Oblivious Baseball Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brooklyn Dodgers

There were many changes made by teams in the 1950s to keep the eye of their fans. Some worked and some did not. The Dodgers placed an additional number on the left side below the breast on their players' jerseys while retaining the number on the back.

The Pirates tried to wear fiberglass hats - not just for batting but in the field also. The Phillies changed to solid red hats and wore pinstripes for the first time. In 1950, the Phillies won their first National League pennant in 35 seasons with the changes made and kept the uniform.

The Cardinals went to a solo bird as their logo, but went back to two in the 1960s.

Answer: 1921

There were only four best-of-nine game World Series. They were the first World Series in 1903, then 1919-1921. Ironically, 1921 was the first ever appearance that the Yankees made in a World Series. With all the changes in baseball after the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, Judge Landis, who was appointed as the new commissioner in 1920, mandated in 1922 that all World Series would be in a best-of-seven game format.

Answer: Willard Hershberger

Both Ott and Wagner's number were retired, but Young never wore a number in the early days of baseball. Hershberger was a Cincinnati Reds catcher from 1938-1940. He played in only 160 games in three seasons. With his final game on August 2, 1940, he died under mysterious circumstances the following day.

The Reds retired his number 5 in his honor. Two years after his death the case was finally solved and closed. It was determined that Willard had committed suicide. The Reds then reactivated his number 5 in 1942. Ironically, one of the greatest catchers in baseball history later wore that number 5 with the Reds.

This was Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, and the Reds placed the number 5 back on retirement status in his honor after Bench retired in 1984.

Answer: 1943

Many players were drafted into WWII in the era, and baseball owners were slow in filling many positions for the season. The teams just weren't ready to play. The first game of the season didn't take place until April 20th, and the first day that a full schedule was played was not until April 22nd.

The season still ended in the normal time frame on October 3rd after most teams played 154 games. The Yankees put the Cardinals down in the World Series in five games in 1943. On the other side of the coin, in 2014 the season awkwardly began on March 22nd.

Answer: Jim Fregosi

Hindsight is worth a fortune as it showed with this trade. Fregosi had been an Angel for 11 seasons in 1971 when the trade was made. During his entire 18-season career, Jim never led the league in any offensive category, and was never better than seventh in any MVP Award voting. On the other hand ('arm' would be a better term) Ryan began to see his way better with the Angels and finished eighth in the Cy Young Award voting in 1972. Nolan would go on to finish in the top five for the Cy Young six times during his career.

He also led the league in strikeouts an amazing 12 times, and set a season record for striking out 383 batters in 1973. Nolan also retired on top of the career strikeout list with 5,714.

Answer: Bobby Cox

Cox would manage for 29 seasons between 1978 and 2010. He managed the Braves from 1978-1981, then took the helm of the Blue Jays in four seasons before going back to the Braves in 1990. Bobby took the Braves to five National League pennants in the 1990s, but could bag only one World Series crown in 1995 against the Cleveland Indians.

He retired with a managerial record of 2,504 wins along with 2,001 losses. Cox also set manager records for times ejected from games.

Answer: Curry Foley

Curry played for only five seasons in baseball and all in the National League. He was a Boston Red Stocking for two seasons and a Buffalo Bison for three seasons, all from 1879-1883. Foley played pitcher, first base, and in right field. On May 25, 1882 while with the Bisons, he hit a single, double, triple, and home run in the game to be the first-ever professional player to hit for the cycle. Curry batted .305 in the season with 104 hits, and his Bisons tied for third place with Boston for their 45-39 record.

He died in 1898 at the age of 42.

Answer: Jack McCarthy

On April 26, 1905, the Cubs' left fielder threw out three runners at the plate on three plays in the same inning. His Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1. As amazing as his feat was, he never led the league in anything, both offensively or defensively, in his 12 seasons of baseball from 1893-1907.

The Cubs finished in third place behind the NL pennant-winning New York Giants in 1905. Jack played for the Reds, Pirates, Indians, and Brooklyn Superbas.

Answer: Charlie Gould

The National Association was the first official professional organized league of baseball in 1871. Gould was a 23-year-old first baseman with the Boston Red Stockings in 1871. He played for only six seasons in his career. On April 5, 1871 he hit baseball's very first grand slam (to be named a "grand slam" at a later date). Charlie hit only two home runs in the season, but it helped his Red Stockings to finish in third place of nine teams in the NA with a 20-10 team record.

Answer: Al Kaline

While all these greats listed were born in Maryland, only the Babe and Kaline were born in Baltimore. Ruth was born in 1895 and went to St. Mary's High School in Baltimore, and the Babe has a well-documented career. Al was born in Baltimore in 1934. Kaline was a silent career Detroit Tiger in 22 seasons from 1953-1974. Known as "Mr. Tiger", Al finished third in the Rookie of the Year Award voting, then finished 2nd and 3rd for the AL MVP in the two following seasons.

He won a batting title in 1955 and went to one World Series with Detroit in 1968.

The Tigers defeated the almighty Cardinals four games to three.