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  1. Who led the AL in Slugging Percentage in 1925?
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    Babe Ruth led the American League in Slugging Percentage every year from 1920 to 1931, except for 1925, the year he was seriously ill and later suspended. A couple of those years, Ruth nosed out teammate Lou Gehrig by the slimmest of margins:

      1927 1930
    Ruth 772 732
    Gehrig 765 721
  2. Who led the AL in Slugging Percentage in 1925?
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    Ken Williams of the St. Louis Browns led the AL in 1925 with a .613 Slugging Percentage. Williams led the AL in Home Runs in 1922, the year Babe Ruth missed the first month of the season due to a suspension. Williams was having his best season in '25, when a serious beaning resulted in his missing a significant number of games.
  3. Besides Lou Gehrig, two other American Leaguers were runners-up in this category three times in the time period under discussion, 1920-1931. Who were they?
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    Harry Heilmann of the Detroit Tigers was second in Slugging Percentage in 1921, 1923, 1924. Al Simmons of the Philadelphia Athletics was second in 1925, 1926, and 1929.
  4. Babe Ruth led the American League in Walks seven times in the 1920s.
    (He also was the leader in 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1933.) One other Yankee led that category in that decade of the `20s. Who was he?
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    Whitey Witt led the AL in Walks in 1922 with 89. Each time Ruth led the league, he had well over 100 walks. His 1929 season stands out as a real anomaly. He had 499 at bats and hit .345, yet he had only 72 Walks.
  5. In the early 1920s, the St. Louis Browns were know for their fearsome hitting outfield of Kenny Williams, Johnny Tobin, and 'Baby Doll' Jacobson, as well as first baseman George Sisler. The Browns were often thought to be short on quality pitching, after their ace hurler, Urban Shocker.

    In 1922 the Browns came within one game of the AL pennant ands led the league in hitting with a .313 batting average. They also led with a Slugging Average of .455. Who led the league in pitching that year, with the lowest Earned Run Average?
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    Surprisingly, the St. Louis Browns led in pitching too, with a 3.38 ERA, a shade better than the Yankees' 3.39. Besides Urban Shocker's 2.97:
    Hub Pruett 2.33
    Ray Kolp 3.93
    Rasty Wright 2.92
    Billy Bayne 4.56
  6. After the 1919 season, the cash-strapped St. Louis Cardinals borrowed $10,000 to buy this future star from the minors. The expense convinced Branch Rickey that he had to move forward with his concept of the farm system, whereby a smaller-market and less wealthy team could be competitive, by owning minor league teams. Who was he?
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    Jesse "Pop" Haines. After his 21-5 season in Kansas City in 1919, he went on to win 210 games for the Cardinals, second only to Bob Gibson. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970.
  7. Who was the first homegrown St. Louis Cardinal star, the first man who came up through Branch Rickey's farm system?
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    'Sunny Jim' Bottomley. He joined the Cards from Syracuse in 1922, and in his first full season in St. Louis, 1923, he hit .371. He went on to win the National League MVP in 1928, when he hit more than 40 doubles, 20 triples, and 30 home runs. Bottomley debuted with the Cards on August 18, 1922. The very next day, another Cardinal farm prospect made his first appearance, Ray Blades.
  8. A number of Yankee managers lived to a ripe old age: Clark Griffith (died at age 85), Roger Peckinpaugh (86), Bob Shawkey (90), Joe McCarthy (90), Bill Dickey (86), Johnny Neun (89), Bucky Harris (died on his 81st birthday), Casey Stengel (85), and Ralph Houk turns 84 on August 9th. A number of Yankee managers were not nearly so fortunate. They all passed away before their 60th birthday. How many can you name?
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    Frank Chance, Yankee manager 1913-14 Died at age 47

    Wild Bill Donovan, Yankee manager 1915-17 Died at age 47

    Miller Huggins, Yankee manager 1918-29 Died at age 51
    Note: Miller Huggins was born in 1878, not in 1879 or 1880, as many record books state

    Johnny Keane, Yankee manager 1965-66 Died at age 55

    Dick Howser, Yankee manager 1978, 1980 Died at age 51

    Billy Martin was 61 years old when he died.
  9. One member of the 1927 New York Yankees had been on the roster of two other World Series teams. Who was he?
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    Pitcher Walter 'Dutch' Ruether' was a member of the 1919 Cincinnati Reds and the 1925 Washington Senators. He beat Eddie Cicotte of the infamous Chicago Black Sox in Game 1 of the 1919 Series. He did not pitch in the '25 Series, though he did appear once as a pinch hitter. He was a decent hitter, as reflected in his .258 career batting average.
  10. As a Yankee manager, Miller Huggins (1918-29) managed twelve future Hall-of-Famers. How many can you name?
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    Besides Rogers Hornsby, whom Hug managed as a St. Louis Cardinal, Miller Huggins managed as Yankees the following future Hall-of-Famers:

    Frank Baker
    Earle Combs
    Bill Dickey
    Leo Durocher
    Lou Gehrig
    Waite Hoyt
    Tony Lazzeri
    Herb Pennock
    Babe Ruth
    Dazzy Vance
    Stan Coveleski
    George Halas

    Vance was a Yankee early in his career (1915 and 1918), though he did not win a game. Coveleski ended his career as a Yankee, with a 5-1 record in 1928. Future football Hall-of-Famer George Halas appeared briefly for the Yankees in 1919 (hit .091)
  11. Two members of the great 1927 Yankees were also members of the World Champion Philadelphia Athletics of 1913, 14 years earlier. Who were they?
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    Pitchers Bob Shawkey and Herb Pennock. The two youngsters pitched for the A's in the regular season, but neither appeared in the 1913 World Series. The Athletics beat the New York Giants 4 games to 1 and used only three pitchers, Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, and another youngster, Joe Bush. Bender won two of the four games.
  12. In 1921, the Yankees had on their roster all the men who led the American League in home runs for the past decade, 1911-20. Name these sluggers and the years they led the AL.
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    Frank 'Home Run' Baker won the HR crown (as a Philadelphia Athletic) in 1911 (with 11), 1912 (with 10, tied with Tris Speaker), 1913 (with 12), 1914 (with 9)

    Wally Pipp won the HR crown (as a Yankee) in 1916 (with 12) and 1917 (with 9)

    Babe Ruth won the HR crown as a Boston Red Sox in 1918 (with 11, tied with Tilly Walker) and 1919 (with 29), and as a Yankee in 1920 (with 54)

    The missing year, 1915? Braggo Roth (who split the season between the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians) led the league with 7. In 1921, Roth's last year in the majors, he hit .283 for the New York Yankees

 

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