The 2023 MLB Postseason Multiple Choice Quiz | World Series

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The three highest payroll teams all failed to make the playoffs in 2023. Which are these three teams who disappointed their fans?

Answer: Mets, Yankees, Padres

The Mets, the Yankees, and the Padres all were huge disappointments in the 2023 season with their bloated payrolls, compared to the MLB average. The NY Mets payroll was more than double the MLV average.

The other choices are the three lowest payroll teams which didn't make the playoffs (Guardians, Pirates, Athletics), the three lowest payroll teams who made the playoffs (Orioles, Rays, Marlins), and the three highest payroll teams who made the playoffs (Rangers, Phillies, Dodgers).

2. The 2023 postseason featured four rounds, with the first called the "wild card" round. Which state had two teams in the wild card round, despite poor fan support?

Answer: Florida

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Florida Marlins both made the playoffs, despite having average regular season attendances ranked 27th and 29th, respectively. The failure of Florida fans to support their teams raised serious questions about whether the Rays and Marlins would remain in Florida.

3. The top two teams in each league received byes into the second round, called the Division Series. However, three of those four teams lost in the Division Series. Which team, still hated by many fans after a sign-stealing scandal of a few years prior, was the only team of the four to win?

Answer: Houston Astros

The Astros beat the Minnesota Twins three games to one, to advance into the third round. The other choices are the three teams which failed to advance, despite the extra rest afforded by the first-round bye.
[in 2017 the Astros had used secret cameras to view signals and signs between the pitcher and catcher]

4. Which Phillie outfielder set a record in the Division Series by becoming the first player ever to hit multiple home runs in consecutive postseason games?

Answer: Nick Castellanos

Castellanos homered twice in the third game and twice in the fourth game, to lead the Phillies to a three games to one series win over the Atlanta Braves. The other choices are the right fielders for the other three Division Series winners, the Diamondbacks (Carroll), Rangers (Garcia), and Astros (Tucker).

The Phillies went on to set a record with 24 homers in a single postseason, as Bryce Harper and Kye Schwarber joined Castellanos with five homers each.

5. The Rangers met the Astros in an all-Texas American League Championship Series. What was unusual about the result?

Answer: The home team lost every game.

The best-of-seven series went to a seventh game, with the Rangers crushing the Astros 11-4 in game seven at the Astros home park.

6. The Texas Rangers met the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 World Series. This was the first time that two wild card teams had met in the World Series.

Answer: False

Wild card teams had previously met in the World Series in 2002, when the Angels beat the Giants, and in 2014, when the Giants beat the Royals.

7. Prior to 2023 the Texas Rangers had never won a World Series.

Answer: true

The Rangers, who got their start in 1962, had gone the longest of any franchise without a championship. Then Rangers had twice been within one strike of winning the 2011 World Series over the Cardinals, only to be denied both times and losing in seven games. But they were not to be denied in 2023, as they destroyed the Diamondbacks in five games.

8. The MVP of the World Series was a Rangers shortstop who had previously won a World Series MVP in 2020 while with the Dodgers. Who is this superstar?

Answer: Corey Seager

Seager became only the second player to ever win a World Series MVP award with two different teams, with Reggie Jackson in the 1970s being the first. Seager spent seven seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers before signing a ten-year, $325 Million contract with the Rangers prior to the 2022 season. He was one of several high-priced free agents signed by the Rangers, leading to their first-ever World Series championship in 2023.

The wrong choices are other shortstops who have won World Series MVP awards: Jeter in 2000 with the Yankees, Eckstein in 2006 with the Cardinals, and Renteria in 2010 with the Giants.

9. Who is the Rangers second baseman who made Major League history by coming to the plate an amazing 835 times, counting both regular season and post season?

Answer: Marcus Semien

Semien was another of the Rangers high-priced free agents. The wrong choices are the second basemen for the other three teams in the two League Championship Series.

10. Who was the Rangers manager who became only the third manager to take three different franchises to the World Series?

Answer: Bruce Bochy

Bruce Boche was a back-up catcher in the major leagues for ten years. Upon his retirement as a player, he managed in the minor leagues for the San Diego Padres, working his way up in the Padres organization until being named as their manager for the 1995 season. He managed the Padres from 1995-2006, taking them to the World Series in 1998. He then was hired by the San Francisco Giants and managed them from 2007-2019, taking them to the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. He then retired and spent three years away from baseball, until the Rangers coaxed him out of retirement to manage in the 2023 season.

The only other managers to take three different franchises to hte World Series are Bill McKenchie and Dick Williams.

Source: Author chessart

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The 2023 MLB Postseason Trivia Quiz

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