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.
Even though he's now with the Texas Rangers, as a New York Mets fan, this news still hurts. Jacob deGrom, already on the 60-day IL due to elbow inflammation, is going to have surgery to repair a tear in his right UCL. His 2023 season is over and the best-case scenario is that he's able to make a full recovery and return towards the end of 2024.
However, surgery comes with a risk -- especially with an oft-injured pitcher in his age-35 season -- so there's always the chance we've seen the last of him on a big league mound. If so, he'll join the far-too-long list of pitchers who "went out with a whimper" after serving up several stellar seasons. (See: Stephen Strasburg, whose "severe nerve damage" has sent him to the 60-day IL and perhaps may spell the end of the road for him.)
Now, not all pitchers fade away. Some do, in fact, go out with a bang. Those are the names we're looking for today. As always, in the spirit of fun, 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 know!
Question 1
What pitcher holds the record for most strikeouts in the final MLB season of his career?
Question 2
Can you name the pitcher whose only 20-win season was in his 18th and final big league campaign? In the last 50 years, he is the only player to retire immediately following a 20-win season.
Question 3
In 1985, his age-26 season, he was on fire, finishing seventh in AL Cy Young voting thanks to 18 wins (including four shutouts). The New York Yankees traded for him in the offseason, but he never again threw a major league pitch. Who is this pitcher?
Take your time and think about your answers, and when you're ready to see if you're right, click here.