Homer Simpson Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame

Building a list of the greatest episodes of The Simpsons is something so difficult and wrenching that it shouldn't be attempted, but no matter who you are, you can find room in your pantheon of classics for Homer at the Bat. That instalment of the long-running show celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in May this year.

The documentary, titled Springfield of Dreams: The Legend of Homer Simpson, was aired on 22nd October on Fox. Described as a ‘satire of Ken Burns’ epic documentary Baseball, the show featured interviews of eight of the Major League Baseball players who appeared in the original episode.

The "Homer at the Bat" episode first aired on February 20th, 1992. It follows the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant softball team, comprised of Homer Simpson and MLB Hall of Famers Wade Boggs, Ken Griffey Jr. and Ozzie Smith, as well as Roger Clemens, Steve Sax, and Don Mattingly. Mr. Burns (owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant) hires each of them after making a $1 million bet with Aristotle Amadopolis, the owner of the Shelbyville Nuclear Power Plant, that his team will win it all. It ranked at Number 15 in Rolling Stone's ranking of 150 The Simpsons episodes.

The episode's title is a reference to Ernest Thayer's 1888 baseball poem "Casey at the Bat." The episode makes several allusions to the film The Natural. Homer's secret weapon, his self-created "Wonderbat", is akin to Roy Hobbs's "Wonderboy", and both bats are eventually destroyed. The scene featuring the explosion of stadium lights as Homer circles the basepaths is also taken directly from the film. The end song "Talkin' Softball" is a parody of "Talkin' Baseball" by Terry Cashman. Jeff Martin wrote the new version of the song, but Cashman was brought in to sing it.

The scenes of the Power Plant team traveling from city to city by train, overlaid with the pennant of the city they are going to, is a reference to the 1942 film The Pride of the Yankees. Carl batting with a piano leg is a reference to Norm Cash of the Detroit Tigers, who once tried to bat with a table leg in a game where Nolan Ryan was extremely overpowering and threw a no-hitter.

Produced by Fox Sports Originals and Major League Baseball, the documentary is directed by Morgan Spurlock, who also helmed 2010’s The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special — In 3-D! On Ice!

Earlier this year, fans on Twitter voted for the best episode of The Simpsons of all-time. The accolade came down to two episodes – ‘Marge v The Monorail’ and ‘Last Exit to Springfield’ – with the former eventually coming out on top.