- The year 1951 as seen in retrospect, from Margaret's knitting that never stops growing, to the baseball season that ends in the famous Dodgers-Giants pennant race (and Winchester's gloom). They all hope 1952 will somehow be better.
- As the year 1950 comes to a close, the 4077th staff and surgeons hope 1951 is "a damn sight better" and hopefully they'll be going home. The year 1951 is not uneventful: Klinger makes a bet on a baseball team Charles is sure will lose, Hawkeye and B.J. build a kidney machine, Margaret knits a scarf which soon becomes a bed sheet, and Father Mulcahy plants a garden. By the time New Year's Eve rolls around again, they all hope 1952 will be "a damn sight better" and that they will be returning home.—<Explorerds6789>
- As the year 1950 comes to a close, the 4077th staff and surgeons hope 1951 is "a damn sight better" and hopefully they'll be going home.
The year 1951 is not uneventful: Margaret is miffed that she missed the Sears & Roebuck Christmas catalog (and that the army didn't deliver her winter gear on time) and is eagerly looking forward to order goodies from the valentines day catalog. She cant find a warm winter coat as it is a spring/summer catalog, so she orders knitting stuff. Margaret knits a pot holder, which is a scarf by summer, a sweater by the 4th of July and a bed sheet by winter. There is intense fighting over the catalog as Mulcahy wants it to order some gardening stuff. BJ and Hawkeye want the catalog for their radio.
Klinger makes a bet on a baseball team (he also bought a baseball glove from the catalog) Potter is sure will lose. Potter bets Klinger $20 that his team (The Dodgers) wont be winning by 4th of July (the team in 1st place by July 4th always wins the pennant). Klinger wins the bet (Dodgers are up by 8.5 games) and he bets the Dodgers against the whole league for 2:1 odds. BJ (bets $10) and Hawkeye want in on the action. Potter wants to up the ante (bets $50) and Winchester covers Klinger's bet (saying that his forecasts have been very accurate so far). A few weeks later Dodgers are up even more (they are up by 13.5 games) and Winchester offers 6:1 odds to Potter on the same bet. Potter bets a $100. Klinger begs Winchester not to get piggish. The dodgers start losing (its a month to go and they are now up by 8 games. with 2 weeks to go, Dodgers are down to a 4 games lead). It comes down to the last game and the dodgers are beaten in a nail biting finish. Winchester faints.
BJ and Hawkeye are enjoying songs on their new radio. They also order a fake fireplace, with electric fire logs that give the look of a fireplace, without the heat and the smoke. Hawkeye and B.J. build a kidney machine. the 4077 has to send patients with renal failure by chopper to Seoul as they don't have an artificial kidney machine, and the odds of surviving the trip are very low (1 in 20). There is a grand total of 1 machine in the whole of Asia, so there is no chance of the 4077th getting one. The doctors build a machine out of a bathtub (ordered from the sears catalog), parts that Houlihan got them from Tokyo and some fine hot dog casings ordered from a Toledo deli.
Father Mulcahy plants a garden ordering stuff from the catalog (corn, carnations and sunflower). Mulcahy and Klinger install a scarecrow to keep away birds from the growing corn. Klinger wins the bet just as Mulcahy's corns are ready for consumption on the 4th of July. Mulcahy expected corn on the cob, but Igor creams it, ruining the day for everyone. By the time New Year's Eve rolls around again, they all hope 1952 will be "a damn sight better" and that they will be returning home.
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