HOME RUN DERBY TRIVIA RULES

It's not Just a trivia book/game, it is a fun history lesson in the national pastime...

RULES OF PLAY

OBJECT-Players answer nearly 1,200 multiple choice baseball trivia questions from over 200 various categories in an attempt to answer four straight questions of increasing order of difficulty to advance around the bases and "hit a home run." Or you can read and play on your own just for fun.

HOW MANY CAN PLAY-Players can compete one-on-one, in teams or alone. If the game is played in teams, a 'batting order" must be set.

HOW TO PLAY-Player A goes to the first category, such as NUMBERS, containing four questions in descending order of difficulty (i.e., the double question is harder than the single, the triple is harder than the double, and the home ran is the hardest on each category). The first question has just two multiple choice options, and if answered correctly, results in a single, allowing the batter to attempt to reach second base. If answered wrong, the player is out and the opposing team's "batter" is up. After "singling," one next tries for a "double," meaning you must also try to answer the second question with three options on the same category. If answered correctly, hitters go for a triple by attempting to answer the third question (with four options). If you get that one right, question number four will be a home run if the right answer among the five choices is selected. However, if a player misses any question along the way in one category, he is out. If a batter homers in 1-on-1 play, he can continually hit again until he makes an out in that inning. But if playing in teams, the next batter in the order is up. The page the answers to each category appear on is listed in parentheses after the category heading, such as RECORDS (50). The team on defense will read the questions and then look up the answers. It is suggested that each batter answer all four questions and write their letter answer down on a paper before looking up any of the answers. However, you can look up each answer at each base to speed the game up. As soon as a question is missed, the batter is out. Players can advance to the next set of questions in the order of the categories as they are listed in the book or pick out categories at random or ones that appeal to the batter. To conserve questions and make the game as fair as possible, competitors can also try to answer the same questions on the same category in their respective at-bat by writing them down before looking up the answers.

EXTRA RUNS-Players receive an extra run for each answer along the way in which they get the additional numerical answer right to a question if it has an asterisk following it. For example, if the question is "who had the most career hits? *how many" and you correctly say Pete Rose, the player then can guess (without penalty) Rose had 4,256 hits to get an extra run on his home run if he eventually gets all four questions right for a homer. If a player gets one asterisk-added answer right per one at bat/category, he gets one more run; if two, he gets two runs, and so on up to a maximum of four runs for a grand slam.

GAME LENGTH

The game lasts nine innings (unless tied) with one out to an inning. If the game is tied after nine at bats by each team, play continues in extra innings until one team outscores the other. Each player gets one minute to answer his questions.

MAJOR LEAGUE EDITION/HALL OF FAME EDITION

In the major league edition of "Home Run Derby Trivia", players are read the answer choices to each question. However, the advanced baseball trivia expert may want to play the Hall of Fame version, where none of the multiple choice answers are given after the question is read.

The Final Problems: Sherlock Holmes Mystery Trivia

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by ANNEKA LENSSEN

Ada Herald staff

"It's not just a trivia book/game, it's a fun history lesson in the national pastime!" Like the book's cover claims, Home Run Derby Trivia is a multifaceted addition to the wealth of material written on the intricacies of the game of baseball. Cort Reynolds, author of the book, took its title from a 1950's television show. The show, "Home Run Derby," pitted famous baseball players each week against each other. Only the batter's home runs counted for runs; singles, doubles, and triples were automatic outs just like a foul ball or missed swing. The player with the most home runs after nine innings won the game. Reynolds enjoyed seeing clips of baseball greats playing on the show when ESPN broadcasted re-runs, and structured Home Run Derby Trivia around the same idea. Players advance through single, double, and triple difficulty trivia questions before facing home run questions, but only a correctly answered home run question scores a run. "I wanted to make a game where you would simulate trying to hit a home run by answering baseball trivia questions instead of hitting fast balls," he explained. Players answer questions until they are stumped or "out", and the next player goes "up to bat." A single difficulty question, like "what uniform number does Sammy Sosa wear?" gives only two choices: "21 " or "25." A player with no knowledge about baseball still has a 50 percent chance of answering correctly. Doubles have three choices and triples four. However, a home run question has five options, and a player must know about baseball to do well. Reynolds explains that the hardest part was thinking up good wrong answers. He has been compiling questions, statistics and trivia for the book since the early 1990's, getting most of the information from various sports books that he reads, games he watches and from his own memory. "Thinking up good wrong answers without making them too easy or too difficult was a challenge." With close to 1,200 questions, there are approximately 12,000 wrong answers. The game can also be played on a different Hall of Fame level for expert baseball fans, or alone. Instead of getting choices read to them after the question, super fans can try to answer the queries without the choices. Reynolds has something close to a total recall memory, a useful trait for both writing and playing Home Run Derby Trivia. The project was temporarily put on hold in '94 during the baseball strikes because, "Interest in the game was lagging and I was a little down on baseball, too," Reynolds explained. Still, there's something about baseball that makes it hard to stay away from. "The pace is similar to life's pace," Reynolds theorizes. "There are long gaps where not a lot is happening, then a lot of action in short spaces of time. "it is also something that happens every day, like life. People get in the routine of checking box scores each day or listening on the radio daily, and that is addicting." There is more literature on baseball than any other sport by far, Reynolds pointed out. "Baseball can be quantified more easily than other sports. Stats tell the story in baseball better than in any other game, even though they can't cover it all," Reynolds said. Home Run Derby Trivia covers all types of baseball stats and facts on hundreds of topics from the 19th century to Japanese baseball to dramatic homers, nicknames, great moments, individual player trivia, individual decades from 19001990, and highlights from different eras and seasons. Reynolds explained that the game is geared toward knowledgeable baseball fans. Even the book's cover, which he designed, has material to interest the baseball fan. Reynolds included a tracing of a photo he took of Mark McGwire hitting a home run last year in Cleveland on the cover. The casual fan can also enjoy the game by reading it like a sourcebook of interesting baseball facts. The answers to the trivia questions are a fun read as well; Reynolds gives information about the wrong answer choices. Reynolds is a life-long sports fan and athlete. An ONU honors graduate in English/writing and philosophy, he spent five years as their sports information director. I attempted to stump Reynolds' memory with a home run question from his book: "What law school did Tony LaRussa attend?" The question was not a challenge. Without missing a beat, he correctly answered "Florida State." Oh, and Sammy Sosa wears number 21. For more questions and answers you will have to buy the book.

Sample questions:

Single-What hurler won his record fifth Cy Young award in 1998?
A. Roger Clemens; B. Greg Maddux

Double-Who is the only man to play for all four current franchises that were once (or still are) based in NY City?
A. Duke Snider; B. Darryl Strawberry C. Tommy John

Triple-Who holds the highest career World Series batting avg.? (min. 20 games)
A. Reggie Jackson; B. Babe Ruth C. Lou Brock D. David Justice

Home run-Which was the first father/son duo to win a World Series title?
A. Bobby/Barry Bonds; B. Yogi/Dale Berra; C. Bob/Bret Boone; D. Julian/Stan Javier; E. Sandy/Robby Alomar