Verlander and Ortiz Test Their Own Career Stats in Fruit-Flinging Trivia Game

Justin Verlander and David Ortiz sat down for a new trivia game called “Fact Or Splat,” with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on hand to quiz the two former stars on details from their own playing careers. Between them, the pair collected five World Series rings, 20 All-Star selections and 3,088 games played across their time in Major League Baseball.

The format is simple: answer a question correctly and you get to drop a piece of fruit or food on a giant cutout of your opponent’s face. Get it wrong, and your opponent gets the toss instead.

Jeter opened with a hint for Ortiz: “It’s someone that’s in the family.” Ortiz answered immediately with former Dominican right-hander Ramon Martinez, and the cake he tossed landed as a direct hit.

Verlander was up next. Jeter asked who his first career strikeout victim was. Verlander didn’t pause: “Travis Hafner.” He was right, but his throw didn’t connect with the same force as Ortiz’s had.

The questions got harder from there. Jeter asked Ortiz to name his longest-tenured teammate, a tough call given Ortiz played 20 seasons in the majors, 14 of them in Boston. Ortiz guessed knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. The correct answer was Dustin Pedroia.

Verlander’s second attempt landed better, scoring a direct hit on Ortiz’s face.

Asked another question, Verlander looked around the set and said, “I’m going to go with Derek.” He was right, and a pumpkin went down on Ortiz.

Ortiz had a quick answer of his own when asked a question about his teammates: “Manny Ramirez, Mikey Lowell and myself,” he said, before dropping cake onto Verlander’s face.

Verlander correctly named Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, Tarik Skubal — with a generous hint from Rodriguez — and Gerrit Cole among the players he was asked about. He missed on four others: Dallas Keuchel, Zack Greinke, David Price and Robbie Ray.