Jeopardy's James Holzhauer nails his favorite Babe Ruth quote, shockingly doesn't sweep category
“Jeopardy!” participants are already facing a tough task against James Holzhauer and then up comes a full category on Babe Ruth.
Holzhauer, the professional sports gambler who continues his reign on the show with a new style of play, extended his streak Thursday night on “Jeopardy!”. He’s at 31 consecutive victories with total winnings of $2,382,583 and could eclipse Ken Jennings’ winnings record within the next couple of games.
Jennings won $2,520,700 and is ahead by only $138,117.
Holzhauer bumped up his winnings with the help of a “Childish Bambino” category about Babe Ruth that featured a high for Holzhauer and a rare low.
‘Jeopardy!’ James beams at favorite quote
The $800 answer elicited a comment from Holzhauer, a noted baseball fan who is interested in a career in the sport.
The answer: “When Babe Ruth was told that his 1930 salary of $80,000 was more than that of this president, Babe said that he had a better year.”
Holzhauer: My favorite quote. Who is Hoover?
Ruth’s full quote, via the White House Historical Association:
When Ruth was asked if he thought he deserved to be making more money than President Hoover, he said, “'Why not? I had a better year than he did.”
Hoover made $75,000 that year. The salary for a president today is $400,000 — far lower than the likes of Mike Trout or Bryce Harper — excluding benefits, expense accounts and extra perks.
Babe Ruth question stumps ‘Jeopardy!’ king
Holzhauer did not sweep the category, a shocker both for his success across the board every night and the fact it was a baseball category. Per For the Win, Holzhauer missed the $600 clue about Ruth losing his status after confronting a heckler in the stands at Polo Grounds.
Holzhauer guessed he lost his title as manager, but the correct answer was his captaincy. Ruth served as captain for six days in 1922 before being stripped of the title.
Viewers were proud they got a question Holzhauer missed.
Sports-related categories
Sports-related categories and answers are fairly common on the show. Holzhauer faced another baseball topic earlier this week and joked about it on Twitter.
Chick Gandil tipped me off about the fix. I made a killing https://t.co/vsZ8JdwpKv
— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) May 30, 2019
A Los Angeles Dodgers category was on this week as well, and each of the other contestants got in a winning question to avoid a Holzhauer sweep.
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