It’s the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday, July 19 as the MLB All-Star Game takes place in Los Angeles, with pre-game coverage starting on Fox at 7:00pm ET. And while the sport’s biggest stars put on a show for the national audience, baseball has also had plenty of big innings on scripted TV over the years.
Writers have found ways to weave the game into stories in all genres. Baseball has always been rife with comedy (Who’s on First?), and the feelings of nostalgic Americana it evokes make it an imaginative playground for sci-fi.
It’s also a field in which everyday people can become heroes with that clutch hit or miraculous catch in a bar-league softball game. And who doesn’t love the story of an underdog who toils away in the minor leagues looking to achieve—or regain—that big-league glory?
TV writers have come up with some awesome baseball club names: Rockingham Ruckus, Quahog Whooping Scalpers, Blattsville Millstones and Baltimore Nordiques, just to name a few.
And one show’s famous baseball episode was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
To honor baseball’s contribution to TV, here’s a lineup of our favorite fictional ball clubs from the small screen.