Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The New York Yankees had quite a run from 1949-1953, winning five consecutive World Series. With manager Leo Durocher at the helm in 1949, Casey Stengel took over for the rest of the streak. They defeated the Dodgers three times in their streak of five crowns also. Only once did they win while giving up three game losses.
2. After a 28-season drought, the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008 over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was not an easy trip for the Phillies as they went the full five games and seven games in the NLDS and NLCS. Without the assistance of Mike Schmidt in 2008, they had the help of Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins.
3. Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat and a few other nicknames was arguably the greatest player in baseball. Beginning his career with the Boston Red Sox, Ruth became a Yankee in 1920. He hit 50+ home runs four times in his career with the Yankees. In 1935, the Babe played his final game as a Boston Brave, where he hit three home runs in one game, just five days before he retired. Ruth died in 1959 at his home in New York City.
4. The Cleveland Indians began their franchise in 1901 with the new American League. They were the Warriors, Blues, Bronchos, and Naps before taking on the "Indian" name in 1915. The franchise won their first World Series in their first appearance in 1920 against the Brooklyn Robins. They won another World Series in 1948 against the Boston Braves. The Indians would not win another World Series for the rest of the century. Managers Tris Speaker and Lou Boudreau helmed the team to their previous World Series. It wasn't too difficult with the pitchers in the names of Stan Coveleski, Jim Bagby, Bob Lemon, Bob Feller, and a host of others.
5. There are many pitchers in the Hall of Fame. Many of those pitchers had a lousy season or two by losing 20+ games in a season. Some surprising names on that unfortunate list include Walter Johnson, Phil Niekro twice, Pud Galvin 10 times, Robin Roberts, Jim Palmer, Cy Young, and Steve Carlton who lost 20 games in a season that followed 27 wins.
6. The Baltimore Orioles of the American League began their franchise in 1901 as the Milwaukee Brewers. After the Brewers' last place finish, they were run out of town and became the St. Louis Browns in 1902. The Browns were pretty dismal in their 52 seasons, winning only one World Series. The franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954, where they made six World Series appearances in 30 seasons. The franchise's first MVP was George Sisler, and their first Cy Young winner was Mike Cuellar.
7. The immortal Ty Cobb was an amazing player. He played with two teams from 1905-1928. After 22 loyal seasons with the Detroit Tigers, they released him, and he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for two seasons. In his 24 seasons, he batted over .300 in all but one, his rookie season. Ty was a 1911 American League MVP. In addition to his bat, Cobb stole 96 bases in 1915, a record that would stand for almost 50 years. Ty also led the league in home runs once. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the initial presentation in 1936.
8. Sandy Koufax became a household name in the 1960s with the Dodgers. Sandy won 129 games in six seasons from 1961-1966. From 1963-1966, he won four TSN Pitcher of the Year awards, threw three Triple Crowns, won three Cy Young awards, two World Series MVPs, and one National League MVP Award. With all that, in 1966 Koufax walked away from his 31-9 season and baseball, after the Dodgers lost the World Series to the Orioles in an embarrasing four games to none loss.
9. The 1927 Yankees were arguably the greatest team in baseball history. They had some big bats with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Bob Meusel, and Earl Combs. Their bats were backed up with the pitching arms of Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, and Urban Shocker. Hoyt led the team with 22 wins. The Yankees combined for 158 home runs in 1927. Ruth hit 60 and was the AL MVP. The Yankees went to the World Series and swept the Pittsburgh Pirates four games to none.
10. With some fans wincing in 2005 over the Anaheim Angels' new name of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Major League Baseball looked into the history to franchise names since professional baseball began in 1871. They found some teams such as the Atlanta Braves who had changed their name nine times, and Los Angeles Dodgers who had changed it 11 times. On the other side of the coin was the Philadelphia Phillies who had gone the longest of any team without changing their name. Some pretty strange team names amongst them all were the Bridegrooms, Rustlers, Superbas, Beaneaters, Expos, and others.
Source: Author
Nightmare
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