“Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Baseball.”
“Oh, baseball! We love baseball! Come in!”
“We can’t we’re locked out! Now stop screwing around and let us in. It’s cold out here!”
Good luck on the quiz this week. It’s better than that stupid Knock-Knock joke.
1. Super Bowl LVI is in the books, and the Rams are champions. In Chicago, who’s the player who wore uniform LVI with great success?
a. Bobby Thigpen
b. Aroldis Chapman
c. Mark Buehrle
d. Steve Trachsel
2. The Rams beat the Bengals 23-20 in the Super Bowl. It was L.A.’s first title since 1983 (Raiders). In 1983, the White Sox reached the ALCS before losing to the Orioles in four games. The team was managed by Tony La Russa. Who hit the most home runs for the Sox that season?
a. Ron Kittle
b. Greg Luzinski
c. Carlton Fisk
d. Harold Baines
3. For the eighth straight Super Bowl, the team that lost the coin toss won the game. Winning after a loss is the best way to stop or prevent a losing streak. In 2021, which Chicago pitcher had the most wins after his team lost?
a. Lucas Giolito
b. Dylan Cease
c. Kyle Hendricks
d. Dallas Keuchel
4. Which MLBer was the Little League teammate of Super Bowl champion QB Matthew Stafford?
a. Clayton Kershaw
b. Lance Lynn
c. Michael Brantley
d. J.A. Happ
5. Moving on from the Super Bowl, Monday is Presidents’ Day. Which of these Chicago players were named after U.S. presidents (first or middle names)?
a. Cal McLish
b. Ted Lilly
c. Pete Alexander
d. Sweetbread Bailey
6. David Ortiz is the newest member of the Hall of Fame. “Big Papi” homered in 29 MLB ballparks. In which one of these four did he not go deep?
a. Wrigley Field
b. Busch Stadium
c. Dodger Stadium
d. Citi Field
7. Buck O’Neil was a first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. He will join David Ortiz in being inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer. In 1962, O’Neil became the first Black coach in the major leagues. For which team did he coach?
a. White Sox
b. Royals
c. Cubs
d. Cardinals
8. Amy Schneider’s “Jeopardy!” history-making 40-show winning streak recently ended. It’s the second-longest streak of all time. Which Chicago team picked up the most wins in any 40-game span in a season? (Give yourself extra credit for the win total, and if you also know the year, go on “Jeopardy!”)
a. White Sox
b. Cubs
c. The same
9. This Cubs manager took over for a fired manager, managed a full season and then was fired midway through the next season. Who was he?
a. Leo Durocher
b. Jim Marshall
c. Whitey Lockman
d. Herman Franks
Be healthy, stay warm and be kind. I love your tweets (@BillyBall) and emails. You can reach me at walkoffs@gmail.com.
ANSWERS
1. Mark Buehrle’s No. 56 was retired by the White Sox on June 24, 2017.
2. Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle hit a career-high 35 homers, drove in a career-high 100 runs and struck out a career-high 150 times.
3. While Dylan Cease was 8-3 for the Sox after a South Side loss, Kyle Hendricks went 9-3 after a Cubs defeat.
4. Kershaw and Stafford grew up together in Texas and played on the same football team at Highland Park High School. Kershaw was Stafford’s center in youth football, and Stafford was Kershaw’s catcher in Little League. Kershaw revealed that Stafford beat him in a pitching contest in elementary school.
5. They all were. McLish’s full name is Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish. He pitched for the Cubs and the Sox. Former Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly’s full name is Theodore Roosevelt Lilly. HOFer and Cubs pitcher Pete Alexander’s full name is Grover Cleveland Alexander. Sweetbread Bailey, the pride of Joliet, pitched for the Cubs from 1919-21. His real name is Abraham Lincoln Bailey. (Tip of the hat to Joe Posnanski and his great book, “The Baseball 100.”)
6. Ortiz was 0-for-6 with a walk at Dodger Stadium. He homered three times at Wrigley Field, including two on June 10, 2005, in a 14-6 Cubs win. He homered 18 times at the Sox’ park.
7. Although Buck was a Cubs coach through the 1965 season, he wasn’t allowed to coach on the baselines during games and wasn’t a member of the Cubs’ College of Coaches.
8. The White Sox went 32-8 in 1983, but the Cubs, all the way back in 1906, went 37-3.
9. Leo Durocher was fired in 1972. Jim Marshall took over in 1974. Herman Franks took the reins in 1977. The answer to our question, in honor of the lockout, is Whitey Lockman.
