It started as a dare.
It was December 2018… Christmas Night? Sometime between Christmas and New Year’s? Somewhere in there.
Jenn and I were over at Erin and Brett’s for dinner. It was after the meal and we were hanging out over coffee when Brett started telling us about this game he and Erin play while they’re on long drives to keep each other entertained. She’ll look up a baseball player in the Hall of Fame, and they’ll play 20 Questions as Brett tries to figure out who she picked.
She said he hardly ever misses.
“Bullshit,” I said.
“Alright then, let’s play. See if you can stump me,” Brett replied, flashing a grin.
So I did. I got on my phone and looked up a Hall of Famer. Someone from the Dead Ball era that I’d never heard of. There was no way any normal baseball fan could get this.
But you see, Brett’s not a normal baseball fan.
He got it in 17 questions.
He got the next one even faster.
Third time around, I looked up one of my favorites, an all-time great, and we began again.
Around the sixth question, Brett started looking confused.
By the ninth question, it was clear something was amiss.
Did I somehow stump him, this man with a machine brain for baseball statistics?
After the eleventh question, I had my answer. Brett asked me something simple, and before I could even respond he said, “But you couldn’t have picked Big Papi. David Ortiz isn’t in the Hall of Fame yet.”
I had.
“He’s not?” I asked, paling in surprise.
“Nope.” Brett replied, matter-of-factly.
I checked, and it turns out, I’d gotten a little ahead of myself. Again, this was 2018. David Ortiz, the Boston Red Sox living legend wouldn’t be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame until 2022, his first year of eligibility.
I thought I was giving Brett an easy one. Turns out it was a trick question. A curveball if you will.
And he still knocked it out of the park.
“This is a Fringe show.” I blurted out in stunned disbelief.
“Bullshit.” Now it was his turn to be incredulous.
“No, I’m serious.”
“Who would want to come and watch me play 20 Questions about baseball?”
At this point, Jenn piped in out of the blue: “Uh, I would.”
Brett and I both looked at her, stunned. “Wait, you would? You don’t even like baseball.”
“Yeah. And I’d still watch an hour of this, easy.”
Suddenly, Brett looked like he was starting to seriously consider this, so I decided to put my money where my mouth was.
“I’ll give you a free slot at my space for Fringe next year. We’ll do it for a door split. And I bet you it’s a hit.”
And this time, I was right. Batter Up! My Brain on Baseball was one of the sleeper hits of the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival, earning multiple award nominations and rave reviews from critics and patrons alike. Erin and I co-directed and co-produced the show for Brett and he did his “stupid human tricks with baseball statistics” to a run of sold-out houses for what quickly became one of the best-known and beloved figures of the Festival that year.
We brought it back to the Hollywood Fringe last year as a companion piece to a baseball-themed escape room we built at The Hobgoblin Playhouse just for the Festival. This time around, Batter Up! Double Play took home The Fringe Award for Best in Cabaret & Variety Shows, plus a handful of other honors.
And now, we’re headed to MLB Spring Training in Arizona! That’s right! Brett’s been invited to bring the show to the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts for six performances March 13th-16th.
So, what’s the appeal? Well, first off, it’s not just 20 Questions. Brett has come up with a bunch of unique and interesting games and tricks, all rooted in baseball statistics and history. He complements these games with stories about the history of the game itself, from exploring the history of the Negro Leagues and Buck O’Neil to his own personal journey into Dodger fandom, and how baseball helped him bond with his stepfather. It’s a beautiful experience that you don’t want to miss.
You see, it’s not just Brett’s encyclopedic knowledge of baseball, and the impressive command he wields over that information, being able to summon relevant statistics.
It’s not just the obvious delight he takes in talking about his favorite subject.
It’s his eager, friendly demeanor and the enthusiastic, infectious charm that pours out of him on stage that makes this show so fun to watch. It’s watching his brain work in real time and listening to the details and anecdotes he drops as he parses data in search of the solutions to the devilish challenges lain before himi.
There are few things more enjoyable to witness than someone flourishing and reveling in their element. That’s what Batter Up! is: pure, unadulterated, and utterly infectious joy.
I hope you’ll come out and join us.
Get tickets to Batter Up! Cactus League at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, March 13th-16th, 2025!
About Batter Up! Cactus League by Brett Moore
Brett Moore has been obsessed with baseball for more than thirty years. In that time, he’s memorized more about baseball than anyone with access to the Internet could possibly need to know. Now, Moore welcomes you inside his mind as he shares the incredible tricks his memory and obsession with baseball enable him to do—and he needs your help to challenge his mind! Along the way, you’ll delve with him into the passion, the quirks, the history, and the numbers that have so deeply ingrained baseball into the nation’s psyche. Come join Moore as he shares the unique way his mind navigates and embraces the American national pastime!
Official Show Website launching soon!
About Brett Moore
Brett Moore found baseball at 7 years old, and he fell head-over-heels in love with the subject. While he never had a talent for playing, his incredible gift for recall allowed him to absorb everything he could read, listen to, or watch about the sport. In his 20s, he acted on stage in small productions in Orange County, wrote about baseball and fantasy baseball for Bleacher Report, and frequently called games for San Diego State University KCR college radio from 2011–2015. In 2015, he and his crew were selected as finalists for the IBS Golden Mic Award for best baseball broadcast (and won for their hockey broadcasting).
In 2018, Moore’s wonderful wife and fellow baseball fan, Erin, helped him create a new game utilizing his encyclopedic baseball knowledge. He showed it to Greg and Jenn Crafts, who immediately told him the game would be a hit with audiences, and Batter Up! was born. Brought to audiences for the first time in 2019 at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, the show won immediate praise from audiences and critics alike. The show was nominated for several awards, including Top World Premiere, Top Cabaret and Variety, and Trope Buster awards. The COVID-19 pandemic put a kibosh on taking the show to new audiences, but in 2024 Moore brought his talents back to the stage, taking home the Hollywood Fringe award for Best Cabaret and Variety and the TheTVolution.com award for Best Solo Show (Male).
Now, Moore is an active blogger, is working on a book about overlooked Hall of Fame cases, and has started a podcast highlighting fans’ unique connections to baseball through their favorite teams and Hall of Famers. His latest passion project is Negro League research, following in the talented and dogged footsteps of hundreds of passionate researchers before him. He’s also a part-time game show contestant, with an appearance on Jeopardy! in 2021 and The 1% Club in 2024 (he’s gunning for Wheel of Fortune next!).
Follow Brett Moore on Instagram for all of his Hot Stove Hot Takes!
About the Scottsdale Center For the Performing Arts
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ mission is to present traditional and contemporary arts of interest to worldwide audiences, to create opportunities for audiences to have thought-provoking experiences with artists and speakers, and to foster creative expression, diversity in thought, and awareness of cultural heritage.
We take pride in serving artists and audiences and remain flexible to changing needs. We believe to rebuild, reimagine, and unify our community in these times we must lift up creative thinkers and visionary voices to challenge and inspire us.
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