MLB Trivia: Call to the Pen quiz and the killer MLB firsts challenge

Call to the Pen embraces MLB trivia, with a fun “MLB firsts” challenge.

What nine questions might be the toughest but fairest for MLB trivia firsts? You know: Who did it first? When did this happen first? What did they do first?

Amaze your know-it-all friends with the following between innings! Obviously, this will be no fun if you go hitting on links before trying to answer the MLB trivia questions or prompts.

MLB Trivia: “The Challenges”

1) Name the first grandfather-grandson duo to hit for the cycle in major league baseball.

2) Give the first Panamanian battery in MLB history.

3) When did the first MLB game played before no fans take place?

4) Who hit the first grand slam in World Series play?

5) Who were the first brothers to pitch against each other in major league history?

6) Name the first pitcher to win the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year Awards in the same season.

7) Specific killer: name the first pitcher to throw a perfect game against the team with the best record in baseball on the day they lost. Ew.

8) What did  Ron Coomer, Jacque Jones, Matt Lecroy, Carlos Beltran, Jermaine Dye, and Mike Sweeney all do together in the same game for the first time, or more accurately, in two groups together in the same MLB game?

9) When was the first book of rules for baseball published in the United States?

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

MLB Trivia: The Answers

1) Gus Bell and his grandson David became the first skipped-generation pair to hit for the cycle when David tripled in the 7^th inning of his Phillies’ 14-6 win over the Expos on June 28, 2004, at Citizens Bank Park.

His grandfather had connected four times for his cycle as a Pirate almost precisely 53 years earlier, on June 4, 1951, against the Phillies at Shibe Park.

2) The first Panamanian battery included Phillies Severino Gonzales and Carlos Ruiz, who took the field together April 28, 2015, against St. Louis in Busch Stadium.

3) The first fan-less game was played April 29, 2015, between the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox in “Charm City,” a result of the rioting there in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death in police custody April 19. Intrepid searches for other such games in MLB’s 145-year history proved fruitless as of the morning of the contest.

Baltimore won the game, 8-2, as they scored six in the first, powered by Chris Davis’ three-run homer. During the seventh inning stretch an organ rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was played, and likely was heard by fans watching from a gate beyond left-centerfield.

4) Elmer Smith of the Indians hit the first World Series grand slam October 10, 1920, in the first inning of game five of their series against the Brooklyn Robins. The Indians won the game, 8-1, and Cleveland ultimately claimed the world championship.

5) The first brotherly mound opponents were Jesse and Virgil Barnes out of the Braves and Giants, respectively, who faced each other on June 26, 1924.  New York defeated Boston that day, 11-7, with Jesse taking the loss.

6) The Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela was the first pitcher to take home the Cy Young and ROY awards in the same season, 1981.

7) Oakland’s Dallas Braden threw the first perfect game against baseball’s best team on the day of his win, May 9, 2010.  Braden beat the Rays in MLB’s 19^th perfect game. Tampa Bay’s loss that day was only their third road loss of the season. Braden’s lifetime record was 26-36.

8) Coomer, Jones, Lecroy, Beltran, Dye, and Sweeney became the first players to hit back-to-back-to-back homers against another team with three players who did the same on the same day. On April 9, 2000, Coomer, Jones and Lecroy did it for the Twins in the sixth inning. In the eighth Royals Beltran, Dye, and Sweeney responded. The Twins won the contest in Kansas City.

9) Baseball-Almanic.com refers to The Book of Sports by Robin Carver as “the first book of instructions for baseball,” but in fact, the book includes rules for many sports. Its primary value as a collector’s item, however, is as the first published rules in America for baseball, including the first known reference to the game as “base or goal ball,” and the first diagram of the baseball diamond. A copy of the volume was sold in 2013 for $2370.

Next: Carlos Martinez smashes first career HR

Let us know in the comments below and on our social media pages how you did on our MLB trivia kickoff!