Historical Home Runs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jimmy Sebring

The others did not begin their Major League careers until the 1930s. 1903 saw the AL Champion Boston Americans go up against the NL Champion Pittsburgh Pirates. Sebring of the Pirates hit an inside-the-park home run in the top of the seventh inning. Ironically, it was off the great Cy Young. Pittsburgh won the game 7-3, but Boston would go on to win the series, five games to three.

More World Series firsts were: Single- Honus Wagner (Pittsburgh), Double- Chick Stahl (Boston), Triple- Tommy Leach (Pittsburgh), Steal- Honus Wagner, Walk- Claude Ritchey (Pittsburgh) from Cy Young, Strikeout- Ed Phelps (Pittsburgh) by Cy Young, Win- Deacon Phillippe (Pittsburgh), Loss- Cy Young (Boston).

Answer: 1932

Ruth did not play in any of the other seasons listed. On October 1st in game three against the Chicago Cubs, Ruth was taking some pretty bad heckling from the home team at Wrigley Field. The Babe pointed out towards centerfield as he stood at the plate. Was it a prediction or just a gesture? Neither has been validated, but the next pitch by Chicago's Charlie Root, put this controversy into the history books. Ruth hit two home runs in the game, and it was the same game that he promised a very sick young boy a home run in his honor.

Answer: Bobby Thomson

The others listed were all Brooklyn Dodgers. The screaming words of announcer Russ Hodges, "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!", went down in baseball history with Thomson's blast, termed as "The shot heard round the world".

Answer: Ted Williams

On September 28, 1960, Williams cleared the fence in his home of 19 seasons at Fenway Park in Boston. The home run came in the bottom of the eighth inning in the final game of his career. It was number 521, and came off Orioles pitcher Jack Fisher.

Answer: Bill Mazeroski

The Pirates were up 9-7 going into the ninth inning, then the Yankees scored two runs via a Mickey Mantle single and a Yogi Berra groundout. With the game tied at 9-9, and with Ralph Terry on the mound, Mazeroski was the first Pirate batter. The rest was history. Although the Pirates won the series, the Yankees out-scored them 55-27 runs. The Yankees also out-hit them 91-60.

Answer: Reggie Jackson

The Yankees took games one, three, four, and six. Reggie hit a home run each in games four and five, then blasted three more in game six. Jackson's three home runs were in consecutive at-bats. The charitable pitchers were Burt Hooton in the fourth inning, Elias Sosa in the fifth, and Charlie Hough in the eighth. Jackson was the series MVP. Reggie hit 18 postseason home runs over his career, earning the name "Mr. October".

Answer: Kirk Gibson

The home run was said to give the Dodgers more boost than imaginable, as they went on to take the series, four games to one. Gibson was not scheduled to play at all due to problems with both knees. It was his only at-bat in the entire series.

Answer: Roger Connor

None of the others made the list at all. Connor was a Troy Trojan in the National League in 1881 when he popped the grand salami in a walk-off fashion on September 9th. The term "walk-off" is any hit that ends the game resulting in a win. It originally was designed at pointing a finger at a pitcher, who hung his head in shame as he left the field.

Many players have hit walk-off home runs throughout the decades, but the list of those to do it with a grand slam is noticeably smaller. Others who have done this are Babe Ruth (1925), Bobby Thomson (1952), Buddy Bell (1984), Brian Giles (2001), amongst a few others.

Answer: 1998

Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927 in a 154-game season. Maris hit 61 in 1961 which was a 162-game season. This was the reason for the asterisk, and led to many arguments of who really had the season record. McGwire hit 70 home runs in 1998. His 62nd was on September 8th, and came off pitcher Steve Trachsel of the Cubs. Mark also hit 65 the following season.

He retired with 583 in his career, three short of the great Frank Robinson.

Answer: Blue Jays

The Blue Jays won their second consecutive World Series in 1993, with their first coming against the Atlanta Braves. With the Blue Jays down 6-5, Carter came to bat with two on base. His 2-2 pitch dished up by Mitch Williams scored Rickey Henderson and Paul Molitor also.

The Blue Jays won it 7-6. Molitor was still the series MVP for hitting 12 times and batting .500, while Carter batted .280 with seven hits. Joe played for all the teams listed in addition to the Orioles and Giants.