OK, you’re looking at the headline for the quiz and wondering whether The Quizmaster has lost what little was left of his mind. While that still might be the case, I’m not talking about the weather. I’m referring to the number of days left in this regular season. There are 43 days remaining.
Just 43 days until the South Siders can end another nightmare of a season. Just 43 days for the Cubs to prove they want overtime baseball this season. There are only six weeks and one day for you to get to the ballpark and cheer your team. Or maybe not cheer.
Today’s quiz has to do with the 40s. Each question or answer will have something to do with 40-something. So have fun and learn a lot. And remember, as a wise man (Bob Dylan) told you, ‘‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’’
1. Two Chicago players, Ernie Banks and Frank Thomas, had five seasons in which they hit 40 to 49 home runs. Which of the two totaled more homers in those five seasons? (It wasn’t a tie.)
a. Ernie Banks
b. Frank Thomas
2. Trigger alert: This question is depressing. In the 40 seasons from 1983 to 2022, which Chicago team had more seasons of .500 or better?
a. Cubs
b. White Sox
3. Since 1978, only one Cub has had two seasons of stealing at least 40 bases (there is no upper limit on this one). Who is this master thief?
a. Bob Dernier
b. Juan Pierre
c. Ivan DeJesus
d. Eric Young Sr.
4. Which member of the White Sox has had the most seasons with at least 40 doubles?
a. Paul Konerko
b. Frank Thomas
c. Magglio Ordonez
d. Jose Abreu
5. Each of these Chicago closers had a season of 40-plus saves. Who is the only one who had two?
a. Rod Beck
b. Randy Myers
c. Keith Foulke
d. Bobby Jenks
6. Who is the oldest player to pitch for Chicago?
a. Ted Lyons
b. Hoyt Wilhelm
c. Dutch Leonard
d. Charlie Hough
7. There have been only four players who have had seasons in which they hit 40-plus homers and stole 40-plus bases. None did it while wearing a Chicago uniform. Two wore a Chicago uniform at one time. Each of them also played for the Yankees. Which one played for the White Sox? Just to let you know, each of these guys had pretty unsavory careers. All are Hall of Shamers.
a. Barry Bonds
b. Alfonso Soriano
c. Alex Rodriguez
d. Jose Canseco
8. In 2009, one of my favorite pitchers, Bartolo Colon, wore No. 40 for the White Sox. It wasn’t much of a year for Bartolo, who went 3-6. Then again, the Sox went 79-83. ‘‘Big Sexy’’ pitched 21 seasons in the majors and was a notoriously bad batter. He had a lifetime average of .084 with 25 hits all told. He did, however, hit one homer. Which team was he playing for when he hit this dinger?
a. Montreal Expos
b. New York Mets
c. Atlanta Braves
d. Cleveland
9. Who is the oldest player to hit a walk-off homer?
a. Hank Aaron
b. Jason Giambi
c. Julio Franco
d. Carlos Delgado
Hope you had fun; I know I did. And in honor of completing the quiz, you can do what I’m going to do . . . take forty winks. See you next week.
ANSWERS
1. Ernie hit 220, with seasons of 41, 43, 44, 45 and 47. ‘‘The Big Hurt’’ hit 206 (40, 40, 41, 42 and 43).
2. The Sox had 21 such seasons, including two at exactly .500 (2022 and 2002). The Cubs had only 17.
3. Ivan DeJesus stole 41 sacks in 1978 and 44 in 1980.
4. In 2001, Magglio Ordonez had 40 doubles. In 2002, he had 47 doubles. And in 2003, he had 46 doubles. His total of 133 doubles was good for fourth in that three-year span. Garrett Anderson hit 144 doubles.
5. Bobby Jenks saved 41 in 2006 and 40 in 2007.
6. All these guys were in their 40s when they pitched in Chicago. Ted Lyons at 45, in 1946, was days older than Hoyt Wilhelm was when he pitched for the Sox in 1968. But honors still go to Wilhelm because he was 47 when he was pitching for the Cubs in 1970.
7. Alfonso Soriano had many years with the Cubs and started and ended his career with the Yankees. But our answer is Jose Canseco, who ended his career with 37 games with the Yanks and 76 with the Sox. In 1988 with the A’s, he hit 42 homers and stole 40 bags.
8. If only Colon had hit his weight, we would be talking about him instead of Shohei Ohtani. Colon, who weighed at least 285 pounds, officially announced on July 29 of this season that he was retiring. On May 7, 2016, two weeks shy of his 43rd birthday, he homered for the Mets. Announcer Gary Cohen told fans that they had just seen ‘‘one of the great moments in the history of baseball.’’ If you can, check out the best of Bartolo and you will smile.
9. On July 29, 2013, Jason Giambi became the oldest player in major-league history to hit a walk-off homer, surpassing Hank Aaron, who was 45 days younger than Giambi when he did it in 1976. And just so you know that this isn’t totally random, at 42 years and 202 days, Giambi crushed a 1-1 pitch to give Cleveland a 3-2 victory against — you guessed it — the White Sox. The immortal Ramon Troncoso took the loss.
