Squeeze Play (4.7)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fourth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
5
4%
9.5 (One of the Best)
6
5%
9.0 (Excellent)
23
20%
8.5 (Very Good)
33
29%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
24
21%
7.5 (Decent)
8
7%
7.0 (Average at Best)
2
2%
6.5 (Not So Good)
10
9%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
1
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 113

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charybdis1966
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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#101 Post by charybdis1966 »

Pahonu wrote:Luckily, I never got hit in the head. When I was a kid in the mid-80's, I remember there was a major league player for the Houston Astros who got hit in the face with a fastball! His name was Dickie Thon, and it broke his eye socket and ended his season. He recovered , but was never the same, having vision problems, and his career sputtered. I've never forgotten seeing the footage of his "beaning".
There have been some pretty gruesome sports injuries during my time following sports, my soccer/football team, Arsenal, had two horrific leg breaks (one a compound ankle/tibia fracture and the other a double leg break) within two seasons a few years back and the looks on the faces of the team mates were grimly unholy.

The first guy(Eduardo) returned from the injury but was never the same either and left english football after when trying to avoid another leg break moment was accused of diving.

The second(Ramsey) did come back and is now playing the best football of his career.

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#102 Post by trevor2448 »

Hi Guys.
New to this forum but am enjoying re watching Magnum episodes on Encore.
Squeeze Play is one of my faves.
I always get a chuckle from Magnum on the bench after they fall behind 13-10.
He looks at Higgins and says "Cmon Higgins, get out there."
"Higgins, this is our lives. Want some?" And he offers Higgy some Red Man chew.
Lol!! Magnum is equal mix adult and 14 yr old kid. Ha!

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308GUY
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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#103 Post by 308GUY »

Welcome aboard trevor2448.

Just curious, does the 2448 have some significance that you'd share?

Stick around, you'll like it! :magnum:
"C'mon TC...nothing can go wrong!"

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#104 Post by trevor2448 »

Thanks 308. Appreciate the welcome!
Yes, I'm a Nascar fan so 2448 is for Jeff Gordon(24) and Jimmie Johnson(48).

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#105 Post by SignGuyHPW »

This was an absolutely brilliant comedy episode. It also should completely put to bed the theory of Higgins being Robin Masters. If Higgins were Robin Masters then why would he have been worried about the estate being lost in a bet that he hadn't authorised? Also, Benoit, clearly mentioned publishing Robin's first book 22 years later so they had known each other that long and Benoit didn't seem to know Higgins. I think this episode is ultimate proof that Magnum's theory was lunacy. It was also great to see Lord James Blears in another episode.

For the non sports/softball fans that may not have understood everything: Softball is a game that is a variation of baseball, but can be played by a wider variety of skill levels. There is fast pitch softball which is more competitive and slow pitch which most recreational leagues use. The rules are similiar to baseball, but the ball is much larger and is pitched underhand style at a high arch. Robin's team probably won the league, but, in likelyhood, the league consisted of teams sponsored by other clubs or buisnesses and may not have had the most skilled players in it. In other words, it was probably a private league as opposed to one where any player was welcome to participate. Killer was a (fictional) former major league player with the Chicago White Sox that was suspended for life, apparently, for assaulting a newspaper beat writer that came up with a nickname he didn't like. Magnum knew a MLB player was a sure ringer for a softball game.

The playing looked a little weak, but that's too be expected. I was also a bit surprised to see Magnum chew tabacco as he'd not done this in any other episode I can recall. I know it was a fashionable thing to do in recreational softball in that time frame, but TV was kind of phasing out tabacco use by then.

I have a theory that they didn't outright say in the episode, but it made the most sense to me. I think Magnum knew well before the game about the marked deck of cards and had alerted Robin to it. I think if he was really in danger of losing his home, car, etc that he'd have been more conservative trying to score that run, but he ultimately knew the game WAS just a game because he'd been tipped off by the nephew that the card game was rigged off camera. I loved how the lads were watching the photo shoot and wouldn't respond to Higgins because they were transfixed on the girl. It was a pure comedy episode, but one of the better ones they ever did I think.

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#106 Post by Milton Collins »

SignGuyHPW wrote:This was an absolutely brilliant comedy episode. It also should completely put to bed the theory of Higgins being Robin Masters. If Higgins were Robin Masters then why would he have been worried about the estate being lost in a bet that he hadn't authorised? Also, Benoit, clearly mentioned publishing Robin's first book 22 years later so they had known each other that long and Benoit didn't seem to know Higgins. I think this episode is ultimate proof that Magnum's theory was lunacy. It was also great to see Lord James Blears in another episode.

I have a theory that they didn't outright say in the episode, but it made the most sense to me. I think Magnum knew well before the game about the marked deck of cards and had alerted Robin to it. I think if he was really in danger of losing his home, car, etc that he'd have been more conservative trying to score that run, but he ultimately knew the game WAS just a game because he'd been tipped off by the nephew that the card game was rigged off camera. I loved how the lads were watching the photo shoot and wouldn't respond to Higgins because they were transfixed on the girl. It was a pure comedy episode, but one of the better ones they ever did I think.
SignGuyHPW wrote:This was an absolutely brilliant comedy episode. It also should completely put to bed the theory of Higgins being Robin Masters. If Higgins were Robin Masters then why would he have been worried about the estate being lost in a bet that he hadn't authorised? Also, Benoit, clearly mentioned publishing Robin's first book 22 years later so they had known each other that long and Benoit didn't seem to know Higgins. I think this episode is ultimate proof that Magnum's theory was lunacy. It was also great to see Lord James Blears in another episode.

I have a theory that they didn't outright say in the episode, but it made the most sense to me. I think Magnum knew well before the game about the marked deck of cards and had alerted Robin to it. I think if he was really in danger of losing his home, car, etc that he'd have been more conservative trying to score that run, but he ultimately knew the game WAS just a game because he'd been tipped off by the nephew that the card game was rigged off camera. I loved how the lads were watching the photo shoot and wouldn't respond to Higgins because they were transfixed on the girl. It was a pure comedy episode, but one of the better ones they ever did I think.

I agree on both accounts First and foremost, I never liked the "Higgins is Robin" theory and actually thought it got pretty darn old in the later seasons. And that's an interesting theory on the marked deck of cards. It always did seem like TM treated his potential "booting out of Robin's nest" due to losing the bet pretty darn casually. It makes more since that he was tipped off by Mickey before the game so he knew he would be fine regardless of the game's outcome.

Overall I really like this episode and gave it an 8.5. Another comedic episode from season 4, seems like there were several of these funnier more light hearted episodes in this season (this one, Limited Engagement, either Luther Gillis, etc.) A few things that stood out to me:

- Love the softball/baseball emphasis! I'm a big baseball fan (close enough to softball:)) and we all know Selleck is. Yet another example of him bringing his own interests in the show which is super cool! And while most of the playing was pretty poor, fun to see his fantastic left handed swing as he was a very good player himself!

- I thought the whole concept of Buzz, his nephew, the Buzzettes (wow!), and his softball team was awesome. Two rich guys with nothing better to do than place high stakes bets on a softball game, absolutey a blast to me!

- The lads not answering to Higgins during the nude (I'm assuming?) photo shoot was extremely funny. Zeuss and Apollo are not just dogs but actual characters in my book and I thought this was funny, especiaslly the look of dissaproval on Higgin's face as he tried to call them.

- The game itself was great. TM chewing red man, higgins coaching third base, and Rick as the team chump were very entertaining! Too bad they lost but it set up a great ending with a rare Robin Masters appearance!

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#107 Post by thechickinthemiddle »

Like a lot of people, I know Debbie Zipp from Murder, She Wrote as Donna Mayberry, Grady Fletcher's eventual wife (as well as Michael Horton's in real life). In the MSW ep "Something Borrowed, Someone Blue", Donna's father is played by...

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Eugene Roche a.k.a. Luther Gillis!

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#108 Post by KingKC »

Fun to watch, almost a farce...but funny. This is what really happens in a lot of grudge match games. Someone brings in a ringer or two or three or more. The underdog comes close with it's own ringer. Its an old theme but still funny with all the variations you can think up. The twist at the end is the saving of the estate which I did wonder how they were going to do that.

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#109 Post by MaximRecoil »

Some corrections/points:

A softball isn't soft. It is constructed like a baseball, but is larger and heavier. Reduced velocity due to increased mass and air resistance, along with a larger surface area, make its impacts "softer" than a baseball that is hit or thrown with the same amount of force.

The "Killer" character was a former pro baseball player, not a former pro softball player.

There was no baseball played in this episode whatsoever; only softball. The biggest differences are: baseball uses a smaller ball, and the ball is pitched to the batter overhand, while in softball it is pitched underhand. The fastest baseball pitches are about 20 MPH faster than the fastest softball pitches. The particular variant of softball in this episode was "slow pitch", which has hardly any speed at all.

In school, softball is a girls' sport and baseball is a boys' sport. In adult recreational leagues, softball is popular among both men and women.

The best baseball players are household name superstars in the U.S. (e.g., Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Pete Rose, Nolan Ryan, and so on), while there's no such thing as a household name superstar softball player. In the U.S. sports hierarchy, softball isn't much higher on the ladder than kickball (which is primarily a kids' playground game which is also based on baseball), while baseball is touted as our "national pastime".

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#110 Post by thechickinthemiddle »

IslandHopper wrote:The one question I always had about this episode is where Magnum goes into the bar (Last Rivet, I think) looking for Jerome/Killer/Bad Friday and gets trampled by the construction workers rushing out of the bar, an older retired man sitting at a bar wearing a construction outfit including hardhat tells Magnum where Jerome is working. If the old man is retired as he says, then why is he still wearing a construction helmet/hardhat? To each his own, I guess. :wink:
My wild guess is that he still wants to drink at the bar but even he knows how rough it gets there. (Magnum had just been trampled after all. :P)

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#111 Post by thechickinthemiddle »

What's funny to me in the opening scene is that Taphie saying "Five years of high school for nothing." is supposed to denote an airhead personality, but technically the joke only works in places where there are middle/junior high schools with grades going to 6-9, etc.. In places without them, high schools usually go from grades 8-12, probably making a few people wonder what the joke is. :P

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#112 Post by Milton Collins »

I think this is a fun episode but have a question I'm hoping someone can clear up for me.

I see at least 2 scenes in this one that are also in the opening show introduction which started in season 1. How can this be?

Higgins in the beginning picking up the rubber chicken when talking to Magnum about the softball game and Robin and Buzzes bet.

TC playing first base and smacking his glove.

These are both definitely in the intro which started after the first few episodes of season 1. Were they shot way back then and simply re used in these episodes? Or perhaps were also used in other, earlier episodes? Not sure but just confuses me time wise.

Anyway, fun episode. Love the bet, the Robin scenes, Buzz and his Buzzetes (wow!) and Mickey cracked me up as well. I love seeing Magnum in action, you can tell he was a stud player! And making Higgins the coach and Rick an awful player was hilarious as well. I love all the sports themed episodes other than season 3's Basket Case with basketball playing Willie which I find to be awful.

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#113 Post by thechickinthemiddle »

Milton Collins wrote:I think this is a fun episode but have a question I'm hoping someone can clear up for me.

I see at least 2 scenes in this one that are also in the opening show introduction which started in season 1. How can this be?

Higgins in the beginning picking up the rubber chicken when talking to Magnum about the softball game and Robin and Buzzes bet.

TC playing first base and smacking his glove.

These are both definitely in the intro which started after the first few episodes of season 1. Were they shot way back then and simply re used in these episodes? Or perhaps were also used in other, earlier episodes? Not sure but just confuses me time wise.
If you saw this on TV, it's probably a syndicated print (with Magnum font), which uses the intro from I believe season seven, with the scenes you describe above. :) Having watched it in syndication for many years, it's still a little weird to see scenes in the intros on DVD that I never remember from before. :P

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#114 Post by Algernon Farnsworth »

Not sure if anyone noticed, but American Needle re-made the orange D cap: https://americanneedle.com/product/400- ... gers-1982/

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Re: Squeeze Play (4.7)

#115 Post by K Hale »

In honor of this episode... the cap flick signal.

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I didn't realize you were so addicted to pool.
It's not pool.
Billiards.
Snooker!
Snucker.
SNOOKER!

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