Code Word: Exit Stage Left Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sandy Koufax

Sanford (Sandy) Koufax is an American Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher. Koufax, a left-hander, went from high school to the major leagues, becoming one of a handful of players who never played minor league ball, but are in the Hall of Fame. Koufax earned his legendary status primarily for his performance between 1961 and 1966. During that stretch, Koufax won 128 games and lost only 47. Koufax won three Cy Young Awards for being the best pitcher in baseball, was the Most Valuable Player in 1963, led the league in strikeouts four times and had the lowest earned run average a staggering five times. In addition, his Los Angeles Dodger teams won the National League pennant three times and were World Series Champions twice. However after the 1966 season, where Koufax dominated yet again, at the age of 30 Sandy retired from baseball.

Perhaps the best known story about Sandy Koufax was his refusal to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because the game fell on Yom Kippur. As an observant Jew, Koufax spent the day in the Synagogue and his actions sparked a short-lived uproar. The uproar turned to cheers when Koufax pitched in games 2 and 5 of the series, and then, in one of the most masterful performances ever, pitched game 7 on two days rest. With an ailing arm, the lefty pitched a three-hit shutout and the Dodgers claimed the championship.

Answer: Jim Brown

When you mention the topic of athletes who retired at their peak usually James Nathaniel (Jim) Brown is the first name mentioned. Brown is perhaps the only person who has been inducted in the College (American) Football, Pro Football and the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. As a professional football player, Brown played in nine seasons as a running back for the Cleveland Browns (no relation). During those nine seasons, Brown led the NFL in rushing eight times. He was the League's Most Valuable Player four times and led his Brown team to the 1964 Championship. Remarkably despite playing a punishing physical style, Brown never missed a game during his entire career.

At 29 years old, after a 1965 season where Brown "mauled" the league, running for the most yards and scoring the most touchdowns, he announced his retirement to pursue acting. Since the mid-1960s, Brown has appeared in over 40 movies. In addition, Brown has been active as an advocate for improvement in America's mostly minority inner cities.

Answer: Eric Cantona

How does a Frenchman earn the name "King Eric" from the English fans of the Manchester United FC? The only was to do this is do what Eric Cantona did in the five seasons between 1992-1997 - led your team to four English League titles, three Community Shield Trophies and two FA Cups then retire at the age of 30.

Cantona's achievements might have been even more staggering had he not been suspended during the 1994-95 season. During a game on January 25, 1995, Cantona was kicked out of a game against Crystal Palace. On his way to the locker room, Cantona responded to heckling from a Palace fan by issuing a "karate" kick and several punches to the fan. Cantona was convicted of assault. Without Cantona , who was banned form English Football for a total of eight months, United slipped to second place.

Answer: Lorena Ochoa

The surname Ochoa is taken from the Basque language word for wolf. Professional golfer Lorena Ochoa certainly acted the part of a fierce hunter during her eight years on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour. Between her rookie year in 2002 and her abrupt retirement in 2010, Ochoa won 30 tournaments and was named the Player of the Year four consecutive years (2006-2009).

In 2007, Lorena became the world's top ranked female golfer replacing Annika Sorenstam. Ochoa earned over $15,000,000 during her brief time on the tour.

She used her massive success and high profile to create the Lorena Ochoa Foundation and the successful Ochoa Group. In April 2010, Ochoa announced her retirement form competitive golf stating she realized she had lost her passion for the travel and stress of professional golf and wanted to work full time on her outside interests and start a family. Try as I might, and with apologies to Duran Duran, Ochoa was no longer "Hungry Like the Wolf."

Answer: Barry Sanders

With the exception of Jim Brown, no NFL running back achieved a more impressive resume before retiring at the peak of their prowess than Barry Sanders. Sanders was an All-American halfback for Oklahoma State University and won the 1988 Heisman Trophy as the outstanding college football player.

As a professional, Sanders played ten years for the Detroit Lions, where he led the NFL in rushing yards four times while amassing over 15,000 yards on the ground and scoring 109 touchdowns. Sanders was a ten time Pro-Bowl selection and twice was selected as the NFL Most Valuable Player (1991, 1997).

Despite Sanders' greatness, his team, the Detroit Lions, won only one playoff game during his career. Like Jim Brown thirty years before, Sanders abruptly retired at the peak of his skill.

After the 1998 season that saw Sanders rush for 1,491 yards, Barry faxed his retirement to a newspaper in his hometown of Wichita, Kansas. Later, Sanders admitted that the "culture" of losing that surrounded the Lions "ground away" his love of the game.

Answer: Rocky Marciano

When the greatest heavyweight boxers of all-time are discussed, Rocco Francis Marchegiano, better known as "Rocky" Marciano, is certainly high on the list. Marciano is the only modern day heavyweight champion to retire with a perfect record, having never been defeated. Marciano, whose nickname was "The Brockton Blockbuster, won 43 of his 49 victories by knockout. Marciano held the undisputed title from September 23, 1952 until he retired on April 27, 1956. Marciano was only 32 years old. Tragically, Rocky died at the age of 45, the victim of an inexperienced small airplane pilot's error in bad weather.

Answer: Robert "Bobby" Jones

Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. is the most enigmatic of American golfers. Jones was an amateur golfer who nonetheless dominated golf in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1930 alone, he became the only person to win the Pre-Masters Era "Grand Slam" when he won the US Open, British Open, US Amateur and British Amateur tournaments. In all, Jones won the US Open four times, the British Open three times and the US Amateur a record five times.

In 1930, Jones decided to scale back his golf hobby and stop competing at major events. Jones decided that he needed to devote his full energies to his actual profession as an attorney in his home state of Georgia. However, Jones never truly left golf. At the time, Bobby Jones was 28 years old. Jones never truly left golf. In 1931-1933 Jones created a series of golf instructional films that were very popular. Jones helped designed golf clubs that were amongst the most successful sold. Jones' best known accomplishments were the co-designing and founding of the famed Augusta National Golf Course and the annual Masters Golf Tournament.

Answer: Bjorn Borg

From 1975-1980 when Swedish tennis star Bjorn Borg played, "resistance was futile". Borg won five consecutive Wimbledon Championships (1976-1980) and four consecutive of his six French Open titles (1974-75, 1978-1981). In addition, Borg won a total of 77 professional tournaments in his career. During the late 1970s, Borg spent 109 weeks as the world's Number One ranked singles player. Despite winning the French Open in 1981, Borg did not return to defend his title and played in only one tournament in 1982. Borg announced his retirement at the age of 26 in early 1983.

Unlike many of the other greats who retired at the peak of their skill Bjorn Borg attempted a comeback of sorts in the mid-1990s, but quickly returned to leisure and the occasional masters tournament appearance. In an odd homage, there are several sources that suggest 'Star Trek' creator Gene Roddenberry named his machine race "the Borg" after the cool and calculating persona of Bjorn Borg on the tennis court.

Answer: Bobby Fischer

There is perhaps no stranger case of a competitor retiring from a sport at a young age than the story of Robert James "Bobby" Fischer. Fischer was born in Chicago in 1943 and became the youngest US Grandmaster Chess Champion at the age of 15 in 1958. From 1958-1966, Fischer won all eight US Chess Championships in which he competed. By 1970, Fischer appeared unbeatable and became the first sanctioned number one ranked chess player by the newly created World Chess Federation (FIDE). Fischer made history in early 1972 when he played the reigning world chess champion Boris Spassky of the USSR. In addition to the normal pressure of any major event, Spassky and Fischer played with heavy Cold War overtones. When Fischer won the match, he became the first American to be named Chess World Champion.

Fischer and his victory became a media spectacle. Membership on chess clubs grew rapidly. Bobby Fischer appeared on the cover of "Sports Illustrated Magazine" and on various television shows. However, after beating Spassky, Fischer essentially stopped playing chess. Attempts to arrange the 1975 World Chess Championship with Fischer and top-ranked challenger Anatoly Karpov failed, and in shocking fashion Fischer resigned his title on June 27, 1974. From that point on, Fischer seemed to disappear from the spotlight. He was rarely seen and never played chess in public. Suddenly in 1992, Fischer organized a chess duel with his old foe Boris Spassky. The event was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, then under an economic embargo prohibiting US citizens from aiding the Yugoslav economy. Fischer went ahead with the match and the US State Department issued an arrest warrant. As an afterthought, Fischer won the match easily. Now a fugitive, Fischer moved across the globe spending the next 15 years as a man without a country, making news for a string of anti-Semitic and anti-American tirades. Given asylum in Iceland in 2005, Fischer died in 2008.

Answer: Bobby Orr

Robert "Bobby" Orr was a Canadian hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL). Orr was a defenseman in an era when defensemen were not considered goal threats. Orr revolutionized the game of professional hockey by scoring over 900 points, the most at the time of any defensemen in NHL history to that point. During his 12 year career, Orr was named top Defenseman eight times and was overall league MVP four times. During his tenure, his Boston Bruins won two Stanley Cups as the NHL Champion. Orr retired in 1978 at the age of 30, after suffering repeated knee injuries.

After his playing days were over, Orr became a highly successful player's agent and junior level coach.