Designated Hitter

The four month old ESPN sports game show based on baseball.

Broadcast
ESPN - December 1, 1993-March 31, 1994

Packager
The William Carruthers Company

Host
Curt Chaplin

Announcer
Rick Stern

Gameplay
Three contestants competed in this game of sports knowledge.

Round 1
Each player selected five questions from four sports categories; three of which were three main sports (baseball, basketball & football), and the fourth was a "Curve Ball" category focusing on other sports. The first four questions on each category was worth different amounts and were all jump-in toss-ups, but the fifth question was known as the "Pinch-Hit" question in which the amount was undisclosed, and only the player who chose it can answer. Correct answers added the question's value to the total score of the player who answered right, but incorrect answers earned an "out"; any player who got three outs/three wrong answers lost $100 from their score. The two players with the highest scores moved on to round two, the third place player was eliminated from the game.

Round 2
The two surviving players each selected one sports category to play. On each category, the players alternated turns answering four questions under that category. Whenever a player missed a question, the opposing player had a chance to steal the question and the money if he/she wants to. The player with the most money at the end of this round won the game and the right to play the "Grand Slam" round for up to $3,000 in additional cash.

Payoffs
The payoffs were the same in both rounds, and here's how the players scored for correct answers:

Grand Slam (Bonus Round)
In the "Grand Slam" round, the day's winning player was asked four questions (one from each category), and here's are the payoffs for each question:

So being perfect by answering all four questions in that round correctly won a total $3,000 in cash.

Trivia
This was Curt Chaplin's second & last game show. These days he's now the courtroom hallway interviewer & announcer on The People's Court.

YouTube Video
Billy Baker's 15 minutes of Shame, featuring a clip of his appearance on Designated Hitter