oscaralbert Review of Baseball Bugs

Baseball Bugs (1946)

In one of the wildest games ever to grace the diamond . . .

[8/10 · 10 December 2015]

. . . 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.)