Welcome to the last full month of the 2021 MLB regular season. There were some moments in May when we got our hopes up for a crosstown postseason, but then reality crept into our lives. In October, the White Sox will play postseason baseball and the Cubs will play postseason golf.
But let’s focus on the present as you play this week’s Chicago baseball trivia quiz. One more thing: Email me your favorite Cubs or Sox trivia question and I’ll see if I can include it in a future quiz.
Good luck on the Chicago nine.
1. Two Chicago favorites, Ferguson Jenkins and Ryan Dempster, were both right-handed pitchers. They both also:
a. Had a career ERA of 3.34
b. Were Cy Young Award winners
c. Were born in Canada
d. Hit 13 career homers
2. Perhaps someday the Sox will retire Tim Anderson’s uniform number 7. However, when Anderson arrived on the scene in 2016, he wore number 12 because someone else wore number 7 for the Sox at the time. Who was it?
a. Todd Frazier
b. Jimmy Rollins
c. Matt Davidson
d. Justin Morneau
3. Jose Abreu joined the Sox in 2014 after how many games in the minors?
a. 14
b. 11
c. 0
d. 79
4. Jason Heyward is a five-time Gold Glove-winning outfielder. But how
many times has he won the award with the Cubs?
a. Two
b. Three
c. Four
d. Zero
5. We appreciate Zack Collins’ role as a Sox backup catcher. Three of the following are true about Collins. Which one isn’t?
a. He caught an MLB no-hitter
b. He homered in his first at-bat in the majors
c. He homered in his first at-bat in the postseason
d. He had a five-game hitting streak this season
6. Here’s an ugly question. In what year did the Cubs last lose 100 games?
a. 1982 c. 2002
b. 1992 d. 2012
7. OK, one more ugly Cubs question. They lost 20 games in August. In what season did they last have a month of 20 losses?
a. 2012 c. 2006
b. 2013 d. 2002
8. On Aug. 27, Yasmani Grandal had eight RBI against the Cubs. Who was the last Sox player with an eight-RBI game?
a. Frank Thomas
b. Yasmani Grandal himself
c. Robin Ventura
d. Jim Spencer
9. In 2019, Jose Abreu led the American League with 123 RBI. In 2020, he led the AL with 60 RBI. If he leads the AL again this season, he will join which player as the only two in history to lead the AL in RBI three straight seasons?
a. Mickey Mantle
b. Ken Griffey Jr.
c. Cecil Fielder
d. David Ortiz
QUIZ ANSWERS
1. C — Jenkins was born in Chatham, Ontario, and Dempster was born in Sechelt, British Columbia. 2. B — Jimmy Rollins was number 7 in your scorebook. 3. C — Abreu went straight from the Cuban professional league to the majors. 4. A — Heyward won the award twice with the Braves, once with the Cardinals and twice with the Cubs, in 2016 and 2017. 5. C — Last year, Collins whiffed in his only postseason at-bat. 6. D — The 2012 Cubs went 61-101. 7. B — The Cubs went 8-20 in August 2013. 8. C — Grandal had an eight-RBI game in 2015 for the Dodgers, but Robin Ventura in 1995 was the last to do it for the Sox. 9. C — The Tigers’ Cecil Fielder did it in 1990, 1991 and 1992.
