HOW BIG OF A FAN ARE YOU? HERE ARE 37 WAYS TO FIND OUT.
Orioles manager Earl Weaver once said of a pitcher, “I gave Mike Cuellar more chances than my first wife.” You get one chance to name:
1. The three teams’ rotations featuring three Hall of Famers.
2. The player with the most World Series rings (6) without any from the Yankees.
3. The player who was caught just 13 times while stealing 104 bases in a single season.
4. The Hall of Fame pitcher who in the 1950s averaged 301 innings, completing 237 of 370 starts.
5. The player who hit the most home runs in his first 10 years.
6. The Most Valuable Player who led the American League in errors as a fielder and in strikeouts as a hitter.
7. The two Hall of Famers who played for 23 years, each with only one team.
8. The slugger who in 1968, the “year of the pitcher,” hit 10 homers in a 20 at-bat span.
9. The six who won two MVP awards before their 26th birthdays.
10. The team that had a player lead the league in homers and RBIs in 1953 and a different player do it in 1954.
11. The year when three center fielders were a league’s leaders in batting average, home runs and RBIs.
12. The pitcher who holds the National League and American League records for appearances in a season.
13. The NL player who won six home run titles while hitting more than 500 home runs as a lefthander.
14. The slugger who hit the most home runs in his final season.
15. The hitter who is eligible but is not in the Hall of Fame even though he had six seasons with 200 or more hits.
16. The last teammates to have at least 150 RBIs each in a season.
17. The pitcher who had 107 wins and 1,233 strikeouts through his age-22 seasons.
18. The four players with at least 10 Gold Gloves and 400 homers.
19. The second baseman who won an MVP award in the 1950s.
20. The player who was an NL Rookie of the Year and an AL MVP.
21. The only slugger to hit 50-plus homers in a season while striking out fewer than 50 times.
22. The player with the most pinch-hit homers.
23. The holder of the Reds’ single-season home-run record.
24. The Hall of Famer who holds the NL career record for homers by a pitcher.
25. The only non-Yankee to hit 10 or more World Series homers.
26. The slugger who led the AL in homers in 1962-64.
27. The year of the first night game.
28. The team for which Babe Ruth hit his last home run (No. 714).
29. The number of Rod Carew’s batting titles.
30. The player who won the 1964 AL Rookie of the Year award and batting title.
31. The second baseman with the most Gold Gloves.
32. The AL MVP who hit .306 and just two homers that season.
33. The center fielder who won multiple Gold Gloves in both leagues.
34. The Yankee who won consecutive MVP awards in 1960 and 1961.
35. The franchise that has finished last a record 32 times during the modern era.
First bonus question: What broadcaster said, “[Bob] Gibson pitches as though he is double parked”?
Second bonus question: Name the manager in this interview:
Manager: “I won’t trade my left fielder.” Sportswriter: “Who’s your left fielder?” Manager: “I don’t know, but if it isn’t him, I’ll keep him anyway.”
ANSWERS
1. 1954 Indians (Early Wynn, Bob Feller, Bob Lemon); 1966 Dodgers (Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Sutton); 1993 Braves (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz)
2. Eddie Collins
3. Maury Wills
4. Robin Roberts
5. Albert Pujols
6. The Twins’ Zoilo Versalles in 1965
7. Brooks Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski
8. Frank Howard
9. Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial, Hal Newhouser, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Bench,
Mike Trout
10. Indians (Al Rosen, Larry Doby)
11. 1955: Richie Ashburn, Willie Mays, Duke Snider
12. Mike Marshall (106 with the 1974 Dodgers, 90 with the 1979 Twins)
13. Mel Ott
14. David Ortiz (38)
15. Steve Garvey
16. Ted Williams, Vern Stephens (1949)
17. Bob Feller
18. Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Ken Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones
19. Nellie Fox (1959)
20. Dick Allen (1964, 1972)
21. Johnny Mize (51 homers and 42 strikeouts in 1947)
22. Matt Stairs (23)
23. George Foster (52)
24. Warren Spahn (35)
25. Duke Snider
26. Harmon Killebrew
27. 1935
28. Boston Braves
29. Seven
30. Tony Oliva
31. Roberto Alomar (10)
32. Nellie Fox (1959)
33. Jim Edmonds
34. Roger Maris
35. The Phillies
First bonus question answer: Vin Scully, of course
Second bonus question answer: Casey Stengel, of course
Will