Baseball Candy Bars - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Reggie Jackson. Two years later, in 1978, fans attending the New York Yankees home opener were each given a Reggie! bar, containing chocolaty covered caramel and peanuts and named for the slugging outfielder who had been traded from the Baltimore Orioles before the previous season.
• A2) Travis Hafner. The designated hitter, who led the American League in slugging percentage in 2006, was variously nicknamed "Project" and "Donkey", so the two were combined.
• A3) Frank Thomas. The retail candy contained milk chocolate, caramel, and pecans, while a separate fund-raiser called the Frank Thomas bar, produced only in 1996, had milk chocolate and "crisp" rice.
• A4) Jose Canseco. The outfielder had become the first major leaguer to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season in 1988, a year before the "nutrition" bar debuted. The bar, which hopes you'll "Taste the Power", contains mostly peanuts, corn syrup, sugar, molasses, and dextrose with enough cocoa powder thrown in to call it chocolate.
• A5) Mike Mussina. The fund raising bar showcases its contents as milk chocolate and peanut butter.
• A6) Wade Boggs. The number on the third baseman's .352 bar represented his career batting average at the time (1990). The Hall-of-Famer's average had slipped to .328 by the time he retired in 1999.
• A7) Pete Rose. The "Carob Coated" and "Protein Rich" bar, whose main ingredient is corn syrup, brags that it contains "Vitamins and Minerals".
• A8) Tony Gwynn. The 1990 confection is "pure" milk chocolate, smooth like the 8-time batting champ's swing.
• A9) Ken Griffey, Jr.. Edmonds' Pacific Trading Cards Inc. couldn't produce the milk chocolate trading card-sized bars fast enough to keep up with demand in the Seattle area. Ironically, the 1997 American League MVP is allergic to chocolate.
• A10) Cecil Fielder. The year before his streak, the portly first baseman and designated hitter had found his stroke during a year in Japan.
• A11) Larry Walker. The Colorado Rockies outfielder had led the National League in homers (49) and on-base percentage (.452), slugging percentage (.720), and total bases (409) and captured one of his seven Gold Gloves.
• A12) Cal Ripken, Jr.. The Cal Bar, with milk chocolate and crispy rice, debuted in January 1993 and reached sales of 1.4 million in only four months, primarily from fund raising efforts.

Bonus Factoids:

• The Chipper Bar, named for Chipper Jones, and the Albert Belle Bar both featured milk chocolate with crisped rice and were first produced by the same company, Malley's, in 1996 and 1997 respectively. The David Justice Bar was made by a different company, Morley's, two years later, but had the same ingredients, just like the company's Cal Bar and Big Hurt Bar.
• Although the Baby Ruth candy bar, formerly called the Kandy Kake, was almost undoubtedly named for Babe Ruth, the Curtiss Candy Company got away with claiming it was named for Grover Cleveland's daughter Ruth (who had passed away 15 years earlier!). There was an official Ruth's Home Run Candy Bar at one point (not sure when, but it cost five cents, so probably also in the 1920s).
• Although Hank Aaron advertised for the Oh Henry candy bar, it debuted in 1919 and took its current name the following year, fourteen years before the slugger was born.

Baseball Candy Bars - Random Trivia Questions

It's not unusual for celebrities to use their fame to push products. But even I didn't realize that the practice was so pervasive that you can have an entire quiz on nothing but candy bars created for Major League Baseball players! Some of these questions are pretty hard because the products didn't last longer than your kids' Halloween booty, but most of them are guessable.

Baseball Candy Bars Questions

• Q1) What baseball player remarked, "If I played in New York, they'd name a candy bar after me"?
• Q2) What baseball player had the Pronk candy bar named for him?
• Q3) What baseball player had the Big Hurt candy bar named for him?
• Q4) What baseball player had the 40/40 Power Bar named for him?
• Q5) What baseball player had the Moose candy bar named for him?
• Q6) What baseball player had the .352 candy bar named for him?
• Q7) What baseball player had the Supercharg'r energy bar named for him?
• Q8) What baseball player had the Base Hit candy bar named for him?
• Q9) What baseball player had a candy bar named for him in 1989 when he was only a rookie?
• Q10) What baseball player had a candy bar named for him in 1994 after four consecutive seasons with at least 30 home runs and 110 RBIs?
• Q11) What baseball player had a candy bar named for him in 1998 after his first and only MVP award?
• Q12) What baseball player had a candy bar featuring a picture of him as a 10-year-old?

Baseball By the Numbers - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Arizona Diamondbacks. Chase Field is 1,087 feet above sea level, higher than the Metrodome (Minnesota Twins; 992 feet), Turner Field (Atlanta Braves; 928 feet), and Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals; 877 feet).
• A2) New York Mets and New York Yankees. Citi Field is a mere 9.5 miles from Yankee Stadium, while Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs) is 10.5 miles from U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox). Despite the creative team naming, Angel Stadium (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) is over 30 miles from Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers).
• A3) Seattle Mariners. Safeco Field is 677 miles from Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Colorado Rockies in Denver are 558 miles from the Kansas City Royals and 586 miles from the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
• A4) Los Angeles Dodgers. Dodger Stadium has a capacity of 56,000 people, topping Yankee Stadium (52,325), Coors Field (Colorado Rockies; 50,445), and Turner Field (Atlanta Braves; 50,091).
• A5) Oakland Athletics. Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has a capacity of only 35,067, below Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays; 36,973), PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates; 38,496), LandShark Stadium (Florida Marlins; 38,560, although the team will be moving to Marlins Ballpark, with a capacity of 37,000 in 2012), and Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox; 39,928).
• A6) North Carolina. Ranked #10 as of July 2008 with an estimated population of 9,222,414, North Carolina edges out New Jersey (#11 at 8,682,661) and Virginia (#12 at 7,769,089).
• A7) San Antonio, Texas. With an estimated population of 1,351,305 in July 2008, San Antonio ranks seventh. State mate Dallas also lacks a team and ranks eighth at 1,279,910. San Jose (#10 at 948,279) makes three top-ten cities without a team.
• A8) 4. The Arizona Diamondbacks (Phoenix), Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and Colorado Rockies (Denver) all have home stadiums in their state capital. In addition, the Toronto Blue Jays play in the capital of the province of Ontario, and the Washington Nationals play in the U.S. capital.
• A9) National League Central and American League West. Because Interleague play is restricted to a few times each year, the American and National Leagues must each have an even number of teams, so despite having 30 total teams, it's not possible to have six divisions with five teams each. The Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Pirates, and Reds each have a slightly lower chance of winning their division, while the Angels, Athletics, Mariners, and Rangers each have a slightly higher chance.
• A10) The bases. It's very close, but each base is a 15-inch square for an area of 225 square inches, while home plate is an irregular pentagon with sides of 17 inches (top), 8.5 inches (left and right sides), and 12 inches (bottom sides meeting at the corner) for an area of 216.5 square inches (17 * 8.5 + 12 * 12 / 2).
• A11) Shortstop. The shortstop, who gets numbered after the third baseman, is number 6 (six).
• A12) 400. Using a direct line to each base would total 360 feet, but making it a circle increases the distance by 39.859 feet. 400 feet is such a pretty number that it equals the distance to the fence in dead centerfield in ten Major League Baseball parks. The average is about 404 feet, thanks mostly to Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros; 435 feet), Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers; 420 feet), and Coors Field (415 feet).

Baseball By the Numbers - Random Trivia Questions

America's pastime is a treasure trove of trivia partly because of its heavy use of statistics, from up-to-the minute season numbers when a player enters the batter's box to box scores to the backs of baseball cards. While this week's questions all involve numbers, most should be reasonably guessable by even casual fans.

Baseball By the Numbers Questions

• Q1) After the Colorado Rockies' Coors Field, which Major League Baseball team's home stadium has the highest elevation?
• Q2) According to Google Maps' driving directions, which two Major League Baseball teams' home stadiums are the closest to each other?
• Q3) As the crow flies, which Major League Baseball team's home stadium is the farthest from any other stadium?
• Q4) Which Major League Baseball team's park can hold the most fans?
• Q5) Which Major League Baseball team's park can hold the fewest fans?
• Q6) What is the most populous U.S. state that is NOT home to a Major League Baseball team?
• Q7) What is the most populous U.S. city that is NOT home to a Major League Baseball team?
• Q8) How many Major League Baseball teams play their home games in a U.S. state capital city?
• Q9) Which Major League Baseball division has six teams, and which division has only four?
• Q10) Which has a larger top surface area, home plate or each of the three bases?
• Q11) In the standard numbering system for fielders, where the pitcher is 1, who is the only fielder whose spelled-out number and position begin with the same letter?
• Q12) If a player literally circled the bases on a home run, how many feet would he trot, within 10 feet?

World Series - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Bobby Richardson. The New York Yankees second baseman hit .367 with a grand slam and 12 RBIs against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960.
• A2) Reggie Jackson. The outfielder batted .310 with a homer and six RBIs for the 1973 Oakland A's and .450 with a record five homers and eight RBIs for the 1977 New York Yankees.
• A3) Fred Lindstrom. At the tender age of 18, the third baseman batted .333 for the 1924 New York Giants, going 3-for-4 in Game 4 and 4-for-5 in Game 5 against the Washington Senators.
• A4) Yogi Berra. The catcher amassed 71 hits in 75 games and was also the first player to pinch hit a home run in the World Series in 1947 against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
• A5) Mickey Mantle. The switch-hitting outfielder slugged 18 homers with 40 RBIs and 42 runs, also records, in 65 games despite a .257 batting average.
• A6) Andruw Jones. The Atlanta Braves centerfielder was only 19 years old when he went deep off of Andy Pettitte on October 20, 1996 to break Mickey Mantle's record. Jones hit a second home run off of Brian Boehringer in his next at-bat to become the second person, after Gene Tenace in 1972, to homer in his first two World Series plate appearances.
• A7) Hank Bauer. The New York Yankees outfielder hit in 17 straight World Series games from 1956 to 1958 despite batting only .287 during the streak. He averaged .245 in 53 career World Series games.
• A8) Whitey Ford. The New York Yankees hurler won 10 times in 22 starts with 94 strikeouts in 146 innings, all records. His career World Series ERA was 2.71.
• A9) Bob Gibson. The Cardinals flamethrower K'ed 17 Detroit Tigers on October 2, 1968 and totalled a record 35 in the series.
• A10) Christy Mathewson. The New York Giants starter blanked the Philadelphia Athletics for 27 consecutive frames (three complete-game shutouts) in 1905. Whitey Ford holds the multi-series record of 33 innings.
• A11) John Wetteland. The New York Yankees closer pulled off the feat in 1996 against the Atlanta Braves, saving games three through six to earn MVP honors. Rollie Fingers holds the career mark with six saves.
• A12) Darold Knowles. In 1973, the Oakland A's reliever blanked the New York Mets over 6-1/3 innings, allowing only four hits and five walks while striking out five. Dan Quisenberry was the only pitcher to appear in every game of a six-game series with the Kansas City Royals in 1980. Rollie Fingers appeared in a record 16 career games.

World Series - Random Trivia Questions

The Major League Baseball World Series is about to begin, so here are a few questions about the event, which dates back over a hundred years to 1903. I'll apologize in advance for all the answers that involve New York Yankees, but they've won so many World Series (26 in 39 appearances) that they dominate the record books.

World Series Questions

• Q1) Who was the only losing player to be named MVP of the World Series?
• Q2) Who was the only player to be named World Series MVP for two different teams?
• Q3) Who was the youngest person to play in a World Series?
• Q4) Who appeared in the most career World Series games and had the most hits?
• Q5) Who hit the most career World Series home runs?
• Q6) Who was the youngest player to hit a home run in the World Series?
• Q7) Who had the longest World Series hitting streak?
• Q8) What pitcher won the most career World Series games?
• Q9) What pitcher struck out the most batters in a World Series game?
• Q10) What pitcher threw the most consecutive shutout innings in one World Series?
• Q11) Who was the only pitcher to save four games in a World Series?
• Q12) Who was the only pitcher to appear in all seven games of a World Series?