Talkin' Softball
Good golly, what can you say about a winter during which the St. Louis Cardinals stand as World Champions and it never really snows? That's pretty great. And now I'm declaring an early end to the season. What the hell-- if Republican presidential campaigns can transport us back in time to an age before the sexual revolution, then I can pretend the next four weeks don't exist. The Cardinals held their first official workout of 2012 yesterday in Florida and the new season dawns.--
It was 20 years ago tonight-- February 20, 1992-- that "The Simpsons" aired a baseball-themed episode called "Homer at the Bat" featuring nine baseball greats or near-greats. Around the horn they were Roger Clemens, Mike Scioscia, Don Mattingly, Steve Sax, Wade Boggs, Cardinals Hall-of-Famer Ozzie Smith, Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Homer Simpson, er, I mean Darryl Strawberry. Tonight, Deadspin's Erik Malinowski has the inside story, recalling that magical evening when "The Simpsons" bested "The Cosby Show" in the Nielsen ratings for the first time, and bettered CBS's coverage of the Winter Olympics just for good measure. It was a very different time than the one we live in today. The first George Bush was president, long "rabbit ears" were needed to dial in Fox Television where I lived in rural Iowa, Steve Sax was still a well-known ballplayer, and "The Simpsons," up to that point, had only aired 51 other episodes.
posted by CM @ 6:46 PM
4 Comments:
You forgot to mention the most important part of that story, that the show's original choice for 2nd base was Ryne Sandberg!!
Did you know that? That was new information to me. Maybe that hole in his life is the reason he still seeks a second career as a manager.
Also interesting that 5 of those 9 played for the Yankees at some point in their career.
They buy big stars. That's what they do.
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