2018 World Series Quiz

Major League Baseball's postseason has begun and we are on our way to the October Classic.  Here is a quiz to test your knowledge of the World Series.  


2018 WORLD SERIES QUIZ


1.  Which player has won the most World Series rings?

A.  Mickey Mantle

B.  Joe DiMaggio

C.  Yogi Berra

D.  Babe Ruth

E.  Lou Gehrig



2.  How many has Tommy Lasorda managed the Los Angeles Dodgers to victory in a World Series?

Tommy Lasorda

A.  Twice

B.  Never

C.  Once

D.  Three times

E.  Four times



3.  What Los Angeles Dodger pitcher recorded 29 strikeouts in the 1965 World Series between the Dodgers and the Minnesota Twins.

A.  Wally Bunker

B.  Don Drysdale

C.  Claude Osteen

D.  Sandy Koufax

E.  Mudcat Grant



4.  To date the New York Yankees have won the most World Series with 27 victories.  Which team has won the second most World Series?

A.  Boston Red Sox

B.  San Francisco Giants (previously the New York Giants)

C.  St. Louis Cardinals

D.  Los Angeles Dodgers (previously the Brooklyn Dodgers)

E.  Pittsburgh Pirates



5. Which of these teams has never won a World Series?

A.  Seattle Mariners

B.  San Diego Padres

C.  Washington Nationals

D.  Milwaukee Brewers

E.  All of the Above



6,  Which pitcher has thrown the only perfect game in World Series history?

A.  Whitey Ford

B.  Don Larsen

C.  Roy Halladay

D.  Cy Young

E.  Tom Seaver



7.  Who hit the first pinch-hit home run in a World Series?

A.  Joe DiMaggio

B.  Mickey Mantle

C.  Yogi Berra

D.  Stan Musial

E.  Bobby Thomson



8. When the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series in 1979, what was their theme song?

A.  We Will Rock You (Queen)

B.  We Are Family (Sister Sledge)

C.  Get Down Tonight (K.C. & The Sunshine Band)

D/  Takin' Care of Business (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)

E.  Celebration (Kool & The Gang)



9.  In 1990, the Oakland Athletics were heavily favoured to win the World Series.  The defending champion A;s won 103 games to finish atop the American League West division.  Yet, they were defeated soundly in a four-game sweep.  What team defeated Oakland in the 1990 World Series?

A.  Cincinnati Reds

B.  New York Mets

C.  St. Louis Cardinals

D.  Montreal Expos

E.  Philadelphia Phillies



10.  Who is the first Black manager to lead his team to a World Series victory?

A.  Dusty Baker

B.  Frank Robinson

C.  Ron Washingon

D.  Cito Gaston

E.  Hal McRae



11.  Which manager(s) has led his team to a World Series championship the most times?  (Note: the ones with the slash between them have won the same number of times).

A.  Sparky Anderson/Miller Huggins

B.  Joe Torre/Walter Alston

C.  Connie Mack

D.  Tony La Russa/John McGraw/Bruce Boschy

E.  Joe McCarthy/Casey Stengel



ANSWERS

1. C

Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra won 10 World Series rings during his years with the New York Yankees from 1946 to 1963. Joltin' Joe DiMaggio earned 9 World Series rings.  Catcher Bill Dickey was on the roster of 8 World Series victors, as was Phil Rizzuto, Frankie Crosetti and Lou Gehrig.  Mickey Mantle played on 7 championship teams, as did Babe Ruth.


2.  A

Tommy Lasorda managed the Los Angeles Dodgers to two World Series championships.  Under Lasorda's stewardship, the Dodgers won the World Series in 1981, defeating the New York Yankees four games to two.  They won again in 1988, defeating the Oakland Athletics four games to one.


3.  D

Sandy Koufax

Left-handed pitcher Sandy Koufax recorded 29 strikeouts in the 1965 World Series.  Koufax, who is Jewish, did not pitch in Game One of the Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.  After losing Game Two, he pitched a four-hitter in Game Five and a three-hitter in Game Seven.  He finished with a remarkable 0.38 ERA.and was chosen World Series MVP that year.


4. C

To date, the St. Louis Cardinals have won the second most World Series with 11 victories.  The Boston Red Sox have won 8 championships - 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2007 and 2013, The New York Giants have won five World Series, and the San Francisco Giants have won three times since the team began playing in California at the beginning of the 1958 season.  That's a combined total of 8 World Series wins.  The Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series once(1955).  Since playing their first season in L.A. in 1958, the Dodgers have won five World Series - 1959, 1963, 1965 1981 and 1988. That's a total of six World Series championships.  The Pittsburgh Pirates have also won five World Series - 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979.


5. E

All of the above.  None of the teams listed have ever won the World Series.  Milwaukee Brewers franchise began in 1969, as did the San Diego Padres and the Washington Nationals.  The Seattle Mariners franchise in 1977.


6. B

Larsen

On October 8, 1956, Don Larsen pitched a perfect game for the New York Yankees in Game Five of the World Series.  Larsen needed just 97 pitches to complete the game and the Yanks won the game by a score of 2-0  and went on to win the World Series over the Brooklyn Dodgers four games to three.  Larsen's perfect game was the only no-hitter of any kind ever pitched in postseason play until Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies on October 6, 2010 in Game One of the National League Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds. (Halladay's only flaw was a fifth inning full-count walk.  Larsen's perfect game remains the only perfect game in World Series history.


7.  C

Yogi

Yogi Berra became the first player to hit a pinch-hit home run in the World Series in Game Three of the 1947 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Yogi hit the home run off Dodgers' pitcher Ralph Branca.  It is interesting to note that in a 1951 National League playoff, Branca allowed a walk-off home run to Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants.  That home run was nicknamed the "Shot Heard 'Rond the World" and the Giants won the NL pennant.  They were defeated by the New York Yankees in the 1951 World Series.


8.  B

Sister Sledge

When the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series in 1979, the team's theme song was We Are Family by Sister Sledge.  That year, the Pirates defeated their American League opponents, the Baltimore Orioles four games to three.


9.  A

The Cincinnati Reds of the National League upset the heavily-favoured Oakland A' in the 1990 World Series.



10.  D

Cito Gaston

Cito Gaston managed the Toronto Blue Jays to back-to-back World Series championships in 1993 and 1994.  Gaston is the first Black to manage a World Series winner.  To date, he is the only one who has accomplished this. Venezuela native Ozzie Guillen is the only other minority manager and the only Lation-American skipper to won a World Series (Chicago White Sox in 2015).  If the Boston Red Sox or the Los Angeles Dodgers should win the Fall Classic this year, another minority manager will be added to the list.  Alex Cora of the Red Sox.was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico.  Dave Rogers of the Dodgers was born in Japan to an Asian mother and a Black father.

Cito Gaston's Blue Jays defeated the Atlanta Braves in 1992 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993.  The 1992 World Series marked the first time the October Classic was played outside of the United States and the fist time it was won by a team not based in the U.S.


11.  E

Casey Stengel

It's a tie between Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel.  Both managed seven World Series championship teams.  Connie Mack managed five winners.  Joe Torre and Walter Alston managed four.  Sparky Anderson, Miller Huggins, Bruece Bochy, Tony La Russa and John McGraw managed three.


- Joanne