Baseball For Experts Only! Trivia Quiz

Answer: St. Louis Browns

The Browns did this in 1917. Ironically it was against that year's World Champion,s Chicago White Sox. On May 5th, Ernie Koob no-hit Chicago, and then the following day Bob Groom did it to the White Sox in the second game of a double-header. The White Sox are the only team to be no-hit twice in one season, during the 20th century.

Answer: Larry Corcoran

Corcoran did this for the White Stockings in 1880, 1882, and 1884. In his 8 year career, 5-1/2 seasons were with Chicago were he won 175 games against 85 losses. In 1887 he retired at age 27 and died on October 14th, 1891.

Answer: Dale Long

Dale Long did this with Pittsburgh, May 19th through May 28th, 1956. He hit a total of 27 home runs that year which was his season high. He played from 1951-1963 being shuffled around the league, and did not play the 1952, 1953, or 1954 season.

Answer: Lefty Grove

Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove proved that a southpaw could actually win at Fenway Park in Boston. He accomplished this from May 3rd, 1938 to May 12th, 1941. These were all home game victories. He divided 17-year career between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Red Sox, and retired in 1941 with 300 victories.

Answer: Guy Hecker

Hecker won the 1886 batting title in the AA with Louisville (by the close of the 20th century he was still the first and only pitcher to achieve this feat). Nicknamed the "Big Blond", he didn't start his professional career until his mid-twenties and only played 9 seasons.

In 1882 he became only the 2nd pitcher to throw a no-hitter in baseball history. In 1884 he won 52 games. In 1886 he dipped to 27 wins but hit .341 edging out teammate Pete Browson for the batting crown. Later when he was traded to Pittsburgh, they moved him to first base.

He retired after 9 seasons with a .282 batting average and a pitching record of 173-146.

Answer: Dan Bankhead

Bankhead was also the first black American to pitch in the National League. The 1947 Brooklyn Dodger pitched in relief in 4 games and had a record of 0-0 before he experienced his first at-bat with a home run. He was also the first black pitcher to play in a World Series, not as a pitcher but a pinch runner.

Answer: Bill Klem

In 1953 there were two umpires inducted into the Hall of Fame. The first announcement officially was that Bill Klem was inducted. He shared the year with fellow umpire Tom Connolly.

Answer: 1911

In 1911 it became mandatory for all teams to do this so the fans could distinguish one team from another. The Giants and the Phillies were the first team to play with the light and dark colors.

Answer: Neal Ball

This shortstop did this on July 18th, 1909 while playing for the Cleveland Indians against the Red Sox. He was in his third year of baseball. Ironically, he had just been traded from the New York Highlanders mid-season after committing 80 errors the previous season for the New York club.

Answer: Frank Robinson

Frank Robinson became the first black manager in history when he helmed the Cleveland Indians in 1975, and followed that up with the Giants of San Francisco in 1981.