Recap / Cheers S 9 E 23

Episode: Season 9, Episode 23
Title: Pitch It Again, Sam
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Dan O Shannon and Tom Anderson
Air Date: March 28, 1991
Previous: Carla Loves Clavin
Next: Rat Girl
Guest Starring: Michael Fairman

"Pitch It Again, Sam" is the 23rd episode of the ninth season of Cheers.

Sam gets a call from an old baseball nemesis, Dutch"Windmill"Kincaid. It seems that Kincaid, a former New York Yankee who apparently had a much more impressive baseball career than Sam Malone did, is having a day in his honor at Yankee Stadium. He's going to take one last at-bat for the hometown fans, so he needs someone to pitch to him, and he'd like Sam Malone to do it.

Sam is highly reluctant to do it, partly because he just doesn't like Kincaid and doesn't want to be a part of a Dutch Kinkaid tribute, and partly because Kincaid hit a lot of home runs off of him back in the day. But finally Kincaid succeeds in goading Sam to participate, and Sam goes off to New York, for one last chance to strike Dutch Kincaid out.

In the B-plot, a Dalmatian puppy follows Cliff into the bar, and Cheers adopts it as a mascot.

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Tropes:

• Abusive Parents:
  • According to Frasier, Hester Crane actually instilled a fear of dogs in him when he was a kid.
  • Rebecca relates a story from her childhood when her beloved cat "Princess", who no-one else in the house liked, supposedly escaped out of Rebecca's bedroom window. Which was painted shut. It's only when Frasier clues her in that Rebecca realises Mr. and Mrs. Howe actually got rid of Princess.
• Animal Chick Magnet: It's Cliff's idea for the bar to adopt the dog, but Sam refuses. Sam in fact is headed out of the door with the puppy when two hot ladies who have just entered the bar coo over the dog. Sam instantly changes his mind and keeps the dog.
• Blatant Lies: Norm and Cliff get into the dugout by claiming they're Sam's trainers, as they're stuffing their faces.
• Cassandra Truth: None of the others believe Sam when he claims he threw his last pitch.
• Comically Missing the Point: Dutch comes barreling into the bar and says "I'm looking for a yellow-bellied, runny-nosed has-been." Woody says "Hm, can't make one of those. I'm out of cassis."
• Continuity Nod: As Sam gets ready to take the mound at Yankee Stadium, he and Carla take a moment to remember Coach and think about how it's too bad Coach couldn't be there. Carla even tries doing an impersonation of him to help.
• Distracted by the Sexy: In the Training Montage, Sam keeps getting distracted from his training by all the babes that keep walking into the bar. Until the end of the montage, when it's Carla that gets distracted by a handsome dude, causing Sam to spill down the steps during sit-ups.
• Down to the Last Play: Kincaid claims that he waited until Sam Malone's third pitch to swing "for drama".
• Firehouse Dalmatian: The Dalmatian puppy adopted by Woody turns out to belong to a group of firemen.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: Sam refuses to rise to Dutch's taunts, saying "It's going to take a lot more than a stupid insult to get me to go all the way to New York." Dutch then strolls back out of the restroom and says "See you later, Underpants." And with that, an enraged Sam is off to Yankee Stadium.
• Jerkass: Dutch Kincaid comes into Sam's bar and endlessly insults him so he'll give Dutch one last shot at glory.
• Made Myself Sad: When Sam observes the only thing missing from this moment is Coach, Carla does an impression of the man as a jovial type of Rousing Speech. She breaks down crying twice because she misses Coach so much.
• Manchild: Woody still doesn't know Santa Claus isn't real.
• Manipulative Bastard: Kincaid's agent has his son pretend to be Kincaid's grandkid to guilt people into doing stuff, like throwing a Dutch Kincaid day.
• Oh, Crap!: Frasier's expression when he realizes Rebecca hadn't figured what'd become of Princess.
• One of the Guys: Frasier looks down on baseball. But he does approve of boxing - two guys whaling the heck out of one another, which he dubs "a man's sport". Norm notes he's finally coming around.
• Precious Puppy: That sure is a cute Dalmatian puppy. In the end, Woody manages to guilt the firefighters into letting him keep the dog.
• Raw Eggs Make You Stronger: Sam breaks an egg into a glass to drink. Some hot ladies notice, so Sam cracks several more eggs into the glass. He then drinks the glass, and immediately regrets it.
• Red Baron: Kincaid's nickname is the "Windmill" and would flail his arms around like a windmill to taunt his opponents.
• Series Continuity Error: Frasier says he's uncomfortable around animals and has never had a pet dog in his life. But an entire episode, "Diane's Allergy", revolved around Diane thinking she was allergic to Frasier's pet dog, along with cooing over Satan the attack dog in "Adventures in Housesitting".
• Training Montage: A montage has Sam training and getting into shape in the bar, only to keep getting distracted by women.
• With Friends Like These...: The gang imitate Dutch's victory dance, which he always used to taunt Sam in the day. Then, when Sam fouls in his last shot at glory, Carla, Norm and Cliff