Baseball quick quiz

Baseball Digest, July, 2008

Collect ten points for each question answered correctly. Answer on page 90

(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.

1. Among players with 500 or more career homers, who is the only slugger to hit more than ten lifetime home runs as a pinch hitter: Frank Thomas, Ted Williams, Willie McCovey or Frank Robinson?

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2. There have been ten players for the Braves--since the club moved to Atlanta in 1966--who have clubbed 40 or more home runs in a season. Collect one point for each of these players you can identify.

3. Since 1900, there have been four pitchers who have struck out 300 or more batters in a season at least three times during their careers. Collect ten points if you can name three of these four pitchers.

4. Barry Bonds set a major league record with 120 intentional walks in 2004 and received 35 when he clubbed 73 home runs in 2001. Since 1954, when the intentional walk was first recorded as an official statistic, who is the only major league player to hit 60 home runs in a season and not draw a single intentional pass: Mark McGwire, Roger Maris or Sammy Sosa?

5. Which one of the following managers never had back-to-back 100-victory seasons in the major leagues: Sparky Anderson, Casey Stengel, Bobby Cox or Tony La Russa?

6. Since 1958 when they moved to Los Angeles, the Dodgers have had 11 different 20-game winners. Claude Osteen accomplished the feat for LA in 1969 and 1972. Collect one point for each of the other ten 20-game winners the Dodgers have had while playing in Los Angeles.

7. Since 1931 when the Baseball Writers of America began selecting league MVP Award winners, there have been nine catchers who have been voted the honor. Collect ten points if you can identify four of these MVP-winning backstops.

8. Which pitcher recorded the highest ERA (3.66) for a Cy Young Award winner: Roger Clemens, C.C. Sabathia, LaMarr Hoyt, or Barry Zito?

9. Also since 1931, there have been nine switch-hitters, excluding pitchers, who have won a league Most Valuable Player Award. Collect ten points if you can identify four switch-hitters who have captured league MVP honors.

10. There have been only four players since 1920 to lead their league in home runs and triples in the same season. Which one of the following players did not accomplish this feat: Mickey Mantle, Jim Bottomley, Jim Rice, Willie Mays or Frank Robinson?

Quiz Answers

1. Willie McCovey's 16 career pinch home runs are the most among players with more than 500 career HR. Frank Thomas had two through the 2007 season, Ted Williams had seven, and Frank Robinson, two.

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2. The ten Atlanta Braves players to hit 40 or more home runs in a season are Hank Aaron, Darrell Evans, Davey Johnson, Jeff Burroughs, Dale Murphy, David Justice, Andres Galarraga, Chipper Jones, Javy Lopez and Andruw Jones.

3. The four pitchers with three or more 300-strikeout seasons since 1900 are Nolan Ryan (6), Randy Johnson (6), Sandy Koufax (3) and Curt Schilling (3).

4. In 1961, Roger Maris hit 61 home runs during the regular season and didn't receive any intentional walks. Mark McGwire had 28 in 1998 when he clubbed 70 homers and 21 in 1999 when he hit 65. Sammy Sosa was intentionally passed 14 times in 1998 when he slammed 66 homers, eight times in 1999 when he hit 63 and 37 times in 2001 when he hit 64 HR.

5. During his career of winning 10 American League pennants in a 12-year span with the Yankees, manager Casey Stengel never led his club to 100 victories in back-to-back seasons. Stengel's only 100-win campaign came in 1954 when New York finished in second place in the A.L.

6. Besides Claude Osteen, the ten other pitchers to win 20 games in a season for the Los Angeles Dodgers since 1958 include Don Drysdale; Sandy Koufax, Don Sutton, AI Downing, Bill Singer, Andy Messersmith, Fernando Valenzuela, Tommy John, Ramon Martinez and Orel Hershiser.

7. The nine catchers to win a league MVP Award since 1931 include Mickey Cochrane (1934), Yogi Berra (1951, 1954-55), Elston Howard (1963), Thurman Munson (1976) and Ivan Rodriguez (1999) in the American League and Gabby Hartnett (1935), Ernie Lombardi (1938), Roy Campanella (1951, 1953, 1955) and Johnny Bench (1970, 1972) in the N.L.

8. In 1983 when he led the majors with 24 victories, LaMarr Hoyt of the White Sox won the A.L. Cy Young Award despite a 3.66 ERA.

9. The nine switch-hitters to win an MVP Award since 1931 are Frankie Frisch (1931), Maury Wills (1962), Pete Rose (1973), Willie McGee (1985), Terry Pendleton (1991), Ken Caminiti (1996), Chipper Jones (1999) and Jimmy Rollins (2007) in the National League and Mickey Mantle (1956-57, 1962) in the A.L.

10. Frank Robinson never led the league in home runs and triples in the same season. Mickey Mantle (A.L.) and Willie Mays (N.L.) did it in 1955, Jim Bottomley in the N.L. in 1928 and Jim Rice in the/A.L. in 1978.