The Natural

Ah, The Natural (1984), a classic American tale about… an underdog baseball team, a serial killer, a love triangle, a match fixing scandal, a freak accident in the outfield, and a magic baseball bat? We’ll get into it, along with “Homer at the Bat” (S317), a star-studded Simpsons episode that stretched the reality of the show.Also in this episode:• Randy Newman (yes, of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” fame) delivers a banger of a score that The Simpsons parody again and again• Is all the plot nonsense worth it for that astonishing Hollywood ending?• Bump Bailey and other old-time Swartzweldian baseball nicknames• How can a star like Robert Redford get beyond roles like “baseball Jesus”?Next time… GODZILLA. …The 1954 version. Also, “Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo” (S10E23).