhouser was a 1992 Hall of Fame inductee.

Answer: Tom Seaver

It was April 22, 1970, when Seaver fanned 19 San Diego Padre players in the game with 10 being consecutive. Seaver beat the Padres 2-1 at home. Tom went 18-12 for the season with 283 strikeouts. Baltimore rookie Sammy Stewart set a rookie record by fanning seven consecutive Indians in September 1978.
The previous record was nine straight by Mickey Welch (New York, NL) in 1884.

Answer: Don Newcombe

All these pitching greats won both awards in the same season, but it was Brooklyn Dodger Don Newcombe who beat them all to the punch. With the inaugural Cy Young Award being presented in 1956, Newcombe who won the NL MVP was the only obvious choice in the season. Don was in his seventh season and hit the 20-win mark for the third time with his 27-7 record.

Answer: Bob Welch

The decade was not one for the pitchers. Welch took the honors with his 27 in 1990 with the Athletics. The runner-up in the decade would be John Smoltz who won 24 games in 1996 with the Braves. That made Welch the only 25-game winner in the entire decade.

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No perfectos where thrown in the decade. Jim Bunning of the Phillies threw one in 1964 against the Mets. Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers threw one in 1965 against the Cubs, and Catfish Hunter of the Athletics threw the last of the decade in 1968 against the Twins.

The world had to wait throughout the 1970's until 1981 when Len Barker of the Indians threw his against the Blue Jays. Mike Witt of the Angels also threw one against the Rangers in 1984.

Answer: Clayton Kershaw

From 2011-2014, Kershaw of the Dodgers won three Cy Young Awards and also a runner-up spot. He didn't shine in the All-Star Game as he pitched one inning, struck out one, allowed three hits and two runs. The American League went on to win 6-3.

Answer: Sandy Koufax

Ryan was the Cy Young Award runner-up to Jim Palmer of the Orioles in 1973. Nolan broke the season record by facing his final batter of the season and getting the strikeout. Koufax of the Dodgers fanned 382 in 1965. Sandy won the Cy Young Award for the 1965 season and was the runner-up MVP to Willie Mays of the Giants.

Answer: Tommy John

John retired after win number 288 in 1989. Tommy played for six teams throughout his 26 seasons. He also had a miraculous arm surgery named for him after he was the first to have the procedure done more than successfully.