Baseball for Boneheads Quiz | Baseball

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Casey Stengel won three league pennants as a player, and also won 10 pennants as a manager. Which team did he manage to those 10 pennants?

Answer: New York Yankees

As a player, Stengel won one NL pennant with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1916, then two with the New York Giants in 1922 and 1923. All 10 league pennants as a manager came with the Yankees from 1949-1960, missing out on only two World Series in that run. Seven of those AL pennants resulted in World Series victories. So, Casey crossed the tracks in 1962 to manage the brand new New York Mets.

After tasting success for more than a decade, Casey's new team went 40-120 in their first season. In his final season in 1965, Stengel's Mets went 31-64 before he was replaced by Wes Westrum. Casey was a 1966 Hall of Fame inductee.

2. After the 1957 season, the New York Giants moved to the west coast bay area. They would become the San Francisco Giants in 1958. While waiting for their new home to be finished, the Giants played two seasons at Seals Stadium, one of the nicest parks of its time. Which ballpark were they waiting for in 1960?

Answer: Candlestick Park

In Candlestick's first year of existence, it ranked second of eight teams in attendance for the Giants. 1960 saw them finish fifth, then third in '61, then first in '62, but lose the World Series to the New York Yankees.

3. The Chicago Cubs were the first team in history to appear in three consecutive World Series. They were in the promised land from 1906-1908 with players in the names of Frank Chance, Joe Tinker, and Mordecai Brown. Which team was the only team to defeat them during this series stretch?

Answer: Chicago White Sox

The others were all National League teams, but only the Pirates existed in 1908. In the Cubs' first World Series, their crosstown rival White Sox took them down, four games to two, although the Cubs had won 116 games in the season. The 1907 series saw the Cubs easily dispose of the Tigers, four games to none with one tie. 1908 was a repeat, watching the Cubs win over Detroit.

In 1909, the Tigers would see their own third consecutive series, and be the second team to go three in a row.

4. The 1946 All-Star game was held at Fenway Park in Boston. The American League won it 12-0. Which American Leaguer hit two home runs, had 10 total bases and five RBIs in the game?

Answer: Ted Williams

The others listed were all National Leaguers during their entire career. Williams was right at home in Fenway Park. Ted's game was an all-star record, which would later be tied by Al Rosen of the Indians in 1954. Williams and Boston would not stop there, as they went on to win 104 games and finish 12 games ahead of second place Detroit.

They would however, lose the World Series to the Cardinals.

5. There have been many memorable World Series home runs throughout history. Bill Mazeroski, Carlton Fisk, Kirk Gibson, Joe Carter, and Reggie Jackson to name a few. Ernie Banks retired with 512 career home runs over 19 years. How many World Series home runs did Banks have to his credit?

Answer: 0

'Mr. Cub' as he is well-known, played for the dry-spell Chicago Cubs from 1953-1971. The Cubs' appearance in the 1945 World Series would be their last in the entire 20th century. Ernie saw no postseason games in his career at all. Banks took the most votes in the 1977 Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

6. After changing their name from the Colt 45's to the Houston Astro's, they hosted the San Francisco Giants in what would be the first regular season game played in Houston's new Astrodome. Which year did this game take place?

Answer: 1965

With its original name, Harris County Domed Stadium, April 1965 saw the beautiful Astrodome open its doors to the Astros. It also housed pro football's Houston Oilers. In the first regular season game, a record was already set. It was the first 1-0 game in which nobody had an RBI.

The Giants' Willie McCovey hit into a double-play scoring the go-ahead run. He was not credited with an RBI.

7. Except for special cases, what are the three original criteria for induction into the baseball Hall of Fame?

Answer: Played at least 10 seasons, retired for at least five, and receive 75% of the ballots

This is why although a historical name in baseball, Eddie Gaedel, would not have a chance to be on a ballot, even though he would probably not receive votes. Jackie Robinson played for 10 seasons, and if he had only played in nine, probably would have been one of those 'special circumstances'.

8. Which batter won the last Triple Crown of the 20th century?

Answer: Carl Yastrzemski

Both Johnson and Koufax won three Triple Crowns each, but they were pitching Triple Crowns. At any rate, Yastrzemski came after both pitching greats, and won the award in 1967 for the Boston Red Sox. It was one season after Frank Robinson won the Triple Crown in his first season with the Orioles.

The rest of the century went dry. Carl almost won the elusive Triple Crown in 1963, but fell short with RBIs.

9. Which pitcher retired setting a record for most walks (BB) in his career?

Answer: Nolan Ryan

One would have to figure that with Ryan pitching for 27 seasons would most likely have the most number of walks, along with his record-setting 5714 career strikeouts. Ryan was the first pitcher to walk 2000 batters, retiring with 2795. When Ryan retired in 1993, he had in excess of 900 walks more than runner-up Steve Carlton, still the only pitcher over the 2000 mark.

The others listed played at least 10 seasons less than Nolan.

10. Who was the first batter to strikeout 1500 times in a career in 1966?

Answer: Mickey Mantle

The Big Klu retired in 1961 with 365, Kiner in 1955 with 749, then there was Mr. October, Reggie Jackson. Jackson set almost every strikeout record in existence, and retired at the number one spot in 1987 with 2597 strikouts. However, Jackson was not a rookie until 1967 with the Kansas City Athletics.

The last out that Mantle made in the 1966 season was his 1500th career strikeout. He retired in 1968 with 1710.

Source: Author Nightmare

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Baseball for Boneheads Trivia Quiz

If you're a bonehead like me, you won't get more than three correct in this all multiple choice quiz. I hope that it is educational. :-)

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