Early this morning I was thinking about what makes watching baseball so much fun. The first thing that came to my mind was all of those crazy arguments that you get into with your friends at the sports bar about the most mundane of facts while watching the big game. What better way to prepare for the regular season than brushing up on those random bits of information than starting a new trivia series here at Tomahawk Take? Every Thursday I’ll post a new “Trivia Thursday” post featuring a question about all sorts of things involving the Atlanta Braves. For the inaugural week, I thought we should talk about pitchers.
Warren Spahn: In my mind, Warren Spahn is the best lefty to ever play the game. His career is one of the most impressive I have ever seen. Over his 26 year Hall of Fame career, 25 of which was spend with the Boston Braves and Milwaukee Braves, Spahn was a 17 time All-Star, Cy Young Award winner (1957) and three time runner-up for the award, World Series champion (1957), and won more games than any other left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball history with 363 wins. That list doesn’t even put a dent in the list of accomplishments that Warren Spahn achieved. He is most known in our time for the Warren Spahn Award, which is given to the league’s best left-handed pitcher. Even though he won 3 ERA titles over his career, he is not the correct answer to today’s trivia question. Spahn finished up with a 3.09 career .ERA.
Phil Niekro: Phil Niekro is yet another impressive Hall of Fame pitcher on the list. He pitched for the Milwaukee Braves and Atlanta Braves from 1964-1983 and then again in 1987. Niekro is arguably the best knuckleball pitcher to ever play in the MLB. His 318 career wins is the most for a knuckleball pitcher. Niekro was a 5 time Gold Glove Award winner and a 5 time All Star. Pete Rose once spoke of Niekro’s knuckleball saying “trying to hit that thing is a miserable way to make a living.” However, Niekro is not the right answer for today’s trivia question. He finished his career with a 3.35 .ERA.
Photo Credit : Fred Owens
Tom Glavine: Glavine is the most recent pitcher on our list to reach 300 wins, doing so in 2007. Glavine had a career which is most likely to make him a first ballot Hall of Famer in 2014 when he becomes eligible. He pitched for the Atlanta Braves from 1987-2002 and once again in 2008. Over his career, he won a tremendous amount of awards, most of which came during his time with the Braves. During that time, Glavine was a 10 time All Star, World Series Champion (1995), World Series MVP (1995), 4 time Silver Slugger Award winner, 2 time National League Cy Young Award Winner, and a Babe Ruth Award winner. Including the World Series in 1995, Glavine led the Braves, along with Greg Maddux and John Smoltz, to 4 other World Series in 1991, 1992, 1996, and 1999. Glavine features the highest career earned run average on our list with a 3.54 and is not the correct answer for today.
Greg Maddux: Maddux pitched for 22 years in Major League Baseball, 11 of which was spent with the Atlanta Braves. Over his career, Maddux broke the record for most Gold Glove Awards with 18, won a World Series in 1995, was an 8 time All Star, and a 4 time National League Cy Young Award winner. He was also part of the trio of pitchers that led the Braves to 5 World Series appearances in the ’90’s. He compiled a tremendous career which is sure to place him into the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible. But once again, he is not the correct answer. Maddux’s career earned run average was a 3.16, placing him in third place on our list.
Kid Nichols: Kid Nichols was a right-handed pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters from 1890-1901. Nichols accomplished some amazing things while pitching for the Beaneaters, including being one of three pitchers on our list who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Nichols was the youngest pitcher to ever join the 300 win club, a feat he accomplished at the age of 30. He has the 7th most career wins in Major League Baseball history with 349 and the 11th most innings pitched with 5,056.3. During his 14 year career in the majors, he racked up 1,672 strikeouts and had an opponent batting average of .251. Kid Nichols is the correct answer to today’s trivia question. Nichols finished up his career with a 2.95 .ERA.
Today’s answer: Kid Nichols
Look for more Trivia Thursday’s coming to you every Thursday. If you have any ideas for trivia questions, feel free to send them to us on Twitter by tweeting us at @TomahawkTakeFS. Make sure to follow us as well for sneak peaks at next week’s trivia question.