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Beating the Breaks Quiz: Solutions

  
 
 

Here are the correct answers and explanations to the quiz.

 
 
1. Who was the first deaf major leaguer?
a. Luther Taylor
b. William Hoy
c. Ed Dundon
d. Dick Sipek
The correct answer is (c). Edward Dundon, who attended the same school for the deaf as William 'Dummy Hoy' and preceded him in the major leagues. Taylor and Sipek arrived later.
 
2. Who is the Hall of Famer who lost four toes on his left foot shortly before beginning his professional career?
a. Red Ruffing
b. Cy Young
c. Ted Lyons
d. Shoeless Joe Jackson
The correct answer is (a). As a teenager, Red Ruffing was working in the mines when a coal car ran over his foot. It prompted a switch from the outfield to the mound.
 
3. Who won the Most Valuable Player Award after being rejected for military service due to a heart condition?
a. Jim Konstanty
b. Hal Newhouser
c. Pete Rose
d. Hank Sauer
The correct answer is (b). Pitcher Hal Newhouser, the 1945 American League MVP, was rejected for military duty several times during WWII.
 
4. Who was the first one-armed man to play in the major leaguers?
a. Stump Merrill
b. Pete Gray
c. Jim Abbott
d. Hugh Daily
The correct answer is (d). Hugh 'One Arm' Daily, who lost his hand and foreman in gunpowder explosion, pitched in the National League, Union League, and American Association in the 1880s.
 
5. Who is the only man to play major league baseball with an artifical leg?
a. Lou Brissie
b. Bert Shepard
c. Monte Stratton
d. Dick Stuart
The correct answer is (b). Lefthander Bert Shepard lost his right in combat during World War II yet pitched for the Washington Senators in 1945. Monte Stratton never made it back to the majors after losing a leg in a hunting accident.
 
6. Who starred in the major leagues after losing a thumb in military service?
a. Carlos May
b. Gil Coan
c. Roger Metzger
d. Three Finger Brown
The correct answer is (a). Carlos May played eight seasons after losing his thumb while on military reserve duty. Gil Coan lost a thumb in factory accident.
 
7. Who played major league baseball after losing several inches of bone in his leg?
a. Charley Gelbert
b. Bo Jackson
c. Whitey Kurowski
d. Bo Belinsky
The correct answer is (a). Charley Gelbert made an incredible comeback after part of his fibula was blown away in a hunting accident. He was later featured in Ripley’s as 'the man who played 239 games with a broken leg.'
 
8. Who was the first non-pitcher to wear glasses in the major leagues?
a. Lee Meadows
b. Clint Courtney
c. Chick Hafey
d. George Toporcer
The correct answer is (d). George Toporcer was the first non-pitcher. Meadows, who preceded him to the majors, was the first pitcher. Courtney was the first catcher and Hafey was the first batting champ.
 
9. Who is the insulin dependent diabetic who kept his condition secret until he made his first all-star team?
a. Ron Santo
b. Jackie Robinson
c. Jimmy Piersall
d. Jason Johnson
The correct answer is (a). Ron Santo was diagnosed at the age of 18 but didn't let anyone in baseball know until he made the 1963 All-Star team five years later.
 
10. Who was the first publicly self-admitted epileptic to play in the majors?
a. Grover Cleveland Alexander
b. Sherry Magee
c. Jim Eisenreich
d. Tony Lazzeri
The correct answer is (d). Tony Lazzeri told his teammates so they would know how to react in the event of a seizure. Alexander and Magee were thought to be epileptics and Eisenreich suffers from Tourette's syndrome.
 
11. Who died of lukemia during the same season in which he played major league baseball?
a. Walt Bond
b. Danny Thompson
c. Ross Youngs
d. Ken Hubbs
The correct answer is (a). Walt Bond died of Leukemia in September 1967 after opening the season with a .313 average for the Minnesota Twins.
 
12. Who started in the All-Star Game as a 29-year-old rookie after being bayonetted during WWII?
a. Cecil Travis
b. Eddie Kazak
c. Sam Jethroe
d. Mack Jones
The correct answer is (b). Eddie Kazak of the Cardinals, who started at third base in the 1949 game, was bayoneted during in hand-to-hand combat and later had a piece of his elbow blown off by a shell fragment during World War II.
 
13. Who's name has been adopted for a psychological condition which affects the ability to throw accurately?
a. Steve Sax
b. Steve Blass
c. Chuck Knoblauch
d. Buckshot Brown
The correct answer is (b). The condition is known as 'Steve Blass disease' although many have suffered from it.
 
14. Who is the first player known to continue playing in the majors while undergoing chemotherapy?
a. Eric Davis
b. Darryl Strawberry
c. Dave Dravecky
d. Andres Galarraga
The correct answer is (a). Eric Davis was diagnosed early in the 1997 season and returned to play later that season while still undergoing chemotherapy treatment."
 
15. Who is the only left-handed punk rocker known to have played in the majors after developing Hodgkin's Disease?
a. John Kruk
b. Scott Radinksy
c. Danny Jackson
d. John Rocker
The correct answer is (b). Scott Radinsky played for the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and and the rock group Pulley after his 1994 diagnosis.
 
16. Who was the first player known to play major league baseball after being treated for Tuberculosis?
a. Bill DeLancey
b. Red Schoendienst
c. Rico Carty
d. Bruce Campbell
The correct answer is (a). Bill DeLancey's budding career was cut short by TB after the 1935 season, but he came back to play 15 more major league games in 1940. Schoendienst and Carty enjoyed more successful comebacks later.
 
17. Who won 20 games after being discharged from the army because of a severe asthmatic condition?
a. Jack Kramer
b. Dave Ferriss
c. Tex Hughson
d. Sandy Koufax
The correct answer is (b). Dave 'Boo' Ferriss ignored doctor's advice to quit baseball and became a two-time 20-game winner for the Red Sox after his medical discharge.
 
18. Who is the modern day major leaguer who was born with a pair of club feet?
a. Jim Mecir
b. Jason Giambi
c. Eric Bednard
d. Roger Clemens
The correct answer is (a). Relief pitcher Jim Mecir was born with a condition that was only partially corrected.
 
19. Who is the left-handed World Series veteran pitcher who was a natural right-hander before a childhood injury?
a. Rick Ankiel
b. Bud Daley
c. Darold Knowles
d. Ray Prim
The correct answer is (d). Ray Prim pitched in the 1945 World Series for the Chicago Cubs. His right arm had been badly burned as a youngster.
 
20. Who sued for and won the right to be placed on the disabled list for psychiatric problems?
a. Alex Johnson
b. Rickey Henderson
c. Tony Horton
d. Jimmy Piersall
The correct answer is (a). Defending batting champ Alex Johnson, backed by the Player’s Association, had his suspension and multiple fines for not hustling overturned in 1971.
 
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