Ah, baseball. America’s pastime, where a ticket gives the holder the right to make a complete ass of himself in a public venue.
Well, maybe not so much unless your name is Homer Simpson.
How many jobs will Homer get during the course of the series? I mean, here we are only a little way into season two, and the guy’s already getting a new gig as a baseball mascot.
“Some Enchanted Evening” already told us Homer is a bit more graceful and light on his feet than anyone might have suggested. People were stopping to appreciate his dance moves with Marge there. Now we find he has the ability to make a whole stadium go nuts for the Springfield Isotopes, the local minor league baseball team.
What causes Homer to do this? Is it the popcorn bucket-sized beers which apparently cost a little over a dollar each? Is it the fact he and Mr. Burns are actually enjoying themselves at a company outing? Is it that Marge got solicited for sex from a washed up former star? Is it a contrivance of the plot? Even Homer doesn’t know as he recounts the story in Moe’s, so it’s probably the last one.
Look, this is The Simpsons. The show’s hyper reality is the only explanation for how a mascot becomes that big even if it is in a small town. The costume he designed himself doesn’t help. Or if does. I don’t know.
Homer’s success may have gotten him banned from all future Power Plant corporate outings, but that doesn’t mean he can’t get called up to the majors, recall a famous scene from Pride of the Yankees before he takes a header into the dugout, and then relocate the family to Capital City. Capital City has a lot of things you don’t see everyday in Springfield, like street crime and Tony Bennett.
Homer’s being brought in as a possible substitute for the Capital City Goofball, one of those odd characters that pop up a good deal in the background of various episodes but will only speak here in the voice of sitcom veteran Tom Poston. Of course, what works in the sticks of Springfield doesn’t mean jack to the jaded, urban types of Capital City, so Homer’s mascot career is short-lived, as is his embarrassment since the guys at Moe’s actually seem to respect Homer more when they learned what happened.
I don’t see where Homer went wrong. I mean, he knew all about Henry Mancini, the mascot’s best friend.
Gabbing Geek 