Trivia Answers Thursday

If you count time by Trivia Tuesdays (and since I write them, I do), there are only four more until pitchers and catchers report to Bradenton. Until then, bundle up and check out your research/guesses for this week’s TT.

How many losing seasons did the Pirates have in the 1920s?

A. Two B. Zero C. One D. Three

Answer: B

Believe it or not, this wasn’t really unusual for the Bucs of yesteryear. While the 1920 season marked their first winning season since 1915, 1915 was the end of a remarkable fifteen-season winning streak. That streak was good enough to put the Pirates at number twenty-four on a list of the all-time longest winning season strings. You know—to counterbalance that other streak.

Which future Baseball Hall of Famer played on every 1920s Pirates team?

A. Max Carey B. Rabbit Maranville C. Paul Waner D. Pie Traynor

Answer: D

Carey and Maranville played on the majority of that decade’s Bucs, but Traynor was the only one to be on every team.

This 1920s Pirate still holds the record for the most hits in his first three MLB seasons:

A. Kiki Cuyler B. Joe Cronin C. Lloyd Waner D. Roy Mahaffey

Answer: C

I enjoy the little surprise factoids like this that pop up in my research. Waner got 678 hits in his first three years (1927-1929). Ichiro Suzuki came closest to breaking that record, getting 662 hits between 2001-2003.

What was remarkable about the match between the Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds on October second, 1920?

A. It was the last triple header played in MLB B. Every Pirate hit a home run C. Honus Wagner played his last game D. Max Carey played his first game

Answer: A

Back in the day, while only the league champion went to the postseason, second and third place teams did share some of the World Series money. The Pirates and Reds were battling it out for third place in the National League that year, and when the first game of the series was rained out, Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss lobbied for the triple header because if the rained-out game wasn’t made up, the Pirates had no shot at getting third and some of that sweet postseason revenue. Reds manager Pat Moran, knowing that even if the Reds lost all three they would still get third, was naturally resistant to the idea. Dreyfuss appealed to NL president John Heydler, who ordered that the triple header be played. The Reds took the first two games and the Pirates won the third, although the game had to be called in the sixth inning on account of darkness. The Reds lost their final game to the Cardinals while the Pirates won against the Cubs. End result? The Pirates ended up 3.5 games out in fourth place—just as they had been before the tripleheader. Thanks to Baseball Magazine for the background info.

The Pirates appeared in two World Series in the 1920s, winning in 1925 and losing in 1927. What was notable about the loss?

A. First time a Pennsylvania team lost the WS B. The Pirates only got ten hits C. The Pirates pitching staff gave up 30 runs D. First time a National League team was swept in the WS

Answer: D

There had been three World Series sweeps prior to the Pirates, but the losers were all AL teams: the 1907 Detroit Tigers, the 1914 Philadelphia Athletics, and the 1922 New York Yankees. Someone had to be first in the NL eventually.

Hope you enjoyed tripping back a century. As always, if you have an topic idea for Trivia Tuesday, drop it in the comments or tweet @bucsdugout!