THE MOST IMPORTANT EPISODE OF THE SIMPSONS ? (COMMENT).
THE MOST IMPORTANT EPISODE OF THE SIMPSONS? (COMMENT). Lee Bryant and then Nick drew my attention to this article on deadspin.com about the importance of the first episode of the Simpsons to deal with baseball by commenting on my post on the “Moneybart” episode of the Simpsons. The article celebrates the 20th anniversary of an episode which was a landmark for the program because it was the first time that the Simpsons had won their time slot. The episode—Homer at the Bat”—had a baseball theme. The writing staff was “full of fantasy baseball junkies”, and the script was full of baseball lore. The episode featured the voices and cartoon versions of nine active baseball players. The choices stand up 20 years later in terms of their importance to the game. The episode is also noteworthy for the Simpsons characters behaving uncharacteristically—Homer has success, winning the game for his team with a walk-off grand slam homer.
Homer does has success as the team’s best hitter until Mr. Burns places a bet with a rival factory owner regarding their company softball teams. Burns rigs the bet by acquiring all of the major leaguers to play for the team, and Homer is benched for Darryl Strawberry.
However, Homer DOES win the game at the end by a walk-off, bases loaded hit-by-pitch.