Opinion: A quiz to welcome baseball’s return
Washington ? As the unendurable monotony of the offseason ends, celebrate baseball’s return with mental calisthenics. Everyone knows it was former Atlanta Manager Dave Bristol who said, “Only trouble I ever had with chewing tobacco was that the orthodontist said my daughter was going to have to give it up because of her braces.” But do you know:
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What pitcher in a 25-3 season had more complete games than home runs allowed?
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What four players hit home runs in four decades?
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What three players hit home runs as teenagers and after their 40th birthdays?
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What two teams lost a World Series after being one strike away from winning?
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Which National League team has won the most World Series games?
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Which four players won multiple MVP awards between 1940 and 1949?
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Since the Cy Young Award began in 1956, what player won 25 or more games three times but never won the award?
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Which team has had the most Cy Young winners?
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Which four National League pitchers have won two consecutive Cy Young Awards?
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Who received the highest percentage of Hall of Fame votes in history?
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What four former MVPs have won the Manager of the Year awards?
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Of the 106 switch-hitters with at least 5,000 at bats, which two hit .300 or better from both sides?
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What switch-hitter holds the record of hitting home runs from both sides in 13 games?
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Which two Hall of Fame second basemen were on the woeful (66-96) 1964 Houston Colt .45s?
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Who pitched no-hitters at ages 43 and 44?
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What Hall of Famer participated in 12 double plays in 1929 playing right field?
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Who led the majors in hits in the 1980s?
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Who has the highest stolen base success percentage (minimum 500 attempts)?
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Who holds the record for most shutouts (69) by a left-handed pitcher?
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Who is the only reliever who had a season with more saves than baserunners allowed?
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What two third basemen have hit 400 home runs while playing third base?
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What was the last World Series in which a pitcher on each team pitched three complete games?
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Which two all-time leaders in sacrifice flies were teammates in their prime years?
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What pitchers threw the most one-hitters?
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Which Minnesota Twin won batting titles in his first two full seasons?
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Which Hall of Fame pitcher retired the side with nine pitches and nine strikes, once in each league?
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Which two players hit more than 400 home runs and more than 150 triples?
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Who hit more than 40 home runs and batted over .400 in the same season?
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Among active players with 100 or more career home runs, which two have more walks than strikeouts?
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What pair of teammates hit home runs in the same game the most times?
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How many Hall of Fame pitchers did Joe DiMaggio face during his 56-game hitting streak?
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Who played on the losing team while setting the record for most RBIs (12) in a seven-game World Series?
Bonus Question: What Hall of Famer said, “The Mets just had their first .500-or-better April since July of 1992”?
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Answers:
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Ron Guidry (1978)
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Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Rickey Henderson, Omar Vizquel
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Ty Cobb, Rusty Staub, Gary Sheffield
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1986 Red Sox, 2011 Rangers
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Cardinals (56)
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Stan Musial (1943, 1946, 1948), Joe DiMaggio (1941, 1947), Ted Williams (1946, 1949), Hal Newhouser (1944, 1945)
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Juan Marichal
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Dodgers (Don Newcombe, 1956; Don Drysdale, 1962; Sandy Koufax, 1963, 1965, 1966; Mike Marshall, 1974; Fernando Valenzuela, 1981; Orel Hershiser, 1988; Eric Gagne, 2003; Clayton Kershaw, 2011.)
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Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Tim Lincecum
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Tom Seaver (98.84 in 1992)
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Frank Robinson, Don Baylor, Joe Torre, Kirk Gibson
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Frankie Frisch, Chipper Jones
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Mark Teixeira
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Nellie Fox, Joe Morgan
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Nolan Ryan
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Mel Ott
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Robin Yount
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Tim Raines
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Eddie Plank
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Dennis Eckersley (1990)
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Mike Schmidt (509), Eddie Mathews (486)
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1968 (the Tigers’ Mickey Lolich, the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson)
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Eddie Murray (128), Cal Ripken (127)
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Bob Feller and Nolan Ryan (12)
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Tony Oliva
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Nolan Ryan
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Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig
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Rogers Hornsby (42 and .401 in 1922)
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Albert Pujols, Todd Helton
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Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews (75 times)
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Four (Bob Feller twice, Hal Newhouser twice, Lefty Grove, Ted Lyons)
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Bobby Richardson (1960 Yankees)
Bonus: Ralph Kiner, of course.