Baseball to Sweat For: Pt 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Washington Senators

The 1957 Washington Senators were still dismal and struggling since their last World Series title in 1924. Reserve first baseman Julio Becquer led the team with three stolen bases in the season. In 1949, the St. Louis Cardinals set a National League record by stealing only 17 bases in the season. Cardinal Red Schoendienst led that team with almost half their total, with eight of his own.

Answer: 10

It was quite a balanced decade except for the Cleveland Indians who went 100-44 in a strike-shortened season in 1995. The other teams were the Athletics in 1990, Atlanta won 100+ in 1993, 1997, 1998, and 1999. Continuing, the Giants won 103 in 1993, the Yankees went 114-68 in 1998, as Houston won 102 in the same season also. Arizona went 100-62 in 1999.

Answer: Benito Santiago

Santiago played in only 17 games in the 1986 season with the Padres, therefore not qualifying him for any rookie awards. In 1987, he replaced Padre catcher Terry Kennedy who was traded to the Orioles. Benito batted .300 along with 18 home runs as a rookie, which earned him the NL Rookie of the Year award.

Answer: Larry Jansen

Robinson was a well-documented player for being the first to break the color barrier in Major League baseball. He beat pitcher Larry Jansen of the New York Giants by 24 ballot points for the award. While Robinson batted .297 with 12 home runs and 48 RBIs, Jansen blistered the league with his 21-5 and a 3.16 ERA.

Answer: Milwaukee Brewers

The other teams listed had only one MVP winner in the 1980s. For the Brewers in 1981, pitcher Rollie Fingers won the AL MVP over Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics. Fingers also won the Cy Young award in the season. In 1982, it was the Brewers again in Robin Yount who won his first of two season MVPs over runner-up Eddie Murray of the Orioles. Finally, it was Yount again in 1989 for his second MVP for Milwaukee. Robin won this one over Ruben Sierra of the Rangers and Cal Ripken of the Orioles.

Answer: J.R. Richard

Richard of the Astros pitched in only four games in the 1971 season. He struck out 29 in the season with only 21 innings pitched. His Astro career was riddled with injury, and he retired in 1980 after only 10 seasons. His best season was in 1976 when he went 20-15.

Answer: 7

In all six seasons, Thorpe played for the New York Giants, but due to trades back and forth, also played for the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Braves. In his six seasons, Jim stole 29 bases and had a .252 batting average in only 289 games. He played all but two of his games in the outfield.

Answer: Rafael Palmiero

Palmiero spent 20 seasons in the big leagues, playing for the Cubs, Rangers, and Orioles. His highest season home run total was 47 in 1999, finishing second to Ken Griffey Jr. of the Mariners, and another 47 in 2001, finishing behind Alex Rodriguez and Jim Thome. Musial retired with 475 home runs, but never led the league either. Both Banks of the Cubs and Mathews of the Braves retired with 512, and both led the NL twice with most home runs in a season.

Answer: Bobby Lowe

It was Lowe of the Boston Beaneaters who hit four on May 30, 1894, in a game against the Cincinnati Reds. Lowe also had a single in the game, giving him an amazing compilation of 17 total bases for the game. Boston won the game 20-11.

Answer: 1947

The 1947 series pitted the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees. Game one in the series drew a record attendance at Yankee Stadium of over 73,000 fans. Although an error-filled series, the fans were treated to an almost no-hitter in game four by Yankee Bill Blevins who ended up allowing only one hit. If you remember "the catch" by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series, Al Gionfriddo pulled the same thing to Yankee Joe DiMaggio in game five with two Yankees on base.

However, the Dodgers still lost the game and then the series, four games to three.