By Blaidd Drwg
Jim Caple, who is always good for a laugh or two when he writes, wrote an espn.com piece titled “Page 2’s Top 10 fictional home runs“. It is surprising how few “memorable” home runs have occurred in the movies, considering the love of the dramatic ending in Hollywood (how much more dramatic can a walk off HR in the bottom of the 9th to win a game get). My favorites:
8. Thanks to his secret weapon, Wunderbat, Homer Simpson homers throughout the season to send his team to the nuclear plant softball championships (“The Simpson’s,” Homer at the Bat). Unfortunately Homer gets benched when Mr. Burns hires big league ringers for the big game.
HOMER: You’re Darryl Strawberry!
STRAWBERRY: Yes.
HOMER: You play right field.
STRAWBERRY: Yes.
HOMER: I play right field, too.
STRAWBERRY: So?
HOMER: Well, are you better than me?
STRAWBERRY: Well, I’ve never met you, but … yes.
The “Homer At Bat” episode was a vastly underrated early Simpsons episode, featuring a lineup of baseball all-stars (remember when Steve Sax and Mike Scioscia were all-stars). It also gave us this: Talkin’ Baseball (Simpsons).
My other favorite? This one:
9. The Jeffrey Maier home run (1996 ALCS) off the bat of Derek Jeter. C’mon, you know it wasn’t a real home run.
FlatbreadGarden 