The Simpsons: Every MLB Cameo In Homer At The Bat (& Who They Couldn't Get)

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It’s been 30 years since The Simpsons brought some of Major League Baseball’s biggest stars to Springfield for the classic episode “Homer At The Bat,” but not every player the show approached was game to appear in the outing. Even among the world of sitcoms, The Simpsons is famous for mocking its own guest stars. The Conners can poke fun at Aaron Rodgers all they like, but Springfield’s first family set the gold standard when it came to shows bringing celebrities on, only to roast them mercilessly for the sake of a gag.

Credit where it is due, many of these guest stars proved surprisingly game when it came to the iconic series poking fun at them. Early on the show, The Simpsons often featured guest stars playing original characters, as was the case in Dustin Hoffman and Michael Jackson’s cameo appearances. However, as the show entered its so-called Golden Age in season 3, The Simpsons made a habit of getting celebrities to play goofy parodies of themselves—a trend epitomized in one classic episode.

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In “Homer At The Bat” (season 3, episode 16), Homer’s incredible winning streak sees the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant’s baseball team defy expectation and end up in a championship face-off against Shelbyville. Legendary Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder’s script for the episode soon jeopardizes this hot run, though, as the power-hungry Mr. Burns hires some of Major League Baseball’s biggest stars to “work” at the plant solely so he can use them on his team. The elaborate scheme backfires as a series of increasingly absurd coincidences result in the original team being reinstated as unfortunate fates befall all of the plant’s new acquisitions. The inspired episode managed