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What is a facepalm, Alex?
On Wednesday night, a “Jeopardy!” contestant named Babe Ruth as a baseball player who “broke the color barrier” — and viewers took to Twitter to express their disappointment in the mixup.
Xiaoke Ying, a sophomore at the University of Southern California competing in the third semifinal round of the College Tournament, buzzed in to answer the $1,000 clue under the category “unique college courses.”
Host Alex Trebek read out the answer: “One of the topics covered in the Major League Baseball course at the Arizona State is this player who broke the color barrier in 1947.”
Who is Babe Ruth?” replied Ying, which Trebek quickly labeled incorrect. Then rival Nathaniel Miller, a sophomore at Yale, buzzed in with the correct answer: Jackie Robinson.
Probably the most famous black baseball player of all time, Robinson made his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, which was opening day in 1947.
Ying’s misstep, in fact, aired on April 15, also known as Jackie Robinson Day.
“AND ON HIS DAY NO LESS,” tweeted Starting 9, one of Barstool Sports’ baseball podcasts. (“Jeopardy!” is now longer taping new shows due to the coronavirus, so this episode was filmed in February.)
Ying’s naming a famous white baseball player irked fans who couldn’t fathom her confusion.
“Babe Ruth is like the default answer for anyone uneducated about baseball,” tweeted one critic. Another icily wrote, “Why do nerds know nothing abt sports? It’s really uncanny how you can know so little abt something most would consider common knowledge.”
“Jeopardy has got to be canceled forever. THE ONLY THING ONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BASEBALL IS WHO JACKIE ROBINSON IS. USC, y’all got some explaining to do,” a viewer with a flair for the dramatic chimed in.
Ying went on to win the match, defeating Miller and sophomore Marshall Comeaux of the University of Texas at Austin, to advance to the final round of the College Tournament, which will air on Thursday and Friday.
