Homer Simpson to be ‘inducted’ into Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday

Homer Simpson will be “inducted” into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday in Cooperstown, New York.

This comes 25 years after the “Homer at the Bat” episode of The Simpsons aired on Fox.

“Homer at the Bat” aired on Feb. 20, 1992, and featured the voices of baseball stars Ken Griffey Jr., Wade Boggs, Ozzie Smith, Don Mattingly, Roger Clemens, Darryl Strawberry, Jose Canseco and Steve Sax, and became an instant classic.

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The Hall of Fame will present a plaque to Simpson and there will be a Simpsons-themed exhibit, according to ESPN.

The Simpsons episode will also be shown on Saturday on an outside screen at baseball’s shrine. Simpson’s induction will include his onscreen acceptance speech, Hall of Fame officials said.

In a prepared “statement,” Simpson said it is “truly an honour for me to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame.”

“My record for eating hot dogs will never be broken. I’ve been a fan for 40 years, which is how long some games take.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "My record for eating hot dogs will never be broken. I've been a fan for 40 years, which is how long some games take."

ESPN also reported that actual hall members Smith and Boggs will be in town to talk about taping their roles as Simpson’s teammates on the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant softball team. Sax will also be saying a few words.

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“I get asked as much about being on The Simpsons as I do about baseball,” Sax told ESPN. “They don’t want to know how it was to hit against Nolan Ryan. They want to know about being on that show.”

“The museum is always cognizant of baseball’s contribution, not only to the game, but the culture,” Hall president Jeff Idelson said.

Boggs, Smith, Sax, Martin and several other members of the Simpsons team will hold a roundtable discussion Saturday morning before Simpson is “inducted.”

In the episode, most major leaguers hired by the evil Mr. Burns to play for Springfield in the championship game against the Shelbyville Nuclear Plant are befallen by some odd fate. Strawberry is the lone starter, and Homer pinch-hits for him in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and the bases loaded.

In the episode, Homer turns out to be a hero. He gets hit in the head with a pitch, giving Springfield a 44-43 win.

—With files from The Associated Press