Miscellaneous sports trivia questions
Fun sports and sporting trivia questions and answers.
Who was the first designated hitter in major league baseball
history?
A: Ron Bloomberg of the New York Yankees. He drew a bases-loaded walk
from Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant in his historic April6, 1973 at-bat
at Boston's Fenway Park.
What was long-time Philadelphia Athletics baseball manager Connie
Mack's name before he shortened it to fit on the scoreboard?
A: Cornelius McGillicuddy.
Walter Alston, manager of the Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers, appeared
in only one major league game as a player. For what team did he go
to bat and how did he do?
A: In his sole at-bat for the 1936 St. Louis Cardinals, Alston struck out.
How many tiles are there in a game of dominoes?
A: There are 28.
What was the controversial name of the French yacht that competed
in the 1987 America's Cup race?
A: French Kiss.
What famous boxer once said; "I was never knocked out. I've been
unconscious, but it's always been on my feet"?
A: Floyd Patterson, world heavyweight champion from 1956 to 1959 and
from 1960 to 1962.
How did basketball get its name?
A: From the half-bushel peach baskets used as targets by the sport's
originator, James A. Naismith, in the first game in December 1891.
The Indianapolis 500 was begun in 1911. When was the first
time the winning race car exceeded 100 mph?
A: In 1925, when Peter De Paolo averaged 101.13 mph in an 8-cylinder
Duisenberg Special.
What popular actor was part owner of the racehorse that placed
third in the 1980 Kentucky Derby?
A: Jack (Quincy" and "Oscar Madison") Klugman. The horse was named
Jaklin klugman.
What sport is novelist Joyce Carol Oates write a book about?
A: Boxing. The book, published in 1987, is called "On Boxing."
What are the odds of getting four of a kind in a five-card deal
in poker?
A: The odds are 4,164 to 1.
What is the maximum length and thickness permitted for a major
league baseball bat?
A: Length, 42 inches; thickness, 2-3/4 inches.
What two sports have telltales--and what are they?
A: Squash and sailing. In squash, it is the narrow 17-inch-high
metal strip the ball must clear on the front wall. In sailing, it's
a small piece of cloth or yarn attached to the shroud or backstay to
indicate the relative direction of the wind.
What did tennis star Gussie Moran wear in a tournament in Egypt
nine months after she stunned the staid Wimbledon crowd by wearing
white lace-fringed panties?
A: Black shorts. She explained that she made the change because she
had gained 13 pounds and her white tennis attire no longer fit.
What is the maximum a horseshoe may weigh in the game of
horseshoes?
A: The maximum is 2-1/2 pounds. Those worn by horses vary, with
thoroughbred racehorses wearing 4-ounce aluminum shoes and pleasure
horses wearing 12-ounce steel shoes.
Whom did Casey Stengel advise, "Kid, you're too small. You ought
to go out and shine shoes"?
A: Phil Rizzuto, who went on to play with the New York Yankees as a
shortstop under Stengel and later became the Yankees' broadcaster.
Casey made the remark while he was managing the Brooklyn Dodgers.
