Each Thursday during the 2023 MLB season, we will have a trio of baseball trivia questions for you to mull over. It's a break from the norm in our fantasy baseball coverage, and we hope you will take part and enjoy every week.
It's Opening Day, both in MLB stadiums across the country as well as for fantasy baseball leagues. Now, trying to figure out which players might be in line for huge statistical success in 2023 is, at its heart, a bit of a guessing game. After all, nobody knows the future with any certainty. However, when it comes to asking questions about the past, all that it takes to get the right answers is to have a good memory.
With that in mind, and in the spirit of fun, we offer up to you the first of our Thursday Trivia articles. Three questions are before you. Three answers are required. We're on the honor system here, so please no searching the internet for the answers. You just might be surprised at how much you actually remember!
Question 1
On Opening Day in 1910, which pitcher took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, only to have it broken up when Frank Baker hit a fly ball to right field and an outfielder named Doc Gessler drifted back to the warning track, where he collided with a small child and the ball fell for a double?
Question 2
On Opening Day in 1994, which pitcher ended up with a win, despite giving up seven runs on 11 hits over 5⅔ innings, including a trio of home runs to leadoff hitter Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes in his first three at-bats of the season?
Question 3
On Opening Day in 1976, which pitcher started for the Philadelphia Phillies? It was the only opener between 1972 and 1986 in which Steve Carlton was not on the mound for the team, and it took trading for a future Hall of Famer in the offseason to keep Lefty from that Game 1 honor.
Take your time and think about your answers, and when you're ready to see if you're right, click here.