“Take Me Out to the Holosuite”
Written by Ronald D. Moore
Directed by Chip Chalmers
Season 7, Episode 4
Production episode 40510-554
Original air date: October 21, 1998
Stardate: unknown
Station log: The T’Kumbra (a ship with an entirely Vulcan complement) has docked at DS9 and Captain Solok reports to Sisko with the repair schedule for his ship. As they talk, it’s obvious that there’s some serious history between these two—Solok has no use for humans, though it’s obvious he’s focused his disdain on Sisko, and Sisko has no patience for Solok’s attitude—and then Solok reveals that his crew uses a holodeck program in which they play baseball—their team is called the Logicians. Since the T’Kumbra’s holodecks are down, they must use Quark’s holosuites. Solok challenges Sisko to a game in two weeks.
The crew starts to learn the rules, though Kira, Nog, and Worf have trouble with the infield fly rule (so does everyone else, so it’s okay). Dax quizzes Bashir and O’Brien on other rules, and Leeta and Rom ask to try out for the team—and Leeta manages to guilt Quark into trying out as well.
Sisko gives an inspiring speech to the Niners, and then practice starts. Sisko and Jake have played plenty of games together, and they’ve all seen games with Sisko on the holosuite. As practice goes on, it’s obvious that very few of them know what the heck they’re doing (though Nog and Worf and Bashir are doing okay). Several of the players get hurt—Worf and Quark are both injured by Rom’s clumsiness, O’Brien tears his rotator cuff (so he can’t play at all), and Dax and Kira both have bumps and bruises. Sisko also conscripts Odo to be the umpire, since the captain trusts the constable to be impartial.
Sisko is also more than a little obsessed. He won’t lose a baseball game to Solok.
With O’Brien on the shelf, Sisko pulls some strings to have the Xhosa’s next three cargo runs reassigned, which means Yates can be on the station to play third base.
Practice continues apace. The team is starting to come together, with one notable exception: Rom, who can’t field, throw, or hit, to the point where Sisko kicks Rom off the team. Solok is also scouting the practices.
Leeta, Nog, Quark, Dax, Kira, Bashir, and O’Brien are willing to quit the team on account of Rom being kicked off—the game is supposed to be fun, and Sisko’s taking it way too seriously—but Rom insists that they play. He doesn’t want to make the team that way, and the fact is, he sucks. He wants to watch Leeta and Nog play, and he wants the Niners to win.
Practice continues onward—including Odo working on his umpire moves—and the night before the game, Sisko finally explains to Yates what the big deal is: he and Solok were at the Academy together, and one night at the Launching Pad, Sisko was getting drunk with some other human cadets. Solok came in with some Vulcan cadets and said he was doing a study on primitive human bonding rituals. Sisko didn’t take kindly to that, or Solok’s attitude, so—being quite drunk—he challenged Solok to a wrestling match. He naturally had his ass handed to him, as he deserved, and if that had been it, everything would’ve been fine. But Solok continued to point Sisko out, both in person and in psychological papers he wrote, as the textbook case of human emotionalism and Vulcan superiority, using that wrestling match as the prime example.
Sisko makes Yates promise not to tell the Niners, a promise she breaks six-and-a-half seconds later by telling the rest of the team in the wardroom. They’re all on Sisko’s side, and they swear to win the game for the captain.
The game starts with the Federation National Anthem, and then Odo yells, “Play ball!” (After the anthem, Sisko asks Solok to remove the crowd, as his team has never played in front of people. Disdainfully, Solok agrees.) On the first pitch, Jake gives up a home run, and the Logicians are up 4-0 after the first inning, 7-0 after four. At one point, a Logician does a takeout slide on Kira during an attempted double play; she gets her revenge in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff double. Worf is later called out on strikes, stranding Kira, and both Worf and Sisko argue the call (for what it’s worth, Odo was right, it caught the corner). Unfortunately, Sisko touches Odo when he’s pointing at him, and the rules call for immediate ejection. Sisko is forced to watch the rest of the game from the stands. Solok makes sure to tip his hat at Sisko’s rampant emotionalism.
Sisko goes to the stands and sits near Rom. Bashir takes over at second, Leeta moves to left, and Quark is put in right off the bench. By the top of the ninth, it’s 10-0 Logicians. A base hit seems to score a run, but Odo says nothing. O’Brien realizes the runner didn’t touch home plate, so Nog goes after the player into the dugout. But then the player runs back to home. Luckily, Jake is covering home, and Nog throws the ball to him and he’s out.
Sisko is thrilled at the unpredictability, finally remembering how much fun the game is, and then he grabs Rom and puts a uniform on him, telling O’Brien to send him up to pinch hit for Jake after Nog hits a triple. Sisko even restores the crowd so Rom can have his at-bat in front of the full cheering audience. He swings and misses the first two pitches, and then O’Brien calls for a bunt. Rom does bunt, more or less accidentally, and Nog scores the team’s only run. The Niners’ celebrate their finally scoring a run, and carry Rom off the field in glorious celebration. Solok argues with Odo that this is improper, as the game isn’t over, and makes the mistake of putting a hand on Odo’s shoulder. With tremendous glee, Odo tosses him out of the game.
There’s a huge celebration in Quark’s afterward. Sisko says Jake pitched a helluva game—yes, he gave up ten runs, but they were Vulcans. Against humans, he probably would’ve kept them to two or three. Sisko also apologizes to Rom.
Solok doesn’t understand why they’re celebrating, as the bunt was an accident and they still lost—they’re manufacturing triumphs where none exist. The Niners then raise a toast to manufactured triumphs. The Niners make fun of Solok quite a bit, which Solok dismisses as typical human taunting, prompting Dax and Quark, on behalf of themselves, Leeta, Kira, Rom, Nog, and Worf, to remind Solok that they’re not all humans. Kira then tosses Sisko the game ball, which they’ve all autographed. Sisko turns to Solok and asks if he’d like to sign it. Solok makes a tch noise and leaves the bar.
The Sisko is of Bajor: The Siskos wear Major League Baseball caps for the practice sessions. Jake wears an Atlanta Braves cap (Cirroc Lofton’s uncle, Kenny Lofton, played for the Braves, among many other teams), while his father wears a San Francisco Giants cap, fitting both because it was Willie Mays’s team, and also the football team from San Francisco is the 49ers, often nicknamed the Niners.
Don’t ask my opinion next time: Kira plays shortstop, the hardest defensive position on the main field.
The slug in your belly: Emony was an Olympic gymnast, and Dax keeps expecting her body to do things that Emony could, but Ezri most assuredly can’t. In addition, Ezri finally learns something that Curzon and Jadzia both wondered about for years: why Sisko hated Solok so much.
There is no honor in being pummeled: While the rest of the team’s trash talk is the usual “hey-batter-batter-batter-swing-batter” variety, Worf’s is more Klingon: “Death to the opposition!” He also refers to tagging a runner out as “killing.”
Preservation of mass and energy is for wimps: Odo gets into his role of umpire with gusto, practicing his safe and out calls, and taking great pleasure in tossing both Sisko and Solok from the game. Also the rule he quotes to Sisko is accurate, down to the number.
Rules of Acquisition: Rom is terrible at baseball, and Quark isn’t that much better—he’s the reserve, and when he’s put in the game, it’s in right field, which in nonprofessional games is often where the worst player is placed (since the fewest balls get hit there).
Victory is life: The T’Kumbra has been in combat operations for six months, and their repair schedule is extensive.
What happens on the holosuite stays on the holosuite: Obviously, the baseball action all happens on one of Quark’s holosuites. The holosuite program puts them on a college baseball field complete with crowds, pennants, flags, and the Federation National Anthem.
No sex, please, we’re Starfleet: Kira is totally smitten by Odo practicing his safe and out calls. Meanwhile, Sisko brings flowers to Yates to butter her up for conscripting her as his third baseman (and while he waits for her to dock, he swings the flowers like a bat). One wonders if Sisko ever told Yates that he pulled a few strings to have the Xhosa’s cargo runs reassigned, especially since that’s how Yates makes her living…
Keep your ears open: “They just chewed it?”
“No, they infused the gum with flavor.”
“What flavor did you infuse it with?”
“Scotch.”
Bashir and O’Brien on the subject of chewing gum, and why oh why did Topps never include Scotch-flavored gum with packs of baseball cards?????
Welcome aboard: Gregory Wagrowski is magnificently snotty as Solok; he’ll return as Ceris in the Enterprise episode “Chosen Realm.” Plus we get regulars Aron Eisenberg as Nog, Max Grodénchik as Rom, Penny Johnson as Yates, and Chase Masterson as Leeta.
Trivial matters: The title of this episode is derived from the 1908 song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” which has been a staple of seventh-inning stretch sing-alongs for decades.
Solok and the T’Kumbra appear in the Gateways crossover, primarily in the TNG portions, the novel Doors Into Chaos and the followup “The Other Side” in What Lay Beyond, both by Robert Greenberger; and again in the post-finale DS9 novel Lesser Evil by Robert Simpson. In the latter, the T’Kumbra is sent to destroy the U.S.S. Gryphon, in the belief that it has been taken over by the parasites from TNG’s “Conspiracy.” Kira is able to convince Solok that she’s really Kira and not possessed by the parasites by sending him a message with the phrase “manufactured triumph.”
The baseball scenes were filmed at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
This episode’s primary inspiration was an episode of Fame written by DS9’s show-runner Ira Steven Behr in 1985 called “The Ol’ Ball Game.” Several beats from the Fame episode were used here, including the catcher running through the dugout trying to find the right runner to tag (which Behr has said was based on something that happened to him in Little League; in fact, according to MLB rules, Odo should have called the Logician out as soon as Nog entered the dugout). There was also more than a little bit of The Bad News Bears in this one…
Ironically, the member of the cast with the most previous experience playing baseball was Max Grodénchik, who played semi-pro ball in high school and considered going pro, but took up acting instead. He had Rom play left-handed (Grodénchik is right-handed) in order to make himself look less competent.
Joey Banks, the son of Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, served as the baseball coach, and he brought in professional ballplayers (including himself) to fill out the Logicians’ roster.
The episode’s initial airing was the same week as the 1998 World Series, in which the New York Yankees swept the San Diego Padres in four games.
This is the only time the Federation National Anthem is ever heard. It’s remarkably bland and uninteresting, which is fitting, somehow. (Hey, at least it’s not actively awful like “The Star-Spangled Banner.”)
O’Brien’s injury is very similar to the one he regularly gets while kayaking (first seen in TNG’s “Transfigurations,” most recently seen in “Inquisition”).
Solok congratulates Sisko on his receiving of the Christopher Pike Medal, which occurred in “Tears of the Prophets,” before quickly mentioning that he himself has been awarded the medal twice.
The full defensive lineup and roster for the Niners:
P—Jake Sisko, #78 (replaced by Rom, #13, as a pinch hitter)
C—Nog, #25
1B—Worf, #32
2B—Benjamin Sisko, #15 (ejected, replaced by Julian Bashir, #22)
SS—Kira Nerys, #9
3B—Kasidy Yates, #47
LF—Julian Bashir, #22 (replaced by Leeta, #55, when Bashir moved to 2B)
CF—Ezri Dax, #43
RF—Leeta, #55 (replaced by Quark, #7, when Leeta moved to LF)
Manager: Benjamin Sisko, #15
Bench coach: Miles O’Brien, #34
Not all the numbers have obvious significance, although Rom getting unlucky #13 is an obvious in-joke, as is Quark getting #7, which is a lucky number in gambling. Yates gets the inevitable #47, a number that recurs a lot in modern Trek, and Jake’s #78 might refer to the year of Cirroc Lofton’s birth (1978).
The Baseball Prospectus web site had an excellent article in 2011 by Larry Granillo that examined this episode from a baseball perspective.
Walk with the Prophets: “Now that is a Fancy Dan!” I first started watching baseball at the tender age of seven, watching Yankee games along with my parents. (My family are Yankee fans going back to my grandparents, including one grandfather who was at the first ever game at Yankee Stadium in April 1923.) I was vaguely fascinated by the game in general, but what I remember solidifying my interest was the crazed celebration that accompanied the Chris Chambliss walk-off home run that won the Yankees the 1976 American League Championship Series and sent the team to the World Series for the first time since 1964.
I became a fairly obsessed fan of baseball in general and the Yankees in particular after that. I went to my first game on my eighth birthday, 18 April 1977, with seats on the first-base side as the Yankees played the expansion Toronto Blue Jays (the Yanks lost 5-1). Over the years, I would continue to follow the sport with assiduity, even getting season tickets to Yankee Stadium a few times (once when I was a teenager, twice more when I was in my 30s). I’ve even done some professional baseball writing here and there.
So you can understand why I absolutely adore this episode.
Yes, it has its flaws. Yes, it’s a big ol’ cliché. Yes, the story beats are eminently predictable (though I like the fact that they not only don’t win but aren’t in the slightest danger of winning, as a hastily assembled baseball team would never stand a snowball’s chance in hell in these circumstances, and it’s to Ronald D. Moore’s credit that the Niners’ bravado about winning doesn’t last past the first pitch).
What makes the episode truly shine is three superb comic performances by Max Grodénchik, Rene Auberjonois, and especially Avery Brooks. Grodénchik sells Rom’s incompetence, but also his earnestness—his unwillingness to break up the team over his own failure, and earlier his desire to use baseball as a bonding experience with Nog the way the Siskos have done. Auberjonois just has too much fun as the umpire—this wouldn’t have worked early in the show’s run, but now after six years, mixing Odo’s gruff seriousness with the doofiness of what umpires have to do (all part of the game, but still doofy) is comedy gold.
But the episode is absolutely owned by Brooks. His infectious enthusiasm mixed with obsession. The love of the game shines through every scene, but too often it’s diluted by his anger at Solok—but that makes the initial speech during the first tryout and especially the joy Sisko has at the episode’s conclusion that much more wonderful. I particularly like the catharsis he gets after the weird out at home, because it reminds him of how delightfully unpredictable baseball can be. He rediscovers the joy he takes in the game, which Solok’s challenge had soured for him.
Probably the finest moment in the episode is Sisko’s rant to Yates on the origins of his feud with Solok, which is a masterpiece of delivery and body language and vocal inflection.
I also love the fact that both teams have women on them, and this isn’t a big deal. When I wrote about the Cestus Baseball League in my Trek novels A Time for War, a Time for Peace and Articles of the Federation, I had the teams be mixed-gender also, because there’s seriously no reason why women can’t play professional baseball. Indeed, they deliberately put Kira, Yates, and Dax at positions that require tremendous skill defensively (shortstop, third base, and center field are among the spots that require the most defensive skill), and one of the few hits we see any of the Niners getting is Kira’s double.
Some have dinged this episode for its “unfair” portrayal of Vulcans as arrogant asshats. This, sadly, is the side effect of the obsessive fandom of the character of Spock, which warped a lot of people’s views of Vulcans because they thought Spock was awesome. But if you actually watch the original series, most of the Vulcans we meet are in fact arrogant asshats, starting with Spock. A lot of the snotty comments Solok makes in this episode are akin to those Spock made for three years running, and the other Vulcans we met on the original series were Sarek (who wouldn’t even speak to Spock because he joined Starfleet instead of the Vulcan Science Academy, a decision he wouldn’t even admit was wrongheaded for another few decades after “Journey to Babel”), T’Pau (who spent all of “Amok Time” being disdainful and dismissive of Kirk and McCoy), and the incredibly manipulative T’Pring (I don’t need to explain this one, do I?).
Overall, this is a delightful episode. Sure it’s kind of silly to take time out from a war to do a silly sports episode, but if MASH can do it with football, why can’t DS9 do it once with baseball?
Warp factor rating: 7
Keith R.A. DeCandido has written about baseball in the past for Pinstripe Alley, the Replacement Level Yankees Blog, his own Bleacher Creature Feature, and in a bunch of different books, including In the Dugout: Yankees 2013, Yankees Yearly 2012, The Maple Street Press Yankees Annual 2010, and The Red Sox Fan Handbook 2005.
Agreed on all counts except that to me this is the finest comedy episode of the show’s run. It’s no more predictable than the Area 51 episode (which is also great) and everyone is funny in their own way while keeping consistency with their characters.
Did they discuss whether to use a designated hitter? I suppose from their perspective the “classic baseball” of roughly 1900-1970 would be the standard, as it was the longest period without major rule changes…
Finally! I can’t be the only one who was looking forward to the baseball fan’s take on the baseball episode.
I would call it fairly essential to take time out from a war and have a little fun. That’s why there’s a video on YouTube of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan performing “Call Me Maybe.” War is hell, and you can’t live there all the time.
And surely T’Pol belongs on the list of Vulcans who are frequently arrogant asshats.
We should all adopt “manufactured triumph” as a personal habit…for those of us who haven’t been through kolinahr, it’s always good to find the silver lining.
I played Baseball as a early teen, but don’t like watching it, still, this episode is quite fun because the characters are great and all do a good job in their roles. I don’t skip it on rewatches like I do some of the other “fun” episodes.
Loved reading your recap of the game itself. I was literally reading the lines out loud like a classic over the top baseball announcer, with all the energy, enthusiasm and speed I could muster.
I find it interesting that Ira Behr, Rick Berman and Michael Piller are all hardcore baseball fans, but I have no idea whether our esteemed screenwriter Ron Moore ever followed the sport that religiously.
Regarding Trek fandom and Vulcan characters, very good point. When you embrace Spock for so many years, it’s easy to forget that Vulcans are indeed that snotty and arrogant.
This was also Chip Chalmers’ final Star Trek directing assignment. Ever since his days as an AD on TNG, he’s always transitioned superbly between comedy and drama; better than any other TV director. He went out with a bang on this one. Along with TNG’s The Wounded, this was his best effort.
I absolutely love this one. Easily a 10. Like season 5’s In the Cards, to me this is DS9 playing to its biggest strengths. A wonderful cast playing a wonderful hour with uninhibited fun. Good old, cathartic, and yet clichéd fun. This is as close as Trek ever got to capturing that Friday Night Lights spirit, without the heavy baggage.
I thought this episode was fun and light- which is a nice contrast to much of the rest of the season and the preceeding one.
Only two thoughts from the episode: First, why does Star Fleet have single race ships? I could undersand if they were some race that had completely different atmospheric requirements, but Vulcans seem to have similar tolerances to humans, so that’s not the case.
Second (and I understand the production reason, just not sure about the in universe explanation)- why is it o nly Sisko’s command crew and friends? On a station as large as DS9 with probably thousands of Starfleet personnel on it, why not have an open tryout. Surely there have to be more skilled players around then Rom and Leeta…
I remember reading a review of this episode in a British SF magazine (think it was DREAMWATCH) and was highly amused at the way the review panned it, based primarily upon the reviewer’s utter incomprehension of baseball.
I saw it as payback for the cricket-centric DOCTOR WHO two-parter “Black Orchid.”
I have an utter incomprehension of baseball, but this episode is a very stronger contender for my fave DS9 episode. I have to agree wholeheartedly with KRAD’s opinion: it’s very well made and acted, and a hoot.
Also, non-human-centric Starfleet crew! Not that I have anything against them, some of my best friends are humans, but you can understand why some think Federation = humans. This was a nice little swerve in another direction.
My husband and I regularly use “Death to the Opposition” when we’re playing games with friends.
Keith, I figured that your love of baseball would make you either love this episode or hate it, and I’m glad it’s love. I’m no baseball fan myself — I was into it as a small boy, but only because it was a cultural obligation for a small boy to be into baseball, particularly in Cincinnati at the height of the Big Red Machine, but my interest waned once I was old enough to start deciding what my actual tastes were (and once I understood that I had no skill at playing baseball whatsoever). But I utterly adore this episode for its humor, heart, and sense of fun. I love Rom’s story arc and how heartwarming it is. I love the sheer frivolity of it in the midst of the dark and solemn war arc. I love David Bell’s score, one of the richest and most melodic ones he was allowed to do on DS9. (I listened to its excerpt on the soundtrack album while reading this recap, but unfortunately they only included one cue that’s a mere three and a quarter minutes long.) And I love it that they let it be a straight character story and didn’t tack on some random life-threatening malfunction or enemy attack or something. Nobody’s lives are in danger, just their feelings, and that makes it more meaningful in a franchise where life-threatening danger is routine.
There is one technical quibble, namely that there were at least 20 people on the field, so how did they all fit in one holosuite? Either Quark has a deluxe holosuite that’s bigger than the one we’ve seen, or the various players were actually in several different, networked holosuites and interacting through telepresence.
I was disappointed that the Federation anthem wasn’t Jerry Goldsmith’s TMP theme. I always felt it should be. Heck, both versions of Battlestar Galactica used Stu Phillips’s main title theme as the Colonial anthem.
@3: T’Pol isn’t on the list because she wasn’t created until years after this episode aired. But it can be turned around; this episode is one of the best counterarguments to the complaints leveled against Enterprise that it “changed” the Vulcans by making them so smug and condescending.
@6: Maybe Vulcans insist on single-race ships because they’re so condescending toward other races. Hard to see why Starfleet puts up with it, though.
And the team consisting only of established characters is the same problem as the Defiant command crew always consisting only of established characters. It’s a perennial problem on this series. But it makes more sense here. Baseball is a near-extinct sport in the 24th century. It stands to reason that the only people on DS9 who’d be at all familiar with it are the ones who are close to Ben, Jake, and Kasidy.
@6 – There are a few reasons I can think of for single-race ships in Starfleet.
First, is that most Vulcans are arrogant asshats. How many non-Vulcans would be willing to serve on a predominantly Vulcan ship? Certainly not as many non-humans as would serve on a predominantly human ship.
Second, an all Vulcan ship allows for a more focussed medical staff, and while they may have similar tolerances to humans, I imagine their ships to have climate control better mimicking a predominantly desert world.
First, I was glad to see they played real baseball instead of the diluted version with the Designated Hitter. Good teams make the pitchers do more than just throw the ball around.
On the downside, there should have been more Cardinals hats.
And what do you mean the Star Spangled Banner is “actively awful”? It’s a great song! That’s the kind of messed up thinking you get from Yankees fans.
@6 – I suspect there are all Vulcan ships simply because no one else could stand being on a ship full of Vulcans. Because the only thing worse than their arrogance is the fact that most of the time they’re right.
Edit: I see that @10 and @11 made the same point about Vulcan crews, but did a better job of it. :)
@10: I was referring to Keith’s list of arrogant asshat Vulcans. He gave Spock, Sarek, T’Pau, and T’Pring as examples – I would include T’Pol with that group.
@11/12: I think the Intrepid from TOS is a “mostly” Vulcan ship, isn’t it? So clearly there are some masochistic species out there who don’t mind. :)
@13: CLB @10 has the right of it, though. Keith’s list was in the context of the original series.
I’m on my phone and can neither make a login stick nor edit, but it seems I am the one who misunderstood, and for that (and my continued cluelessness) I apologize.
Edit: Well that’s interesting…turns out the comments from my phone were made as if I were logged in, and can be edited from the computer. Good to know.
@13/15: Yes, what I was saying was that I think Keith was referring to the objections about Solok that existed at the time the episode came out. After all, Enterprise routinely and frequently portrayed Vulcans as “arrogant asshats,” so the portrayal of Solok wouldn’t seem as unusual in retrospect. But back when the episode came out, there were few enough portrayals of Vulcans besides Spock that fans could more easily have selective amnesia about the arrogance of characters like T’Pau, T’Pring, and Sarek and cling to their belief that Vulcans were wonderful and perfect and kindly and Tolkien-elvish in every way.
And yes, the Intrepid in “The Immunity Syndrome” had an all-Vulcan crew — which didn’t seem out of place in TOS, since the Enterprise had a nearly all-human crew. It’s more surprising that racially segregated ships are still a thing in the 2370s.
I also can’t log in properly on my phone. Maybe it’s a flaw in the site software.
I love this episode, much like everybody else, but I particularly love the Niners’ caps. Integrating the silhouette of the station with the seams on the baseball is inspired.
Yes, someone needs to explain to the Vulcans the kind of arrogance and condescension they routinely display can be described as an emotional response, but then that might make their pointed ears bleed. Hypocrisy seems to walk hand-in-hand with logic in their philosophy.
Anyway, a fun episode for sure. In the next series, if and when it happens, I want to see a football episode. Feds versus Klingons! C’mon, those ships have gotta have a tailgate.
I’m just amazed they got through a holodeck plot without the safeties going offline and the crowd turning into zombies or something like that.
@@@@@#6 I can see an argument for Deltan only ships (it must be a strain to maintain control all the time) and an argument for Betazoid only ships (they would have quicker reaction time and motive understanding which would make them excellent for destroyers or small attack ships) Traditionally Vulcans are mildly psychic (thus making the nerve pinch and mind meld a thing) so it would make sense for them as well
@16: You’re right. Keith even sent a message and said “Christopher is right.” So even though I can STILL read the section my way, I will stand corrected. :D
And the site does indeed play merry havoc with phones…glad it’s not just me!
Oh, can we talk about how gleeful Odo is? He’s not sure about doing it, but once Sisko persuades him, he throws himself into it. The second picture up there, where he’s talking to Solok, is positively delightful. I wish he could be so happy more often. Kira’s a good influence.
I can sorta see how the Vulcan only ships came into being. See Vulcans used to be this great power of the Alpha Quadrant back in the day, and long before Earth even got into space, and they still have delusions that they are. In a way they remind me of the UK every time something comes up in the EU (note: I am British myself), always making a big fuss out of some sort of belief of historic glory and why they are a special exception. I guess that when the Federation charter was signed and Starfleet formed they negotiated some sort of opt out, and after a few weeks of stonewalling negotiations until they got their way, the rest of the Federation nations let them have their way just to get them to stop whining. Then of course, the Vulcans resisted any change whatsoever from there on in to try and preserve what little extra power or status they once had.
This review was certainly fun.
I liked the Vulcan writing on the back of their uniforms.
For me, this was one of those episodes that, as you say, I could see all the flaws in it but didn’t really care. It was a bit of fluff, and enjoyable fluff, and Odo absolutely makes the episode with a fantastic comic turn. I was less enamoured with the Rom bits, because I just felt they had worked hard to present him as not being the screw-up he was presented as in early seasons, only to turn him into a screw-up again here.
This, incidentally, coming from a Brit who, as such, has no comprehension of why you guys are so obsessed with this sport. I went to an Orioles game while I was in Baltimore about ten years ago, and had no clue what was going on. I just cheered when everyone else did. Mind you, I also think cricket is the most deadly dull game on the planet, and just think of Baseball as “American Cricket.” Still, I guess it didn’t really matter what sport was being played, that wasn’t the point of the episode.
When I first saw this episode I had no idea about the rules of baseball. A couple of years ago a fellow student in my lab tried to teach me the rules. I never really bothered with it, because it seems like a simpler version of cricket.
For example, in baseball, the ball cannot bounce before it reaches the batsman. This means while you get movement in the air, movement off the surface (whether spin or seam) is completely removed from the game. Some of the best moments in cricket are derived from the ball misbehaving off the pitch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeLn8sEAKfE; it also leads to Phil Hughes, but that is a different story).
The no bounce combined with the knee to shoulder window also means that mostly, the batsmen have their weight on the backfoot. This leads to strokes played across the line (cross-batted or horizontal bat shots).
In any case, even after learning a bit about baseball, I simply cannot get into it, and this episode is one that I always skip on rewatch.
Having Sisko like baseball is one thing (personal tastes; I am sure most of you don’t care for cricket), but to actually make a full episode based on it felt like an immense waste of time to me.
@24: Screw-uppity is relative. Rom has proven by now that he’s an engineering genius, but that rarely goes hand in hand with athletic prowess.
@25: I remember enough about baseball to know that it’s “batter” rather than “batsman.” Granted, “batter” is rather more inelegant.
And the episode works because it isn’t just about baseball, it’s about characters pursuing personally important goals, facing obstacles in their pursuit, and learning things along the way. And it’s about the depth of the bonds that have formed among this group over the past six years. Sisko sets aside his personal pride and ambition in favor of an act of kindness and friendship… toward Rom, of all people.
Kurt Vonnegut once said “Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.” Stories are about characters pursuing their goals and facing obstacles. It doesn’t matter if we share the same goals or interests, because we can all relate to the feeling of wanting something and being rewarded or frustrated in its pursuit. Even though baseball dominates the structure of this story, it’s still just the McGuffin. This is really a story about Sisko wanting to show up Solok, Rom wanting to bond with his family, Kasidy wanting Sisko to embrace enjoyment over ambition, and so on. And that’s why it works so well.
For some reason I also see it as a way for Sisko to regain a bit of the humanity he lost during “In the pale moonlight”…
@26:
Agreed. Whch is why I am here reading this.
And “batsman” is a cricket term; more elegant because it is the Queen’s English. :)
@26/28 re: the episode not really being about baseball – I actually wondered if Keith would focus on the game itself or not. I figured he had to, because it’s him, but it’s not at all the point of the episode. You could easily drop the baseball elements and replace them with any other contest, and you’d have the same character development in the episode. For an episode that’s all about baseball, the baseball is entirely incidental.
A couple points on crew selection. Starships are expensive monsters, similar to battleships or aircraft carriers of our time ( in terms of man hours and resources even if money doesn’t come up). So if primary responsiblity for building a starship is by a single race then that race would also have a major say in crew selection.
On the opposite side, if your race is new to the federation then you may need to share resources to obtain access to a starship, you may also need to obtain greater expertise in running said ship which would mean getting crew time on a starship where the crew would actually want to successfully train you.
I’m not sure without checking whether Japanese officers actually apprenticed on Englsh vessels but I know The Japanese hired English officers in th late 1800′ to train their naval officer’s corps. Also John Paul Jones was an admiral in the Russian Imperial fleet after the american revolution. He was forced out when a Russian admiral refused to give him credit for a victory.
I think the problem with Solok is he is all arrogant ass in this episode. The writer’s make him unrelentingly unlikable. Spock, being a main character that we get to know well enough to know he has warmth and respect for his crewmates even if they exasperate him much of the time. Sarek shows genuine affection for Amanda in his episode. T’Pau is the type of flinty lady who is so old she no longer gives effs, so she gets a pass. T’Pring is… yeah, I’ll give you that one.
Sisko bothers me in this episode. While his obsession with beating Solok is in character, he has no reasonable expectation to win against a team of relatively experienced players with a team that he put together in two weeks, a large number of whom had not worn a mitt or swung a bat before those two weeks and only have a passing familarity with baseball (it is a virtually dead sport in the 24th century to even North American human culture). It makes Sisko look more sadly delusional than obessed by an old grudge, frankly.
That th founding members of the Federation may have their own squadrons of crewed ships within Starfleet may explain why you don’t see many (or any) Vulcans, Andorians or Tellarites on our hero crews,
Almost completely off-topic, but apparently Bob Orci’s no longer attached to direct Star Trek 2016.
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/roberto-orci-exits-star-trek-3-1201372245/
@24 As an American who has a little understanding of baseball, less of cricket, and likes neither, I think the appeal is that both games are supposed to be like a slow, less-deterministic chess game. It’s not the individual plays, but what emerges from them, that determines the true shape of the game and thus its appeal. (Or perhaps I’m trying to create something out of nothing, and they’re both deadly dull to anyone who hasn’t bought-in to the tribal mindset they hearken back to.)
My knowledge of baseball derives solely from the Peanuts cartoons and I adore this episode. Not just for all the reasons Krad gives but also because they don’t win the game but are yet victorious. Very refreshing and very sweet.
What’s wrong with ‘The Star Spangled Banner’? It’s great. And it’s certainly better than my damp little island’s effort, the dreary ‘God Save the Queen’ which must be the only national anthem which has to routinely omit a verse because it insults and denigrates part of the country it’s meant to glorying. Mind you, the French have the best one I know of with ‘The Marseillaise’. Now there’s an anthem you can get behind!
For the record, I’ve always thought T’Pring was fabulous. Sure she’s a conniving, manipulative harpy, but she was just so glacially calm and well executed. And that girl had an excellent sense of style. Her hair-do alone still makes me swoon.
But don’t get me started on T’Pol.
In the TNG episode Unification, Worf makes a reference to “Vulcan defense vessels” responding to the Romulan invasion force. That suggests the Federation has something similar to the US National Guard with major worlds having their own defense force seperate from Starfleet. If so then maybe the T’Kumbra was originally part of the Vulcan Planetary Guard and was called up for Federal service as part of the Federation’s mobilization against the Dominion. That would justify it having an all-Vulcan crew (presumably the Vulcan Guard is predominantly made up of Vulcans, since I can’t imagine that many non-Vulcans live on Vulcan) without having Starfleet permitting racial segregation.
I’m not a fan of Americanizing the future too much. Few people outside of USA care for root beer or baseball and littering the Star Trek universe with less influential 20th century US culture is very shortsighted if you want to establish a multicultural utopia.
BTW, this is the fastest cut episode of Deep Space Nine and very likely in the whole of TV Star Trek – mostly thanks to the large ensemble and the high number of reaction shots.
Quoth Lemaitre: “Few people outside of USA care for root beer or baseball.”
Can’t speak definitively about root beer one way or the other, but the baseball part of this statement is demonstrably false, as the citizens of Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Argentina, Japan, Cuba, Canada, and Amsterdam can attest.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Rom has proven by now that he’s anengineering genius, but that rarely goes hand in hand with athletic prowess.
That’s stereotype that’s really untrue. When you’re an engineer you have to be running all over in plants to check on projects, often outside as well trekking ;) through areas without roads in the mud and weeds.
And that includes the smartest of us.
I am an engineer, though I no longer work as one. But the years I worked as one were the healthiest of my life because of the physical demands of the job. We don’t just sit at drawing tables and computers all day. That’s a small part of it.
And I have to say, being the single woman in my graduating class of MEs and quite interested in young men, I noticed the physiques of them all and most were very athletic. Were they ahtletic stars? Not most, though one was a starting pitcher on the university team. But most were really into sports on some level.
So yeah, Rom was just a sad cliche of an untrue stereotype.
I should add, this is the best lighthearted episode of the show, as far as I’m concerned. I had all the heart and the comedy was straight from the characters.
#37
I would agree with you if Sisko had suddenly become obsessed with baseball in this episode, but this has been apart of his character from the beginning. It makes a kind of sense for him to do this, albeit a little silly, and the rest of the gang to come along.
And the root beer comparison to 24th century humans and the Federation from a previous episode is one of the best conversations in the show. Not sure another drink would work in that situation. Somehow root beer seems perfect, but I’m game to hear some suggestions….
@37, as Redlander says above, Sisko’s love of baseball is a long-established character trait. Plus, it’s also established that baseball is not a particularly popular sport in the 24th century, even among humans. You’ll recall from a previous episode – “Family Business,” I think – Sisko’s surprise (and delight) when he realized Kasidy had even heard of it.
Anyway, I found this episode delightful, almost as much as “In The Cards.”
Apparently I’m in a small minority — I didn’t like this episode much.
I’m sure some of that has to do with not being at all a fan of baseball. (I guess this means I can relate to the people who don’t like the jazz-centric episodes because they can’t muster any enthusiasm for jazz!) But as people keep saying, it’s not really about baseball.
I think the biggest thing is that the immaturity showed by both Sisko and Solok is unbecoming of decorated captains. I have no problem with snotty Vulcans (even though Spock turned out to be awesome, Trek has always portrayed Vulcans as at-least-half arrogant pricks), or even a Vulcan who has some serious racism issues against humans specifically — but would such a bigot be a respected captain in an organization as enlightened as Starfleet? (Keep in mind, most of his career wasn’t during a war.)
I realize DS9 is partly about diluting the utopian vibe of the Federation, and that episodes like Paradise Lost/Homefront have portrayed far worse things than petty immature bigotry in Starfleet leaders, but … somehow this episode bothered me more. Maybe because no one seems to think Solok’s attitude is a serious problem.
Sisko going obsessive and losing self-control is perfectly in-character given both his attatchment to baseball and his prior rivalry with Solok, but I was still disappointed with how long it took him to realize he was being a douche. Sisko has his flaws, but petty immaturity hasn’t been one that’s been established before. I would have liked to see Kasidy or Ezri or especially Jake tear him a new one over his taking the game too seriously, and making him come around.
I did love Odo’s gleeful participation, especially the screenshotted facial expression when he gets to kick Solok out of the game. I did love that Kira and Ensign Nog were pretty quick studies of the game. I did love “Death to the opposition!”
I didn’t mind Starfleet having the occasional mono-species ship. I definitely didn’t mind soldiers taking a break from the war for some more trivial pursuits (especially after six months straight on dangerous missions!). I didn’t mind Rom and Quark sucking given the lack of care that we’ve seen either of them give to their physical fitness throughout the show. Although now that I read the trivia about Grodenchik having the most baseball experience in the cast, I feel as though some opportunities were missed. (Also on that note, anyone else curious how the game would have gone if Garak was on it?)
Finally, KRAD, The Star-Spangled Banner is a great anthem … if you include verses 2 and 4 and get rid of the fluffy operatic show-offy style that modern singers infuse it with. You’re right, it’s actively awful … but only because of how our culture has warped it. :(
@37: While I agree that the USA-centricity of the Federation is sometimes annoying, I think it would be delightfully ironic if root beer was something that the early non-human Federation races had latched onto and popularized. It would be a good sequel to the mystery of why most non-USA people can’t stand the stuff.
While Solok’s animus might be racially motivated I think it’s wrong to say that Sisko’s is.
Also, perhaps this is a little handwavery on my part, but I feel Sisko wasn’t being immature in his obsession with winning. He was following that pattern he’s been stuck in for years now where every crisis and contest is life-or-death-win-at-all-costs. It takes him awhile to reset and get out of the war state of mind and have fun with a challenge.
BTW – “To Manufactured Triumphs!” is a great sig line.
I really expected to hate this episode based on the title, and because my husband warned me this was one of his least favorite episodes….but it kind of wormed its way into my heart anyway.
I’m American, in the midwest, and I hate baseball. I hate most sports, actually. But I do have an aunt who loves the Tigers and follows them religiously – season tickets, she scores all the games by hand, etc. So I at least have some positive associations with it.
BUT, as others have pointed out, this episode wasn’t really about baseball anyway. I was excited that they brought Kasidy back because the whole time I was saying, “He needs to get Kasidy on his team! They already established she’s a baseball fan!”. So I’m glad they kept that continunity.
Also, I think Nog, Leeta and Rom are the most adorable family ever.
I had the samse thoughts about Solok’s obsessive racism regarding humans. Like, the fact that he was always writing essays on it and referencing that one incident – wouldn’t the Federation frown on something like that? Then again, is it really racism if his claim is objectively true Vulcans do seem to canonically be smarter, stronger and faster than humans? Of course, none of those things mean a Vulcan is more valuable than a human, or has more inherent dignity, or what have you, and there are many ways to measure ‘smart’. Honestly, Solok was kind of a scary character in a way.
I also like that they didn’t actually win (and in fact, were pretty horrible), as I also can’t stand movies where rag tag group of misfits is awesome because of the power of love or some dumb crap like that, and somehow that allows them to overcome teams with years of discipline and training and honed skill.
We still got the ragtag group of misfits being awesome, they just didn’t win. I almost expected the Chariots of Fire theme song as Rom made his run.
Re: The Star-Spangled Banner
Speaking as someone who majored in voice in college, I can tell you that it is a very diffcult song to sing, with a range of an octave plus a fifth. I was never in danger of becoming a professional singer, but I had a larger singing range than most people without training, and there are a very limited number of keys I could sing it in effectively. Nowadays, when I sing along at football games, I almost always have to take the middle third (“and the rockets red glare…”) down an octave because it’s right at my upper vocal limit in the key the band plays it in (B-flat, I think). (I also haven’t sung seriously since graduating from college, but that’s another story.)
Additionally, the high point of the song is a long-held “e” vowel—which is the most difficult vowel to produce properly—on the highest note in the song (“land of the FREE”).
All that being said, the anthem still has the power to move me, but that’s mostly simply because for all its flaws, it is my national anthem. Musically speaking, the only thing I like about it is that I have the ability to sing it pretty well. :-)
This is one of DS9’s most fun episodes.
As for how/why single-species ships might exist, I think I’ve assumed that when you see ships of all or mostly a single species, it’s because there are a number of different Starfleet recruitment centers and academies, the one in San Francisco just being the main campus. Thus, there’d be plenty of Vulcans who might choose to attend the Vulcan Starfleet campus, and when they all graduate together, might be posted to ships that are headquartered in or around Vulcan space.
-Andy
Love, love, love this episode.
“Find him and kill him!” still cracks me up.
Bobby
I love this ep and it’s in my top ten. I’m a baseball fan. The ep is just pure fun. Solok was deliciously nasty (and I’m sure not all Vulcans are arrogant or nasty, anymore than all Vulcans (or Romulans) have the bowl-cut hair; one thing I don’t like about Trek is often assigning a whole race the same characteristics).
Anyhow – it was a fun ep. Odo’s glee at tossing out Solok, Dax’s “I must have forgotten to wear my spots today,” “Death to the opposition,” and “scotch-infused gum.”
It was a light-hearted episode in the midst of heavy, depressing stuff and it was very welcome.
Besides, Sisko finally got Solok’s goat. *grin*
@46: An octave plus a fifth isn’t really an amazing amount of range. I’m not in danger of becoming a professional singer, either, and I have almost two octaves of range even without falsetto.
The problem is the song traditionally being in a key that puts that particular octave-and-a-fifth in a difficult place. That’s another thing I’d like to change about the way the song is used — transpose it into a key that leads to less atrocious singing, please!
it was light hearted comedy & added light to a dark season.
Great, great episode. I don’t know the first thing about baseball, but this was damn fun to watch. An awesome bonding moment for our heroes, and the ending is so great.
Even if you’re not a sports fan at all, this is a fun hour, with some life lessons we should all keep in mind.
When I was in university, I played in an intramural softball league during one summer term (I went to a university with a co-op program, so we didn’t get the summers off). One day, I was pressed into service to umpire a game – I don’t remember why, exactly. As it happened, I’d worked during high school as the scorekeeper and statistician for the City Hall softball league here in Toronto (and later played two seasons), so I was very familiar with the rules – even the really obscure ones. At one point, the team at bat had runners on first and second, and the batter popped up in the infield. I instinctively yelled, “Infield fly! Batter’s out!” I had to spend the next ten minutes explaining the rule to the players – some of them thought I’d made it up.
In all the years I’ve watched major-league baseball (I became a fan when the Blue Jays joined the league in 1977), I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it called in a game.
Add me to those who don’t care about this episode. Both captains just show up as immature brats, as is Solok is challenging a guy with no team against expert players, and Sisko should just learn to give up a grudge.
Also, the whole “the point of playing is having fun, not winning” is kinda hollow, because if I’m playing for fun I don’t do it against someone I hate.
@54: But that’s just it — Sisko’s arc went from “I have to beat Solok” to “I want my friends to have fun.” That was his learning curve in the episode.
The only thing that ever bothered me about this episode were the Vulcans’ poorly done makeup and terrible wigs with identical haircuts. Some diversity would have been nice.
Vulcans have never been especially diverse, though, especially when it comes to hairstyles. The T’Kumbra personnel have a variety of skin tones and complexions, what else should they have done? (The eyebrows on Joey Banks are admittedly crap.)
I think there was an Asian Vulcan in this one though.
I just love this episode. just a fun story, expertly told. I needed this. Maybe my jaded/nitpicky rear end needed this to remind me why I love DS9 so much.
I was inspired to give this episode another look after watching the AMAZING 2016 Cubs/Indians World Series (“Back to the Future 2” was only off by one year!!!!!!!!!!) and I noticed something that nobody has mentioned: In the scene in Sisko’s quarters where he’s telling Kassidy the story of his rivalry with Solok, the plant or sculpture or whatever on the coffee table bears a resemblance to the Commissioner’s Trophy that is awarded to the World Series champions!
The exact details of this episode really did fly completely over the head of the British audience, to whom baseball is less “American cricket” and more “rounders with more rules”. But it does kind of work as a character piece, even though it’s guaranteed to end up on a list of worst episodes.
I’m not only British, but generally hate all sport and this is one of my favourites. I’ve seen enough Baseball in American (and Japanese) TV and films to not be completely lost and the rest is filled in in the episode. Half the point is the most of the cast have no idea what they’re doing.
Overall, I think it works well as a character piece and a the kind of straightforward comedy episode that only Deep Space Nine of the Trek series can really do. Plus, I love that the episode resolves itself with the Niners losing and deciding to celebrate as if they won anyway.
37: baseball is one of the most popular games on earth, second only to soccer. So, your comment that few people outside of the US care about it is ridiculous.
Great episode.
@63- agreed. Saying that this episode “Americanized” the future because it featured a baseball game is like saying Voyager Frenchified the future because they were always hanging out in Chez Sandríne. Besides, It was pretty clear that with few exceptions, nobody knew what they were doing, and this was largely an exercise in placating Sisko’s obsessions with the sport, and with revenge.
Just watched this episode the other day with my kid, and it was still loads of fun. The “all Vulcans look alike” joke was a bit racist. Still, “DEATH TO THE OPPOSITION!”
Actually the Vulcans all looking the same makes sense to me – wouldn’t it be illogically to spend one extra second doing your hair? Makeup? Extra clothing accessories? Kind of like the legend of Albert Einstein wearing the same thing every day so he wouldn’t have to waste time thinking about it.
“I can be identified as me…what is the purpose of cutting my hair into a Mohawk?”
BTW Michael Dorn’s comic timing is awesome. Not just “Death to the opposition!” and “We will destroy them!” but all his quick takes and reaction shots were hilarious, especially when they were sitting at the table with pads trying to figure out the rules
50: “The problem is the song traditionally being in a key that puts that particular octave-and-a-fifth in a difficult place. That’s another thing I’d like to change about the way the song is used — transpose it into a key that leads to less atrocious singing, please!”
Put it in the key of F, and I can hit all the notes with my voice. But I’m more often playing the anthem on my clarinet rather than singing it, so range/choice of key isn’t an issue.
It is amusing that the melody derives from an English drinking song.
Love baseball, love DS9, love this episode. Root beer is good too.
The beauty of this episode is that I actively despise baseball (sorry Krad) and I love this episode. We learn so much about the characters and they learn about themselves. Its not a perfect episode, nor the funniest, but I always sit and watch when it comes up.
Lockdown Rewatch. Ok first up I’m from the U.K. and when this episode first aired I knew next to nothing about Baseball, Baseball movies are almost never released in the U.K. (at cinemas anyway) the only Baseball movie to have been anything like a hit over here is Field of Dreams ( which I know isn’t really about baseball) Now in our more interconnected world I know a little bit more about baseball so some of the game terms I now understand a bit more.. and here is the main thing.. it doesn’t matter, this could have been about football (either kind the American version or proper football) or some 24th century sport like Parrises squares the point is this is a well put together fun episode a reminder after the disaster of Profit and Lace that this cast can perform excellent comedy episodes when given the right material. Worf shouting “Death to the opposition” is possibly one of the best laugh out loud moments of the entire series Oh and great to see lovable bumbling Rom back to his very best.
The Vulcan’s use of the IDIC symbol on their hats and uniforms is a clever little throwback to the original series.
And a great opportunity for merchandising, just like in the 60s!
It strains credulity that this game could have been played in a holosuite. Forced perspective and optical illusions are fine for a Dixon Hill mystery, but think about it: the distance from one corner of a holosuite to an opposite corner is probably less than the distance from home plate to the pitcher’s mound. What could the game possibly look like from the perspective of the outfielders?
An alternative I wish they’d employed is this: given the devotion shown to Sisko by Bajoran society, it’s entirely plausible that Bajorans would have adopted the sport of baseball themselves. They might have begun playing it initially in honor of the Emissary, but then developed a real enthusiasm for the game.
That way, the Niners and the Logicians could simply have borrowed a real baseball diamond on Bajor itself, and the stands would have filled with adoring Bajorans to cheer on the Emissary and his team.
Whatta you think, sirs?
I was rewatching this episode the other night on the H&I Channel and it occurred to me that a lot of the flak this episode has gotten over the years may have come from in part from those of us who remember being last picked for games in gym class and getting yelled at for screwing up, and this was a little too close to reality. That said, because of more time and distance, I can now laugh at it.
@74/Russell H: Speaking as one of those “last picked” people, that’s what I liked about the episode — the fact that Rom ended up getting his team’s support and acceptance at the end even though he screwed up.
#74 What’s the “H&I” channel?
@76 H&I is a channel in some markets that broadcasts Star Trek five hours a night, six nights a week. They’re currently showing an episode of TOS, followed by TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT.
https://www.handitv.com/schedule/
(74)
As a “last picked,” I can’t say that’s ever been an issue for me. I hated playing sports as a kid but have always loved watching sports themed television and movies. This episode is a hoot.
This is forever later, but there was a misuse of the term “operatic” to describe the typical modern style of singing the US national anthem (@42). What you typically hear at sports events is decidedly NOT operatic. Usually it’s what I call “noodling”- the pop style of wobbling around on every pitch but the real one! It’s the Mariah Carey School of Vocal Performance. I realize that is what the people like (see: every appearance of classical music that predictably transitions to a pop/rock/hip hop take on every mainstream talent show), but opera it ain’t. Exception: the 2014 Superbowl, when Renee Fleming, an actual opera singer, finally showed mainstream America what a fully trained voice sounds like.
That said, Renee is a world famous soprano, and she still sang it in a pretty low key (for her). It does have an unusually large range for a song intended for mass appeal. (Fun fact- the melody was originally a drinking song.) The difficulty depends on your own vocal range and the key it’s sung in and whether you’re going to do the now-obligatory high note on “free” at the end.
I’m not a baseball fan. Maybe if Q had forced this on them, and lives were at stake …
80. cecrow
I’m not a baseball fan. Maybe if Q had forced this on them, and lives were at stake …
I despise baseball, but I thought this episode was great. I think that having Q forcing them, or otherwise having “lives at stake” would have cheapened the story.
It’s funny to me that someone’s distaste for watching real sports would make them automatically dislike sports in fiction. I’m not into sports, and I dislike watching baseball in particular, but that doesn’t translate to dramatizations at all for me. real life baseball has plenty of dramatic moments, but it’s so awful to watch because most everything in between is so boring. But if you do like Alfred Hitchcock said and cut all the dull bits out, what you’re left with is pretty awesome. This can be true of all sports in movies or television, but it is particularly true of baseball. Here’s a great video essay on why that’s true: https://youtu.be/elXLAcl363A?t=221
Anyway, this episode was great. Probably my favorite light hearted/ comedy episode out of the Trek I’ve seen.
I noticed an interesting production blooper. At one point in the episode, Kira’s uniform has “Kira” written on the back, but most other times it’s “Nerys.”
In retrospect, I wonder what Solok’s crew must have been thinking during this episode; having to learn an archaic human sport in order to help their captain pursue his obsessive, illogical, specist vendetta against one particular station commander; and then watching him have (by Vulcan standards) a completely unhinged emotional meltdown even after they won the game for him.
Sisko loves classic 20thC American movies, too:
“Now, I know it looks simple–you throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball”
–Sisko to his team, ST:DS9, S7E4, “Take Me Out to the Holosuite” (1998)
“This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”
–Tim Robbins’ character, recalling what Kevin Costner’s character used to tell him, “Bull Durham” (1988)