History Main / BaseballEpisode

So you're watching your favorite show. It might be romance, or supernatural, or anything at all. The characters are not shown to participate in sports, and it doesn't really matter in context. Then, the next episode comes up and... wait a minute, why are they playing UsefulNotes/{{baseball}}?

...at least coming from the United States, Japan, and parts of Latin America. Most other countries don't even care about this "baseball" thing. (The standard British or Australian equivalent would be a UsefulNotes/{{cricket}} or UsefulNotes/{{rugby|union}} episode, while in Canada you might get a [[UsefulNotes/IceHockey hockey]] episode. Or maybe the characters will play UsefulNotes/{{American football}}, [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball soccer]], or UsefulNotes/{{basketball}} instead.)

Also can apply to softball, an equivalent sport played with a larger ball, a smaller playfield.

So you're watching your favorite show. It might be romance, or supernatural, or anything at all. The characters are not shown to participate in sports, and it doesn't really matter in context. Then, the next episode comes up and... wait a minute, why are they playing baseball?

Enter the Baseball Episode, in which for ''some'' reason, the heroes participate in a baseball game. It might be in order to save the world, save the town or just waste time. Whatever the reason, it's common, and shows up in all kinds of works...

...at least coming from the United States, Japan, and parts of Latin America. Most other countries don't even care about this "baseball" thing. Other sports occasionally used include types of football such as soccer or American football, while the standard British or Australian equivalent would be a UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}} or [[UsefulNotes/RugbyUnion rugby]] episode.

...at least coming from the United States, Japan, and certain parts of the Caribbean. Most other countries don't even care about this "baseball" thing. Other sports occasionally used include types of football such as soccer or American football, while the standard British or Australian equivalent would be a UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}} or [[UsefulNotes/RugbyUnion rugby]] episode.

* The Young All-Stars played against the ''ComicBook/AllStarSquadron'' for charity.
* Way back when Marvel's [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] were only split up between East Coast and West Coast, the two teams would meet up for an annual game of baseball. One of these games was interrupted by a cosmic being called the Grandmaster (who, as it happens, is obsessed with sports and games), but that's a long story.
* A [[UsefulNotes/GoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] issue of ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' had the hero and Bucky take to the field as players in order to catch a murderer who was killing pitchers in order to rig games.
* The ''ComicBook/CaptainBritainAndMI13'' annual had a story with the cast playing UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}}.
* A 1977 [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] [[http://baseballcontinuum.com/2014/08/09/bizarre-baseball-culture-the-detroit-tigers-a-talking-tiger-and-the-power-of-shazam/ comic]] featured this. It starts with Mr. Tawny (the talking tiger) joining the Detroit Tigers, and ends with a game between the Tigers (including Mr. Tawny and Captain Marvel, temporarily on the team) playing against Mr. Mind and a team of aliens with enhanced abilities, for control of the world.
* And ''way way'' back in the earliest years of the ComicBook/FantasticFour, the issue after the storyline of the very first introduction of the Black Panther, it opens with them playing baseball. HilarityEnsues, due to the fact that the Thing is the pitcher.
* Bart Allen's adventures in ''ComicBook/{{Impulse}}'' are a mix of normal superheroic fare-- bank robberies, time travel, speeding cars, megalomania-- and him trying and failing to be a normal teenager, but generally more of the former. ''Impulse #20'' is just 22 pages of Bart playing baseball (and losing badly).

* Marvel's ''WesternAnimation/LaffALympics'' [[ComicBookAdaptation book]] had "Take Me Out to the Brawl Game," in which the Really Rottens used a remote-controlled baseball and kidnapped the Scoobies' star hitter, Captain Caveman.
* The first issue of ''ComicBook/NewMen'' opened with the title team relaxing with a game of basketball - the use of powers ''encouraged''.
* ''ComicBook/TheOutsiders'' #6 (1986) has a back-up story titled "The Outsiders at the Bat"; a comical adaptation of ''Casey at the Bat'' featuring the Outsiders playing baseball against Kobra and his henchmen.
* Nearly an entire issue of ''ComicBook/PowerPack'' took place in or around Shea Stadium, [[spoiler: dealing with a slightly-crazy former baseball player who was willing to blow up the stadium to prevent his seven-home-runs-in-seven-games record from being tied]].

* The Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}} had a baseball game against the Injustice Gang in ''Strange Sport Stories''. The writers even wrote and included a box score for the game.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' #77, an amnesiac Superman is living as a hobo and is recruited as a pitcher by a minor league team when he [[AccidentalAthlete returns a fly ball and nearly breaks the catcher's hand]]. ItMakesSenseInContext.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':

* The ''ComicBook/XMen'' have a long history of this (perhaps unsurprising given that the school is in New York). An X-Men baseball game will always start with the rule "no powers". And it will always be broken. They also played basketball once with similar results. And football (resulting in Xavier being tackled out of his wheelchair).

* For [[MediumBlending a given value of "live action"]], ''Film/SpaceJam'' is essentially a movie-length version of this for the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' franchise with basketball instead of baseball. Funnily enough, Michael Jordan is actually ''playing'' baseball in his first appearance on screen.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': “The Baseball Game” is a classic Single-A World Series BigGame story, with Bolt pressed into playing duty while serving as honorary team {{mascot}}. He scores the winning run as a pinch runner for an injured player, and later clinches victory when he pulls off a triple play manning second base despite lacking a glove and the ability to throw a baseball properly.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'', "[[Recap/TheMagicSchoolBusS1E10PlaysBall Plays Ball]]"