The Old Arms of Baseball Trivia Quiz

Answer: Christy Mathewson

Mathewson was inducted into the Hall amongst the other first four inaugural inductees in 1936. One of those four was the great Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators. Mathewson was a New York Giant pitcher and was on 90.7% of the balloting. Johnson made it in with 83.6%.

The other three inducted were outfielder Ty Cobb (98.2%), outfielder Babe Ruth (95.1%), and infielder Honus Wagner (95.1%). Cy Young and Nap Lajoie barely missed the 75% cut-off, then were both inducted in 1937.

Answer: John Ward

Ward was the primary starter for the Providence Grays in 1879 and helped them to win the National League pennant in the season. John topped the 200-mark twice in his career. With some rules changes for the 1879 season, his new season record of 239 started a wave of pitchers throwing 200+ strikeouts for the next nine consecutive seasons.

The others listed never threw 100 strikeouts in a National League season.

Answer: Burleigh Grimes

It was the 1920 World Series that pitted the Brooklyn Robins against the Cleveland Indians. In game five during the first inning, Indian right fielder Elmer Smith took Grimes to the yard for the first series grand slam in history. As big as this feat was, it was somewhat overshadowed by Indian second baseman Bill Wambsganss.

In the fifth inning of the game, Bill completed an unheard of unassisted triple-play against the Robins. Cleveland won the game 8-1, then the series five games to two.

Answer: Al Spalding

Spalding was a pioneer in early baseball and was also a player and manager. In the National Association in 1874, Spalding pitched for the Boston Red Stockings. In 71 game appearances he threw a season record of 52-16, then topped that in 1875 by going 52-5.

His Red Stockings won the NA pennant from 1872-1875 before the league closed its doors. The Philadelphia Athletics won the first title in 1871. Spalding died in 1915 at the age of 65. Al was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939.

Answer: Scott Perry

It was in the first season of modern day baseball in 1920. Perry was with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1920 in his sixth of seven seasons. Scott was a 20-game winner once in his career, but went a dismal 11-25 in 1920. To compound the issue, he was the team's leading winner.

The Athletics finished in last place of eight teams in the American League. Kenesaw Mountain Landis was a federal judge from 1905-1922. He took over as the first Commissioner of Baseball in 1920 after the Black Sox Scandal of the 1919 World Series.

He was commissioner until he died in 1944.

Answer: Pud Galvin

Galvin threw his career in 15 seasons from 1875-1892. He started with the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the National Association and ended his career with the St. Louis Browns of the National League. In 1888 with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the National League, he ended the season with 305 career wins.

He would retire with a 365-310 record. Pud's best seasons were with the Buffalo Bisons in 1883 and 1884 when he won 46 games in both seasons. James Francis "Pud" Galvin was inducted into the Hall of Fame but not until 1965 by the Veteran's Committee.

Answer: Nixey Callahan

The American League began in 1901 while joining forces with the National League to create Major League Baseball. Callahan played 13 seasons between 1894-1913. He played every position during his career except catcher. On September 20, 1902, Nixey and his Chicago White Sox went up against the Detroit Tigers.

His no-hitter resulted in a 3-0 White Sox win. He went 16-14 in the season and the White Sox finished in fourth place behind the pennant-winning Philadelphia Athletics. His career pitching record was 99-73. James Joseph "Nixey" Callahan died in 1934 at the age of 60.

Answer: Phil Knell

Knell's season record of 54 stood throughout the 20th Century for being the only pitcher to plunk 50 hit-batsmen. Phil was a 26-year old pitcher in 1891 with the Columbus Solons of the American Association when he set this unreachable record. He pitched for only six seasons and never hit 30 in a season again.

He retired in 1895 as a Cleveland Spider while hitting 136 batters in his career in addition to pitching with the great Cy Young.

Answer: Addie Joss

Addie was a nine-season career Cleveland Indian from 1902-1910. His perfect game was on October 2, 1908. Joss defeated the Chicago White Sox 1-0 with a record-low 74 pitches in the game. It was the American League's second perfect game after Cy Young threw one in 1904.

In comparison, Matt Cain of the Giants threw a perfect game in 2012 with a pitch-count of 125. Joss' career record was 116-97 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1978 by the Veteran's Committee.

Answer: Pete Alexander

Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander pitched for 20 seasons with the Phillies, Cubs, and Cardinals. In 1916 he threw 16 shutouts for the Phillies, and led the league seven times in that departments. While the great Johnson threw 110 career shutouts in his career, Alexander threw 90.