Baseball quick quiz

Baseball Digest, July, 2004

Collect ten points for each question answered correctly. Answers 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. There are three members of the 500-Home Run Club who wore uniform number 44 during their careers. For ten points, name two of these three sluggers.

2. The most common uniform number for players who hit 50 or more home runs in a season is 3 and 25. Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Alex Rodriguez all wore number 3 when they hit 50-plus homers in a season. For ten points, name two of the thee players to wear jersey number 25 when they had a 50-homer campaign in the majors. A clue; Two of the three are still active.

3. Identify the two third basemen who share the same uniform number (5), are both members of the Hall of Fame, have both won Gold Glove honors and each earned American League MVP awards during their careers.

4. Cal Ripken wore uniform number eight during his career and when he is elected to the Hall of Fame he will become the seventh player elected to the Cooperstown museum to wear that number on his back. For ten points, name three of the six Hall of Fame members to wear jersey number 8.

5. Who is the only major league player to wear his birthdate (month and day) on his uniform: Carlos May, Lee May. Dan August or Dave May?

6. Mike Schmidt played 18 years in the major leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies, hitting 548 career home runs and winning three N.L. MVP Awards. What uniform number did this Hall of Fame third baseman wear: 19, 21, 10 or 20?

7. Who is the only Cy Young Award winner to capture the honor in different seasons with a different uniform number: Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens?

8. When midget Eddie Gaedel appeared in his only major league baseball game as a pinch-hitter for the St. Louis Browns in 1951, what uniform number did owner Bill Veeck issue to the 3-7, 65 pound right handed butter: 0, 1.1/8, or .5?

9. Reggie Jackson is well known for wearing number 44 as a member of the New York Yankees and California Angels, hut what number did he wear as a member of the Oakland A's (1968-1975) and Baltimore Orioles (1976): 8, 6, 9 or 7?

10. Toe highest uniform number for a Cy Young award recipient is 75. Who wore this uniform number on the back of his jersey the season he captured his league's top pitching honors: Pat Hentgen, Eric Gagne, Barry Zito or Roy Halladay?

Quick Quiz Answers

1. The three players to hit 500 or more career home runs and wear uniform number 44 were Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey and Reggie Jackson. Aaron clubbed 755 home runs, McCovey, 521, and Jackson, 563.

2 The three sluggers to wear number 25 on the back of their jerseys during a 50-homer season include Mark McGwire (1996-1999), Barry Bonds (2001) and Jim Thome (2002).

3 George Brett and Brooks Robinson both wore uniform number five during their Hall of Fame careers. Brett was the A.L. MVP in 1980, and won a Gold Glove in 1985 for the Kansas City Royals. Robinson captured his A.L. MVP in 1964 and was a Gold Glove recipient from 1960 through 1975.

4. The six Hall of Fame members who wore uniform number eight during their major league careers are Joe Morgan, Willie Stargell, Carl Yastrzemski, Yogi Berra, Bill Dickey and Gary Carter.

5. Former White Sox and Yankee outfielder/designated hitter Carlos may wore his birthdate on the back of his jersey with his name (May) and number (17). Carlos was born on May 17, 1948.

6. During his Hall of Fame career with the Phillies, Mike Schmidt wore uniform number 20.

7. Roger Clemens won his first five Cy Young Awards with the Red Sox (1986, 1987, 1991) and Blue Jays (1997, 1998) wearing uniform number 21. When he captured the honor in 2001 with the Yankees, the right-handler wore number 22 on the back of his jersey.

8. When midget Eddie Gaedel of the St. Louis Browns made his first and only major league appearance on August 19, 1951, he wore number 1/8 (one-eighth) on the back of his uniform.

9. With the Oakland A's from 1968 through 1975 and the Baltimore Orioles in 1976, Reggie Jackson wore number nine on his jersey before changing to number 44 with the Yankees (1977-1981) and California Angels (1982-1986). Jackson wore 44 in his final season (1987) with Oakland and in his rookie campaign of 1967 with the Kansas City A's, he owned number 31.

10. The Cy Young Award winner who wore number 75 was Oakland's Barry Zito in 2002 when he posted a 23-5-won-lost record.