‘Jeopardy!’ contestant thinks Babe Ruth broke baseball’s color barrier

Mark Townsend
Updated

The popular game show “Jeopardy!” has provided some head-scratching moments throughout its storied history on television.

None more so than the wildly incorrect response given by a contestant during Wednesday’s episode.

And yes, this is entirely related to baseball. In fact, the clue read by host Alex Trebek centered around one of the game’s most important and iconic figures, Jackie Robinson. A fitting clue, too, given that Wednesday was the 73rd anniversary of Robinson breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier.

Unfortunately, the first contestant to ring in is not a student of baseball history.

To review what we’ve just witnessed.

The category: “Unique College Courses.”

The $1,000 clue: “One of the topics covered in a Major League Baseball course at Arizona State is this player who broke the color barrier in 1947.”

The response: “Who is Babe Ruth?”

The collective response of baseball fans: *facepalm*

We don’t want to be too harsh on the contestant. Some categories just don’t fall into their respective wheelhouses. Or in this case, it wasn’t in her ballpark. It’s just, the timing of this one couldn’t have been any worse with Major League Baseball celebrating Jackie Robinson Day.

The fact is, Ruth and Robinson’s paths never even crossed on the diamond. Ruth retired during the 1935 season, 12 years before Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

These moments are bound to happen on Jeopardy! It’s inevitable given the wide range of categories that are covered. However, it does seem like sports are often in the middle of it.

Remember the contestant who got Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid’s nickname so wrong, that Embiid actually changed his Twitter name? Or the contestant who thought Hack Wilson hit 191 home runs in 1930?

Those, too, were historically bad answers. Now “Who is Babe Ruth?” will take its place among them.

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