Take Me Up to the Ball Game

Take Me Up to the Ball Game
Screenplay by	Ken Sobol
Directed by	Ken Stephenson
Country of origin	Canada
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Michael Hirsh Patrick Loubert
Production company(s)	Nelvana
Distributor	Warner Home Video (VHS, 1980s)
Release
Original release	September 18, 1980
Chronology
Preceded by	Easter Fever (1980)

Take Me Up to the Ball Game is the sixth animated television special from Nelvana Limited, released in September 1980. The title is a play on the song title "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

A children's baseball team (consisting of anthropomorphic animals) encounters a talent scout from outer space named Irwin (voiced by Phil Silvers), who offers them the chance to play against a team from another planet. They later discover that they're playing in a championship game, and that the opposing team has never been defeated because making up one's own rules — which Earthlings call "cheating" — is a common practice in interplanetary baseball.

During the first few innings, the Earth team is not doing well against their opponents, and some of the players suggest that they should cheat as well; the team's leader, however, insists that it would be wrong because "cheaters never prosper" (an assertion that provokes laughter from the entire stadium).

The Earth players start anticipating their opponents' tricks and countering them without breaking the rules; the spectators are thrilled by this unexpected turn of events, and the Home Team actually enjoys having a genuine challenge to face despite the fact that the Earthlings are now winning. Irwin, who'd bet heavily against the Earth team, tries to put the odds back in his favor by entering the game himself, but it's no use; the Earthlings win the game.

There are three songs in this special, all sung by Rick Danko of The Band:

This special was paired with Easter Fever on the VHS videocassette Nelvanamation 2 (1990); this tape is currently out of print.

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Wikipedia