Baseball StatisticsTrivia:
Answers are below, after all the questions.
60) Name the two players who hit 30 or more home runs for 13 consecutive seasons. One of them had his streak end in 2011.
59) Name the only major leaguer who hit exactly 40 home runs, 4 years in a row.
58) Babe Ruth was the first major leaguer to hit 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, and 700 home runs. Who was the first post-1900 hitter with 100 homers?
57) Among pitchers with at least 300 wins, who has the highest winning percentage?
56) Among pitchers with at least 200 wins, who has the highest winning percentage?
55) For 5 consecutive seasons, the Cy Young award was won by a pitcher from one city. What was the city, and who were the pitchers?
54) Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Rafael Palmeiro each had more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Who is the fourth player to achieve those feats?
53) In 2010, Adam Dunn had his seventh straight season with 38 or more home runs, tying him with Babe Ruth (1926-1932). Who has nine straight years with 38 or more home runs?
52) Who was the only batter who ever struck out against a 59-year old pitcher, in a major league game?
51) Only five players in the history of major league baseball have more than 6,000 At Bats and a HR% (HR / AB) better than 7%. Can you name them?
50) This player, not a pitcher, played major league baseball for 13 seasons, and NEVER hit a triple. Who is he?
49) Only two players in MLB history have hit a home run in their first at bat AND in their last at bat. Who were they? This one is extra tough - because, combined, they only had eight (8) career home runs!
48) More than 17,400 players have played major league baseball (going back to the 1800's). Of those, only 230 of them have been selected for baseball's Hall-of-Fame. Even fewer, 106, have hit a home run in their first major league at bat. Who are the two players who had a first-at-bat home run AND made it to the Hall-of-Fame?
47) What season(s) did Lou Gehrig play every inning of every game?
46) How many games did the New York Yankees win during Lou Gehrig's 2,130-game-playing streak?
45) Who had the lowest ERA among single-season 20-game losers?
44) Since 1900, what pitcher has the most career wins without ANY seasons with 20 or more wins?
43) Who had the highest ERA among single-season 20-game winners?
42) Forty-two times, a player has hit 50 or more home runs in a single MLB season. Of those 42, who had the highest batting average? How about the lowest?
41) Three pitchers have pitched more than 2,000 innings and given up fewer than 7 hits per 9 IP. Nolan Ryan (6.56) and Sandy Koufax (6.79) are two of them. Who is the third?
40) The Astros called up a player who played in the last game of 1963. He went to the plate 5 times. He was 3 for 3 and walked twice. He also had 3 RBIs and 4 runs scored. He played RF - and never again appeared in a major league game. Who was this player?
39) Since 1900, one player had 57 extra-base hits in a season, with NO home runs. Who is he? He's in the Hall-of-Fame. The post-1980 record of 44, is held by another Hall-of-Famer. Who is he? Who holds the record (32) for this century (he's not, and won't ever be, in the HOF)?
38) Any decent baseball fan knows that the Yankees have the most championships (27 World Series, 40 pennants) in major-league history. What franchise is second?
37) Among players who never hit as many as 40 HR's in a season, and never led their league (outright) in homers, who had the most career home runs?
36) Who had/has the most career home runs among Canadian-born major leaguers? Okay, he's also on top for most games, hits, doubles, walks, RBI's, Runs Scored, and Stolen Bases, too.
35) Mickey Mantle had more home runs (536) than any other switch hitter.
34) Prior to Mickey Mantle, who had the single-season record for home runs by a switch-hitter?
33) What is the highest regular-season batting average by a player on a World Series champion (with enough plate appearances to qualify for the title)?
32) Babe Ruth NEVER struck out 100 times in a season (he DID strikeout more than a hundred hitters, three times, as a pitcher). How many different players HAVE struck out 100 or more times in a season? For the record, the most strikeouts Babe Ruth ever had in one season was 93, in 1923 That was also the year that he set the still-standing record for highest batting average by a Yankee - .393 (he also hit 41 homers in 1923)!
31) Ten pitchers since 1960 have won 20 or more games in a single season in both the American League AND the National League. See how many you can name.
30) Six players have hit 40 or more homeruns in a single season in both the American League AND the National League. See how many you can name.
29) Ten pitchers have won 100 or more games in both the American League AND the National League. See how many you can name.
28) What hitter had the most strikeouts in a season in which he walked more than he struck out?
27) How many 20-win seasons have MLB pitchers achieved since 1900 (inclusive)? If a pitcher had more than one 20-win season, count each occurrence.
26) What was the single-season record for home runs prior to Babe Ruth hitting 29 in 1919?
25) What was the single-season record for home runs prior to Babe Ruth hitting 54 in 1920?
24) Barry Bonds, in 2007, became the all-time MLB leader in career homeruns. He beat Hank Aaron's record. Hank Aaron beat Babe Ruth's record. What post-1900 player had the record prior to Babe Ruth?
23) Name the two pitchers who won and saved at least 150 games each.
22) Of the hitters who have hit 400 or more homeruns, 5 have more than four times as many strikeouts as homers. Name them.
21) Of the hitters who have hit 400 or more homeruns, only 6 have fewer than twice as many strikeouts as homers. Name them.
20) Of pitchers with more than 2000 IP, who has the best SO/BB ratio in modern (1900 -) baseball history?
19) Since 1951, who had the most stolen bases in one season without being caught?
18) Of pitchers with more than 2000 IP, who had the fewest strikeouts per inning in modern (1900 -) baseball history?
17) Of pitchers with more than 2000 IP, who had the fewest walks per inning in modern (1900 -) baseball history?
16) What player had the most Stolen Bases in a single-season in which he was caught more frequently than he was successful? He's better known, in baseball, for something other than playing the game.
15) Who is the only player in (post-1900) MLB history to have at least 5000 PA with a lifetime batting average over .300 and an OBA under .340?
14) The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees competed in 44 World Series games. Name the only player who played in every one of them.
13) What player had 30 triples (total - 16 one season, 14 the next) over two consecutive seasons - without any stolen bases?
12) This sounds the same as the last question, but it's not: What pitcher, with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, had the highest single-season ERA in the last 30 years?
11) What pitcher, with at least 162 IP, had the highest single-season ERA in the last 30 years?
10) What outfielder, with enough plate appearances to qualify for the title, had the lowest single-season slugging average in the last 30 years?
9) What pitcher had the most combined wins and saves in his career?
8) Who was the first switch hitter to hit a home run from each side of the plate in a single game, twice?
7) One season (after 1913, when MLB started to keep track of hitter's strikeouts), a hitter had more than 220 hits, more than 25 homeruns, a batting average over .350, AND struck out fewer than 10 times! Name the player and the season.
6) What pitcher had the most consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins and 200 or more strikeouts?
5) What pitcher had the most consecutive seasons with at least 200 IP and an ERA lower than his league's ERA? He did it for 17 straight seasons!
4) What hitter had the most consecutive seasons with at least 400 plate appearances, a batting average of at least .300 AND an On Base Average of at least .400?
3) Who is the only MLB player to have a career (more than 5000 plate appearances) OBA more than .150 above his Batting Average?
2) What player had a 5-year cumulative batting average over .400?!
1) What is the most homeruns hit in a single season by a hitter who struck out fewer times than he homered? Who did it?
Who is the only player to pinch hit for Ted Williams?
Of pitchers who have thrown at least 800 innings in the majors, who was the toughest to hit (that is, gave up the fewest hits per inning)?
Answers . . .
60) Barry Bonds (1992-2004) and Alex Rodriguez (1998-2010). Jimmie Foxx did it 12 times (1929-1940). Albert Pujols has 11 straight 30-homer years, and he's still working on it (2001-2011)!
59) Adam Dunn, 2005 - 2008.
58) Gavvy Cravath hit 119 home runs from 1908 to 1920. 116 were while he was with the Phillies.
57) Lefty Grove, .680, 300 - 141.
56) Whitey Ford, .690, 236 - 106.
55) The city is Los Angeles. In 1962, it was Don Drysdale of the Dodgers, 1964 was Dean Chance of the Angels, and 1963, '65, and '66, it was the Dodger's Sandy Koufax.
54) Eddie Murray, 3255 hits, 504 home runs.
53) Rafael Palmeiro (1995-2003).
52) Bill Monbouquette. Charley Finley, as a publicity stunt, had 59-year-old Satchel Paige start a game, in September of 1965. Paige pitched three innings, gave up no runs, one hit, and no walks!
51) Mark McGwire (9.42%), Babe Ruth (8.50%), Barry Bonds (7.74%), Jim Thome (7.38%), and Harmon Killebrew (7.03%) are the five. Alex Rodriguez was there, prior to 2010, but he "dropped" to 6.95%.
50) It was Mark Parent, a Catcher who played for seven different teams, from 1986 through 1998, never hit a triple in 1,303 ABs. Johnny Estrada, by the way, accumulated more ABs (2,079) in his 8-year major league career, without ever hitting a triple.
49) John Miller had exactly two home runs in his career; one in his first AB (1966 for the Yankees), and the other in his last AB (1969 for the Dodgers). Paul Gillespie had six home runs in his career; his first was in 1942, and his last in 1945. Both were with the Cubs.
48) Hoyt Wilhelm, who NEVER hit another HR in his MLB career, and Earl Averill (238 lifetime HR's) are the two players.
47) 1931 was the only season in which Lou Gehrig played every inning of every game the Yankees played.
46) They won 1313 games, lost 798, and there were 19 ties.
45) Ed Walsh was 18-20 for the 1910 White Sox. His ERA was 1.27! It was his lowest seasonal ERA ever. Walsh compiled an ERA of 1.42 in 1908 when he was 40-15!
44) Dennis Martinez won 245 games without ever winning 20 or more in a season. Frank Tanana is next with 240 wins.
43) In 1938, Bobo Newsom was 20-16 for the old St.Louis Browns. His ERA was 5.07.
42) In 1921, Babe Ruth hit .378 with 59 home runs. In 2010, Jose Bautista hit .260 with 54 home runs, for the low . . . which broke Andruw Jones 2005 season record of .263 with 51 home runs . . . which broke Roger Maris' 44-year record of .269 when he hit 61 in '61.
41) Andy Messersmith (6.94).
40) It was John Paciorek
39) Nap Lajoie hit 48 doubles and 9 triples in 1906, Ozzie Smith hit 44 doubles and 4 triples in 1987, and Juan Pierre hit 24 doubles and 8 triples in 2007.
38) The St. Louis Cardinals have won 10 World Series', and the Dodgers (Brooklyn and Los Angeles) have won 18 pennants.
37) Eddie Murray hit 504 home runs, and never hit more than 33 in a single season. Murray did tie (with 3 others) for the 1981 lead with 22. Stan Musial hit 475 home runs without ever leading or tying for the lead. Musial's biggest HR year was 1948, when he hit 39.
36) That would be Larry Walker after a great 17-year career with the Expos, Rockies, and Cardinals (ending in 2005). He also has the highest batting average, slugging average, OBA, and OPS, among all Canadian-born major leaguers since 1900 (> 2000 PA). Do you think that Justin Morneau, Jason Bay, or Russell Martin, can surpass any of those stats?
35) Who is ranked second? Eddie Murray with 504.
34) Ripper Collins, firstbaseman for the 1934 (Gas House Gang) St. Louis Cardinals, hit 35 home runs.
33) That was Babe Ruth's 1923 season - .393 (see the question below). No World Series team has ever had a full-season regular player who hit over .400.
32) Through 2011, 675 different players had struck out at least 100 times in a season. Those 675 players have reached 100 K's 2,134 times! Thirty-one players have had 10 or more seasons with 100 K's. Reggie Jackson did it 18 times! Bobby Abreu did it 14 consecutive seasons (1998-2011)! In 2011, 78 players struck out at least 100 times! Danny Moeller was the first post-1900 player to strikeout 100 times in a season (103 in 1913). Sam Wise was the ONLY player to do it prior to 1900 (104 in 1884).
31) Gaylord Perry, Tommy John, Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Frank Viola, Jerry Koosman, David Cone, Andy Messersmith, Bill Singer, and Ferguson Jenkins.
30) Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Thome, Mark McGwire, Darrell Evans, Shawn Green, and Dave Justice.
29) Cy Young (221 wins in the AL, 290 in the NL), Gaylord Perry (139, 175), Ferguson Jenkins (115, 169), Nolan Ryan (189, 135), Randy Johnson (164, 139), Kevin Brown (102, 109), Jim Bunning (118, 106), Dennis Martinez (141, 104), Pedro Martinez (117, 102), and Al Orth (105, 100) were the pitchers to accomplish that feat.
28) In 1998, Mark McGuire struck out 155 times - and walked 162 times.
27) Through 2011, 814! You can check out the complete list by clicking the 20W Seasons tab at Various XERA Stat Sheets.
26) Ned Williamson hit 27 home runs in 1884 for the Cubs. Post-1900, Gavvy Cravath's 24 for the Phillies in 1915 was the record.
25) That would be Babe Ruth's 29 in 1919.
24) Gavvy Cravath. Cravath's career ended in 1920. At that point, he led Babe Ruth 119 to 103. Babe Ruth hit 59 home runs in 1921.
23) Dennis Eckersley (197 wins, 390 saves) and John Smoltz (213 wins and 154 saves). All of Smoltz's saves came in a 4-season stretch . . . 2001 - 2004 . . . 10, 55, 45, and 44, respectively).
22) Willie Stargell, Jim Thome, Dave Kingman, José Canseco, and Reggie Jackson.
21) They are Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Mel Ott, Hank Aaron, and Babe Ruth.
20) It's Curt Schilling. He had 3,116 strikeouts, and 711 walks, for a ratio of 4.38 to one!
19) Chase Utley of the Phillies set a new record for this in 2009 - with 23 straight steals. The previous record was by Kevin McReynolds who stole 21 straight bases for the Mets in 1988. Carlos Beltran, now with the Mets, stole 28 straight for the Astros in 2004, but he played for the Royals that season, as well. He was "only" 14 for 17 in stolen base attempts with Kansas City. 42 for 45 for the season - not too shabby!
18) That would be Jack Russell, who struck out 418 hitters in 2,051 IP from 1926 to 1940 - an average of 1.83 strikeouts per 9 IP!
17) Cy Young wins that honor. From 1900 through 1911, he walked 449 in 3,334 1/3 innings, an average of 1.11 walks per 9 innings. He won 244 and lost 165 in that period.
16) In 1914, Miller Huggins stole 32 bases; he was caught 36 times!
15) Ralph Garr (.306/.339) , who played for the Braves, White Sox, and/or Angels from 1968 to 1980 wins that honor!
14) Pee Wee Reese.
13) Johnny Mize had 16 triples in 1938 and 14 in 1939. He had no stolen bases.
12) Jim Deshaies gets the honor here. His ERA with the Minnesota Twins in 1994 was 7.39. He only pitched 130 1/3 innings that year - but it was enough to "qualify" in that strike-shortened season.
11) José Lima "wins" that award with his 6.99 ERA in 2005 with the Kansas City Royals.
10) That would be Astros Centerfielder Gerald Young's 1989 season. In 146 games, he had a slugging average of .276! His batting average was .233 and he had no homeruns. He DID steal 34 bases that year - in 59 attempts!
9) Through 2011, Mariano Rivera has 75 wins and 603 saves, for a total of 678. Trevor Hoffman had 662 saves and wins (61 wins, 601 saves) in his career (ending after 2010).
8) The answer is Jim Russell. He did it for the Braves on June 7, 1948, and for the Dodgers on July 26, 1950. He hit only 67 homeruns in his career. Mickey Mantle had his third switch-hit-homer game on May 18, 1956, to set the new record.
7) Boston Braves outfielder Tommy Holmes (224, 28, .352) did it in 1945. That was also the year that Holmes set the, then, NL record of getting a hit in 37 straight games. He led the league in hits, doubles, home runs, slugging average, and OPS that year, but finished second to the Cubs Phil Cavarretta (by .003) for the batting title. Cavarretta won the MVP award!
6) Walter Johnson accomplished that dual feat from 1910 through 1916 (7 years). He won 199 games during that stretch, and maintained an ERA of 1.56 - never exceeding 1.90!
5) Warren Spahn did it from 1947 through 1963.
4) There's that number 17 again - Ty Cobb did it from 1909 through 1925.
3) Max Bishop (2B, primarily for the Philadelphia A's, back in the 20s and early 30s) had a lifetime batting average of .271 and an OBA of .423. Gene Tenace (.241/.388/.147), Barry Bonds (.298/.444/.146), Eddie Stanky (.268/.410/.142), Eddie Yost (.254/.394/.140), Ted Williams (.344/.482/.138), Adam Dunn (.249/.383/.134), Babe Ruth (.342/.474/.132), and Mark McGwire (.263/.394/.131) round out the OBA more than .130 above his Batting Average group. Now, THAT would be a lineup!
2) From 1921 through 1925, St. Louis Cardinal secondbaseman Rogers Hornsby maintained a 5-season average of .402! In 696 games, he had 2,679 at bats, 1,078 hits, 206 doubles, 66 triples, 144 homeruns, a .690 slugging percentage, and a .474 OBA (OPS of 1.164)!
1) Johnny Mize, of the New York Giants, hit 51 homeruns in 1947, with only 42 strikeouts. Of course, playing his home games in the Polo Grounds helped bring up the homer total. In 1934, Lou Gehrig hit 49 homeruns, and only struck out 31 times! Roger Maris, by the way, only struck out 67 times when he hit 61 in '61.
Some impressive numbers on the other side of that ratio: Rick Monday hit 8 homeruns in 1968, and struck out 143 times! Benji Gil had 9 HR's with 147 K's in 1995, and Jóse Hernandez had 13 homeruns in 2003 - and 177 K's!
The pinch hit for Ted Williams question? Carroll Hardy is the answer. Here's a more complete story, as found in the very popular Wikipedia website (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carroll_Hardy,).
Late in the 1960 season, Hardy was on the bench for the Boston Red Sox. Ted Williams, in the final days of his Hall of Fame career, fouled a ball off his foot in the first inning of a game on September 20. After he limped off the field, Hardy finished the at-bat for him, becoming the only player ever to do so. Hardy lined into a double play. On September 28 at Fenway Park, in his final major league appearance, Williams hit his 521st and last home run against Jack Fischer of the Baltimore Orioles. In the ninth inning, he was replaced by Hardy in left field. "They booed me all the way out and cheered him all the way in," Hardy later remembered. Then, on May 31, 1961, Hardy pinch-hit for rookie Carl Yastrzemski, making him the only player in major league history to go in for both future Hall of Famers.
Also in that Wikipedia article: Most die-hard baseball fans know that Hardy has the honor of being the only player ever to pinch-hit for Ted Williams, but few people know that Hardy's pinch-hit resume goes well beyond this claim to trivia immortality. A reserve for the majority of his career, he debuted with the Cleveland Indians in the 1958 season. On May 18, celebrating his 25th birthday, he pinch-hit for Roger Maris and belted his first major league homerun, a three-run blast off Billy Pierce, to lead Cleveland to a 7–4 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
The fewest hits per inning (>800 IP) question. Herb Score was the answer until Billy Wagner reached 800 innings in 2008. Yes, they gave up fewer hits per inning than Nolan Ryan, Sandy Koufax, or Pedro Martinez! Wagnergave up only 5.99 hits per 9 IP in his career.
If you have a baseball stats trivia question, send it to dwight@xera-baseball.com. We'll be glad to research it, and send you the answer. If we think it'll be of general interest to baseball fans, we'll publish it on this site.