Main update for today: TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME was the 9th episode of the 4th season. Written by D.C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney, it aired on November 17, 1969. In the episode, the Enterprise gets a week of shore leave at Starbase 12 near Delta IV, where they encounter the USS Potemkin crew, who challenges them to a game of baseball. Hilarity ensues as some of the Enterprise crew learns how to play the game and attempts to understand its arcane rules. In this episode, members of the production cast, including Matt Jefferies, Jerry Finnerman, Gregg Peters, John Dwyer, and Jim Rugg, appear as extras, playing baseball for the Potemkin crew. John Winston (Lt. Kyle), Frank da Vinci (Lt. Brent), and William Blackburn (Lt. Hadley) fill out the Enterprise starting nine. Michael Witney, who appeared in "A Private Little War" in season 2, plays Potemkin Captain Whitney.
Captain's log, stardate 6854.1. The Enterprise is getting upgrades to its scanning system and deflector dish at Starbase 12, orbiting Delta IV. We have received a communication from the new captain of the USS Potemkin, about an archaic game called baseball. It appears as if the Potemkin bridge crew want to play the Enterprise in a game of baseball on the planet's surface.
Kirk: "So I wonder why they want to play baseball with us? It's an old game, and I haven't played it since I was a teenager, and only for fun."
Bones: "Baseball is a wonderful old game, Jim. I have a really good pitcher's arm, and if you need a pitcher, you've got the old country doctor to throw you some strikes and keep the other team off the bases."
Spock: "What is this game of baseball you are talking about?"
Kirk: "It's an ancient Earth game, going back to the 19th century. You play with a small ball, four bases arranged in a diamond, a pitcher's mound, a catcher to catch the pitches, an infield, and an outfield."
Spock: "I shall look up the specifics of this game of baseball on the computer memory banks to get myself acquainted. No such game existed on Vulcan."
Bones: "You mean the Vulcans didn't play baseball? We humans have something to teach you green blooded Vulcans after all."
Spock: I will glean my information from the Enterprise's computer, Doctor, and report my findings back to the Captain."
Bones: "Jim knows baseball, Spock. He just hasn't played the game in a while."
Spock goes to the computer in the conference room to look up baseball. He raises an eyebrow and says, "Fascinating. A very compelling, sometimes irrational, and sometimes violent game played professionally mostly on Earth's North American continent, but also in Japan and the Far East, in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Some of the most famous baseball players were among the most famous individuals of the 20th century Earth era."
Kirk: "Mickey Mantle."
Spock: "Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, I can go further."
Bones: "Now Hammerin' Hank Aaron. He played in my home state of Georgia 300 years ago. He was as good as it got in baseball. Hank was an all time great home run hitter. There's still a statue of him in Georgia."
Kirk: "Yes, Hank Aaron was a great player. I remember the moment when he was challenging Babe Ruth's home run record. It was taught in elementary school."
Bones: "I remember the New York Mets, an expansion team, beating Aaron and my Braves in the history books as well."
Kirk: "It was considered the greatest surprise in sports history, the Mets winning the World Series that year."
Spock: "How was the game violent? Did the players hammer each other with the bats instead of hammering the baseball?"
Bones: "On rare occasions, yes. Very rare occasions. Baseball used to have fights, which usually happened when one pitcher threw at the other team's best player and the other team had to respond back in kind, Spock."
Spock: "Very irrational and illogical behavior, Doctor."
Kirk: "Let's hope this game doesn't have that kind of behavior in it. Let's contact the Potemkin."
Uhura: "Captain, a message from Captain Whitney of the Potemkin."
Kirk: "I'll be on the bridge."
Kirk and Whitney exchange pleasantries and Kirk apologizes for the incident that occurred in The Ultimate Computer. Whitney challenges Kirk and the Enterprise crew to the baseball game on Delta IV, and Kirk accepts. Kirk gathers the crew, plus Lieutenants Kyle, Brent, and Hadley, in the conference room.
Kirk: "Now baseball requires 9 players, plus a few bench players and extra pitchers in case of an injury, and a manager. I will play shortstop, because it was my position when I played the game as a youth. Dr. McCoy has volunteered to pitch, so that leaves seven other positions and a manager."
Bones: "I'm getting my old right arm ready to pitch all 9 innings, Jim."
Kirk: "I need someone very reliable at first base who is athletic and won't drop the ball. Spock, you're my first baseman."
Spock: "Yes, Captain."
Bones: "Spock has never played baseball and you're putting him at first base, Jim? What are you thinking?"
Kirk: "Mr. Spock is a very quick study, Bones. I trust him with first base."
Spock: "I can calculate the trajectory of a moving baseball very quickly so I will make no errors in the field and hit the ball at a high rate of speed with power, Captain."
Kirk: "That's why I'm relying on you, Mr. Spock. Lieutenant Kyle, you will be my catcher, and Lieutenant Brent, you will play second base. Lieutenant Hadley, you will play left field, that's an outfield position."
Kyle, Brent and Hadley: "Aye, sir. We are familiar with the game and we'll do a good job with it."
Kirk: "Ensign Chekov, ever played baseball before?"
Chekov: "No, baseball vas not a Russian inwention."
Kirk: "Get up to speed with third base, quickly. I need someone with fast reflexes there and you've got very quick reflexes, among the best on the ship."
Chekov: "Aye, Keptin. I wish we were kicking around a round ball instead. That's vhat the rest of the vorld did in the 20th century, Mother Russia included."
Kirk: "Scotty, what about you."
Scotty: "We never played this sport in Scotland and kicked that round ball around like Chekov. Although they played a version of this sport in England called cricket."
Kirk: "I'll hide you in right field, just make sure you catch the ball when it's hit to you."
Scotty: "Aye, sir. You're always asking miracles of me, Captain."
Sulu: "I was an excellent baseball player as a kid, Captain. Played outfield like the best of them."
Kirk: "Exactly, and you're going to be my centerfielder, hitting in the middle of the lineup, to anchor the team."
Sulu: "Aye sir, I can't wait to hold a bat again and whack that baseball."
Uhura: "What about me? I've never played before and never heard of the sport before, but I'd like to participate too."
Kirk: "You are going to be our manager. You are going to sit in the dugout and direct all of us on how to do things."
(Uhura pouts): "No room for a lady on the diamond. I can command a starship to victory over the Romulans but I can't play a game of baseball. You'll need me at some point during the game, sir."
Kirk: "I bet I will, Commander Uhura. Keep yourself ready to pinch hit in case someone gets injured."
Both teams meet on Delta IV and the baseball game starts. Bones strikes out the side in the first, and the Enterprise team takes a quick 2-0 lead on back to back home runs by Spock and Sulu. The Potemkin crew evens the score in the 2nd, on a 2 run HR by Captain Whitney, hitting 6th in their lineup. The Enterprise is retired in order in the 2nd inning, and Bones retires the Potemkin team in order in the top of the third. In the bottom of the third, Spock homers again with two outs to give the Enterprise a 3-2 lead. Bones says, "That Vulcan is a natural at baseball. He's really good." McCoy gets in a groove and retires the Potemkin in order in the 4th as well, striking out two.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, with the Enterprise up 3-2, Matt Jefferies (playing the Potemkin pitcher) hits Kirk with a pitch on the shoulder to lead off the inning. Kirk drops his bat in anger and threatens to charge the mound, but is held back. The benches clear but nobody fights yet. In the dugout, Bones threatens to get even.
Bones: "They hit the Captain with a pitch, Uhura. I have to retaliate."
Uhura: "I don't think I agree with that, Doctor."
Bones: "But we can't let them think we can keep on hitting our guys. Soon they'll hit Sulu, and they'll definitely throw at Spock because he's homered twice already."
Spock: "Retaliation is illogical, Doctor. We are ahead in the game and your job is not to allow any more batters from the Potemkin crew to score."
Bones: "I'll take care of who I put on base when I hit their guy, Spock."
Uhura: "I won't let you hit one of their players with that baseball, Doctor McCoy."
McCoy: "I have to do it. There has to be a response."
In the top of the fifth, McCoy hits Captain Whitney and all hell breaks loose. Whitney charges the mound and a full fledged brawl breaks out. Kirk does his Kirk-Fu on a couple of Potemkin crewmembers, while Spock does a mild Vulcan nerve pinch on Whitney just as he is about to hammer McCoy. Chekov and Scotty also get involved in the melee. The fight scene goes on for about 2 minutes, and then everyone takes a break.
We move to the top of the 7th inning. Whitney singles and Rugg doubles, scoring the Potemkin captain and tying the game at 3. Jerry Finnerman (playing a Potemkin crewmember) singles in Rugg and the Potemkin leads 4-3. During this time, Matt Jefferies, playing the Potemkin pitcher, gets into his own groove and figures out that nobody on the Enterprise can hit a curveball, so he continuously strikes out the Enterprise lineup on curves.
In the top of the 9th, the Potemkin, still leading 4-3, loads the bases with two outs, with Dwyer batting. In the previous at-bat, Lieutenant Brent at second base injures himself diving for a baseball, and cannot continue. Uhura puts herself into the game at second base, as the manager. Dwyer hits a hotshot in the 1st base hole and Uhura miraculously makes the diving catch. She tells Kirk, "I told you that you needed me out there."
In the bottom of the 9th, Sulu (hitting cleanup, or fourth) and Kirk (hitting fifth) lead off the inning with singles, figuring out Jefferies' curveball. Uhura, who had to replace Brent, hilariously holds the bat with Kirk yelling at her to bunt. Fortunately for Uhura, Jefferies is tiring and throws a straight fastball; Uhura puts down a perfect bunt, advancing Kirk to 2nd and Sulu to 3rd. Chekov comes up with one out and the infield pulled in. Chekov thinks he has the winning hit but Rugg makes a diving catch in right field to rob him. Sulu scores on the sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4. With Kirk on 3rd, Scotty comes up with two outs. Scotty runs the count to 3 and 2. Jefferies throws another one of his curves, but it hangs, and Scotty gets bat on it and hits it up the middle into the outfield to drive in Kirk and win the game for the Enterprise, 5-4. The Enterprise crew celebrates, almost burying Scotty in bodies. At the end of the episode, Kirk says, "Well that was a fun outing and a fun game of baseball."
Justman:
I wanted to do a baseball show at some point because I was a big baseball fan. I originally was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, having grown up in Brooklyn and seeing Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges and the rest. When they moved to Los Angeles, I couldn't stay a Dodgers fan, even though I also moved to Los Angeles. Southern California was where I worked, but Brooklyn and New York was home. I was never going to be a Yankees fan, being a Brooklyn boy, so I followed the new team in New York, the Mets. When the Mets made their run at the pennant, I decided to put the baseball show idea into production. Everyone loved working on it. We gave Jefferies, Rugg, Dwyer, Finnerman and Gregg Peters SAG credits for appearing in the episode. They all wanted to play baseball too, and this show actually ran well under budget, because we only had to shoot at an empty baseball field in Los Angeles for most of it. We actually shot a scene of the show where McCoy and Kirk mention the Mets winning the World Series after the rest of the show was completed, just to remind the audience.
Fontana:
I'm not a big baseball fan so Justman and Gene helped me with some of the terms and rules of the game, but I loved shooting this episode! The cast did too. Fortunately, nobody hit William Shatner with a bat, although Nimoy jokingly took a swing at him.
Shatner:
If you want to know how I got the Montreal Expos cap, Rusty Staub gave me one that he didn't use, knowing that I was a fan of the new Expos at the time. It actually fit my head fairly well, which was surprising, because Rusty had a large head.
Nimoy, while shooting The Voyage Home in 1986:
There were times where I wanted to whack Bill with the bat, but I didn't want to hurt him that bad. So I plunked him with a baseball a couple of times on set. I also played baseball as a kid on the streets of Boston, and Ted Williams was my favorite player. We all wanted to be Ted. I could swing the bat from both sides of the plate, being ambidextrous, so I sometimes posed as Ted, or as Yaz (Carl Yastrzemski). At the time, Boston hadn't won a World Series in half a century, and those damn Yankees won almost every year in my younger years. Even the Mets winning in 1969 wasn't a relief. My Red Sox have to win it all at least once before I die.
Kelley:
I got to show off that pitcher's arm really well in that episode. It was a joy to shoot and as it turned out, I was the winning pitcher.
Doohan:
I wasn't much of a baseball player growing up, and didn't hold a bat that often. So we had to retake the final scene about 8 times before I hit that ball up the middle to win the game for the Enterprise.
Takei:
California kids love baseball, and I wanted to play baseball professionally before going into show business. I got to hit a home run in the episode, which was nice.
Koenig, on the Search for Spock set in late 1983:
I'm a Cubs fan, so 1969 was a bummer. I can't believe we lost to the Mets of all teams in the division. We'll never win the World Series, or even get to a World Series. But it was funny playing the Russian Chekov who had to play an American game. He was a fish out of water.
Nichols:
I told Shatner the crew would need me to win the game, and that's how it played out.
Jefferies:
Rugg, Finnerman, Dwyer, Gregg and I loved the opportunity to get on screen. We were always behind the scene, but that SAG credit will always be on my record. Shame that I had to be the losing pitcher, though.