Birds on The Bat Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1

Gibson led the league with 268 strikeouts in 1968. It was a miraculous campaign of 1968, where he also posted a 1.12 ERA (which caused MLB to lower the pitching mound). Gibson actually had more strikeouts in three other years, 1965, 1969 and 1970. In '65, he came up against some guy named Koufax (that's Sandy Koufax to you mister).

In '69 and '70, Sam McDowell of the Indians took the honors.

Answer: Bob Forsch

Forsch pitched his first no-no on April 16, 1978, against the Phillies. He notched his second on September 26, 1983, defeating the Expos. Gibson and Dean did both pitch no-hitters for the Cardinals, but only one each. Carlton never threw a no-hitter in his career.

Answer: Stan Musial

Stan "The Man" won the MVP in 1943, 1946, and 1948, while enroute to a first-ballot Hall of Fame election. Gibson won one MVP. Pujols did not play in the 20th century, making his Rookie of the Year winning debut in 2001. Hornsby won two Triple Crowns.

Answer: 1

Bob Gibson was the only one to do it in the 20th Century. He actually won the award twice. The first was in his legendary season of 1968, where he also won the MVP. The second was in 1970. Chris Carpenter was another Cardinal pitcher to win the award while wearing the "Birds on the Bat".


Bruce Sutter (St Louis Cardinals 1981-1984) won the Cy Young in 1979 when he was playing for the Chicago Cubs.

Answer: 1940s

Mort Cooper took the award in 1942. Marty Marion won in 1944. Stan Musial won the award in 1943, 1946, and 1948. The Reds actually took 6 MVP trophies in the 1970s with the Big Red Machine; Johnny Bench winning in 1970 and 1972, Pete Rose in 1973, Joe Morgan in 1975 and 1976, and George Foster in 1977.

The Giants managed five in a row with Jeff Kent winning in 2000 and Barry Bonds following with four consecutive MVP titles from 2001-2004.

Answer: Fernando Tatis

It was April 23, 1999. Tatis not only hit two grand slams in the same innings, but he hit both off the same pitcher, Chan Ho Park. Needless to say, Tatis also set the record for RBIs in an inning with 8. In a very unique twist, Tatis signed a Minor League contract with the Mets in 2007 and was placed at AAA New Orleans, putting him on the same roster with Park.

Answer: Mark Whiten

The date was September 7, 1993. Whitten accomplished the feat in the second game of a double-header against the Reds. His 12 RBIs in the game, he tied the record for most in a single game. With 13 RBIs in the two games, he set a new record for most RBIs in a single day.

Answer: 3

Albert "Red" Schoendienst is one of the best loved Cardinals of all-time. He played, coached, and managed the Redbirds. Red served as manager from 1965-1976, capturing a World Series title and two pennants. He returned for part of the 1980 season, prior the arrival of the "White Rat", Whitey Herzog.

His last round as skipper was in 1990, when he served as acting-manager after Herzog's departure.

Answer: True

Both the Cardinals and the Reds suffered from the strike-shortened season in 1981. Both teams had the highest winning percentage for the entire year, but it was decided that the teams with the best record for the first half and second half of the season would have a playoff to determine the division winners. Both the Reds and Cardinals had the highest overall winning percentage for the season, but neither had the highest percentage in either half.

Answer: Bob Gibson

Gibson accomplished the feat in 1968. That season is regarded as one of, if not the best in the history of baseball. Gibson finished with 13 shutouts and 22 victories, and somehow managed to lose 9 times. He finished off the season by setting a new record for strikeouts in a World Series game with 17.

As a result of the season, Major League Baseball decided to lower the pitching mound by six inches.