Baseball's Forgotten Other Dudes Quiz

Answer: Dale Mitchell

Don Larsen was an unlikely candidate for pitching the perfect game in the World Series. He had a 15 year career in the Major Leagues (1953-1967), pitching for 7 teams with a pitching record of 81 wins and 91 losses. His peak years occurred for the New York Yankees between 1955 and 1959 after he simplified his pitching motion to gain better control of his pitch location. During those years he had a record of 45 wins and 24 losses.

Before the perfect game, Larsen had pitched poorly in his two World Series appearances. In the 1955 World Series, he was replaced after allowing five runs in four innings. In the following year, when he pitched the perfect game, he was ineffective in his first start and replaced in the second inning after allowing four runs.

Larsen started the fifth game of the 1956 World Series, requiring only 97 pitches to complete the game and having only one player receive a three-ball count. He was quite fortunate to have a no-hitter. Mickey Mantle made a difficult outfield catch on a line drive, and Jackie Robinson (Brooklyn Dodgers) was barely out on a line drive that bounced from the Yankee third baseman to the shortstop. Three other line drives were hit directly at Yankee fielders. Larsen was also fortunate that potential hits by Jackie Robinson and Sandy Amoros landing in foul territory.

Dale Mitchell played in the major leagues for eleven years (1946-1956) with an outstanding batting average of .316. His batting average trailed only Hall of Fame players Ted Williams and Stan Musial. He rarely struck out with only 119 strikes out in nearly 4000 at-bats. He played for the Cleveland Indians for all but his final year at Brooklyn.

Answer: Al Downing

Many baseball fans considered Babe Ruth the greatest and most influential player ever and wanted no one to break his home run records. Or if the records were to be broken, the player would be the "right" player.

When Henry "Hank" Aaron approached Ruth's record for lifetime home runs, he met a good deal of resistance - in part because he didn't have Ruth's personality or prodigious power, but mainly because he was a black man. He received a significant amount of hate mail and death threats when he approached the record. He finished the 1973 season with a total of 713 home runs, one short of tying Ruth's record. Friends of Aaron were concerned whether he would be killed before having a chance to break the record in the following year.

He tied Ruth's record in the first game of the year in Cincinnati and broke it at the first home game in Atlanta. He finished his career with 755 home runs. Although Babe Ruth had died by the time his record was broken, his widow Clare was supportive of Aaron and denounced the racial attacks on him.

Al Downing played for four major league teams between 1961 and 1977, making the All Star team in 1967 and leading the league in strikeouts in 1964. In 1971, his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he won 20 games and pitched five shutouts. Overall, he won 123 major league games as a pitcher.

Answer: Charlie Root

The 1932 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees was filled with animosity. The Yankees had won the first two games in their home stadium. In the third game the Chicago fans jeered Ruth mercilessly and pelted him with lemons; and he responded in turn. Ruth had hit a home run earlier in the game. When he came to bat in the fifth inning, the fans and Cub players were screaming at him. After taking the first pitch for a strike, Ruth made a pointing gesture. It's unclear whether he was pointing at the spot he was going to hit the ball or he was calling a home run shot.

After taking another pitch for a strike, he repeated the gesture. The next pitch was a curveball, which Ruth hit to the deepest park of the ballpark, carrying over the fence at 440 feet. For those unfamiliar with baseball, that was a massive distance. Ruth trotted around the bases, gesturing to the Cub fans and players. The incident may have been forgotten if a newspaperman Joe Williams hadn't written a headlined story in the "New York World-Telegram" the next day, stating that Ruth had call his shot and creating the legend.

Charlie Root had a long major league career between 1923 and 1941, winning 201 games. In 1927 he won his career best 26 games. The following years he won between and 15 games. Root, like many others, disputed the contention that Ruth had "called his shot" on the famous home run.

Answer: Goose Gossage

In a game between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals on July 24th, 1983, George Brett came to bat in the top half of the ninth and final inning with his team trailing 4-3, two out and a runner on base. Brett hit a two-run homer against the Yankee closer Rich (Goose) Gossage, putting his team in the lead 5-4. The Yankee manager Billy Martin protested that Brett had too much pine tar on his bat. The umpires examined the bat and ruled that Brett used an illegal bat and was the third out in the inning, which ended the game.

An enraged Brett charged at the umpires and had to restrained by his manager and teammates before serious injuries occurred. The Kansas City team protested the incident to the American League Commissioner, who overruled the umpires. The home run was allowed to stand, and the game was replayed from the point of his home run on August 18th, 1983.

Richard (Goose) Gossage played for nine different teams in his 22 year career in the Major Leagues (1972-1994). He was one of the earliest relief pitcher specialists, known as closers. Blessed with an overpowering fastball and an intimidating manner, he was one of the top closers of his era, selected as an All Star on nine occasions. In 2008 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Answer: Ralph Branca

The Brooklyn Dodgers had a 13 and 1/2 game lead over the New York Giants in the middle of the 1951 baseball season before a late season collapse led to a tie. After the Dodgers won a coin flip to choose home-field advantage, they made the questionable selection of choosing home field for the first game, which allowed the Giants the home field for the remainder of the three-game playoff.

Ralph Branca was the losing pitcher in game one, although he pitched well in a 3-1 contest. In what later would be an ominous sign, the winning Giant runs came on a home run he surrendered to Bobby Thompson. The Dodgers won the second game handily 10-0, setting up the climactic end of the season.

Brooklyn had a 4-1 lead going into the final inning, with Thompson responsible for some of the Giants' problems. He had made a terrible baserunning mistake, which ended an earlier Giant threat, and failed to handle two balls well in a three-run Dodger inning. In the final inning, the Giants scored one run and had runners on second and third base with one out, when the Dodgers called Branca in to pitch to Thompson. Thompson's home run ended the game with the Giants winning by a score of 5-4.

In later years, it was revealed that the Giants had been using binoculars to steal the signs of opposing teams. Thompson admitted he used that information for his first three plate appearances in the game, but denied using them for his game-winning home run. In later life Branca and Thompson became close friends and made many mutual appearances.

Branca had a career of 12 years in the major leagues (1944-1956). He was one of the few players, who welcomed Jackie Robinson, when he broke the "color barrier", and was a pallbearer at Robinson's funeral in 1977.

Answer: Joe Adcock

After retiring 36 consecutive batters, Felix Mantilla of the Milwaukee Braves reached first base on a throwing error by third baseman Don Hoak. The next batter, Eddie Mathews, executed a successful sacrifice bunt to move Mantilla to second base. The Pirates then gave an intentional base on balls to Henry Aaron to set up a possible double play.

The next batter, Joe Adcock, hit a long fly ball to right center, which cleared the first fence for a home run, but falling short of a second fence behind it. Henry Aaron thought that the ball was not a home run in the confusion and ran off the field since the game was over once the first run scored. Normally, Adcock hit would have been a three run home run; but the umpires and the baseball commissioner ruled that Adcock was out for passing Aaron, who had left the field without scoring and the final score was 1-0.

The pitching performance is more remarkable from the fact that the Braves had not been close to a base hit before the 13th inning, Haddix had a heavy cough throughout the game, and the Braves were stealing the signs of the Pittsburgh catcher (only Henry Aaron refused to use their signals).

Joe Adcock had a 17 year career (1950-1966), primarily with Milwaukee. Named to the All Star team twice, he hit 336 home runs, including the rare feat of hitting four in a single game.

Answer: Gil McDougald

Herb Score reached the Major Leagues with the Cleveland Indians in 1955 at age 21. He won 16 games as a rookie and became the first pitcher to average more than one strikeout an inning. He improved in his second year with 20 wins and throwing 263 strikeouts. He was on the verge of a long, successful career.

In May 1957 he was struck in the face by a line drive hit by Gil McDougald of the New York Yankees, breaking his orbital bone and injuring his eye. McDougald raced to the mound to aid the injured Score, instead of running to first base. He vowed to quit baseball if Score lost his vision. Fortunately, Score avoided vision problems, although he he did not play the rest of the year.

The following two years he injured his arm and never attained the same success. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1960 and retired in 1962 at the relatively young age of 29. Although many believed that the injuries were due to an instinctive reaction to the his injury, Score refused to accept that. After his retirement, he spent over 30 years as the Cleveland Indian television and radio broadcaster. Ironically one of his best friends from the Cleveland team was Rocco Colavito, whose promising career was cut short when he was seriously injured by a head injury from a pitch.

Gil McDougald was a cornerstone of the great New York Yankee teams of the 1950s, playing various infield positions. During his career, he was voted American League Rookie of the Year, was a member of five World Series Championship teams, and selected as an All Star six times. Ironically, two years before the Score incident, McDougald was hit in the head by a ball during batting practice, which eventually leading to severe hearing loss.

Answer: Tracy Stallard

Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a season had been challenged in the 1930s by Jimmy Foxx and Hank Greenberg with 58 home runs and Hack Wilson with 56 home runs. However, later attempts had fallen much shorter, and some thought that the record would stand. In 1961 Roger Maris and his New York Yankee teammate Mickey Mantle seriously challenged Ruth's record. Mantle was sidelined with an injury late in the season, and Maris was left to continue the challenge. He suffered resentment and even death threats as he approached 60 home runs. Some of the reasons were that Maris was not an established star, the quality of the league had been weakened by adding two new teams, and that the season had been lengthened by eight games.

Maris had 59 home runs when the season had usually finished. He hit his record-breaking 61st home run in the last game of the season against Boston pitcher Tracy Stallard. For many years his home run was marked with an asterisk to designate it was hit during the eight-game extension, demeaning his accomplishment. Stallard had a seven year career in the Big Leagues. His overall record was 30 wins and 57 losses, although his record of 16-37 with an abysmal New York Mets team distorted his overall record.

Interestingly, the home run by Maris was his only base hit against Stallard in 7 at bats. Stallard also was very successful against Hall of Fame players Willie Mays (6 for 30), Willie McCovey (5 for 33), Roberto Clemente (4 for 29), and Frank Robinson (6 for 28).

Answer: Ralph Terry

Many observers believe that the better team lost the 1960 World Series. Prior to the decisive seventh game, the New York Yankees had three dominant wins (16-3, 10-0, and 12-0); while the Pittsburgh Pirates had wins in tightly contested games (6-4, 3-2, and 5-2). Pittsburgh jumped into an early 2-0 lead in the deciding 7th game, extended it to a 4-0 lead in the second inning. The Yankees clawed a run back in the fifth inning and took a 5-4 lead in the next inning, aided by a three-run homer by Yogi Berra. In the eighth inning, the Yankees increased their lead to 7-4. However, the Pirates scored five runs in the bottom half of the inning, aided greatly by a bad bounce on a potential double-play ball, which hit Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek in the throat.

New York scored two runs in the ninth inning to tie the score at 9-9. Ralph Terry, who had finished the last inning for the Yankees, returned to the mound for the ninth. The first batter, Bill Mazeroski, hit a long drive over the left field wall to give the Pirates a 10-9 victory and World Series Championship.

Mazeroski played for the Pirates between 1956 and 1972 (his entire career), being named to the All Star team ten times. Although he is now remembered for that home run, he was known most for his outstanding defensive play.

Ralph Terry played for four teams during his twelve year Major League career (1956-1967). He had a very successful year in 1961 after the Mazeroski home run, when he had a pitching record of 16 wins and 3 losses. In 1962 he was named to the All Star team selected as the Most Valuable Player of the World Series. He won 102 games during his career, with his best year being 23 wins in 1962.

Answer: Dennis Eckersley

Kirk Gibson, an outfielder noted for his speed and power, played for four different teams between 1979 and 1995. His most successful years occurred for his hometown Detroit Tigers at the start of his career. His most notable moment for them was a three-run home run to clinch the 1984 World Series.

In 1988 he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, helping them to the World Series and winning the league's award for Most Valuable Player. In the National League playoff vs. NY Mets to determine their selection for the World Series, Gibson made a spectacular outfield catch in the third game, hit the game-winning home run in the 12th inning of the next game, and followed it with another key home run in the deciding 7th dame.

However, he had injured both his legs in the playoff series, and it was doubtful that he would to be able to play in the World Series vs. Oakland Athletics . In the first game of the series, the Dodgers trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning. With one man on base and two out, manager Tommy Lasorda surprisingly sent Gibson to bat against future Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley. With a pulled hamstring in one leg and a swollen knee in the other, Gibson hobbled to the plate. With a count of 2 balls and 2 strikes, Gibson lofted a ball over the fence for a game-winning home run and limped around the bases - his only appearance during the World Series that year.

Dennis Eckersley was one of the best relief pitchers of all time with a career extending from 1975 until 1998. He began his baseball career as a starting pitcher, winning the American League Rookie of the Year award (playing for the Cleveland Indians) and throwing a no-hitter in his third year. He won 20 games in 1978 and 16 games in the following year (both as a Boston Red Sox). However, by his early 30s, he lost some of his speed and became less effective.

When he was traded to Oakland in 1987, he developed a slider and was moved to a role as a relief pitcher. He became the dominant closer in baseball from 1988 until 1992, being named the League's Most Valuable Player and winner of the Cy Young Award for best pitcher in 1992. He retired at the end of the 1998 season (back at the Red Sox). "The Sporting News" ranked him as the 98th of the 100 best baseball players of all time, and he was selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004; as soon as he became eligible.