Pitcher Jim Bouton said: “Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?” To show how smart you are, identify:
1) The team that won a record 26 consecutive games (but finished fourth).
2) Among those with 3,000 hits, the player with the fewest home runs.
3) The player who led both leagues in homers and triples (not in the same season).
4) Who hit the only game seven World Series walk-off home run.
5) The four players who hit World Series homers in three different decades.
6) The first manager to lead three teams to pennants.
7) The manager who, after Connie Mack and John McGraw, had the most consecutive years managing one team.
8) The first player to hit 30 home runs, score 125 runs and steal 45 bases in a season.
9) The four hitters who, since World War II, had five or more seasons batting .350 or better.
10) The five hitters ranked in the top 25 in career singles, doubles and triples.
11) The player whose 44 hits in his first month is second to Joe DiMaggio’s 48.
12) The four Hall of Fame pitchers DiMaggio faced during his 56-game hitting streak.
13) The youngest player to lead the National League in hits.
14) The three players to get two extra-base hits in an All-Star Game before age 23.
15) The player with seven straight seasons with a .300 average, 20 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 walks.
16) The Hall of Famer who played most of his games as DH.
17) The second player, after Ty Cobb, to have at least 221 hits, 46 doubles and 54 steals in a season.
18) The team that had five consecutive Rookie of the Year winners.
19) The player who slugged .826 in a six-game World Series, with a record 10 RBIs, but whose team lost.
20) The player who had the most consecutive World Series hits (7).
21) The record number of games in a season in which a team homered.
22) The player who had the most career RBIs (1,903) without ever leading the league.
23) The player who reached a base in a record 84 consecutive games.
24) The most recent former Rookie of the Year elected to the Hall of Fame.
25) The two pitchers who pitched 27 World Series innings without yielding an earned run.
26) The only player in the last 100 years who twice in a season scored four runs in a game without a hit.
27) The pitcher who won 107 games before age 23.
(28) The first pitcher to have two 300-strikeout seasons.
(29) The four pitchers to win at least two Cy Young awards, to win at least two World Series rings, and pitch a no-hitter.
30) The three pitchers who started five All-Star Games.
31) The team that had the highest American League season winning percentage.
(32) The team with the most wins in an AL season.
(33) The NL team with the best single-season winning percentage since 1900.
(34) Which team that existed in 1900 took the longest to win a World Series.
(35) The youngest unanimous MVP.
(36) The three pitchers to strike out at least 150 in each of their first nine seasons.
(37) First infielder (other than first basemen) to hit 500 home runs.
(38) The manager of the AL team with a season-record 116 wins.
(39) Who won a home run title with a batting average lower than that year’s Cy Young winner, Steve Carlton (.218).
(40) The pitcher who retired 46 consecutive batters.
Bonus question: Who said, “All of the Mets’ road wins against the Dodgers this year occurred at Dodger Stadium.”
The answers:
1) 1916 New York Giants
2) Eddie Collins
3) Sam Crawford
4) Bill Mazeroski
5) Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Eddie Murray, Matt Williams
(6) Bill McKechnie (1928 St. Louis Cardinals; 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates; 1939, 1940 Cincinnati Reds)
7) Walter Alston
8) Mike Trout (2012)
9) Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Ted Williams
10) Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Tris Speaker, Paul Waner, Honus Wagner
11) Yasiel Puig
12) Bob Feller, Lefty Grove, Ted Lyons, Hal Newhouser
13) Starlin Castro (2011)
14) Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Trout, Ted Williams
15) Frank Thomas
16) Frank Thomas
17) Jose Altuve
18) 1992-1996 Los Angeles Dodgers
19) Ted Kluszewski, 1959 Chicago White Sox
20) Billy Hatcher, 1990 Cincinnati Reds
21) 131, New York Yankees (2012)
22) Willie Mays
23) Ted Williams, 1949
24) Mike Piazza
25) Christy Mathewson (1905), Waite Hoyt (1921)
26) Bryce Harper
27) Bob Feller
28) Rube Waddell
29) Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Tim Lincecum, Jim Palmer
30) Don Drysdale, Lefty Gomez, Robin Roberts
(31) 1954 Cleveland Indians, 111-43 (.721)
(32) 2001 Seattle Mariners, 116-46 (.716)
(33) 1906 Chicago Cubs, 116-36 (.763)
(34) Philadelphia Phillies (1980)
(35) Bryce Harper
(36) Hideo Nomo, Tom Seaver, Don Sutton
(37) Eddie Matthews
(38) Lou Piniella
(39) Dave Kingman
(40) Yusmeiro Petit
Bonus answer: Ralph Kiner, of course.
E-mail George Will F. Will at georgewill@ .
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