Steeerike the Match! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Walter Alston

Alston took over the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954, then won the franchise's first World Series in 1955 against the Yankees. Alston stepped down just short of the end of the 1976 season due to illness and gave way to new manager Tom Lasorda. Both Alston and Lasorda were later inducted into the Hall of Fame. Alston recovered but died 12 years later in 1984, one year after watching Lasorda win the NLs first-ever Manager of the Year Award.

Answer: Cy Young

Young was actually a 20-game winner 15 times in his career from 1890-1911. He retired with a 511-316 record along with 2803 strikeouts. When he died in 1955 at the age of 88, Major League Baseball devised a new award in his honor presented annually the following season to the most outstanding pitcher in a season.

The first 11 awards were given to one pitcher in both leagues combined. In 1967 the award began to be presented to the most outstanding pitcher in each league.

Answer: Yogi Berra

Berra began his career in 1946 with limited duties as a Yankee. He came to be reckoned with in 1950 when he finished third for the AL MVP Award. In 1951 he would win the award, then would finish fourth, then second before winning two consecutive awards in 1954 and 1955.

In 1956 Yogi would finish as runner-up again. The Yankees released Berra after the 1963 season, then he signed with the Mets for his final year in 1965. He played 19 seasons overall and retired with 358 home runs. He was inducted into the Hall in 1972. Yogi died in 2015 at the age of 90.

Answer: Tigers

The Tigers had a powerhouse team but lost three series in a row from 1907-1909. The first two were at the hands of the Cubs, then the Pirates put them down in 1909. Even with the greats of Sam Crawford, Ty Cobb, Ed Summers, and George Mullin, the Tigers would have to wait until 1935 to hoist their first World Series banner.

Answer: Frank Thomas

Nicknamed 'Big Hurt', Frank played 16 of his 19 season with the White Sox. Five times he hit 40+ home runs in a season but never led the league. After his time with Chicago he played for Oakland and Toronto. With his 521 career home runs he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014. Williams was a career Boston Red Sox great and McCovey played most of his career with the Giants.

Answer: Greg Maddux

Maddux won his first NL Cy Young Award in 1992 with the Cubs. The Cubs let him go to free-agency after the season and Greg signed with the Braves where he won three more consecutive awards from 1993-1995. He also finished runner-up for the Cy in 1997. Maddux pitched for 23 seasons and retired in 2008 with a 355-227 record.

It didn't take long for the Hall of Fame to accept him as he was inducted in his first year of eligibility in 2014.

Answer: Casey Stengel

It was the 1923 World Series with the Giants vs the almighty Yankees. Stengel hit a ninth inning home run to win it for the Giants in game one, then hit a home run in game three for the only run of the game to win another for the Giants. Unfortunately it wasn't enough as the Yankees won their first World Series four games to two.

Answer: Dodgers

It was the 1949 series that pitted the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees. In game one, first baseman Tommy Heinrich hit a walk-off home run for the Yankees off NL Rookie of the Year Don Newcombe. After the 1-0 win, the Yankees went on to win the World Series four games to one.

The Yankees would also go on to win four more World Series in succession to make a streak of five.

Answer: Eddie Mathews

Mathews began his career in 1952 with the Braves in Boston. He hit 25 home runs as a rookie. The Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953 and Eddie was there to be runner-up for the NL MVP to Roy Campanella of the Dodgers. He was runner-up again in 1959 to Ernie Banks of the Cubs.

In 1966 the Braves moved the franchise to Atlanta and Mathews was still there. He had 113 hits in his final season with the Braves. Atlanta traded Eddie to Houston after the end of the season, then they traded him to the Tigers where he finished his career in 1968 after 17 seasons.

He went to two World Series with the Braves and one with the Tigers. Mathews was a Hall inductee in 1978.

Answer: Wes Ferrell

Ferrell pitched from 1927-1941 with seven of those seasons with the Indians. He hit nine home runs in 1931 with Cleveland which set a season record for a pitcher, seven in 1933 and another seven in 1935 with the Red Sox. With 38 over his career, his record for a pitcher stood going into the 21st Century. Wes was runner-up MVP in Boston in 1935 to Hank Greenberg of the Tigers. Ferrell retired with a 193-128 record. Bob Lemon of the Indians hit 37 in his career and Warren Spahn hit 35 career home runs with the Braves.