TRIVIA 2020

things i didn't know about macho man randy savage:

Baseball career
Savage was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals organization as a catcher out of high school.[15] He was placed in the minor leagues to develop, where he mostly played as an outfielder[16] in the St. Louis Cardinals, and Cincinnati Reds farm systems.[5] Savage was 18 when he began playing minor league baseball; one of his teammates on the 1971 Gulf Coast League Cardinals was Larry Herndon who was also his roommate.[15] Savage would swing a bat into a hanging car tire as a regular training exercise in order to strengthen his hands and make sure he utilized his legs during swings. The technique was so effective that Herndon adopted it and used it during his own career as a baseball coach.[15] Savage injured his natural (right) throwing shoulder after a collision at home plate, and he learned to throw with his left arm instead. Savage's last season was 1974, when he played for the Tampa Tarpons.[16] He played 289 games in four minor league seasons, batting .254 with 16 home runs and 66 RBIs.[15]

Oooooooooh yeeeeeeeaaahh

Got this from a FB baseball group--I didn't know the answer, but I have a feeling it's a well-known question.

Who played for both the Pilots and the Mariners in their first games?

hint: His son played ~1.5 seasons for the Mariners as well.

You've got it. Also won an ERA title with a not-Seattle team.

I'm trying to remember him in Ball Four, and I think I can just vaguely recall one or two mentions.

The RadioShack (!!!) Trivia Question of the 2001 All-Star Game was: "Who are the 3 players still active from Cal Ripken's first All-Star Game in 1983?"

Can you get it?

— Joe Trezza (@JoeTrezz) April 1, 2020

I guessed 2... but full disclosure I had to check that one of them ever made an all-star game and sure enough that was his only appearance.

No idea on the 3rd, even after scanning the rosters!

rickey, rickey and rickey

Yeah, the other one was my guess as he had a juggernaut career spanning 4 decades.

there have been 4 teams which had 3 different position players put up 7+ fWAR in a single season. what are they?
(hint: obviously one of these teams is the cardinals. sorry. i can also give you the decades for each of these 4 seasons, if wanted)

One of them must be a Gehrig-Ruth team, since there were so many seasons where those two did it.

For the Cardinals, I'll guess it's a Pujols-Rolen-Edmonds team, although I'm not sure if there was a season where they were together.

Man, I'm good.

I don't think the Big Red Machine ever extended beyond Morgan/Bench, although Rose may have edged over 7.0 somewhere in there, so that's my third guess. Fourth would be the 2001 Mariners.

was thinking one would be griffey/a-rod/edgar but gar only put up 7 once, before a-rod debuted

before his first full season, rather

those three did combine for 24.8!!!!!!!!!!!!! in 96 though

didn't happen with the killer b's or bash bros, though biggio and bagwell both had 8+ in 97

Not any of those Reds teams either...I don't think the '98 Yankees; they were deep, but I don't think they had huge star seasons in their everyday lineup. Maybe one of the A's teams from around 1930?

the 27 yankees are incredible for this - ruth/gehrig/combs combined for 32.3........ and combs was still under 7

Oh--then I was wrong about the '27 Yankees. Combs is at 7.0 on Baseball Reference...and I see now the question has to do with Fangraphs.

spoiler alert

it did happen 2 years later - ruth/gehrig/lazzeri did it with exactly 10 fewer WAR than the 27 trio (7.8/7.3/7.2)

what bums

Hey, trivia guy, we need two more answers.

This gave me much to ponder on my morning walk. Possibility, which I will check after posting--wondering if Bonds/Kent/fluke-season Rich Aurilia were in alignment?

Online version is Thursday night. Register here: https://t.co/HOspy6gXGu pic.twitter.com/lPy66C1Pnp

— Ted Berg (@OGTedBerg) April 19, 2020

see thread for example questions

(xpost) No on Bonds/Kent/Aurilia, at least on Baseball Reference. '29 Yankees, '04 Cardinals...

The St. Louis hint makes me think it's a red-herring, like the Blues or something.

errr Browns

Hey, trivia guy, we need two more answers.

shit, sorry! i thought i had this thread bookmarked, so when it didn't come up i assumed no one cared about the trivia question. OOPS!

you've got 2 of the 4:

1929 Yankees (Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri)
2004 Cardinals (Rolen, Edmonds, Pujols)

the other two are much more difficult. i'll give you two clues, once for each:

1) post-war 1940s league champion featuring a top 10 joe posnanski player
2) while mantle and maris were hogging the attention, this team with a pair of slugging outfielders was...also playing (alex trebek i am not)

1) post-war 1940s league champion featuring a top 10 joe posnanski player

evil hint, had to figure this one out through blunt force

and i got the last one, mostly through cheating, but i've never really been good with the early 60s.

None of the Williams-Red Sox, Musial-Cardinals, or Mantle/Maris-Yankees teams check out on Baseball Reference.

those were my first two thoughts

the second one is 1961 but not expressly mantle/maris, as hinted

and only one of the 2 teams passes the threshold in rWAR

Okay, now I get it--'61 Tigers.

Going through Fangraphs is too much work; is the other one a Williams or Musial team?

nope!

it's really hard. it would be astounding if you got this (or anyone else).

all three of the players' first names are three letters long.

and the legendary top 10 player was a 42-year old at the beginning of his MLB career

Ah

Joe/Ken/Lou...?

i'd never even heard of ken keltner

Me neither

1) post-war 1940s league champion featuring a top 10 joe posnanski player

That's what threw me: you don't say so, but I mistakenly assumed the Posnanski guy was one of the three players.

Keltner's probably most famous now for Bill James's Keltner HOF test.

http://www.cooperstowncred.com/statistics-glossary/keltner-list/

the satchel paige clue was kind of evil, sorry

i've never really been good with the early 60s.

same here

I know Ken Keltner bcz he made a defensive play said to have ended DiMag's 56-game hitting streak

On August 20, 1938, as part of a publicity stunt by the Come to Cleveland Committee, Indians' catchers Frankie Pytlak and Hank Helf successfully caught baseballs dropped by Keltner from Cleveland's 708-foot-tall (216 m) Terminal Tower.[3] The 708-foot (216 m) drop broke the 555-foot, 30-year-old record set by Washington Senator catcher Gabby Street at the Washington Monument.[2]

I know that story but forgot KK was part of it

the marlins have thrown six no-hitters

wtf

This is probably already a well-known question, and the answer should be obvious because the wrong answer is too obvious: who was the first major leaguer to hit 66 home runs?

Jesus, that's obviously wrong...averaged 262 hits per season! Sorry, don't shoot the messenger.

Looking at the comments, apparently that's not the only error in there.

MLB.com features Sporacle along with Immaculate Grid...I rarely open it up, but this one's interesting (I got 19/25):

https://www.mlb.com/fans/trivia/name-that-baseball-player

I got 8. But that was also from having terrible luck with my guesses (which was most of them)

I got 13. There’s a fun reference to Buster’s legal name in this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZS9fmkY184

Only player to knock in 100 (season) for both the Jays and the Expos? Never would have got this.

Tony Batista

i did so poorly on this that i'm not even going to tell you my score: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZFFVtw2f0b-S0KC7ccWwJyInUPT1N_ygC6FygFRo4uCjXew/viewform

(from The Athletic's 2024 Baseball Trivia Quiz)

13/50. I knew the first one right away at least.

25/50--went fast, intuitive guessing (I knew maybe seven or eight for sure through elimination).

17/50 but maybe only knew 2-3 w hi certainty

25/50. I also went fast, with mostly intuitive guessing. Cool quiz though.

15. yikes

The most amazing stat you'll hear today: Babe Ruth hit more HR during Jimmy Carter's lifetime (430) than any currently active player (Giancarlo Stanton, 429).

Drew Davis
‪drewdavis71.bsky.social‬

The MLB career home run leaders when Jimmy Carter was born on October 1, 1924:

1 - Babe Ruth 287
2 - Cy Williams 173
3 - Rogers Hornsby 141
4 - Roger Connor 138
5 - Sam Thompson 126

(xpost) I had to really think about that for it to make sense (eventually it did).

Another one (a guy in the comments verified the math):

https://i.postimg.cc/26n6q5P3/rickey.jpg

Two possible answers for a second baseman (and possibly/probably a third active player):

https://i.postimg.cc/T1VN3gdk/quiz.jpg

(Of the players listed, there are other possibilities--I can think of another catcher and two other third basemen who would work.)

So… this is the highest WAR by position, for players that have played for only one team?

If that’s correct, I’m actually not certain who the answer is… maybe Whitaker? Fox? Collins? Banks?!

You're on the right track: one team/MVP/HOF. So Robinson and Gehringer, with Altuve a possibility down the road.

Wow I was pretty off on most of those guys

Oh ya, Gehringer looks like the answer with Whitaker the runner up

Who threw the first-ever CG shutout against the Jays?

Fergie Jenkins!

i saw that too!

https://cooperstownersincanada.com/2025/04/24/april-24-1977-fergie-jenkins-threw-the-first-shutout-against-the-blue-jays-at-exhibition-stadium-2

Good reader question from Posnanski's column today:

Not counting players who've won an actual (seasonal) Triple Crown, eight others have won a career TC, leading all three categories in different years.

-- four are in the HOF
-- three are PED players who would be in otherwise
-- one is neither; who is it?

He is a post-expansion player everybody knows well.

Andrés Galarraga

The guy with the question missed Albert Pujols--someone else.

i remember seeking out the ]show hidden text[ starting lineup figure just so i could put him sideways in a weird way

He was one and done when he came up for the HOF, which makes sense: good raw totals, but the mitigating factor of Coors during his prime barely had him nudge above 30 WAR.

Who is the only player to hit more than 90 HR for both the Mets and the Yankees?

Maybe this is an easy one for those of you based in NY, but I couldn't come up with it.

Link to the player's BR page when you want the answer.

thought strawberry may have cranked out some more HRs at the end with the yankees but nope!

Curtis Granderson? Haven't checked yet.

Gold star for robot boy!

Just found out three teams have never had an MVP - one of which, never had anyone finish higher than 6th!!

Going through expansion teams in my mind, I don't think the Mets have. Are you counting teams or franchises? I know the Nationals had Harper, but I don't think the Expos ever had one.

Arizona my second guess.

And the Rays would be the obvious third. (I did look at last year's standings to help me remember the teams!)

You would be correct (about franchises)

Got them all. The Mets are obviously the big surprise. Seaver and Gooden should have won one each, Seaver maybe two. Strawberry would have won in '88 if not for a dismal August; Gibson overtook him, though Hershiser was probably the actual MVP.

I made up a 2025 Blue Jays quiz for my online trivia group...not hardcore fans, so it start's ridiculously easy.

Questions: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10kwKptyNRlKSY6gL8RiXjjNz1ZceoJq3DEaFwvyf5uM/edit?usp=sharing

Answers: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FYvjljl93nU0b6wv04xDpm-zMN664IDizTCpVg8kFIY/edit?usp=sharing

I scored just 29/50 on the Athletic's annual MLB quiz. The Jays category saved me from a failing grade.

i got absolutely wrecked.

27/50. I should have done better on the Jays, and there were quite a few where I was able to eliminate two that I knew weren't right, but guessed wrong on the remaining two.

Who has the highest OPS of any Japanese born player, minimum 100PA?