Jerry Sullivan baseball quiz for 2025

Last month, the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds met in a three-game series at Fenway Park. It had special significance for baseball lovers, since it has been 50 years since the Red Sox and Reds met in the 1975 World Series, considered by many the greatest Fall Classic in MLB history.

The most memorable scene from that Series was Carlton Fisk waving his game-winning home run fair in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 6 at Fenway to force a seventh game. Of course, the Reds won in seven, scoring the winner in the top of the ninth on a single by Joe Morgan against a rookie lefty named Jim Burton.

Veteran Boston fans are still asking why manager Darrell Johnson took out Jim Willoughby, who had handily retired all four Reds he faced before the ninth.

People forget that there were four days between Games 5 and 6 due to heavy autumnal rains in Boston. Sox fans haven’t forgotten that Hall of Famer Jim Rice, who had a terrific rookie year in 1975, missed the entire ’75 postseason with a broken wrist suffered in late September.

Here’s a great stat: Boston’s Luis Tiant threw 155 pitches in a complete-game victory in Game 4. You don’t see that anymore. No one has pitched a CG in the World Series in more than a decade. Last year, no starter threw as many as 90 pitches in a Series game. The Dodgers used eight pitchers in the clincher.

Well, this can only mean it’s time for my annual baseball trivia quiz, which I’ve been doing in some form for 36 years. The first installment was in 1990, when Roger Maris and Hank Aaron still held the home run records and the Red Sox and Cubs were still suffering through their long world championship droughts.

This year’s quiz has 58 possible answers. If you get half, you’re a trivia whiz. The statistics go back to 1901, the year the American League was founded.

1. OK, who was the rookie who served up Carlton Fisk’s game-winning homer in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 6 of that 1975 World Series?

2. This Hall of Famer started 665 games in Major League career, but his two no-hitters came in the span of seven games straddling the 1960 and 61 seasons — the second one five days after his 40th birthday.

3. This Cincinnati Red led the NL in steals in 1970 with 57. After an injury, he was Comeback Player of the Year in 1972. His uncle Eddie won gold in the 100 and 200 meters in the 1932 Olympics, four years before Jesse Owens.

4. He led the National League in homers and RBIs in 1954 and finished second in the MVP voting to Willie Mays, who won the batting title.

5. Short-term memory check: He won a game for the Yankees in the ALDS, the ALCS and the World Series last season.

6. Alphabet Trivia: Five players whose last name begins with “M” had at least 225 hits in a season. One of them did it twice.

7. Cal Raleigh had an MLB-leading 35 homers as of July 8. He’s on pace to break the record for home runs by a switch-hitter. Who holds it? While you’re at it, name the other three switch-hitters who hit 44 or more homers in a season.

8. Who is the only active player with more than 300 homers and fewer than 1,000 hits? He’s sixth all-time in strikeouts per game by a hitter.

9. Who is the only Yankee to win the pitching Triple Crown (leading league in wins, strikeouts, ERA)? He did it twice.

10. There was a player in that ’75 World Series who is the career leader in combined home runs by a grandfather and his grandson. Name both.

11. Who are the three players with 400 stolen bases and 250 homers who aren’t in the Hall of Fame?

12. Aaron Judge is bidding to become the fourth player to hit .370 and have 40 homers in the same season. Who are the other three? One of them did it six times.

13. He had 649 career stolen bases, the most for a native Cuban, yet he never scored 100 runs in a season. He played all nine positions in one game in 1965.

14. After Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle had their epic home run duel in 1961 (Maris hit 61, Mantle 54), it was 29 years before another American Leaguer hit 50 homers. Who was he?

15. Who was the last player to hit two home runs in an All-Star game? He’s also credited by Webster’s with the first recorded use of the term “f-bomb”.

16. Who is the only pitcher to win 80 games for three different franchises?

17. Same-name game: He won 20 for the Red Sox in 1921 and the Yankees in 1923. He also threw a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1923, with no strikeouts! A man by the same name led the NL in wins and ERA for the Giants in 1959, and in ’55 became the first African-American to throw an MLB no-hitter.

18. Both of these iron men pitched well into their 40s and they’re 1-2 all-time in wins by pitchers with a career ERA over 4.00. They were on opposing teams in an  2001 ALDS, and both won games in the series.

19. There have been 50 individual seasons of 50 home runs or more. Name the 10 players who have hit 50 bombs in a season at least twice.

20. Who are the only two players who were Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season?

21. Name the three MLB managers who won more than 1,500 games but never won a World Series. One is active.

22. Five players have had 200 hits in a season for the Blue Jays. All of them did it once for Toronto, though one did it three times for other teams.

23. Who was the last pitcher to have a complete-game win in the World Series. Now go back to the last man with two CG victories in a World Series.

24. Who has the most wins of any active pitcher under the age of 30?

25. More Judge: He’s looking to be the first American Leaguer this century with 140 RBIs in consecutive seasons. Who was the last AL player to do it?

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ANSWERS

1. Pat Darcy. He won 11 games as a rookie that year. He played only one more MLB season.

2. Buffalo native Warren Spahn, of course. Spahn, a graduate of South Park High, holds the record for wins by a left-hander, despite missing three years during World War II. He fought at the Battle of the Bulge and earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

3. Bobby Tolan.

4. Ted Kluszewski of the Reds. “Klu” hit 40 homers three years in a row from 1953-55 — and had fewer than 40 strikeouts each year!

5. Clay Holmes

6. Heinie Manush, Joe Medwick, Don Mattingly, Stan Musial and Paul Molitor. Musial did it twice.

7. Mickey Mantle holds the record by a switch-hitter with 54 in 1961. He also had 52 bombs in 1956. The next three are Lance Berkman (2006) and Chipper Jones (1999) with 45. Anthony Santander had 44 for the O’s last season.

8. Kyle Schwarber. As of July 8, the Phils slugger had 311 career home runs and 987 hits.

9. Lefty Gomez won pitching’s Triple Crown in 1934 and ’37. Ron Guidry led the AL in wins and ERA in 1978, but was second in Ks to Nolan Ryan.

10. Carl Yastrzemski (452 homers) and grandson Mike Yastrzemski (114 as of July 8).

11. Barry Bonds, his father Bobby Bonds, and Bobby Abreu. Abreu was the first Phillie to have 30 homers and 30 steals in a season.

12. Babe Ruth did it six times. Rogers Hornsby and Chuck Klein each had one 40-.370 season.

13. Bert Campaneris. He led the American League in steals six times between 1965-72, but never led in runs scored.

14. Cecil Fielder hit 51 homers for the Tigers in 1990. His son, Prince, hit 50 for the Brewers in 2007, making them the only father-son duo to hit 50.

15. Gary Carter hit two in 1981 at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. Four others have hit two bombs in an ASG: Ted Williams,Willie McCovey, Arky Vaughn and Al Rosen.

16. Tommy John won 91 games for the Yankees, 87 for the Dodgers and 82 for the White Sox. “TJ” had 288 career wins, the most for any lefty not in the Hall.

17. “Sad” Sam Jones won 23 games for the 1921 Red Sox and 21 for the ’23 Yankees. “Toothpick” Sam Jones took two-thirds of a pitching Triple Crown (wins, ERA) for the ’59 Giants, but was second to Don Drysdale in strikeouts.

18. Jamie Moyer, who pitched to the age of 49,  had 269 wins and a 4.25 ERA. Bartolo Colon had 247 wins and a career ERA of 4.12. They were opponents in a 2001 ALDS. Moyer was 2-0 for the Mariners, Colon 1-1 for Cleveland.

19. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Babe Ruth each had four seasons of 50 or more homers. Aaron Judge and Alex Rodriguez have three. Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr., Ralph Kiner and Willie Mays have two.

20. Fred Lynn did it for the Red Sox in that memorable 1975 season. Ichiro Suzuki was Rookie of the Year and MVP for the Mariners in 2001, at age 27.

21. Gene Mauch (1,902 wins), Buck Showalter (1,727), Bob Melvin (1,647 as of July 8).

22. Tony Fernandez, John Olerud, Paul Molitor, Shannon Stewart and Vernon Wells. Molitor also had 200 hits twice for Milwaukee and once with the Twins.

23. Johnny Cueto had the last complete-game WS win for K.C. against the Mets in 2015. Orel Hershiser had two for the Dodgers against the A’s in 1988.

24. Logan Webb of the Giants and Freddy Peralta of the Brewers each had 63 wins as of July 8. It’s not likely any pitcher ever wins 300 games again.

25. Manny Ramirez did it for Cleveland in 1998-99.