#Shortstops: Baseball cartoons tell story of the game’s popularity

It is not uncommon to see a certain level of animation – on the faces of the players – on any given day at the ballpark.

Picture George Brett’s reaction to his 1983 home run being overturned due to the amount of pine tar on his bat, for example.

But it’s also not uncommon to find baseball drawn, colored, and animated, in one of numerous cartoons which have appeared on television.

The Baseball Hall of Fame Library contains copies of many of those in its collection.

“Animated cartoons on television have long been popular, and it’s no surprise that many incorporate baseball,” said Jim Gates, library director at the Hall of Fame. “Whether it’s Looney Tunes or Charlie Brown, they appeal to a wide audience, and we try to find and collect as many as we can.”

One of the most well-known animations featuring baseball is the “Homer at the Bat” episode of THE SIMPSONS.

In order to win the championship, Springfield Nuclear Power Plant’s softball team is replaced by ringers from Major League Baseball, including future Hall of Famers Wade Boggs, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Ozzie Smith.

But it is up the regulars to win the game when most of the major leaguers are beset by calamity.

Homer Simpson pinch hits for Darryl Strawberry – the only one of the ringers to play in the game – and gets hit in the head with the bases loaded to bring in the championship-winning run.

A VHS cassette tape and signed copy of the episode’s script are preserved at the Hall of Fame, and an exhibit honoring "Homer at the Bat" was once on display at the Museum.

Hall of Famers also made their way into other animated features. The Library has a copy of Willie Mays and the Say Hey Kid, an hour-long 1972 film that was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. Mays becomes a cartoon when making a difficult catch to help the Giants win the pennant, and it is learned that he is the godfather of an orphan girl he cares for.

As part of The New Casper Cartoon Show, 1961’s Abner the Baseball was an animated feature about a baseball named Abner who tells the story of how he ended up at the Baseball Hall of Fame, thanks to an animated Mickey Mantle. The cartoon Mantle hits Abner longer than any other home run ball – 987 feet, as an animated Yogi Berra writes on a chalkboard – earning his ticket to Cooperstown, where he is shown next to baseballs hit by other Hall of Famers, such as Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

“While largely meant for consumption by kids on a Saturday morning, these cartoons stand the test of time and are important to show how baseball intersects with – and is woven into – popular culture,” Gates said. “And they can still get people laughing and chuckling all these years later.”