The Simpsons (TV Series) Homer at the Bat (1992) User Reviews

best of series three?

[cameron-burn · 9/10 · 4 August 2007]

I just watched Homer at the bat again and I was thinking if this the best episode of series three. IT's great. It mixes parody's of all sorts of films which is just like the Simpson's and every line either makes you laugh or cry. The best thing about this episode though would probably have to be Mr Burn's since every line he says makes you burst out with laughter. His sarcastic tone and evil ways really plots this episode into one of the greats of season3 and also keeps you watching it.

Best episode of season three?

No. I think Flaming Moe's and Bart the murderer were still better but in a series with such high standards it's done brilliantly to get into my top 3 best of season3.

We've seen it, Dad

[snoozejonc · 10/10 · 22 July 2022]

The nuclear power plant softball team goes on an unusual winning streak.

This is one of my favourite episodes from childhood through to adulthood.

I live in a country where baseball is very occasionally played in the school yard and known as 'rounders', so there is no cultural affinity to the sport whatsoever. However, I thoroughly enjoy it as a theme in this story and the many great comedy moments.

My favourites include Homer's method of keeping safe during a thunderstorm, all the characterisations of the real life players, Bart and Millhouse picking teams, Mr Burns' management style, everything that happens to each ringer before the final game, Bart, Lisa and Marge's scenes in the crowd, and the fantastic song at the end.

Absolute classic.

May be the best episode of the entire series

[CubsandCulture · 10/10 · 25 August 2021]

I am reworking my way through the series on Disney+ to review it. I was extremely pleased to see this episode holds up extremely well after all these years. It has a great many injoke for baseball nerds. It has a relatable storyline for Homer. It has Burns at his tycoon best. And above all it is a very, very, very funny episode.

Simpsons Softball

[kthnx87 · 1 March 2006]

Mr. Burns creates a company softball team within his Powerplant. Homer, (along with his work colleagues and his home-made 'wonderbat') are soon pitting their skills against regional teams within Springfield. Soon, Mr. Burns makes a wager with a friend that his Powerplant team can't beat his, so Burns enlists a team of professional Baseball players to aid him towards winning the game and with it a large sum of money. A day or so before the big game all of his players fall prey to a number of different misfortunes, except of course for Daryl Strawberry, who is playing the game in Homer's position.

watch episode for more.

It's a Classic

Home Run

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 24 February 2016]

Warning do not read unless seen episode.

This is another one of the sports episodes of "The Simpsons" and I feel it's one of their best.

Not a whole lot to say, this whole episode is sort of a parody on sports films with all the clichés and archetypes. I really love that the real baseball stars all guest stared and all of them played contrary to charatures to themselves. Homer is the underdog protagonist, you actually feel bad for him as he actually has some real skill and wants to play, but gets sidelined by the star players which isn't fair.

Mr. Burns scheme in a way is a bit of a satire on the sports world how it's becoming more of a business than a game, and how they've became more concerned with fame and money than in the quality of the game.

The best part no doubt is when we see the misfortunes that befall each of the star players, I can't help but feel it's possibly God or fate smiting Mr. Burns for his lack of respect for the game. Each of the misfortunes are so random, from seeing Ken Griffy. Jr become addicted to the experimental Tonic Burns gave him which of course results in one huge side effect. The political argument both Barney and Boggs get into, I was surprised Barney actually knows something about UK politics, it of course gets heated and well guess who wins the argument. Though my favorite one was seeing Ozzy Davis go into some sort of amusement, where he falls down into some sort of Twilight Zone vortex.

It of course comes down to the final game and my favorite moment was when Burns gives an inspiring speech which is the common cliché in sports films, I even love how self aware that joke is as Burns says think of all those other inspiring speech from films you've seen. The ending is pretty predictable like most sports films are but we weren't in this episode for the win we were in it for the game.

Rating: 4 stars

Such a mighty wallop.

[bombersflyup · 9/10 · 14 December 2018]

Homer at the Bat is about Homer and his co workers making it to the final for the plant's softball team, only to be replaced by professionals in order for Mr. Burns to win a bet.

One of the most memorable episodes of the series. The premise's terrific and the production value's first-rate. With the professionals doing their own parts and a catchy song to boot. If only a little bit more effort and talent had been put towards the actual plot, once the ringers were brought in.

Well, Mr Burns had done it. The power plant had won it. With Roger Clemens clucking all the while. Mike Scioscia's tragic illness made us smile. While Wade Boggs lay unconscious on the bar-room tile. We're talkin' softball. From Maine to San Diego.

Hilarious, fast-paced Baseball Episode

[nintendom64 · 9/10 · 19 January 2020]

Similarly, like the last baseball-themed episode "Dancin Homer", this is a Homer-centric sports episode. While I undoubtedly love that episode, I am currently halfway through season 3 on a rewatch, and can say this is the funniest episode I've seen yet, and one of my personal favorites. All of the celebrity cameos are riotously funny, verbally and visually. Mr Burns' age is a frequent gag as well, acting as the team's over-confident manager with old-timey remedies and concepts. The plotline about Homer's bat is sweet, allowing the children to view him in an uplifting lens and showcasing his rather natural knack for creativity, even in spite of his spice rack. Homer pulls through in the end, which we all see coming, of course, but in typical Simpson's fashion, it's not in the way you anticipate. All in all, I love "Homer at Bat". I'm still laughing to myself as I'm writing this review! As someone who scantly watches baseball, check this one out for sure.

A Baseball Satire!

[g-bodyl · 9/10 · 16 August 2014]

This is the seventeenth episode of the third season of the Simpsons and this is one of my favorite ones. As a huge baseball fan, this was an episode I truly fell in love with and was able to understand the satirical tones. Plus, I loved the guest stars voiced by actual baseball players like Ken Griffey Jr, Roger Clemens, Darryl Strawberry, and Jose Canseco. But of course, Homer has a huge role in this story.

In this episode, "Homer at the Bat," Homer and his co-workers join the nuclear plant's softball team and they actually do pretty well as they make it to the final. When Mr. Burns gets the wind of that, he decides to manage the team and finds quality MLB players to lead his team.

Overall, a fantastic baseball-influenced episode. I loved the cultural reference to the Natural as this episode essentially turned Homer into Roy Hobbs.....or does it? I rate this episode 9/10.

Homer at the Bat

[MrFilmAndTelevisionShow · 8/10 · 29 January 2022]

I love the jokes and then sequence of how the different professional baseball players can't end up playing, I thought it was very funny indeed, I'm surprised they went with the happy ending given they could so easily have had Homer get caught out or whatever, but all is well that ends well. A great episode featuring the returning Greek Shelbyvillian Nuclear Plant owner.

Parody of The Natural Naturally

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 18 April 2022]

Homer has a secret weapon, a bat born of a thunderstorm. He leads his team to a championship game. But Burns can't leave well enough alone and sends Smithers out to come up with nine major league ringers. But his interference hamstrings them. Very funny episode.

Timeless

[safenoe · 10/10 · 8 December 2022]

One of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons for sure. Homer at the Bat has an enormous number of IMDb user reviews compared to other episodes (in fact I saw one episode that got its first user review in 2022 believe it or not). Homer at the Bat has a cornucopia of baseball megastars, and The Simpsons plays it to optimal effect for sure without detracting from the storyline.

The Natural, yes the Robert Redford one, is a prominent motif in Homer at the Bat, and so many laughs and pathos in this episode. I especially liked the final shot, with Mr Burns posing with the softball team. This episode is one for the ages.

"Homer at the Bat" is a failure of an episode... you may not enjoy this episode if you're not a sports fan

[Zabon · 1/10 · 8 June 2011]

Overview: Mr. Burns and Smithers compile a softball team to represent the nuclear power plant. Homer and his colleagues play ball and test their skills against these other teams also from in Springfield... until Burns is forced to recruit Pro Baseball players to help aid in a victory against a rival team. Eventually, the pro ball players each meet an unfortunate accident or coincidentally fall under some idiotic situation where they are forced to miss the big game. The Springfield team ends up winning by dumb luck... specifically Homer's dumb luck of getting hit by the ball near the final stretch. That's about it...

Story: Well... it's just about a baseball team being recruited to play against another... and the one we expect to win... ends up winning... and that's about it... pretty much...

Supporting cast: I myself don't care about baseball... I absolutely hate the sport and find it extremely boring. Now... these characters are just plain baseball players... they consist of Steve Sax, Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Ken Griffey Jr., Ozzie Smith, José Canseco, Don Mattingly, Mike Scioscia, and Darryl Strawberry. Most of them aren't anything special as characters overall... they're just used as extremely minor plot devices. Darryl Strawberry is the only one that gets to participate in the game near the end... and his character was rather annoying to me... he acted like an extremely pompous jerk to Homer for some reason which I didn't quite pick up on... and he was luckily withdrawn from the game during the final inning. I hated the overall supporting cast...

The Sport: My hatred of this episode... I think it has something to do with the fact that I don't care about baseball much... I find it boring and annoying... and wouldn't want to sit in a real baseball game ever again... much less see another episode revolving around the competitive nature of this type of sport... it's just lame and boring. And since the episode revolves around baseball... and I'm not a baseball fanatic... the episode just doesn't appeal to me.

Funny scenes: There are some random funny elements tossed in here and there... primarily having to do with what happens to the baseball players prior to the beginning of the game. But these are very short-lived... I wouldn't base the entire episode's rating just on those very short scenes. For example... one of the baseball players gets beat by Barney at a bar... another gets arrested by Wiggum's crew... another drinks too much of a certain serum making him succumb to some form of gigantic head enlargement... where his head gets enormous... while another is stuck helping someone whose house is on fire. One of the other players is tricked into a fake ride where he keeps falling down a pit... and Burns kicks another of the baseball players off his team for not shaving the way he had asked... it was overall nothing special when it comes to the humor aspect... but it wasn't horrible. The rest of the episode still sucked real bad...

Meaning: There's not much moral here at all people. A baseball team goes against another. So if you don't find sports to have meaning... then I don't see how you'd possibly find this episode meaningful. There aren't any big twists and turns... Homer wins based on dumb luck... Someone may argue that there's a team effort involved and it's good to stick together, etc... but this episode doesn't even show this... not in the least bit... all it portrays is a useless waste of air time for baseball fanatics.

Overview: Overall, this episode was horrible. I hated the plot of getting together a baseball team to beat another... I hated the very fact that the episode was about baseball... and I hated that nothing much actually happened in terms of storyline or character development. And since when are baseball players looked upon so highly...? It's just a sport... the players aren't anything special. The best part about the episode is probably a scene when Homer is sitting out on the benches as a replacement player and is seen rubbing his private area while he is being recorded on camera. That's about it. The rest of the episode is utter gibberish and useless tripe. If it weren't for the fact that I have a strong patience for viewing something prior to rating it... I would have rated this poorly right off the bat, just 'cause it's only about a baseball game. Baseball sucks... sports suck... and this episode sucks. So if someone isn't a hardcore baseball fan... then they most likely won't like this episode either... as it's primarily just about the intrigues and fame attached to baseball.

The Pride of the Simpsons

[mmallon4 · 13 December 2014]

After recently re-watching the first nine seasons or what fans now refer to as the golden age I have come to the decision that Homer at the Bat is my favourite episode of The Simpsons.

I should point out that I'm not a sports fan (far from it as a matter of fact) and due to cultural reasons I do not know who any of these baseball stars are as the sport is not popular in the UK. However, this made me realise just what made the guest appearances during The Simpsons glory days so great. Even if you're not familiar with a celebrity you can still enjoy their appearance on the show as they manage to give them their own unique comic, down to Earth personalities. Here there are no fewer nine guest stars and they're all equally memorable and funny. However what also astounds me is how each of these guest stars has their own story arc and all this within the confines of 22 minutes. There is even an early exposure to Barney Gumble being a secret intellectual; leave it to The Simpsons to get the viewer interested in who was England's greatest prime minister. There is so much going on in this episode yet the show's creators successfully get it all in without any of it feeling forced. There's enough material here to make several episodes.

Homer at the Bat is one of the more surreal episodes of The Simpsons' glory days and they even manage to summarise this during the end credits in one catchy song (a parody of Talkin' Baseball by Terry Cashman). Like many Simpsons' parodies it has become more famous than its source and like the best Simpsons' songs, a whole generation can recite it off by heart.