Edgar Allan Pooh . . . a carrot juice-fueled Bugs Bunny snatches Victory from the Spitoon of Defeat on behalf of his fellow Brooklyn Teetotalers. Coming on in relief with no one out in the bottom of the fourth and 41 runs already across the plate (Conga-line style), Bugs starts to dig out of the Temperance Boys' 95-0 hole by striking out three Gas House Gorillas on a single pitch. With plenty of innings left to "chip away" at the Gorillas' imposing advantage, Bugs takes the hill in the bottom of the Ninth Inning with a razor-thin 96-95 advantage (mathematically, the closest margin in baseball history). With one on and two down, the Gorilla clean-up hitter approaches the plate wielding a telephone pole. A mighty whack loft's Bugs' first offering well clear of the Polo Ground's not-so-friendly confines. Bugs exploits a gap in the center-field fence to first hop a taxi, then a streetcar, and finally an elevator to the roof of the "Umpire" State Building. Climbing a flagpole, Bugs throws his glove at the still ascending baseball. Said glove catches the ball, Bugs catches his glove, a speedy umpire calls the out, and the Statue of Liberty declares a Teetotaler Triumph (signaling Warner Bros.' urgent wish for a return of Prohibition, and the opportunity to make Modern Day sequels to THE PUBLIC ENEMY, THE ROARING TWENTIES, and other such Dry Days Classics.)

phantom_tollbooth Friz Freleng's 'Baseball Bugs' has become one of the most well known Bugs Bunny cartoons of all, so much so that it was referenced in hugely popular the sitcom 'Friends' in such a way that took for granted that the audience would recognise it. Commonly known as "that one where Bugs takes on a whole baseball team and plays all the positions", 'Baseball Bugs' brings back many a fond memory from my childhood. Watching it today, it's a fairly standard cartoon largely made up of visual gags of varying quality, the best involving a highly unconventional batboy. The main reason it has become semi-legendary would seem to be entirely down to its ingenious premise of pitting the rabbit against a whole team of thuggish ball players. Freleng does some interesting things with the premise but you can't help but feel a wackier director like Bob Clampett could have made so much more of it. Another problem with 'Baseball Bugs' is the more than usually abundant use of old references that inescapably date the cartoon. For cartoon aficionados like myself, these reference points always prove interesting (and 'Baseball Bugs' includes my favourite regularly used saying, "Was this trip really necessary?", which always cracks me up) but to most people they will prove perplexing and the fact that the cartoon ends with one of these forgotten catchphrases makes for a somewhat anticlimactic finale. Nevertheless, 'Baseball Bugs' is a fun short which I always enjoy seeing and which is not wholly undeserving of its reputation as a classic, even if it does pale in comparison to the truly great Warner cartoons

slymusic "Baseball Bugs" is a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by the great Friz Freleng. As you can gather from the title, this film deals with one of America's favorite pastimes: baseball! Bugs Bunny does a swell job of keeping the gags rolling when he substitutes for ALL the players on the home team (the Tea Totallers) and antagonizes the visiting team (the Gas-House Gorillas) with foul play.My favorite gags from "Baseball Bugs" include the following (DO NOT read any further if you have not yet seen this cartoon). Near the beginning, the hard-hitting Gorillas continually hit homers in a conga rhythm while all the batters dance around the baseball diamond. A gag Bugs used in various other shorts is his argument with the "umpire" (actually a Gorilla in disguise), in which he tricks the ump into declaring that he's safe instead of out. As one of the Gorillas runs the bases, Bugs stops him by showing him a picture of a scantily-clad woman while the popular song "Oh! You Beautiful Doll" can be heard in the background.Again, "Baseball Bugs" is a wonderful cartoon with plenty of gags, homers, fouls, and strikeouts. "That's what the man said! He said that! That's what he said! He really said that! That's what he said!"

J. Spurlin The Tea Totallers is not a good ball team. The average age of the players is about 93--or 93 and a half as one player tells us in his best Lou Costello imitation. The Gas-House Gorillas is not a good ball team either. Everyone on it is an enormous, bullying reprobate. Contemptuous, too. A player grounds an umpire into the ground with his fist. The overconfident jerks even dance a conga line around the bases. Bugs Bunny picks the wrong team to boo. When he shouts that he could take on the Gorillas all by himself with one hand tied behind his back, they take him up on it, except for the hand-tying. Now it's the Gorillas against Bugs on first, Bugs on second, Bugs on third, Bugs pitching, Bugs catching; and it's no match. That is, the Gorillas are no match for our wily Bugs.Friz Freleng and Michael Maltese give us several unforgettable moments: the screaming liner to left field; Bugs the catcher encouraging Bugs the pitcher with "That's the old pepper, boy"; Bugs's unique method for stealing a base; and even the Statue of Liberty imitating a typical woman fan of the day: "That's what the man said, you heard what he said, he said that!" Mel Blanc's voice talents, as usual, rival Bugs Bunny's one-man show. Treg Brown gives us several hilarious sound effects, such as what accompanies Bugs's wind-up pitch and what we hear when a Gorilla blows cigar smoke in Bugs's face. Carl Stalling writes a score worthy of Bugs and baseball.This short is available on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume One," Disc 1.