Major League Baseball’s playoffs are going on right now, and perhaps the fine folks at Jeopardy! turned to inspiration for a category on a recent episode. The issue, as we have seen on plenty of occasions on the legendary answer-and-question show, is that sports categories can sometimes go horribly wrong, and that ended up being the case here.
We didn’t expect this category about the Bronx Bombers to bomb so hard. Oh well! @Yankees pic.twitter.com/i55Cpmj0l5
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) October 2, 2020
The first question was a layup. If it was reversed and they had to say “Who was Jorge Posada?” my assumption is they would have gotten it wrong, but it is fair to assume that if you need to name a Yankee thing that happened in 1923, it will prominently involve Babe Ruth. So, at the very least, we can chalk up the first one being a matter of logic, although Mason seemed like he had an easy time with this.
And then, things went horribly awry. There aren’t a ton of 6’7 baseball players, and “All Rise” is one heck of a hint, but the $400 response of “Who is Aaron Judge?” fell flat. Then again, with baseball’s ratings issue, maybe this is understandable.
The $600 answer wasn’t about baseball, but Frank Gifford played for one (1) NFL team, and even if you didn’t know that, you have a 50/50 shot at just naming one of the NFL’s two New York teams! For $800, they would have been safe to just literally name the first ’60s-era Yankee that popped into their heads, which would have meant saying “Who is Mickey Mantle?” because it is almost always Mickey Mantle when you need to name a ’60s Yankee.
The board ended up going to Mason for the last answer of the round. Everyone knew it was the Daily Double by that point, and Mason did not appear all that stoked to get it. He begrudgingly wagered $1,000, then Alex Trebek read the following.
“A museum at the stadium has statues of World Series hero Don Larsen & 60’ 6” away, this great Yankee.”
IT’S YOGI BERRA SAY YOGI BERRA OH MY GOD SAY YOGI BERRA.
“Who is Lou Gehrig.”
Come on. COME ON. I’m so mad ha ha. Anyway, nothing good happens when we write about Jeopardy! and it does not involve James Holzhauer or Ken Jennings. Please never forget this.