What Was That Number Again? Trivia Quiz

Answer: 27

Carlton Fisk always kept his Sox on. After 8 years with the Red Sox in the 1970s, he spent the remainder of his career with the Chicago White Sox (1981-1993). Fisk hit 376 home runs in his career, but the one most remember is the one he hit in the 12th inning that ended Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. The ball hit off the foul pole and NBC television made the moment even more memorable by featuring a camera angle that showed Fisk waving his arms and seemingly willing the ball fair before celebrating the homer as he rounded the bases. The clip has been subsequently been featured in many promos.

Fisk apparently never cared for the New York Yankees. He had a feud with catcher Thurman Munson which culminated in a 10 minute, bench clearing brawl on August 1, 1973. He and outfielder Lou Piniella started shoving each other after the outfielder had tried to score on May 20, 1976. That precipitated a bench clearing brawl. One incident that didn't clear the benches occurred on May 22, 1990, when Deion Sanders took exception to Fisk (then with the White Sox) yelled at him for not running out a pop up.

Answer: 4

Joe Cronin played with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Senators, and the Red Sox over his career (1926-1945). He was an All-Star with the Senators (three times) and the Red Sox (four times). He was also general manager of the Red Sox for 11 years (1935-1947). He was American League president for 15 years (1959-1973), overseeing two league expansions and 4 franchise relocations.

Legendary manager Connie Mack, who managed the Philadelphia A's for 50 years (1901-1950), once said of Cronin, "With a man on third and one out, I'd rather have Cronin hitting for me than anybody I've ever seen, and that includes Cobb, Simmons and the rest of them."

Answer: 14

Jim Rice also led the league in home runs 3 times, RBIs twice and slugging percentage twice. He had a monster year in 1978, winning the MVP, when he hit .315 with 46 home runs, 139 runs batted in, 213 hits, 15 triples, 406 total bases, and a slugging percentage of .600. He led the American League in 11 different categories that year, and only Rogers Hornsby with the 1921 St. Louis Browns had more with 12. He is the only player in history to lead the league in home runs, RBIs, and triples in the same year.

During a nationally televised game on August 7, 1982, Rice rushed into the stands to help a young boy struck in the head by a line drive hit by Red Sox teammate Dave Stapleton. Rice left the dugout and entered the stands to help four-year-old Jonathan Keane, who was bleeding heavily. Rice carried the boy into the clubhouse, where he was treated by the team's medical staff. Rice's swift response most likely saved Keane's life, as help may not have arrived in time. Rice also paid the hospital bill, and Keane made a full recovery from the injury.

Answer: 8

Carl Yastremski, or "Yaz", holds many of the Red Sox lifetime batting records, and he won the MVP award in 1967 during the Red Sox's "Impossible Dream" season. Yaz achieved baseball's triple crown in 1967 by leading the league with a .326 average, 44 home runs (tied with Minnesota's Harmon Killebrew), and 121 RBIs. No major leaguer had a Triple Crown season for 45 years, when Detroit's Miguel Cabrera accomplished the feat in 2012.

Yaz once said he thought that Tommy John was one of the hardest pitchers for him to hit against. This surprised John, who remembered Yastrzemski hitting him well while he was with the White Sox. John concluded that Yastrzemski must be remembering his years with the Yankees beginning in 1979, when John, who had by then had the surgery bearing his name, had more success against Yaz.

Answer: 45

Pedro Martinez came up with the Los Angeles Dodgers, joining his brother Ramon. He also pitched for the Montreal Expos, the Red Sox, the New York Mets, and the Philadelphia Phillies. His stature and durability always seemed to be in question early in his career. He was officially listed at 5ft 11in and 170 pounds; those who have seen him say he was much smaller. In the minor leagues, the then 135 pound pitcher was threatened with a $500 fine if he was caught running. In his first 2 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, manager Tommy LaSorda used him exclusively in relief, as he didn't believe that Pedro had the proper build to last as a starter. It wasn't until Pedro was traded to the Montreal Expos that his abilities as a starter came full bore.

On June 3, 1995, Martínez pitched 9 perfect innings in a game against the San Diego Padres, before giving up a hit in the bottom of the 10th inning. He did not get credit for a perfect game as, in 1991, Major League Baseball had changed the definition of a no-hitter to "a game in which a pitcher or pitchers complete a game of nine innings or more without allowing a hit." Because Pedro did not have a complete game no hitter, he didn't get credit for a perfect game (despite retiring the first 27 batters in 9 innings).

In 1959, Harvey Haddix (playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates) was denied a 12 inning perfect game, having allowed a home run in the 13th. The 1991 rule change retroactively "confirmed" the 1959 decision to deny the perfect game. Harvey Haddix remains as the only pitcher to throw 12 consecutive perfect innings. Most baseball historians believe this record will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Answer: 1

Bobby Doerr played for the Red Sox from 1937 to 1951. He's widely regarded as one of the best second baseman to ever play the game. He was discovered by Hall of Famer Eddie Collins on the same recruiting trip that signed Ted Williams. It was Williams who dubbed Doerr "The Silent Captain", a nickname that would follow him throughout his life. Doerr was the last living major leaguer to have played in the 1930s, having died at the age of 99 in 2017.

Doerr was the first Red Sox player to have hit for the cycle twice: on May 17, 1944 against the St. Louis Browns and again on May 13, 1947 against the Chicago White Sox.

Answer: 34

David Ortiz 20 season career spanned 1997 to 2016. He was signed by the Seattle Mariners in 1992 just 10 days after his 17th birthday. The Mariners listed him as "David Arias" as they weren't familiar with Spanish-naming customs. He was traded by the Mariners to the Minnesota Twins in 1996 and asked that he be listed as "David Ortiz", using his paternal family name rather than "Arias" which was his maternal family name.

When the 2003 season started, Ortiz, who had been wearing uniform number 27 with Minnesota, took number 34 with the Red Sox in honor of his mentor and friend on the Twins, Kirby Puckett. Ortiz's nickname "Big Papi" originates from his habit of calling people (and teammates) whose names he could not remember "Papi." The nickname was given to him by Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy.

Answer: 26

Wade Boggs played for the Red Sox, NY Yankees, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1982 to 1999. His number 12 has been retired by Tampa. Among his other superstitions - he woke up at the same time every day, his route to and from his position from the dugout was always the same, and he drew the Hebrew word "Chai" (meaning "living") in the batter's box before each at-bat, though he is not Jewish. He asked Fenway Park public address announcer Sherm Feller not to say his uniform number when he introduced him because Boggs once broke out of a slump on a day when Feller forgot to announce his number. Boggs has a .369 lifetime batting average at Fenway Park.

In a hotel in Toronto on June 9, 1986, Boggs tried to use his foot to pry off a cowboy boot from his other foot, only to have things go rather badly. Instead of losing his boot, he lost his balance and fell ribcage-first into the arm of a couch, resulting in severely bruised ribs. He eventually missed 6 games and the injury most likely cost him a chance at hitting .400.

Answer: 9

Call him "The Kid", or "The Splendid Splinter", but the accomplishments Ted Williams racked up during his playing days are too numerous to mention. Among his major achievements are -- a 19 time All-Star, a 2 time MVP award winner, a 6 time AL batting champion, and a 2-time Triple Crown winner. He finished his playing career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a 1.116 on-base plus slugging percentage. He also found time to manage for 4 years (Washington Senators/Texas Rangers from 1969 to 1972).

An avid sport fisherman, Ted hosted a television program about fishing, and was inducted into the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 1999. He was also fond of hunting; he often would pigeon-shoot at Fenway Park before games. This would result in frequent complaints from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It was said that Williams' eyesight was so keen that he could count the stitches on a baseball before it reached the plate. Other servicemen would say he could identify the type of plane flying overhead before they could even see the plane. That most likely explained his expert batting eye and why he worked so many walks (2,021 in 2,292 games) in his career.

Answer: 6

Johnny Pesky also spent time with the Detroit Tigers and Washington Senators during those 10 years.

On top of all his other titles, Pesky was officially a Special Assignment Instructor and watched the final out of Game 4 in the 2004 World Series, where the Red Sox sealed a sweep and their first World Series win in 86 years. In the celebration that immediately followed, he was embraced by members of the Curse-breaking, title-winning Sox such as Tim Wakefield, Curt Schilling and Kevin Millar.

Pesky was the first American Leaguer to score 6 runs in a 9 inning game.

The right field foul pole at Fenway Park is known as the Pesky Pole. Former teammate and Sox broadcaster Mel Parnell named the pole after Pesky. Pesky, according to Parnell, had won a game for him in 1948 with a home run down the short (302 ft) right field line, just around the pole. Being that Pesky was a contact hitter who hit only 17 home runs in his career, it's likely that the home runs he hit there landed close to the pole. As it turned out, however, Pesky hit just one home run in a game pitched by Parnell, a two-run shot in the first inning of a game against Detroit played on June 11, 1950. Parnell earned a no-decision that day, but the nickname stood. The team made it official in a ceremony on September 27, 2006.