Decade of the Flower Children Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The World Series in the 1960s started off the decade in 1960 with the first walk-off home to win a World Series title. The player was Bill Mazeroski. Which team did he play for?

Answer: Pittsburgh Pirates

The series pitted the heavily-favored Yankees against Roberto Clemente, Vernon Law, and the Pirates. The Pirates won the series four games to three, but the Yankees out-did the Pirates in everything except in the win column. They out-scored them 55-27, 40-26 in the strikeout department, and three blowout wins for the Yankees. Game two was 16-3, game three was 10-0, then game six was 12-0.

The Yankees, even though losing the series, also had the series MVP in Bobby Richardson. This was the first time in history that a member of the losing team was the MVP of a World Series.

2. The Yankees had a dream team in 1961. With Roger Maris hitting 61 home runs to set a season record and win the MVP, Mickey Mantle hitting 54 home runs and was the runner-up MVP, and Whitey Ford going 25-4 to win the Cy Young Award, the chips were stacked heavily against Frank Robinson and the Cincinnati Reds. Which Yankee hit two home runs in this five game series?

Answer: Johnny Blanchard

The others didn't hit any. Elston Howard, Maris, Yogi Berra, Hector Lopez, and Bill Skowron all hit one, and along with Blanchard's two shots, played havoc on the Reds' pitching staff. The Yankees won it four games to one. Bob Purkey and Joey Jay lost one game each, and Jim O'Toole lost the other two for the Reds.

3. The Giants and Dodgers tied for the NL lead at the end of the 1962 season, and the playoff-win Giants earned their ticket to face the Yankees in the promised land. The series went seven games, and was topped off by a 1-0 game seven shutout by which Yankee pitcher?

Answer: Ralph Terry

The others were once Yankees, but all retired in the 1950s. Terry won two games for the Yankees and walked away with the series MVP award. The Yankees pitchers had to come through, because their bats did not. The Bombers hit only .199 in the series, even though Bobby Richardson led the league in hits during the season, but he batted only .148 in the series also.

4. In one of the biggest upsets in World Series history, the 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers not only defeated the star-studded New York Yankees, but they skunked them four games to none. The Dodgers had the season MVP award winner, the Cy Young winner, Triple Crown winner, and the World Series MVP all in one person. Which Dodger was this?

Answer: Sandy Koufax

The others were Dodgers, but none were pitchers to win the Cy Young award. Koufax won two games in the series, striking out 23 Yankees in 18 innings, and having an ERA of 1.50. In the four games, the Yankees could manage only four total runs, and struck out 37 times. The other Dodgers to post a win were Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres.

5. As the Yankees made their fifth consecutive World Series appearance in 1964, they went up against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals had not made a series appearance since 1946. What was the outcome of this series?

Answer: Cardinals, four games to three

It turned out to be a close series in most departments, except for Bob Gibson from the mound. Winning the series MVP, Bob fanned 31 Yankees during the series, and threw a complete game 7-5 victory in game seven. The Yankees had their moments also, blasting 10 home runs in the series, including three by Mickey Mantle, and two each by Tom Tresh and Phil Linz.

6. 1965 would give the fans of Minneapolis their first taste of a World Series, as the Twins would go head-to-head against the Dodgers. The Dodgers won the series four games to three, with three of their wins via shutouts. How many one-run games did this series witness?

Answer: 0

There were no one-run games, and only one two-run game. Sandy Koufax threw two of the shutouts, and Claude Osteen got the other one. Don Drysdale got the other win. The Dodgers struck out 54 Twins, compared to 31 from the other side. Koufax was the series MVP.

7. 1966 saw the Baltimore Orioles win the franchise's first-ever World Series title, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Orioles came out big and skunked the Dodgers four games to none. Although the Orioles deserved the win, what was the blame for the Dodgers' brutal loss?

Answer: Sandy Koufax was unable to pitch the series opener

Koufax had to pitch the last game of a double header to clinch the pennant on the last day of the season, and was thus unavailable to pitch in game one. This threw the Dodger pitching rotation all out of whack, starting Don Drysdale to pitch the opener, then Koufax to follow in game two.

After the Orioles defeated Drysdale and the Dodgers 5-2 in game one, they not only beat Koufax, but shutout the Dodgers in game two, then another shutout game three, and yet another in game four. The Dodgers scored only two runs in the entire series, one coming from a home run by Jim Lefebvre.

The Orioles were led by Frank Robinson, who won the AL MVP, batted for the Triple Crown, and won this World Series MVP also. Starting pitchers Dave McNally, Wally Bunker, Jim Palmer, and reliever Moe Drabowsky, all took one win each.

The Orioles never went to the bullpen during the entire series, an amazing feat in itself.

8. The 1967 World Series found Carl Yastrzemski and the Boston Red Sox still looking for their first crown since 1918. Which team did they up against that rostered Roger Maris, Steve Carlton, and Orlando Cepeda?

Answer: St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals had bigger names in Lou Brock, Curt Flood, and Bob Gibson. The Cardinals won the series four games to three. Gibson won three games, struck out 26, and was the series MVP. Yaz didn't let his team down, having 10 hits, three home runs, and batted .400.

9. A much anticipated World Series in 1968 saw two big guns. The arms of the Cardinals' Bob Gibson went up against the 31-game winner in Denny McLain of the Tigers. The Tigers won the series four games to three. Who was the series MVP?

Answer: Mickey Lolich

Lolich stole the show from the season MVP and Cy Young winner McLain. McLain lost two games for the Tigers, but Mickey came through with three wins and a 1.67 ERA. The Cardinals led the series three games to one, then the Tigers took over, winning 5-3, 13-1, and the final game 4-1.

10. In 1969, only two teams in the Major Leagues reached the 100-win plateau, and they would both meet in the final World Series of the decade. The 109-53 Baltimore Orioles went up against the 100-62 New York Mets. What was the outcome of the series?

Answer: Mets, four games to one

It was destiny, and was the year of the "Amazing Mets" in 1969. After finishing 24 games behind the pennant-winning Cardinals in 1968, they would win it all under the management of Gil Hodges. After losing game one, the Mets would win the next four, including a game-three shutout. Jerry Koosman won two games for the Mets, but it was Donn Clendenon whose three home runs and a .357 average would win the series MVP award.

The Orioles' Dave McNally and Mike Cuellar struck out 13 Mets each, but it was all not to be.

Source: Author Nightmare

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All multiple choice about each World Series in the 1960s. I hope that you enjoy it! :-)

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