The Benchwarmers
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
40 free The Benchwarmers trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Benchwarmers is the 2006 baseball comedy about three grown men who never got to play as children and decide to make up for it by challenging Little League teams. Critics were unkind, audiences turned up anyway, and the film has picked up a loyal following since. This quiz covers the story from the first game for the neighbourhood diamond to the tournament final, along with the actors behind the heroes and the rival coaches, the surprise cameos, where it was filmed, how it did at the box office and what came after it. It is for anyone who watched it on repeat growing up, and for hosts who want a ready-made round on a mid-2000s sports comedy. The plot questions come easiest; the casting and production ones separate the fans from the casual viewers.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In The Benchwarmers, which job usually done by children does the adult nerd Clark Reedy still hold?
Paperboy
Paperboy is Clark's job well into adulthood. It marks him as the most childlike of the three grown men who end up taking on Little League teams.
Q 02Which secret about Gus Matthews do rival coaches expose to the public late in The Benchwarmers?
He was a childhood bully
He was a childhood bully who used name-calling rather than fists. The reveal turns his own team against him until he apologises to the boy he tormented.
Q 03Besides being unable to leave home, Howie Goodman in The Benchwarmers has which other phobia?
Fear of the Sun
Fear of the Sun, or heliophobia, sits alongside Howie's agoraphobia. He has not left the house for months before he finally joins the team.
Q 04Which Hall of Fame slugger plays himself training the team in The Benchwarmers?
Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson, baseball's Mr. October, appears as an old friend of the team's billionaire backer and coaches the three men. His other film cameos include Richie Rich and BASEketball.
Q 05At which restaurant chain do both teams celebrate together at the end of The Benchwarmers?
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut hosts the closing party, rivals and all. The production also filmed at one of the chain's real restaurants in California.
Q 06How is the bullying coach Jerry humiliated on the field after the final game in The Benchwarmers?
He gets a wedgie
He gets a wedgie and is left hanging on a fence by his underwear. The team's grown-ups, their billionaire backer included, do it together.
Q 07In The Benchwarmers, the adult ringer Carlos carries a fake birth certificate written in what?
Crayon
Crayon is what the forged certificate is written in. A bribed umpire still waves the 30-year-old through to play for a Little League team.
Q 08Which Saturday Night Live alumnus produced The Benchwarmers alongside Jack Giarraputo?
Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler produced the film through Happy Madison Productions. His company's name blends two of his own early hits, Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison.
Q 09Which actor plays the nerd Clark Reedy in The Benchwarmers?
Jon Heder
Jon Heder took the part two years after his breakout as the title character of Napoleon Dynamite. He inherited it from a comedian who had originally been cast as Clark.
Q 10Which actor plays Gus Matthews, the one skilled ballplayer among the men in The Benchwarmers?
Rob Schneider
Rob Schneider, the star of Deuce Bigalow, plays Gus, whose surprising ability wins the first games almost alone. His two friends start out as hopeless players and improve only slowly.
Q 11Which actor plays Richie Goodman, the brother of housebound Howie, in The Benchwarmers?
David Spade
David Spade, the star of Joe Dirt, plays Richie, one of the three adult players. The film reunited him with former castmates from his years on Saturday Night Live.
Q 12In The Benchwarmers, what kind of business employs Richie Goodman, one of the three adult players?
A video rental store
A video rental store called Video Spot employs Richie. Over the course of the film he falls for Sarah, who works at a restaurant salad bar.
Q 13In The Benchwarmers, the rival coach Jerry McDowell owns which kind of business that names his team?
A lumber yard
Q 21Which television host plays the villainous coach Jerry McDowell in The Benchwarmers?
Craig Kilborn
Craig Kilborn, the original host of The Daily Show, plays Jerry, who picked on two of the heroes when they were children. He had left his CBS late-night talk show in 2004.
Q 22Which model turned actress plays Liz Matthews, the wife of Gus, in The Benchwarmers?
Molly Sims
Molly Sims plays Liz while still starring as Delinda Deline on Las Vegas, the NBC casino series that ran from 2003 to 2008.
Q 23Which Saturday Night Live veteran plays Wayne, the hardware-store owner coaching a rival team in The Benchwarmers?
Tim Meadows
A lumber yard, Jerry's Lumber, belongs to the villain. His fellow coaches run a hardware store, an auto body shop and a sporting goods store.
Q 14In The Benchwarmers, what does billionaire Mel Carmichael promise the winners of his statewide tournament?
Access to a new ballpark
Access to a new ballpark is the prize. Mel builds the multimillion-dollar park himself, and the championship game is played there.
Q 15In The Benchwarmers, how does the team neutralise Carlos, the ringer pitching against them in the semi-final?
They get him drunk
They get him drunk after spotting that Carlos is a recovering alcoholic. The rival coach's cheating is turned straight back on him.
Q 16In The Benchwarmers, how does Howie Goodman drive in the winning run in his first at-bat?
He is hit by a pitch
He is hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which forces home the run that wins the semi-final. It is the first time the team has loaded the bases.
Q 17How does the final against Jerry's team end for the heroes of The Benchwarmers?
They lose but score one run
They lose but score one run, because two of Jerry's own players let young Nelson get a hit. The team storms the field to celebrate avoiding a shutout.
Q 18What news does Gus Matthews announce during the closing celebration in The Benchwarmers?
He is becoming a father
He is becoming a father, he tells the party. Gus had spent the story putting off his wife Liz's plans to start a family.
Q 19Which animated film kept The Benchwarmers in second place at the box office on its opening weekend?
Ice Age: The Meltdown
Ice Age: The Meltdown was already in its second weekend and still out-earned the baseball comedy, which opened to just under $20 million.
Q 20Which co-writer of The Benchwarmers also appears on screen as the housebound brother Howie Goodman?
Nick Swardson
Nick Swardson wrote the script with Allen Covert and plays Howie, who has not left the house for months when the story begins.
Tim Meadows plays Wayne after ten seasons on the sketch show, from 1991 to 2000, which was a record tenure when he left.
Q 24Which actor returned as billionaire Mel Carmichael in the 2019 direct-to-video sequel to The Benchwarmers?
Jon Lovitz
Jon Lovitz reprised Mel thirteen years after the original film. The three leading men did not return, and a new set of leads took over.
Q 25Which future Brooklyn Nine-Nine star plays Steven, a wig-wearing poker player, in The Benchwarmers?
Terry Crews
Terry Crews plays Steven, the poker friend who hands the rival coaches damaging evidence about one of the heroes.
Q 26Which Prison Break actor plays Carlos, the professional ballplayer passed off as a child in The Benchwarmers?
Amaury Nolasco
Amaury Nolasco plays Carlos while starring as Fernando Sucre on Prison Break, the Fox drama that had begun the year before.
Q 27Which former NFL linebacker plays Karl, one of the rival coaches, in The Benchwarmers?
Bill Romanowski
Bill Romanowski plays Karl, who owns an auto body shop. He won four Super Bowls, two each with the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos.
Q 28Which director made The Benchwarmers and appears in it as Coach Bellows?
Dennis Dugan
Dennis Dugan, who also directed Happy Gilmore, plays a Little League coach in his own film. He made a run of the producer's other comedies, including Big Daddy and Grown Ups.
Q 29The Benchwarmers held which box-office record until the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 beat it in 2013?
Biggest baseball-film opening
Biggest baseball-film opening was the record, at just under $20 million. It even survived Moneyball, which fell narrowly short in 2011.
Q 30Which annual ceremony nominated the three leads of The Benchwarmers for their on-screen chemistry?
Teen Choice Awards
Teen Choice Awards voters gave the comedy four nominations in 2006, among them best movie comedy and a category for the best on-screen fight.