Category: Brain Teasers

Trivia: Who is the only athlete to play in both the World Series and Super Bowl?

Bo Jackson
Brian Jordan
Tim Tebow
Deion Sanders

Correct Answer: Deion Sanders

So why is this answer correct? : Deion Sanders had successful careers in baseball and football, and appeared in championship games for both sports. In 1992, the athlete was an outfielder for the Atlanta Braves during the World Series (they lost to Toronto Blue Jays), and two years later, Sanders and the San Francisco 49s won the Super Bowl. The defensive back also won the Super Bowl the following year while playing for the Dallas Cowboys.

Trivia: What World Series was the last one to feature a best-of-nine format?

1903
1921
1954
1994

Correct Answer: 1921

So why is this answer correct? : While the first World Series in 1903 was conducted under a best-of-nine format, the best-of-seven format we know today first appeared at the 1905 Fall Classic. The best-of-nine structure eventually returned between 1919 and 1921. But when attendance numbers began to substantially drop between Games 7 and 8 of the 1921 World Series, the best-of-seven format was brought back the following year.

Trivia: Whose walk-off home run clinched the 1993 World Series for Toronto?

Joe Carter
John Olerud
Paul Molitor
Rickey Henderson

Correct Answer: Joe Carter

So why is this answer correct? : In 1993, for the second time in World Series history, the MLB championship was won thanks to a walk-off home run. The heroics came off the bat of the Blue Jays’ Joe Carter. The right fielder came to bat in the bottom of the ninth of Game 6 and walloped a three-run home run, earning Toronto the second of their back-to-back World Series titles.

Trivia: What other event once determined home-field advantage in the World Series?

Home Run Derby
All-Star Game
World Baseball Classic
First game of season

Correct Answer: All-Star Game

So why is this answer correct? : From 2003 to 2016, the result of the MLB All-Star Game earned the winning league home-field advantage in the World Series. During those 14 years, the American League went 11-3 in the All-Star Game against the National League, skewing home field in the AL’s direction for many years. After the 2016 season, the format changed so that the better regular season record between the AL and NL pennant winners now determines the World Series home field.

Trivia: Whose World Series home run earned him the nickname “Mr. November”?

Manny Ramirez
Buster Posey
Derek Jeter
Chase Utley

Correct Answer: Derek Jeter

So why is this answer correct? : Derek Jeter earned this monthly moniker — a play on fellow New York Yankee Reggie Jackson’s nickname, “Mr. October” — for his accomplishments in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series. That game marked the first time in baseball history that the World Series extended into November. With the Yankees and Diamondbacks tied up in the bottom of the 10th, Jeter launched a walk-off home run off Arizona pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim, thus tying the series at 2-2 and forever immortalizing Jeter as “Mr. November.”

Trivia: Who is the only World Series MVP to play for the losing team?

Bob Turley
Sandy Koufax
Johnny Podres
Bobby Richardson

Correct Answer: Bobby Richardson

So why is this answer correct? : The 1960 World Series between the Pirates and Yankees was capped off with Bill Mazeroski’s Game 7 series-clinching homer for Pittsburgh. Despite Mazeroski’s heroics, the Yankees’ Bobby Richardson took home MVP honors, having driven in a record 12 RBI. He also received a Corvette for winning the MVP award but traded it in for a Jeep that could better accommodate his family. Richardson remains the only losing player to win World Series MVP to this day.

Trivia: Who played the Phillies in the first-ever suspended World Series game?

Tampa Bay Rays
New York Yankees
Oakland A’s
Chicago White Sox

Correct Answer: Tampa Bay Rays

So why is this answer correct? : Inclement weather and other unfavorable conditions have caused several postponements of playoff games, but it wasn’t until 2008 that a World Series matchup was actually suspended. By the sixth inning of Game 5 in that year’s championship, what started as a light sprinkle had turned into a downpour that made the field unplayable for the Phillies and their opponents, the Tampa Bay Rays. With no sign of clear skies ahead, the two teams were forced to suspend play. Two days later, the Phillies finally won the game — and the series.

Trivia: Who was the youngest athlete to play in a World Series?

Babe Ruth
Freddie Lindstrom
Lou Gehrig
Tony Oliva

Correct Answer: Freddie Lindstrom

So why is this answer correct? : Frederick “Freddie” Lindstrom made his MLB debut in 1924, when he was just 18 years old. (He signed a contract with the New York Giants when he was 16.) That October, he took the field for the Giants in the World Series against the Washington Senators, becoming the youngest person to play in an MLB championship — a record that has not been broken since. He was 18 years, 10 months, and 13 days old, and just starting his Hall of Fame career.

Trivia: Who sat out the first game of the 1965 World Series to observe Yom Kippur?

Shawn Green
Sandy Koufax
Hank Greenberg
Ryan Braun

Correct Answer: Sandy Koufax

So why is this answer correct? : Los Angeles Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax famously missed Game 1 of the 1965 World Series to observe Yom Kippur, setting an example of faith for Jewish youth. Don Drysdale started in his place and took a loss, but Koufax came back to the series in Game 2 and then again in Games 5 and 7, when he shut out the Minnesota Twins and helped lead Los Angeles to a championship.

Trivia: Who won the most World Series rings as a player?

Derek Jeter
Yogi Berra
Joe DiMaggio
Babe Ruth

Correct Answer: Yogi Berra

So why is this answer correct? : Considering that the Yankees hold the records for most World Series appearances and wins, it should come as no surprise that the athlete who won the most rings as a player spent almost his entire career in New York. Yogi Berra won 10 championships as a catcher for the Bronx Bombers, including five consecutive titles from 1949 to 1953. He later won three additional rings as a manager and coach, but the so-called King of Rings in that regard is his former teammate Frankie Crosetti, who won eight rings as a player and nine as a coach.