<
>

Weekly baseball trivia: Can you guess the right player?

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.

Do you remember all the way back in December of 2021 when suddenly all of your social media feeds were beginning to fill up with weird grids of green and yellow squares? It took barely any time at all for Wordle to take over the world, becoming a simple and viral sensation that had people all over the globe guessing five-letter words and posting their results for all to see on the daily.

Well, now there's a new game in town, and it caters to baseball fans. It's called Immaculate Grid, and its nine-squared results grid has begun to creep it's way across the internet to the current tune of about 200,000 players per day. If you're not yet one of the converted, your goal is to guess players whose careers meet the criteria listed at the top of each square's row and column. More often than not, this means simply being able to name someone who played for both of the teams where that cell intersects -- the more obscure, the better.

That's why much of my free time over the last few weeks has been trying to dig through the recesses of my memory to recall, say, the name of a random benchwarmer I vaguely remember played for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Oakland Athletics in the early 1990s. Of course, if answering this for two teams is challenging, why stop there?

For today's quiz, I'm narrowing the possible correct answers down quite a bit by asking you to tell me the names of players who have played for each of the four different listed franchises. 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

There have been only three players who have played for all four of the franchises that at one time called New York City their home. Name any one of the three men who at one time saw action in an MLB game for the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and Giants. (For the purposes of this quiz, a franchise covers the entire history of a team. As such, for example, Dodgers covers both Brooklyn and Los Angeles.)


Question 2

There have been only two players who have played for all four of the following franchises: Guardians, Reds, Rockies and Marlins. Name either of the two men who at one time saw action in an MLB game for these teams.


Question 3

And then there was one! Can you name the only hitter to have completed the following tour of cities in his career, playing for the Cardinals, Royals, Cubs and White Sox?


Take your time and think about your answers, and when you're ready to see if you're right, click here.