Lucy and Viv Play Softball

S2;E3 ~ October 14, 1963

Synopsis

Lucy
and Viv are usually bench warmers when the Danfield Volunteer Fire
Department plays softball, but when one of their players is expecting a baby and Frances passes out, Lucy and Viv take the field. Lucy’s
ill-fitting trousers help her ‘catch’ the game-winning fly ball and
save the day!

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Jimmy Garrett
(Jerry Carmichael), Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley), Candy Moore (Chris
Carmichael)

Guest
Cast

William
Schallert (Mr.
Cresant) is probably best remembered as the father on “The Patty
Duke Show” (1963-1966) and was also a series regular on “The Many
Loves of Dobie Gillis” (1959-1962). In between, he found time to
play Mr. Cresant in this episode and also a baseball-themed episode
in season one.

Mr.
Cresant runs the hardware store.

Herb
Vigran (Umpire)
played Jule, Ricky Ricardo’s music agent on two episodes of “I
Love Lucy” in addition to playing movie publicist Hal Sparks in
“Lucy
is Envious” (ILL S3;23).
He was seen in the Lucy-Desi film The
Long, Long Trailer.
Like William Schallert, the recognizable character actor also played
this role in the baseball-themed episode in season one. He went on to
play other characters in four more episodes.

In
the the first episode that Herb Vigran played umpire, his character name was Dr. Jacoby, an eye
doctor. The evening this episode first aired, Herb Vigran also
appeared on “Make Room for Daddy,” which followed “The Lucy
Show” on CBS!

Mary
Jane Croft (Audrey
Simmons) played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy.”
She also played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy
is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and
Evelyn Bigsby in“Return
Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26).
She played Audrey Simmons for eight episodes but when Lucy moves to
California, she will play Mary Jane Lewis (the actor’s married
name) until the series finale. Her husband Elliott Lewis was a
producer of “The Lucy Show” from 1962 to 1964. She also played a
character named Mary Jane Lewis on “Here’s Lucy” from 1969 to
1974.

Mary
Wickes (Frances)
was one of Lucille Ball’s closest friends and at one time, a
neighbor. She made a memorable appearances on “I Love Lucy” as
ballet mistress Madame Lamond in “The
Ballet” (ILL S1;E19). She also appeared as Frances in the penultimate episode of season
one of “The Lucy Show” “Lucy and the Runaway Butterfly”
(S1;E29). She will make one more appearance as Frances, but then
makes four more as a variety of characters. Wickes appeared in nine
episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Their final collaboration on screen
was “Lucy Calls the President” in 1977.

Karen
Norris (Babette
Edwards) previously appeared as Della Fox (aka Student #2 with a head
cold) in “Lucy
and Viv Take Up Chemistry” (S1;E26 and Ella, a maid, in “Lucy
and the Runaway Butterfly (S1;E29).
She will makes three more background appearances on “The Lucy
Show.” She also did one episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1968.

Babette
is expecting her sixth child.

Hazel
Pierce (Hazel)
was Lucille Ball’s camera and lighting stand-in throughout “I
Love Lucy.” She also made frequent appearances on the show. Of her
many on-camera appearances on “The Lucy Show” only once was she
given a character name and credited in “Lucy Plays Cleopatra”
(S1;E1). She was also an uncredited extra in the film Forever
Darling
(1956).

Four
more uncredited women play the other volunteer fire fighters / ball
players.

In April 1961 Lucille
Ball played softball in Central Park for the Broadway Show League
when she was appearing in Wildcat.
Julie Andrews (starring in Camelot)
was the catcher!

Stefan
Kanfer’s biography Ball
of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball says
that Lucille made Vivian cry on set when she couldn’t catch the
baseball bat. Lucy stormed off the set but returned a short while
later as if nothing had happened.

Lucy
and Viv play for the Danfield Fire Belles. The team is comprised of
the women’s volunteer fire fighters. In a season one episode, their barbershop quartet was named the Four Alarms.

Sherman
talks about Billy Simmons, whose mother is Audrey Simmons. When last
seen, Billy was played by Desi Arnaz Jr.

Thanks
to Audrey’s cousin Elliott, the ladies
borrow uniforms from the Danfield High School’s baseball team. Lucy’s
pants are so over-sized, he has to use the rope from her bathrobe to
keep keep them up. In real-life, Elliott is the first name of the
show’s producer who is also Mary Jane Croft’s husband!

Viv
is wearing #12, Tommy Finley’s uniform, the home-run king of Danfield
High. Lucy is wearing #13, which belonged to Art ‘Moose’ Thompson, the star pitcher. Art Thompson is the birth name of Tommy
Thompson, who was a producer on “The Lucy Show.” He is also
mentioned in “Lucy, the Camp Cook” (S3;E6).

The
Danfield Chamber of Commerce is giving every member of the winning
team “a shiny new axe.”

Here
Jerry gives Lucy some pointers about baseball, but in “Lucy and the
Little League” (S1;E28) it was Lucy doing the coaching.

Sherman,
about his mother’s pitching: “Sandy
Koufax doesn’t have a thing to worry about.” Sanford
“Sandy” Koufax pitched
12 seasons for the Brooklyn
/ Los Angeles Dodgers
from 1955 to 1966. At age 36 he became the youngest player ever
elected to
the Baseball
Hall of Fame. Two
weeks before this episode aired (but months after it was written and
filmed), Koufax was MVP at the 1963 World Series. As an actor, he
played himself on a 1962 episode of “Dennis the Menace” and a
1963 episode of “Mr. Ed” which aired just two weeks prior to this
mention on “The Lucy Show.”

Lucy
owes $86.72 at Mr. Cresant’s Hardware Store. That is the equivalent
of $730 in today’s economy. [2020]

When
Mr. Cresant asks Babette why she can’t play in the big game, she
replies
“Well, I’m—”
but is cut off by Viv before she can say the word “pregnant”.
This is similar to “I Love Lucy” where the word was not allowed
to be spoken aloud.

Mr.
Cresant sends Lucy and Viv to the batting machine at the amusement
park to determine who will play in the big game.

The
stadium wall has advertising for Cresant’s Hardware, Herb’s TV, and
Hoffstedder’s Drug Store. Herb’s TV was seen in “Lucy Puts Up an
Antenna” (S1;E9) where Herb was played by Del Moore. Mr.
Hoffstedder was mentioned in “Lucy and the Runaway Butterfly”
(S1;E29) and “Lucy and Viv Become Tycoons” (S1;E20) where he was
called Dr. Hoffstedder. We have yet to meet Mr. Hoffstedder himself
or “visit” his drug store.

Callbacks!

Lucille
Ball wearing an over-sized baseball uniform is visually similar to
“Lucy and Bob Hope” (ILL S6;E1) where she disguised herself as
one of the players.

Blooper
Alerts!

In
the scene at the ballpark, with Lucy in the outfield, her hair is
darker and much longer. That is because it is her own hair.