The 1984 Sports Cube Baseball Quiz

Each year The Crimson challenges its readers to take a Baseball quiz at the start of the major league season.

This year's edition of the quiz appears below. Each question is worth a total of 10 points.

It you score above 200, you should probably write this quiz next year. A score between 150 and 200 rates you a seat at the Kirkland House training table; above 100 qualifies you to talk sports in Leverett; 50 to 100 marks a promising student of the game; and less than 50 means you should spend more time in front of the TV with your friend on weekend afternoons this summer.

1. Wade Boggs hit .361 for the Red Sox last season, only his second year in the majors. Yet many players reach their career high in batting average at a very young age. Of the following greats, who did not attain his lifetime best by age 242

(a) Joe DiMaggio

(b) Al Raline

(c) Roberto Clemente

(d) Ted Williams

(e) Willie McCovey

2. Two points for naming the team each of these Hall of Famers ended their career with:

Johnny Mize

Enos Slaughter

Stan Coveleski

Paul Waner

Home Run Baker

3. In 1965, Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game against the Cubs, winning, 1-0. The Dodgers scored their one run without the benefit of a hit, and they made only one safety the entire game. For five points each:

(a) Who pitched the one-hitter for the Cubs?

(b) Who caught the game for the Dodgers? He later caught one of Nolan Ryan's five no-hitters.

4. In an even more unusual perfect game in 1919, the starting pitcher walked the first batter of the game. Relief pitcher Ernie Shore entered the game, picked the runner off first, and retired the next 26 batters to complete the perfect game. Who was the starting pitcher, and why was he replaced?

5. Only three pitchers have won 200 games at age 30. Cy Young and Walter Johnson were the first two, and the other retired in 1979.

(a) Who was he?

(b) Which of his teammates pitched a no-hitter as a rookie in 1970?

(c) Which of his teammates pitched a no-hitter in a game in which he also hit a home run, 1971?

Five points for two correct; 10 for all three.

6. Few pitchers have become successful managers--Tom Lasorda and Dallas Green are two notable exceptions. What former pitcher won the Manager of the Year award with three different teams? He won just one World Series in the process.

7. Robin Yount and Cal Ripken broke a two decade trend by winning the MVP award as shortstops. Name these shortstops who won the MVP; American League, 1950; National League, both 1958 and '59; NL., 1960; NL, 1962; AL, 1965. Two points each.

8. Five of the 1969 Miracle Mets are still active--Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Tug McGraw, Nolan Ryan, and Amos Otis. Two players from even earlier World Series winners still play in the majors. Name the men and their championship teams for five points each.

9. Before robbing the Indians of Graig Nettles in 1974, the Yankees tried for years to fill a gaping hole at third base. For five points, which of the following players did not hold the Yankee job at the hot corner in the years before Nettles?

Rich McKinney

Fernando Gonzalez

Celerino Sanchez

Bobby Cox

Bobby Murcer

The Mets had a similar problem in center field after Tommie Agee's star dimmed in 1972. For five more points, which one of the following did not play center for the Mets in the 1970s?

Tim Foli

Don Hahn

Amos Otis

Gene Clines

Lee Mazilli

10. How many stitches does a baseball have? The answer is one-third the number of dimples on a golf ball.

11. Danny Ainge represents a long line of Baseball players who made a better career of Basketball; Dave DeBuscherre is probably the best example. Two former major league outfielders are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Five points for each you can name.

12. Ron Guidry has made two appearances in center field for the Yankees, in 1979 and 1983. Five points for naming the positions played in the majors by each of these two pitchers:

(a) Don Gullett

(b) Bob Lemon

13. Match each player with his collegiate achievement. Two points each.

(a)Butch Hobson

(b) Jackie Jensen

(c) Bob Horner

(d) Dave Winfield

(e) Tom Seaver

1. Set NCAA season home run record

2. Played in the Rose Bowl

3. Wrote geology thesis on dirt in major league ballparks

4. Quarterbacked Alabama in a Bowl Game

5. Was drafted by four pro sports leagues

14. Expansion teams usually contain very unmemorable talent, but occasionally a player goes on to stardom. The Seattle Pilots, for example, traded away a young outfielder named Lou Pinella. For five points each,

(a) What future Cy Young award winner played for the 1969 Pilots?

(b) Who was the first baseman who hit two home runs in the Toronto Blue Jays' first game ever?

15. For more than 25 years, the Pittsburgh Pirates have enjoyed a flood of talent at second base--Mazeroski, Cash, Stennett, Randolph, Garner, and Ray. But the Pirates have not had the same luck at shortstop. Two points for each of the following Buc shortstops you can name:

(a) The 1960 NL MVP

(b) and (c) The two shortstops who shared the position on the 1971 world champions

(d) The shortstop on the 1979 World Series winner

(e) The current Pirate shortstop

16. The White Sox plan to fill a hole at third base in a most uncommon way this season: they will play Mike Squires there, making him the first left-handed infielder in 47 years.

(a) Who was the last White Sox third baseman to lead the AL in home runs?

(b) Name the White Sox third baseman implicated in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Five points for each answer.

17. Last season Dan Quisenberry broke the major league record for saves by registering 45, seven more than the previous mark. Five points each for knowing:

(a) Whose 10-year-old record did Quisenberry break?

(b) Who--in 1969--became the first pitcher to appear in 90 games in season?

18. Carl Yastrzemski retried with more than 3000 hits and 400 home runs, making him the only American League player to reach both plateaus (Willie Mays and Henry Aaron both did it in the NL). Which AL player narrowly missed becoming they first, finishing his career with more than 3000 hits but 399 homers?

19. George Steinbrenner has earned a reputation for wantonly hiring and firing managers, but former A's owner Charles Finely set the standard which faris use to measure Steinbrenner's impatience. Five points for each of the two men you can name who served two separate terms in command of the A's.

20. George Brett's "pine tar" home run provided perhaps the most memorable news from last year's baseball season. Who was on base when Brett hit the tworun homer against the Yankees?

21. The Pirates last week released 45-year old pitcher Jim Kaat, who nonetheless holds the record for most seasons pitches with 25, set last year. For five points each,

(a) Who pitched the most games-in his career?

(b) Who was the first pitcher to appear in all seven games of a World Series?

22. The Dodgers' infield of Steve Garvey, Dave Lopes, Bill Russell, and Ron Cey played together for nine seasons, the most for any quartet. Who were their predecessors in the Dodger infield in 1971-72?

23. Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium is known as "The Launching Pad" because of the high number of home runs hit there. For two points each, name the three Braves who hit 40 or more homers in 1973. For two more, who was the last Brave to win a batting title? And for the final two points, who was the last Brave to lead the NL in earned run average?

24. Baseball's current system of free agency began in 1975, when arbitrator Peter Seitz allowed two pitchers to play out their options and bargain with the teams of their choice. Two points for knowing:

(a) One pitcher retired, in spite of the ruling in his favor. Who was he?

(b) The other signed with the Atlanta Braves and the next year suffered a career-shortening injury. Identify him.

(c) Who signed the first "big money" contract in the next year's inaugural reentry draft?

(d) Who was the first "Type A" player who required compensation under the 1981 Basic Agreement?

(e) Who was the compensation for him?

25. The Giants unloaded Gaylord Perry to the Indians in 1972, not knowing that Perry's best years--including two Cy Young awards--were still ahead of him. the Giants also included a young shortstop in the package, for which they received Sudden Sam McDowell. The shortstop had been acquired from the Reds the year before for a young outfielder named George Foster. Can you name this invaluable infielder?

EXTRA CREDIT: Who has appeared in a major or minor league game in every decade since the 1920s?