Baseball and The Simpsons

[Erik Bedard]

In an episode of The Simpsons, my favorite TV show, the Springfield Power Plant softball team plays the Shelbyville Power Plant team for the championship. Mr. Burns, in a classic Steinbrenner move, requests to hire a few former Major Leaguers (who are all dead). Because they are "unavailable", he allows Smithers to search for nine MLB players to work at the power plant and play on the softball team. Can anyone name the players Mr. Burns requested to be signed, and the nine who were actually signed? Bonus points for anyone who can name the episode and its original airing date, as well as the reasons eight of the nine players couldn't play, and the stats of the one player who did.

[KCGHOST]

The players who signed were Darryl Strawberry, Ken Griffey, Jr., Steve Sax, Roger Clemens, Jose Conseco, Don Mattingly, Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs, and Mike Scioscia. The episode aired 02-20-1992. Working on the rest.

[AstrosFan]

The player who played was Darryl Strawberry, who hit nine home runs in the game. He was replaced by Homer Simpson in the last inning, because Burns wanted a righty facing Shelbyville's southpaw. Playing the percentages, I believe Burns called it.
Ozzie Smith was warped to another dimension; Ken Griffey Jr. got addicted to an elixir that expanded his head; Roger Clemens was hypnotized and thought he was a chicken; Steve Sax was arrested. That's all I can think of at the moment

[Jayme]

Homer at the Bat was the name of the episode

The players that signed and why they didnt play, as well as Strawberrys 9 Homeruns:

2B: Steve Sax (New York Yankees): Arrested and sentenced to serve six consecutive lifetime in prison for every unsolved murder in New York City.

3B: Wade Boggs (Boston Red Sox): Punched out in a bar fight by Barney Gumble over Britain's greatest prime minister (Pitt the Elder vs. Lord Palmerston).

RF: Darryl Strawberry (Los Angeles Dodgers): The only ringer who did play in the game, hitting nine home runs; replaced by pinch-hitter Homer in the bottom of the last inning as part of a questionable platoon system strategy by Burns.

LF: José Canseco (Oakland Athletics): Rescued a woman and her possessions from her burning house; after saving her child and her cat, the woman had Canseco save her various appliances.

1B: Don Mattingly (New York Yankees): Kicked off the team by Mr. Burns for his "sideburns" parodying a fight Mattingly had with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. This is despite the fact that Mattingly never had sideburns and was still kicked off the team even though by then the entire middle third of Mattingly's head was shaved. Even so, Mattingly remarks that Burns was still better than Steinbrenner.

CF: Ken Griffey, Jr. (Seattle Mariners): Overdoses on nerve tonic, resulting in gigantism.

C: Mike Scioscia (Los Angeles Dodgers): Suffered Radiation poisoning, leaving him unable to move or speak at normal rate.

SS: Ozzie Smith (St. Louis Cardinals): Lost in a space-time anomaly at the Springfield Mystery Spot.

P: Roger Clemens (Boston Red Sox): Hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken.

Burns Team:

P: Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown
C: Gabby Street
1B: Cap Anson
2B: Napoleon Lajoie
SS: Honus Wagner
3B: Pie Traynor
LF: Shoeless Joe Jackson
CF: Harry Hooper
RF: Jim Creighton


The only thing i couldnt find was the original airing date


might be able to if i looked longer

[KCGHOST]

Scioscia got radiation poisoning, Boggs was punched out by Barney, Canseco was busy saving appliances from a burning house, and Mattingly was not put into the game because Burns thought he was wearing sideburns.

[Chris from NY]

Homer at the bat originally aired on February 20, 1992. I have it on tape from the original airdate.

[milladrive]

Although KC and Chris already pointed it out, I'll post it again. "Homer At The Bat" originally aired Feb 20, 1992. It was the 17th episode of Season 3. :)

[Seattle1]

MATTINGLY I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET RID OF THOSE SIDEBURNS!

:laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh

[RuthMayBond]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701114/

[csh19792001]

One of the Simpsons' writers- I think it's John Schwartzwelder- is a HUGE baseball fan and baseball historian. He used to throw in random comments like the one above.

How many serious baseball fans even know anything about Jim Creighton, let alone the average person? He'd throw stuff like that in probably just to amuse himself.

(Everyone stands around the site of the crash, where Krusty's shoes
fall down. Chief Wiggum invites everyone to get a load of the
wreckage, until he spots the tail wing with Krusty's face on it.)

Chief Wiggum: Ladies and gentlemen... Krusty the Clown... is dead.

(Cut to The Simpsons at Krusty's funeral.)

Bart: I can't believe Krusty is really gone.

Homer: Don't worry, son. I'm sure he's in heaven right now laughing it up with the other celebrities. John Dillinger, Ty Cobb, Josef Stalin... [sighs]..... Oh, I wish I were dead!!!!

:laugh

[geezer]

Another part I remember was that when Griffey starts drinking the tonic, he said, I feel there's a party in my mouth and everybody's invited.

And when they announced in the paper who made the team, Homer asks Clemens is he did the team, Clemens responded "Yes", when Homer starts celebrating, Clemens quickly asked, Excuse Me, You are Ken Griffey Jr, Right. Homer said no, and Clemens later responded, Oh sorry you didnt made the team.

But remember in the Pretzels episode, when they almost lynched Whitey Ford with the pretzels while trying to calm down the attendance in the park after Mr. Burns won the prized car.

[Erik Bedard]

Random fact: Bart once "traded" a picture of Homer sleeping on the couch a Carl Yastrzemski rookie card (I think).

Not only was Strawberry pinch hit for, he was pinch hit for with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the last inning with the score tied, 43-43. Burns confuses Homer with all the signs, and he doesn't see the pitch coming, and it hits him on the head. Springfield wins 44-43. :gt :laugh :laugh

[geezer]

And when Homer Simpson talks in a sports radio show with Roy Firestone and asks the show's guest that was Sandy Koufax is he thinks that Ned Flanders is a jerk.

[Chicoutimi CP]

In 2006, Antonio Perez (Oakland) was the player most often used as a pinch-runner : 19 times. He scored 3 runs and was caught stealing once. Rob Bowen (San Diego) and Chris Roberson (Phillies) pinch ran 16 times each.

[Erik Bedard]

They showed a two-second clip from Homer at the Bat yesterday! Here, there are two Simpsons episodes every weekday, and today, Homer was in a coma, and it showed all the times he'd been hit in the head, and I saw him get hit in the head to drive in the winning run.