In yet another fuck you to Pete Rose, the Baseball Hall of Fame has announced that its newest inductee will be a cartoon character whose greatest achievement on the field is getting beaned in the head. Homer Simpson will join the ranks of so many great players who aren’t Pete Rose in a special ceremony on May 27, celebrating the 25th anniversary of “Homer At The Bat,” and at least the 10,000th time someone has quoted the line, “It’s like there’s a party in mouth and everyone’s invited.”
Simpson’s “induction” will be preceded by a roundtable discussion of the episode featuring its executive producers Al Jean and Mike Reiss, director Jim Reardon, executive story editor Jeff Martin, and casting director Bonnie Pietila. They’ll be joined by Wade Boggs and Ozzie Smith, just two of the ringers recruited by Mr. Burns for the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant softball team, alongside Roger Clemens, Mike Scioscia, Don Mattingly, Steve Sax, Ken Griffey Jr., Darryl Strawberry, and Jose Canseco.
Among that group, Boggs and Smith were definitely among the most eager participants—particularly as compared to Canseco, who browbeat the show’s staff into making his character “more heroic,” grumbled afterward that the animators didn’t capture him properly, and once hung up on a reporter who dared ask him about it. Jose Canseco is also, generally speaking, a total dick and will not be missed.
Anyway, when they’re not mocking Jose Canseco or discussing the finer points of “Homer At The Bat”—such as whether Boggs has since changed his stance on England’s greatest Prime Minister, or he needs another fist to the face—the panel also pay larger homage to the show’s many contributions to sports and pop culture. This will all be followed by the ribbon-cutting on a special Simpsons-themed exhibit within the Hall of Fame that—good news—anyone can get into, so long as they pony up the admission.