Are you ready to check your work? Here are the answers to this week's trivia questions. We'll be back next week with another trio of quizzical queries for you, so bone up on your research and get ready to get them all next time around!
Question 1
His appearance lasted just nine batters -- five of whom he walked and two (including Stan Musial) who got hits. Still, what is the name of the youngest pitcher in MLB history, who appeared in just one game a few months shy of his 16th birthday?
ANSWER: JOE NUXHALL
As Nuxhall would recount the story, the Reds were scouting his father -- a 36-year-old semi-pro pitcher -- but they noticed Joe (14), who was pitching in another game taking place a few fields over. They were so impressed that they invited both father and son to a tryout, but the elder Nuxhall passed due to prior work commitments. Joe did go and earned himself a contract. He joined Cincinnati after school ended in June of the following year but only pitched the one time before being optioned to Birmingham. Nuxhall "retired" in 1946 in order to finish high school but, to his credit, eventually worked his way back through the minors and returned to the Reds in 1952 at the age of 23, ultimately winning 135 games in a career that lasted through the 1966 season.
Question 2
What player who ended his career with over 500 home runs, is the only member of that exclusive club who can lay claim to have hit his first homer in his age-18 season?
ANSWER: MEL OTT
Jimmie Foxx hit his first home run at the age of 19 in his third major league season. Harmon Killebrew had just 15 homerless at-bats in his brief age-18 season. Alex Rodriguez also failed to clear the fence in his teenage "cup of coffee" with the Mariners in 1994. Ott is the only member of the 500-HR club to hit a home run in his age-18 season, his second with the Giants before becoming a regular in 1928. He hit just one home run that season in 163 at-bats spread out over 82 games. He'd end up hitting 510 more over the next two decades.
Question 3
Who was the last player to hit a major league home run in his age-18 season? He started 100-plus games that year and ended up playing his entire career with the same team.
ANSWER: ROBIN YOUNT
Yount's rookie season was in 1974 and he would go on to become a first-ballot Hall of Famer, inducted alongside George Brett and Nolan Ryan in 1999. Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals is the youngest hitter to debut so far in 2023, but he has already reached the "ripe old age" of 20. Walker has four home runs so far this season. Juan Soto (2018) was the last teenager to homer in the majors, but that blast came in his age-19 season.