Trivia king Shane Demmitt makes Angels and fellow ‘clubbies’ proud

Tempe, Ariz. -- Shane Demmitt, the Angels’ assistant equipment manager and trivia savant, was the featured attraction in Friday morning’s daily team meeting, as Manager Mike Scioscia presented him with the Wimbledon-like trophy he received for winning the MLB Network’s “Baseball IQ” game show.

A large contingent of club officials, fellow clubhouse employees and a handful of players joined Demmitt at a Tempe-area restaurant to watch him beat New York Mets statistical analyst Ben Baumer in the final round, which aired Thursday night.

Several rounds of applause could be heard outside the closed clubhouse doors during Friday morning’s meeting, which included players, coaches and front-office officials.

“I’m proud for the organization -- I didn’t want to go there and have us be embarrassed,” said Demmitt, who traveled to New Jersey in January to tape the series of shows. “I was also the only clubbie [in the 32-person field], and I didn’t want to embarrass the position.”

Demmitt, 40, is no stranger to game shows. He once appeared on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” winning $32,000. But he said he was more nervous during the baseball trivia competition.

“I only had myself to let down on the other one,” Demmitt said. “In this, I was carrying the organization and all the other clubbies. At least, that’s kind of the way I looked at it.”

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