Happy Opening Day.

March 29, 2018 5:43 AM

Here's the 2018 Washington Post baseball quiz. Pretty fun even if they do misspell Roger Maris.
posted by JanetLand (21 comments total)

I hit .268. Back to the farm, I guess...
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:26 AM on March 29, 2018

.366 is a good batting average. It is a terrible trivia percentage. I don't know this much trivia about anything.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:52 AM on March 29, 2018

A good as any time to post a reference to this, "Why Time Begins on Opening Day." Worth finding at your library.
posted by martin q blank at 7:24 AM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

Out-thunk myself (as Yogi would have said) on a couple and batted .487 - which is about 250 points higher than my HS batting average.
They also misspelled Denny McLain. Where have you gone, copy ed-it-ors...
posted by martin q blank at 7:37 AM on March 29, 2018

.487

Put me in coach!
posted by COD at 7:47 AM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

.366 as well. Sitting on the bench, perhaps a September call-up.
posted by Elly Vortex at 8:04 AM on March 29, 2018

COD: “Put me in coach!”

It is, in fact, traditional on this day. Maybe this year, y'all.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:13 AM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

.317 for me and I feel pretty good about it.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:23 AM on March 29, 2018

And Go Twins!
posted by Elly Vortex at 8:25 AM on March 29, 2018

.317 for me as well and I'm shocked it was so high.
posted by HiddenInput at 8:25 AM on March 29, 2018

.487 for me and I thought I knew Baseball. :-(

And BTW, the people who posted scores of 41/41; those guys are cheating, right?
posted by indianbadger1 at 8:45 AM on March 29, 2018

.244 and I know oh so little about Baseball, so yay random chance? On another note, I really do hope they restrict George Will to writing about Baseball. He seems to be better at it than any of his other writings.
posted by Hactar at 8:57 AM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

.195
posted by Fizz at 9:18 AM on March 29, 2018

.292, but I was surprised by how many times my second choice was the right answer. That counts for something in these days of sabermetrics, no?
posted by mollweide at 9:28 AM on March 29, 2018

On a sad note, Rusty Staub has passed. Le Grand Orange, the Expos' first star, but probably better known as a Met.

Only player in major league history to have collected as 500 hits with four different teams, and along with Ty Cobb, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield, the only players to hit home runs before turning 20 years old, and after turning 40 years old.

posted by Capt. Renault at 9:30 AM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

So, for me this was a disappointment -- a very Baby Boomer-esque quiz, relying on memorization of old-school stats and names from a hundred years ago. Most of the questions in the quiz didn't tell us anything about the game or history -- would to have seen a little different quiz.

Like this, maybe:

Which team was the last time to sign an African-American player, and when did they sign their first African-American player?

A. St. Louis Cardinals, 1955
B. Boston Red Sox, 1959
C. Cleveland Indians, 1956
D. Washington Senators, 1960

Which position player had the all-time best single-season bWAR? (bWAR is Baseball-Refernce's single-stat metric encapsulating all elements of a player's game, including hitting, power, baserunning, and defense.)

A. Carl Yastrzemski, 1967
B. Barry Bonds, 2001
C. Cal Ripken, 1991
D. Babe Ruth, 1923

Since 2000, which position player has had the worst single season, by fWAR? (fWAR is Fangraph's version of WAR.)

A. Neifi Perez, 2002
B. Adam Dunn, 2011
C. Albert Pujols, 2017
D. Dan Uggla, 2013

Who was the first Japanese-born player in the MLB?

A. Hideo Nomo
B. Mac Suzuki
C. Shigetoshi Hasegawa
D. Masanori Murakami

Of the four following players, who has the highest career bWAR?

A. Mike Trout
B. Tony Perez
C. Wee Willy Keeler
D. Joe Mauer



Answers: B, D, B, D (in 1964!), A
posted by touchstone033 at 9:35 AM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

42. Was the baseball with what is generally considered the most fun to say.

A. Lefty Grove
B. Napoleon Lajoie
C. Sandy Koufax
D. Nellie Fox
E. Honus Wagner
F. Ty Cobb
G. Tris Speaker
H. Don Drysdale
I. Ichiro Suzuki
J. Carl Yastrzemski
K. Alfonso Soriano
L. Bobby Bonds
M. Harmon Killebrew
N. Willie Mays

Not to mention....
posted by Corduroy at 10:38 AM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

42. Was the baseball with what is generally considered the most fun to say.

The answer is always Van Lingle Mungo.
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 11:08 AM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

.268, better than I expected. That Will fella has a mean changeup, you get to overthinking the next pitch, you look down at the plate, and the next thing you know you did NOT, in fact, pick the guy with the funny nickname. I feel lucky that the guy didn't, you know, bean me while I was looking at the plate.
posted by mwhybark at 11:33 AM on March 29, 2018

I am extremely upset that George Will wrote this quiz and yet it still did not accept "not unlike watching Atlantis rise again from the sea, the bones of its kings new-covered with flesh" as an answer for anything, no matter how hard I tried.

Piffle.
posted by Copronymus at 4:41 PM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

Ten Cold Hot Dogs, I think you got your link wrong. You want Van Lingle Mungo.
posted by huimangm at 8:03 PM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]