Major League Baseball IQ: The Ultimate Test of True Fandom

By Tucker Elliot

Think you know everything about our National Pastime? Think again! It's time to find out how much trivia you really know about Major League Baseball.

Are you a rookie? Are you a tested, hardcore veteran? Or will you be clearing waivers for your pending release halfway through the book? We'll let you know. Ten chapters, 200 brand new questions, fascinating history, the best trivia from every era of the game, and all the big name players you'd expect to find, MLB IQ is the most comprehensive and challenging book of baseball trivia available today.

Test your skills. Wrack your brain. It's your MLB IQ, the ultimate test of true fandom!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Black Mesa Publishing
• Release date: Oct 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301045167

Tucker Elliot

Tucker Elliot is a Georgia native and diehard baseball fan. A former high school athletic director, varsity baseball coach, and college professor, he is now a fulltime writer living in Tampa, FL.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

I have a passion for baseball. I got it from my dad, who taught me to play catch when he’d sneak home from work during his lunch break for half-an-hour or so at least three or four times a week when school was out for summer. My first team was the Big Red Machine because my first Spring Training experience led to an encounter with Hall of Fame legend Johnny Bench that I will never forget.

My brothers and I always traded baseball cards at night, spread on the floor in the living room, listening to AM broadcasts of whatever games we could tune in through the static. On Monday nights though we’d trade in the radio for the TV and tune in to Monday Night Baseball.

And when I say tune in, I mean it quite literally.

We had a big antenna off the backside of the house, and a few minutes before game time we’d all take our spots—and I don’t mean laying claim to the best spots on the couch. No, we’d be setting up a relay of sorts that went something like this: my older brother in front of the TV shouting better or worse or stop, right there, perfect! … me by the backdoor to relay the message as loudly as possible to my younger brother, who would be outside turning the antenna manually, trying to position it just right, hoping to get a clear picture in time for the game. And of course sometimes the only way to get a clear picture was if a human hand was holding that thing steady at all times. It was times like that when not being the youngest of three brothers came in real handy. On those nights at least two of us would get to enjoy the game.

And then the glorious day finally arrived when our parents paid for a cable TV subscription and our lives were never the same. Oh, we still spent our summers outside and barefoot, playing ball, and getting in and out of trouble … but now our nights of trading baseball cards took on a new dimension thanks to TBS. The Braves became my new team soon enough, but more than anything else I became a diehard baseball fan.

And as you well know, trivia is part of being a diehard fan.

Our baseball cards were, of course, our earliest source of trivia questions. As we’d trade it was a matter of habit to challenge each other with the Did you know? questions in small print beneath the stats on the back of the cards. It was a matter of pride to be able to answer not only every one of those questions, but to also be able to cite the stats from the cards of our favorite players. We’d spend hours studying the most arcane bits of information.

Life was good already, but then in addition to TBS, one day we came home to find WGN and ESPN. Who knew there was so much to learn about our National Pastime?

I spent the better part of my childhood soaking up as much as possible … and I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything.

I’m as passionate about baseball today as I was then. Absolutely love the Braves, and I wish Bobby would change his mind and come back one more year. Geographically my family has picked up another team as well—Tampa Bay—and we’re big time fans of Carl Crawford and the Rays, and not just the fair-weather variety, we’ve been faithfully attending games at The Trop every season since Tampa began play in the A.L.

More than anything though, I’m still a diehard fan of the game, I love everything about it—I’ve loved playing it, watching it, coaching it, and writing about it, but I’ve never grown tired of it.

I spent more time researching this new volume of trivia questions than for any book I’ve previously written—and I hope it challenges and entertains you, but more than anything I hope it stirs your passion for our National Pastime, by far the greatest game in the world.

Tucker Elliot

Tampa, FL

August 2010

FIRST

It isn’t that hard to get RBIs when you’re hitting home runs—you generally get at least one.

— Mike Schmidt

There’s a reason diehard fans get to the ballpark hours before game time. It’s not for better parking. It’s not for extra time to find our seats. It’s not so we’ll have time to down an extra hot dog, heavy on the mustard, prior to the first pitch.

It’s called BP.

Watching a Major League team take batting practice is without question one of the most exhilarating events a baseball fan can witness firsthand. But we don’t go hours early to watch players practice hitting to the opposite field. Oh no, we want to see the long ball, and lots of them. That’s why we bring our gloves. It’s partly because we want to chase those big flies and try to catch one like we’re little kids … and partly because we know if Albert Pujols drills one right at us that having a glove is truly a matter of life or death.

There isn’t a fan alive that doesn’t love the long ball.

So that’s where we begin. Here in the top of the first we’ve got a heavy dose of big-time sluggers who performed some incredible feats. Let’s get going with those two immortal words we love so much: Play Ball!

TOP OF THE FIRST

Question 1: The annual Home Run Derby during the All-Star break has been a fan-favorite for a long time. The All-Star break has also been a historical measuring stick for players on a potential record-setting home run pace. If you’ve got 30 bombs at the break, well, that’s pretty special. Who was the first player in history to hit 30 home runs before the All-Star break?

a) Dave Kingman

b) Willie Mays

c) Harmon Killebrew

d) Mike Schmidt

Question 2: The list of players to hit 30 homers before the break is pretty short, but it’s also pretty stout because it’s a virtual who’s who of home run champions. A few guys have done it more than once, but only one player has made it to the break with 30 homers on four different occasions. Who is that player?

a) Ken Griffey, Jr.

b) Sammy Sosa

c) Mark McGwire

d) Alex Rodriguez

Question 3: In 1994, for the first time in history, there were three players who hit 30 homers prior to the All-Star break. In 1998, that record was eclipsed as four players went into the break with at least 30 homers. In both seasons—1994 and 1998—there was one slugger who was a part of both of those record-setting groups. Who had at least 30 homers at the All-Star break in both 1994 and 1998?

a) Greg Vaughn

b) Mark McGwire

c) Ken Griffey, Jr.

d) Sammy Sosa

Question 4: Who is the only slugger in history to make it to the All-Star break with at least 30 homers … for two different teams?

a) Ken Griffey, Jr.