Baseball Quick Quiz - trivia

Baseball Digest, Feb, 2001

Collect ten points for each question answered correctly.

(If you score 80 or better, you are a baseball expert; 70 or better, superior; between 60 and 70, good, and between 40 and 60, average.

This February Quick Quiz is a trivia challenge centered on batting champions

1. There have been only two batting champions who hit 50 or more home runs during the same season in which they led their league in hitting. Collect five points for each of these players you can identify. Clue: Both are members of the Hall of Fame.

2. The Boston Red Sox are the only major league franchise to have as many as four different players win consecutive batting championships. Collect ten points if you can name the four players who have won back-to-back A.L. hitting rifles as members of the Red Sox.

3. From 1991 and through 2000, there have been 20 batting titles won by 14 different players. Among those hitting champs, who was the only one to have an average below .320 during his title-winning season: Bernie Williams, 1998; Gary Sheffield, 1992; Tony Gwynn, 1996; or Terry Pendleton, 1991?

4. Last season, Nomar Garciaparra won the A.L. batting championship with a .372 average. Who was the last American Leaguer to hit .370 or higher: Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, George Brett or John Olerud?

5. Which one of the following players never won consecutive batting titles in the majors: Joe DiMaggio, Willie McGee, Bill Madlock or Larry Walker?

6. Before Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941, who was the last American League player to hit .400 in a season: Harry Heilmann, George Sisler, Ty Cobb or Al Simmons?

7. Since 1903, the New York Yankees' franchise has won 37 American League pennants and 26 World Series but have only had eight players win a total of nine league batting titles. Collect ten points if you can identify five of the eight players who have captured an A.L. hitting crown as a member of the Yankees.

8. Ty Cobb won his first batting title in 1907 and his last in 1919--making it 11 years that separated him from his first and last hitting championship. Who holds the mark for the longest stretch (16 years) between his first and last batting title: Tony Gwynn, George Brett, Ted Williams or Start Musial?

9. There have been only three players to win a batting title and collect 100 or more extra-base hits in the same season. Rogers Hornsby was the first to accomplish this feat when he hit .401 with 102 extra-base hits for the Cardinals in 1922. Collect five points for each of the other two such players you can identify.

10. Since 1980, there have been only three batting champions who have won their league's MVP Award. Collect ten points if you can name one of these hitting leaders who won Most Valuable Player honors in the same season.

Quick Quiz ANSWER

1. The two players to win a batting title and hit 50-plus home runs in the same season are Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle. In 1938, Foxx led the A.L. with a .349 batting average while dubbing 50 homers for the Red Sox. Mantle accomplished the feat with the Yankees in 1956 when he hit .353 with 52 homers.

2. The four Boston Red Sox players to win back-to-back batting rifles are Ted Williams (1941-1942, 1947-1948, 1957-1958), Carl Yastrzemski (1967-1968), Wade Boggs (1985 through 1988) and Nomar Garciaparra (1999-2000).

3. Since 1991, the player with the lowest batting average to capture his league's top hitting honors was Terry Pendleton of the Braves who won the N.L. batting race with a .319 average in 1991.

4. Before Nomar Garciaparra's .372 batting mark in 2000, the last American League player to hit .370 or higher was George Brett who batted .390 in 1980 for the Kansas City Royals.

5. Willie McGee never won consecutive batting rifles in the majors. McGee won two N.L. rifles, but they came five years apart in 1985 and 1990. Joe DiMaggio won successive hitting crown in 1939-1940 with the Yankees, Bill Madlock in 1975-1976 with the Cubs and Larry Walker in 1998-1999 with the Rockies.

6. The last American League player to hit .400 before Ted Williams batted .406 for the Red Sox in 1941 was Harry Heilmann of the Tigers who hit .403 in 1923. Al Simmons never hit .400 in a season, Ty Cobb's last .400 season was 1912 when he hit .410 and George Sisler's last .400 campaign was in 1922 when he batted .420 for the St. Louis Browns.

7. The eight players to win a league batting title as a member of the New York Yankees are Babe Ruth (1924), Lou Gehrig (1934), Joe DiMaggio (1939-1940), George Stirnweiss (1945), Mickey Mantle (1956), Iron Mattingly (1984), Paul O'Neill (1994) and Bernie Williams (1998).

8. Ted Williams holds the mark for the most seasons between his first and last batting title. Williams captured his first A.L. batting crown in 1941 and 17 years later won his last in 1958 for the Boston Red Sox.

9. The two other players besides Rogers Hornsby to win a batting title and collect 100 or more extra-base hits in the same season are Stan Musial of the Cardinals in 1948 and Todd Helton of the Rockies in 2000.

10. The three players to win a batting title and their league's MVP Award in the same season since 1980 are George Brett of the Royals in 1980, Willie McGee of the Cardinals in 1985 and Terry Pendleton of the Braves in 1991.