Talkin' Softball, Ozzie and the Straw

When Ken Griffey, Jr retired earlier this year it marked the end of an era. Yes, true, he played for over 20 years, but that's not the era of which I speak. You see, Griffey was the last player featured in the Simpsons episode Homer at the Bat to retire.

The episode first aired February 20, 1992 and featured guest appearances by 9 Major League players: Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Ken Griffey, Jr., Steve Sax, Ozzie Smith, José Canseco, Don Mattingly, Darryl Strawberry and Mike Scioscia.

There's lots of interesting tidbits about the episode on its Wikipedia page. Such as:
* The players recorded their parts over 6 months whenever their teams were in L.A. playing the Dodgers or the Angels
* Jose Canseco made them rewrite his part to look as heroic as possible.
* Ryne Sandberg and Carlton Fisk both turned down the chance to be in the episode.

Now they're all gone and retired. I wonder who Mr. Burns would hire these days to be his ringers?

It's one of the best episodes of the Simpsons all around, but the best part was the song at the end. Terry Cashman rewrote his song Talkin' Baseball for the closing credits. Enjoy!