The New York Baseball Franchises Quiz

Answer: New York Gothams

The Gothams began it all in the 1883 season in the National League which formed in 1876. The franchise changed their name to the New York Giants in 1885, then won the league championship in 1888 and 1889. When "Major League Baseball" began in 1901 with the merge of the new American League, the Giants went to the second World Series in 1905 against the Philadelphia Athletics.

The Giants won the series four games to one with the help of the arm of Hall of Fame great Christy Mathewson, who won three games in the series.

In 1871, New York had their first-ever professional baseball team with the New York Mutuals. The team played from 1871-1875 in the National Association until the league folded.

Answer: Baltimore Orioles

The franchise began as the Baltimore Orioles for two seasons. In 1903, the team moved to New York to become the New York Higlanders. The franchise kept the Highlanders name until 1913, when it was changed to the Yankees. The name Yankees would become immortal in baseball history.

Answer: 1962

The new Mets franchise joined Major League Baseball in 1962, along with another expansion team of the Houston Colt .45s. The Mets went through a horrible beginning from 1962-1968, finishing no better than ninth place of ten teams in the league. They would change baseball history by winning the World Series in the following season against the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles, four games to one.

Answer: John McGraw

John managed the National League Baltimore Orioles in the 1897 season, then managed that same franchise which jumped over to the new American League in 1901. The New York Giants hired him midseason of 1902 to manage them, and he stayed with the Giants until 1932. McGraw took the Giants to 11 National League pennants and won three World Series.

He died in 1934 at the age of 60. The Hall of Fame recognized John for all his managerial and player experiences, inducting him in 1937.

Answer: Bill Terry

Terry played his entire 14-season career with the New York Giants from 1923-1946. In 1930, Bill batted .4013 to win the National League batting title. There was no MVP Award presented in the 1930 season, but Terry was third in the MVP voting in 1929 and 1931. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1954.

Answer: Babe Ruth

They were all New York players, but the Babe was the first when he hit 54 home runs in 1920. The following season he topped it with 59. Ruth hit another 60 in 1927, and another 54 in 1928. The Babe retired with 714 home runs in 1935 as a Boston Brave of the National League.

Answer: Bob Turley

The Cy Young Award was named in honor of pitching great Cy Young, who won 511 games in his career. Young died in 1955, and Major League Baseball began the award in his honor in 1956. Don Newcombe of the Dodgers won the inaugural award. In the award's third season in 1958, Turley won it for the Yankees with his 21-7 record.

He won the award over Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette of the Braves, and Bob Friend of the Pirates.

Answer: New York Yankees

The Giants earned their right to the World Series after tying the Brooklyn Dodgers for the regular season, then defeating the Dodgers in a playoff series. The Yankees won the American League pennant by five games over the Cleveland Indians. They won the 1951 World Series four games to two over the Giants, with the arm of Ed Lopat.

Answer: Yankees

This immortal team in 1927 consisted of Babe Ruth who hit 60 home runs, Lou Gehrig who batted .373 with 47 home runs, pitcher Waite Hoyt who went 22-7, and a host of others. The Yankees defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates four games to none in the World Series.

Answer: Casey Stengel

After managing the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves' franchise, Stengel took the Yankees to 10 World Series appearances from 1949-1960. He and the Yankees won seven of those. Unfortunately, he also took control over the new New York Mets in 1962, and lost 100+ games in each of the first four seasons. Casey was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1966.