In The Big Inning

Season 2, Episode 4, Aired

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3.7
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It's time to play ball in Walnut Grove! After losing badly the previous year, the team knows that they need to find a more reliable pitcher than Nels Oleson, and Mr. Mumford's golden arm seems to be heaven sent as he is immediately placed on the team. Everything is going beautifully until Walnut Grove becomes overly confident of their ability to win it all, and bets are made, prompting Mr. Mumford's no-nonsense wife to forbid letting him play amidst such silly gambling. She is a woman who fiercely holds her ground with this, but Mr. Mumford is a talent that the team cannot afford to lose, so they must pull together to make the betting concept seem more appealing to Mrs. Mumford.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (4)

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  • The Walnut Grove Baseball Team badly need a victory - and a much better pitcher than Mr. Oleson. Enter Mr. Mumford who has quite an arm on him!

    5.0
    "Mediocre"
    By Lady_Lancaster, Dec 10, 2011
    Walnut Grove are sick of losing the baseball competition every year and one thing they desperately need is someone who can pitch better than Nels Oleson. Along comes Mr. Mumford who shows his stuff while throwing stones at a chicken hawke.

    The who town turns out to watch the match against neighbouring Sleepy Eye but the game and the result (and therefore the episode) is very predictable. Mr. Mumford makes a fantastic pitcher and the visiting team don't know what hit them because they certainly didn't hit much!

    Mrs. Mumford, very much against gambling, is happy when she learns that wagered money will go to a worthy cause so all is well that ends well. Quite dull but Mr. Edwards, as usual, was very amusing, showing once against the excellent comedic talents of Victor French.moreless

  • The town of Walnut Grove is discouraged about their prospects of winning the annual baseball game against Sleepy Eye this year after losing badly to them the previous year until Charles discovers what a killer arm his friend Jebediah Mumford possesses.moreless

    8.7
    "Great"
    By animaluvr, Dec 08, 2011
    An extremely funny episode, one of the funniest in the whole series. It actually isn't too emotional, whereas so many other Little House episodes are. It's also one of the few Little House episodes that portray a sporting event right in Walnut Grove. It's plumb full of excitement and humor. One doesn't have to attend a local baseball game or even watch one on TV, because this episode is equal to all the excitement that one of those games offer! And it's actually pretty nice not having an episode that is over-emotional, an episode that is basically humorous and exciting! A wonderful episode it is.moreless

  • Boy, the towns sure take this game seriously!

    6.7
    "Fair"
    By crittercove, Nov 15, 2010
    Although admittedly this wasn't my favorite episode, I still don't think it was "bad." I'm not sure I've ever seen a bad Little House episode. I'm such a fan of the show and have been since it first came out.

    Given how many parents these days get so "nuts" about their kids' games, it seems fitting to show that competition in sports is not a new thing. I imagine the cavemen probably got into it, too!

    Walnut Grove wanted to finally win a game against the bigger, "better" team, just once, but the odds were against them...that is until they accidentally discovered one of their own townsmen was a great pitcher. The problem came in, however, when the wife learned the game was being bet on. Her religion strictly prevented her from allowing this, so she pulls her husband from the game. Not only was money on the line, but pride. The men are devastated, but the pitcher (a meek, "obedient" husband) was not going to stand up to his wife. If she said he couldn't pitch, he couldn't pitch. The women in town decide it would be okay to wager on the game as long as the winnings went to the church, so the wife finally relents and the game goes on with her husband pitching. It was a cute enough episode, a little different, but that's okay. They can't all be serious. A lighthearted version every so often is a nice break.moreless

  • The first of a number of "sports" episodes on the series.

    5.3
    "Mediocre"
    By Mac-Ale, Feb 19, 2007
    Walnut Grove and Sleepy Eye square off in base ball, with nothing really of consequence (well, pride and money) hanging in the balance.

    I suppose this episode probably only appeals to sports fans, and I am a huge fan of sports history so I liked it. Nevertheless, when I last watched it I realized again just how much time (over 30 minutes) is devoted to the "big game" itself. There are some errors, some of which I've submitted to the episode guide here at TV.com, some of the notable ones are the base ball gloves and Doc Baker talking about college baseball in his youth (just wrong historically, given his age). Another error is his "pin-stripe" uniform, pin-stripes are post turn-of-the-century phenomena, not common until the late 1910s.

    There is some fun here, the traditional abhorence of gambling which almost sidelines the new pitcher and the sense of betting on the outcome that both intrigues and repels the town of Walnut Grove at the same time. And the game itself is fairly rowdy and amusing, though this story is probably still best for fans of the game themselves.moreless
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  • TRIVIA (5)

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    • Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary) doesn't appear in this episode until much later, in the baseball game scenes. She is oddly absent from all Ingalls family scenes before that.

    • When Mr. Mumford throws his first practice pitch, it hits Mr. Edwards square in the face and knocks him down. In reality, a baseball going at that speed would have probably killed him--sadly, it has happened to other people before. Mr. Edwards, however, didn't even get so much as a measly bruise!

    • Dr. Baker wears a uniform he says is from his college team, the "Mulligans". This is unlikely, as base ball was a gentleman's club sport when he would have been in college and the very first college challenge game (between Williams and Amherst) was in 1859 -- only about 15 years before this episode takes place.

    • Nitpick: On the scoreboard, Laura writes a 2 on Walnut Grove's side. The shape of the 2 changes the next time they show the board.

    • Goof: All the base ball (two words back then) players on the opposing team are wearing gloves when fielding. In the year depicted in this episode, only the catcher and occasionally the first baseman wore gloves. It wasn't until the late 1890s that all fielders wore them.

  • QUOTES (2)

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    • Nels: How do you expect me to pitch with a thing like this? It's not even round. Mr. Hanson: That's just for practice. I'm saving the game balls. And the way you throw, you won't even notice the difference. Nels: I did my best last year! Mr. Hanson: I know you did. And if you hadn't, we'd have something to look forward to this year.

    • Dr. Baker: (Explaining the catcher position to Mr. Edwards) Easiest position on the team, Edwards. Anything the pitcher throws, you catch it, you throw it right back to him. You don't even have to move. Mr. Edwards: Last time I heard about anything that easy, I wound up holding the bag on a snipe hunt.

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