Halloween is designed to be scary, but over the last seven years (or so), Election Day has become the scariest day in America, with repercussions that are far greater than toilet-papering someone’s home. And honestly, with the cost of a roll of Charmin, who can afford to TP someone’s home?
Now, while I desperately do care whom you vote for, it is incumbent upon me just to urge you to vote. If you have difficulty getting to the polls, there are loads of individuals and organizations who will give you a ride (and presumably a ride home). Don’t tell me you don’t like the choices. Frequently, I hear as an excuse for not voting, “I don’t like either candidate.” Vote anyway. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain, and complaining is a healthy release. Too many rights have been hard-fought to attain, and voting is high on that list.
So vote. And if you want to execute a protest vote, write in my name. Vote for Bill! The quizmaster will be happy to serve. Enjoy this week’s quiz.
1. There’s a Hall of Famer who won 224 games pitching primarily for the Tigers and Phillies. He lost 184 games, 12 to the Cubs and 12 to the White Sox. On Father’s Day in 1964, he pitched a perfect game against the Mets. In 1986, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and in 1998, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Who was this Republican from Kentucky?
a. Paul Bunyon
b. Jim Bunning
c. Chris Short
d. Rick Wise
2. Vinegar Bend, Alabama, provided an unusual nickname for Cardinals, Pirates, and Mets pitcher (7-8 against the Cubs) and Republican U.S. Congressman “Vinegar Bend” Mizell. Mizell has one of those nicknames so attached to him that you can only find him on Baseball-Reference.com as “Vinegar Bend Mizell,” not Wilmer Mizell, his real first name. Where was Mizell born?
a. Leakesville, Mississippi
b. Biloxi, Mississippi
c. Vinegar Bend, Alabama
d. Albany, Georgia
3. Magglio Ordoñez played 15 seasons in the bigs, eight with the White Sox and seven with the Tigers. He was with Detroit in 2007 when he won the batting title hitting .363. Ordoñez finished his career with a .305 lifetime batting average (.307 with the Sox). He became the mayor of the Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality in his native country of Venezuela in 2013. Ordoñez did something in the last 19 games of his career that no other player ever accomplished. What is it?
a. He hit .555.
b. He had an 18-game hitting streak.
c. He had a four-homer game.
d. He committed three errors on three separate occasions.
4. This Yankees owner was a four-time Democratic congressman from New York. He’s the owner who purchased Babe Ruth from the Red Sox and subsequently designed the Yankees’ uniform with pinstripes to make the Babe look slimmer. Who was this son of a brewing magnate?
a. Harry Pabst
b. Jacob Ruppert
c. Carl Ballantine
d. Drysdale Rheingold
5. The first real home for the Giants in San Francisco was the sparkling new — and incredibly windy — Candlestick Park. Opening Day was April 12, 1960, when the Giants, behind three RBI from Orlando Cepeda, defeated the Cardinals 3-1. Willie Mays scored twice for the team that had played its first two seasons in Seals Stadium. Who threw out the first pitch to christen the new ballpark?
a. Vice President Richard Nixon
b. President Dwight Eisenhower
c. Speaker of the House Lyndon Johnson
d. Future California Governor Ronald Reagan
6. Who was the first president to attend a World Series game?
a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. Woodrow Wilson
c. Herbert Hoover
d. William Howard Taft
7. These three members of Congress — Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R–Fla.) and Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-Ark.) — each participated in an important baseball-related first. What was it?
a. Jointly threw out the first pitch at a World Series game.
b. Jointly threw out the first pitch at an All-Star Game.
c. Were the first women to participate in the Congressional Baseball Game.
d. Were the first members of Congress to suggest a question for our weekly quiz.
8. President John F. Kennedy attended the first of two All-Star Games in 1962, the first one held in Washington, D.C. (The second one took place at Wrigley Field.) In Washington, Kennedy threw out the first pitch. While he was there, he said to a participating player, “A couple of years ago, they told me I was too young to be president and you were too old to be playing baseball. But we fooled them.” Who was this All-Star the president spoke to?
a. Jim Bunning
b. Stan Musial
c. Yogi Berra
d. Ernie Banks
9. The most home runs hit during the terms of any president is 364. Who hit those 364 while George W. Bush was president?
a. Alex Rodriguez
b. Albert Pujols
c. Jim Thome
d. Adam Dunn
