YMMV / The Simpsons S3 E17 "Homer at the Bat"

• Franchise Original Sin: This is the first episode to really use a lot of guest stars as a selling point, and in this case, they weren't even actors. Fans still consider it a great episode, though, thanks to all the Adam Westing and the fact that the main role of the guest stars in the episode is to suffer absurd fates rather than them being idolized.
• Genius Bonus: Quite a few for baseball fans. For instance, Darryl Strawberry being a kiss-ass is a joke based on the fact the real man had trouble listening to managers during his career and Wade Boggs hanging out in Moe's is a reference to the Urban Legends surrounding Boggs and the amount of beer he can drink.
• Growing the Beard: Though debated (some argue earlier, some argue later), this is one of the episodes that classic-era fans point to as the start of the "golden age". Earlier episodes were by no means bad, but at this point the show had not just found its footing, but was running circles around every other sitcom on TV (except perhaps Seinfeld). The golden run wouldn't stop until season 8 - 10 (or further, depending on who you ask).
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Don Mattingly, who was forced to shave off his "sideburns" by Mr. Burns during the episode, would later have an actual "haircut controversy", while he was playing for the New York Yankees. The coaching staff forced him to cut his long hair and was briefly dropped from the team line-up for not doing so. Many people believed the joke in the episode to be a reference to the incident, but "Homer at the Bat" was recorded a year before it happened.
  • Since retiring as a player, Mike Scioscia has had a succcessful manager career. He's not only the Anaheim Angels' all-time leader in manager wins, but he also ended their 16-year playoff drought and them to the 2002 World Series championship. Scioscia even reappeared on the show in 2010, where he explains to Marge and Bart that the radiation gave him "superhuman manager powers."
• Memetic Mutation: "LOOOORD PALMERSTON!!!" "PITT THE ELDER!!!"
• One-Scene Wonder: The ballpark peanut salesman who chucks peanut bags indiscriminately.
• Parody Displacement: "Talkin' Softball" by singer-songwriter Terry Cashman, which closes out the episode, is a plot-specific rewrite of his "Talkin' Baseball" songs from The '80s.^Explanation In 1981 Cashman released "Willie, Mickey & The Duke (Talkin' Baseball)", a nostalgic List Song celebration of baseball in The '50s. It was a minor pop hit, but became a huge cult favorite among baseball fans, and Cashman ultimately recorded rewritten versions about every Major League team. Cashman has noted that today more people are familiar with "Talkin' Softball" than any of the originals.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The last active player depicted in the episode was Ken Griffey Jr., who retired in 2010. This episode can be seen as basically a snapshot of late-80s-early-90s Major League Baseball.

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