Just by looking at Louie, you just know he was not exactly the most athletic kid in school. His sluggish movements and his lazy attitude made him a real thorn in grumpy Coach Rockwell's side. At the end of every gym class, Louie would dread having to go to the next and tried to sleep it off. Usually that always worked, until one day at work, Andy's friends tell him that that it's un-American for his boy to not be playing baseball. That is seriously the catalyst for why Louie would be joining the baseball game. No cliched "my boy's made the team and he's better than your boy" or "I was the best player in school when I was your age, and you're gonna follow in my footsteps whether you like it or not." I'm glad they decided to be original, and Andy's not going to make Louie compete with another boy just to make himself look good to his friends. No, he's going to make Louie play the game for the SOLE purpose of looking good to his friends. Anyway, he brags to them about Louie "The Babe" Anderson, and how he's as American as French fries, and that he's so excited about baseball season, he can't sleep. Oh, Andy, you just ate over half a foot-long liar sandwich, and you probably bit off more than you can chew. As for "The Babe", he tries to get Ora to sign a bogus note that would excuse him from gym class, but she declines. As for Andy, he tries to get Louie to join the baseball team, but he stubbornly refuses. However, the old "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" ploy got him interested. So, in exchange for Andy signing Louie's excuse note citing an ingrown toenail as the reason, he would pick up a bat and ball. Well, maybe playing baseball won't be so bad. All Louie's friends will be there... including Coach Rockwell. D'oh!
Right away, Coach starts picking on Louie, though to be fair, he's being lazy and a smart-ass, so maybe his being ordered to take a lap is somewhat justified? Yeah, something tells me Coach doesn't believe that ingrown toenail hooey, otherwise he wouldn't make Louie run so much. Needless to say, young Mr. Anderson is pretty lousy at playing America's favorite pastime. Wonder how he's going to do at the big game on Saturday? At least he has his family to cheer him on, and Ora even made some embarrassing T-shirts for his team, the Chipmunks. Personally, I think Coach Rockwell is not much help to his team, as when he isn't needlessly screaming at them, he's got a fetish for making them run laps. Of course, matters were not helped by Andy shouting from the stands. To shut him up, Coach sends Louie up to bat, and at his first pitch, he strikes... as in he accidentally strikes Coach Rockwell in the head with the ball. With him out of commission, the Chipmunks need a new coach, and guess who steps up to the plate? Corporal Anderson, of course, and immediately he changes the team's name to the Mortar Blasts and exchanges their baseball uniforms for military issue, making his players his own little army. Does this make them better players? Take a wild guess. Well, since Andy dropped the ball, maybe Ora can pick it up. And that's just what she does, showing Louie a few tricks she picked up as a little girl playing ball with her brothers. Her tips turn the Mortar Blasts from misfires into direct hits. They start actually winning games for a change, but naturally, Andy tries to take credit for their progress. But to be fair, he was probably unaware of Ora's coaching them on the side. Eh, even if he were, he'd still try to take credit. The team does so well, they make it into the playoffs, with just one minor caviat: the game was at night, under very bright lights, so they couldn't see Ora giving them plays from the stands. Bottom of the ninth, 1 out needed to win, and Louie was on the plate pitching to, who else, but Glen Glenn. Fortunately, his first two pitches were fouls. Coach Andy tells Louie to walk him, but from the stands, Ora shouts "use the outside slider, Louie!" So he does, and Glen misses the ball, sending his bat across the field. They won! The team dog-piles Louie, then they carry Ora on their shoulders... those kids must be REALLY strong... all while Andy sulks about the victory not being his. But eventually, he's humbled enough to give credit where it was due. After that, Louie goes back to gym class and even wants to try out for football, but that's another story... that never happens, but he does play basketball in Season 3.
It was a clever idea for Andy to try and run a baseball team as if it were an army, though football is the sport that's more about strategies and battle plans. I watched George Carlin do a stand-up routine on the differences between football and baseball, and the former is definitely the more aggressive and war-like of the two. That's Tommy La Sorda doing the voice of Coach Rockwell who, as I say, loves making people take laps. I think this episode does a good job conveying messages about sportsmanship, working together as a team, and that said team functions on the sum of its parts, and not just on who's leading it. Even non-baseball fans would like this one, and as stated above, it was a refreshing way of getting Louie to join the baseball team by simply saying his not playing the sport was un-American. All they needed to do was say that, and there he goes. If this series were set in Canada, he'd be made to play hockey for those reasons. So I definitely recommend this baseball themed episode of Life With Louie. Behind Every Good Coach... is someone who understands the game better than he does.
Right away, Coach starts picking on Louie, though to be fair, he's being lazy and a smart-ass, so maybe his being ordered to take a lap is somewhat justified? Yeah, something tells me Coach doesn't believe that ingrown toenail hooey, otherwise he wouldn't make Louie run so much. Needless to say, young Mr. Anderson is pretty lousy at playing America's favorite pastime. Wonder how he's going to do at the big game on Saturday? At least he has his family to cheer him on, and Ora even made some embarrassing T-shirts for his team, the Chipmunks. Personally, I think Coach Rockwell is not much help to his team, as when he isn't needlessly screaming at them, he's got a fetish for making them run laps. Of course, matters were not helped by Andy shouting from the stands. To shut him up, Coach sends Louie up to bat, and at his first pitch, he strikes... as in he accidentally strikes Coach Rockwell in the head with the ball. With him out of commission, the Chipmunks need a new coach, and guess who steps up to the plate? Corporal Anderson, of course, and immediately he changes the team's name to the Mortar Blasts and exchanges their baseball uniforms for military issue, making his players his own little army. Does this make them better players? Take a wild guess. Well, since Andy dropped the ball, maybe Ora can pick it up. And that's just what she does, showing Louie a few tricks she picked up as a little girl playing ball with her brothers. Her tips turn the Mortar Blasts from misfires into direct hits. They start actually winning games for a change, but naturally, Andy tries to take credit for their progress. But to be fair, he was probably unaware of Ora's coaching them on the side. Eh, even if he were, he'd still try to take credit. The team does so well, they make it into the playoffs, with just one minor caviat: the game was at night, under very bright lights, so they couldn't see Ora giving them plays from the stands. Bottom of the ninth, 1 out needed to win, and Louie was on the plate pitching to, who else, but Glen Glenn. Fortunately, his first two pitches were fouls. Coach Andy tells Louie to walk him, but from the stands, Ora shouts "use the outside slider, Louie!" So he does, and Glen misses the ball, sending his bat across the field. They won! The team dog-piles Louie, then they carry Ora on their shoulders... those kids must be REALLY strong... all while Andy sulks about the victory not being his. But eventually, he's humbled enough to give credit where it was due. After that, Louie goes back to gym class and even wants to try out for football, but that's another story... that never happens, but he does play basketball in Season 3.
It was a clever idea for Andy to try and run a baseball team as if it were an army, though football is the sport that's more about strategies and battle plans. I watched George Carlin do a stand-up routine on the differences between football and baseball, and the former is definitely the more aggressive and war-like of the two. That's Tommy La Sorda doing the voice of Coach Rockwell who, as I say, loves making people take laps. I think this episode does a good job conveying messages about sportsmanship, working together as a team, and that said team functions on the sum of its parts, and not just on who's leading it. Even non-baseball fans would like this one, and as stated above, it was a refreshing way of getting Louie to join the baseball team by simply saying his not playing the sport was un-American. All they needed to do was say that, and there he goes. If this series were set in Canada, he'd be made to play hockey for those reasons. So I definitely recommend this baseball themed episode of Life With Louie. Behind Every Good Coach... is someone who understands the game better than he does.