''Baseball IQ'' is an American television
game show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...
airing on the cable channel
MLB Network
The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...
. The show debuted on January 24, 2012, and its first season ended on February 23, 2012, with the season championship. The show is hosted by MLB Network anchor
Matt Vasgersian
Matt Vasgersian ( '; born 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is a play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and Major League Baseball on Fox, FOX Sports. In the pa ...
. The show's focus is baseball trivia.
Format
The show features 32 contestants (each of whom works for one of the 30
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
teams as well as one from MLB.com and one from the
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
) in a bracket-style tournament for up to USD 45,000 for their teams' designated charities. Each episode's winner receives USD 5,000 for the charity and the season champion receives USD 25,000 for the charity. The season runner-up's charity receives USD 15,000.
Gameplay
The gameplay starts with the "Lead-off Home Run" question. The player who buzzes in gets the chance to answer. If the player is correct, they score the first run and control of a board with 8 categories to be used in the first 8 rounds ("innings"8 or 9 "innings" per episode). If the player who buzzes in is incorrect, their opponent gets the first run and control of the board. For the first 8 innings, the player in control picks a category and the subject of a list-based question is given. Players alternate giving answers in the category until one either gives an incorrect answer, repeats a previously given answer, or runs out of time trying to come up with an answer. At that point, the other player wins the inning and is given the option to use their one "Big Inning" (each player in each episode gets one) and gives four more answers to earn 2 runs. However if the player uses their Big Inning and fails to get 4 correct answers, he loses the amount of runs he was awarded in the inning. The number of runs for winning the inning outright is determined by how deep the players went in the inning. After 8 innings, if one player is ahead of his opponent by more runs than can be scored in the ninth inning, the "mercy rule" goes into effect and no ninth inning is played.
In the ninth inning, the two players would bid on the number of correct answers they can give in the final category. If the player who wins the bidding gives the number of correct answers that they bid would score the runs and, if they bid enough, would win the game. If the ninth inning ends in a tie, one more buzz-in question is asked. If the player who buzzes in gets the answer correct, they get the run, win the game, and advance in the tournament. The other player scores and wins if the buzz-in player answers incorrectly.
The first tournament was won by Shane Demmitt, representing the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
, who defeated
Ben Baumer, representing the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
, in the final round.
Contestants
External links
Official website with most recently updated bracket
{{Major League Baseball on national television
MLB Network original programming
2012 American television series debuts
2010s American game shows