George Will’s 2021 Opening Day Baseball Quiz

Orioles manager Earl Weaver once said of a pitcher, “I gave Mike Cuellar more chances than my first wife.” You get one chance to name:

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1. The three teams’ rotations featuring three Hall of Famers.

Answer: 1954 Indians (Early Wynn, Bob Feller, Bob Lemon); 1966 Dodgers (Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Sutton); 1993 Braves (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz)

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2. The player with the most World Series rings (6) without any from the Yankees.

Answer: Eddie Collins

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3. The player who was caught just 13 times while stealing 104 bases in a single season.

Answer: Maury Wills

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4. The Hall of Fame pitcher who in the 1950s averaged 301 innings, completing 237 of 370 starts.

Answer: Robin Roberts

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5. The player who hit the most home runs in his first 10 years.

Answer: Albert Pujols

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6. The Most Valuable Player who led the American League in errors as a fielder and in strikeouts as a hitter.

Answer: The Minnesota Twins’ Zoilo Versalles in 1965

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7. The two Hall of Famers who played for 23 years, each with only one team.

Answer: Brooks Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski

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8. The slugger who in 1968, the “year of the pitcher,” hit 10 homers in a 20 at-bat span.

Answer: Frank Howard

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9. The six who won two MVP awards before their 26th birthdays.

Answer: Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial, Hal Newhouser, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Bench, Mike Trout

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10. The team that had a player lead the league in homers and RBIs in 1953 and a different player do it in 1954.

Answer: Indians (Al Rosen, Larry Doby)

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11. The year when three center fielders were a league’s leaders in batting average, home runs and RBIs.

Answer: 1955: Richie Ashburn, Willie Mays, Duke Snider

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12. The pitcher who holds the National League and American League records for appearances in a season.

Answer: Mike Marshall

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13. The NL player who won six home run titles while hitting more than 500 home runs as a lefthander.

Answer: Mel Ott

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14. The slugger who hit the most home runs in his final season.

Answer: David Ortiz

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15. The hitter who is eligible but is not in the Hall of Fame even though he had six seasons with 200 or more hits.

Answer: Steve Garvey

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16. The last teammates to have at least 150 RBIs each in a season.

Answer: Ted Williams, Vern Stephens (1949)

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17. The pitcher who had 107 wins and 1,233 strikeouts through his age-22 season.

Answer: Bob Feller

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18. The four players with at least 10 Gold Gloves and 400 homers.

Answer: Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Ken Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones

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19. The second baseman who won an MVP award in the 1950s.

Answer: Nellie Fox

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20. The two players who were both an NL Rookie of the Year and an AL MVP.

Answer: Frank Robinson, Dick Allen

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21. The only slugger to hit 50-plus homers in a season while striking out fewer than 50 times.

Answer: Johnny Mize

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22. The player with the most pinch-hit homers.

Answer: Matt Stairs

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23. The holder of the Reds’ single-season home-run record.

Answer: George Foster

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24. The Hall of Famer who holds the NL career record for homers by a pitcher.

Answer: Warren Spahn

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25. The only non-Yankee to hit 10 or more World Series homers.

Answer: Duke Snider

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26. The slugger who led the AL in homers in 1962-64.

Answer: Harmon Killebrew

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27. The year of the first night game.

Answer: 1935

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28. The team for which Babe Ruth hit his last home run (No. 714).

Answer: Boston Braves

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29. The number of Rod Carew’s batting titles.

Answer: Seven

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30. The player who won the 1964 AL Rookie of the Year award and batting title.

Answer: Tony Oliva

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31. The second baseman with the most Gold Gloves.

Answer: Roberto Alomar

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32. The AL MVP who hit .306 and just two homers that season.

Answer: Nellie Fox

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33. The center fielder who won multiple Gold Gloves in both leagues.

Answer: Jim Edmonds

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34. The Yankee who won consecutive MVP awards in 1960 and 1961.

Answer: Roger Maris

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35. The franchise that has finished last a record 32 times during the modern era.

Answer: Philadelphia Phillies

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First bonus question: What broadcaster said Bob Gibson “pitches as though he is double parked”?

Answer: Vin Scully

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Second bonus question: Name the manager in this interview: Manager: “I won’t trade my left fielder.” Sportswriter: “Who’s your left fielder?” Manager: “I don’t know, but if it isn’t him, I’ll keep him anyway.”

Answer: Casey Stengel

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Source: WP