Short Baseball III Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1

Maris had only one season in which he was recognized for. In 1961, he hit his famous 'asterik' 61st home run. An asterik was put in the record books because Maris played a 162 game season, while Babe Ruth hit 60 in 154 games. Mark McGwire removed this famous asterik in the history books.

Other than his 1961 season, Maris only hit more than 30 four-baggers only twice in his career. He retired with 275 home runs after 12 seasons.

Answer: Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox had 3 dismal seasons in 1925, 1926, and 1927, losing 315 games in that span. They were managed by Lee Fohl those seasons, before the Red Sox replaced him for the 1928 season. This was Fohl's final season as a manager.

Answer: Orel Hershiser

Hershiser earned the nickname 'bulldog' with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1983-1995. He also played with Cleveland for 3 seasons, and one each with the Giants and Mets. He retired as a Dodger again in 2000.

Answer: 1971 Giant - Willie Mays

Mays was inducted into the Hall in 1979. Nobody knows for sure why some of baseball greats, took what seems to be a lifetime to be inducted. Johnny Mize did not enter the Hall until 1981, Kell in 1983, and Vic Willis made the Hall in 1995, 48 years after his death in Elkton, Maryland.

Answer: Hank Greenberg

Other than Greenberg, Fielder was the only one to do it twice. 'Hammerin Hank' smacked pitchers around throughout his great Tiger career. He did it 1937, hit 58 in 1938, then followed through with 40 in 1941. He capped it off with 44 in 1946. He played 13 seasons, 12 with Detroit, and retired in 1947 as a Pirate.

Answer: Shane Andrews

Shane Andrews of the Chicago Cubs did this on March 29, 2000. It came in the seventh inning of Chicago's game against the New York Mets, played in the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.

Answer: Seattle Mariners

A road game played in Seattle, Pedro Martinez was untouchable for the Mariners' offense. On the day, he allowed four total baserunners, but none of them ever came home to score in Boston's 2-0 victory. Incidentally, this came on Boston's Opening Day, getting Martinez's team, and Martinez himself, off to the best 21st century start they could have hoped for.

Answer: Derek Bell

The game was played on March 29, 2000. There were two outs in the eighth inning, and the Mets were down 5-1. Sammy Sosa stood at second base as Tarrik Brock of the Cubs smashed a base hit into right field. Sosa attempted to round third base and score, but he was gunned down by right fielder Derek Bell in the process. Unfortunately for the Mets, this impressive athletic effort from Bell amounted to naught, as the team dropped the game by a score of 5-3.

Answer: Ken Hill

Spencer would come around to later score after hitting this triple, the game played on April 3rd 2000. This was key, as the Yankees won a tight 3-2 contest with strong pitching from both sides. The same Ken Hill Spencer rocketed the triple off of would be saddled with the losing decision, while Orlando Hernandez of the Yankees got the win and Mariano Rivera locked down the save.

Answer: Manager

Bobby Valentine was the very first person at the turn of the century to be ejected from an MLB game, on March 29 of 2000. The Mets skipper was infuriated by an obstruction call made against first basement Todd Zeile, causing him to argue for a long, long time with umpires. After awhile, he was ejected from the game. Incidentally, the Mets played the rest of that game under official protest, though nothing ever came of it in the end.

It wouldn't be for another three weeks for the first player to get bounced from a game. Dean Palmer of the Detroit Tigers, angry after getting hit by a baseball thrown by White Sox pitcher Jim Parque, who had hit a couple of Palmer's teammates as well, threw his batting helmet at Parque. This started a benches clearing brawl where Palmer was ejected and later suspended for eight games as well as fined a significant amount of money for his role in the brawl.