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)
34
30%
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: 114

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J.J. Walters
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Squeeze Play (4.7)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for Squeeze Play (4.7). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).

This thread is also linked in the episode page of the Episode Guide.


Original Air Date: 11/17/1983
A not-so-friendly bet between Robin Masters and ruthless magazine publisher Buzz Benoit could leave Magnum and Higgins on the street unless they can beat Benoit's team in a high-stakes softball game. Magnum thinks their chances of beating Benoit's beautiful magazine models is pretty high, until he learns that Buzz has brought in professionals to play.
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

eeyore
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#2 Post by eeyore »

I'm luke warm on this show, but I love the scene where the girl batting nails Rick in the gonads with the baseball. The look on Magnums face is priceless when she rushes up to rick who is on the ground writhing in pain and asks him if it's his stomach!

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#3 Post by IslandHopper »

eeyore wrote:I'm luke warm on this show, but I love the scene where the girl batting nails Rick in the gonads with the baseball. The look on Magnums face is priceless when she rushes up to rick who is on the ground writhing in pain and asks him if it's his stomach!
That was a great scene. This is one of my favorite episodes. I know this episode is a little more silly than many of the others, and this episode does not really involve a mystery that many of the others do, but I enjoy the episodes where the gang (Magnum, Higgins, TC & Rick) pull together to help each other. This is one of those episodes, with Higgins pitching in as 3rd base coach.

This was a unique episode of sorts in that it featured Magnum wearing two different hats that (I think) he wore only in this episode. The first hat is the Detroit Tigers "road cap" which features the orange "D" and the other is the red USC (University of Southern California) cap. We also see Magnum bat left-handed, which is a little unusual as he is right-handed.

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:
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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#4 Post by SelleckLover »

My husband is retired from being a armed guard, and still wears his "Brinks" baseball hat! :D

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#5 Post by eeyore »

The hardhat was probably just for effect. Those things are annoying and hardly anyone wears them off the construction site, retired or not. I'm kind of in the construction business and when I go on the jobsite, if I don't have to wear that hardhat, I DON'T.

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#6 Post by grapeshot »

Yeah, I gotta wear a hard hat at work quite frequently, and for sure no one would ever wear one unless they had to. Certainly not on their own time, and in a bar.

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#7 Post by eeyore »

I'm always relieved when the building is dried in and you don't have overhead work on scaffolding going on...the hardhat definately gets ditched at that poinT. Hate it when an impromptu meeting comes up and I get stuck out in the field in my high heels and a skirt, but the subcontractors don't mind. If they knew how I old I was they'd stop looking. LOL

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#8 Post by J.J. Walters »

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:
Hah, good find IH! Too funny!

I've added it to the episode guide.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#9 Post by IslandHopper »

Additional Flubs for Squeeze Play:

1. When the KKC Paddlers are practicing and Magnum is jogging to home plate to take his trun at batting practice you can see both the Jimmy (Robin 3) and the Ferrari (Robin 1) parked behind the fence just before Magnum takes the bat from Keoki. Why both vehicles? Higgins is not at practice at this point. TC's van is parked in between Robin 1 & 3.

2. While at batting practice, Magnum hits a ground ball to TC who is playing first base, and TC bobbles the ball, and Rick in frustration says to TC "C'mon TC a lizard could of caught that she's better hands than my mother!" :?: Say what? :? Was that the line in the script? Something tells me that line didn't come out as scripted.

3. In one of the classic scenes in this episode, Rick pitches the ball to Lola during batting practice, and she supposedly hits a line-drive right at Rick and hits him in the groin with the ball causing him to double over in pain. :shock: :cry: Actually, it is pretty easy to tell that when Lola hits the ball, it is not a line-drive at Rick, but a pop-up that goes towards first base.

4. As Jerome/Killer/Bad Friday pitches the first pitch of the game between the Paddlers and the Blasters, Rick is behind home plate catching and Rick says "C'mon Killer, c'mon Killer baby lay it in here sweetheart." Sweetheart? :shock: Isn't Killer/Sweetheart an oxymoron? Was that the line in the script?

5. After Jerome/Killer/Bad Friday is taken away by the Federal Marshalls, Rick takes over as Pitcher and the Blasters promptly take a 13 to 10 lead until Magnum ends the Blaster's hitting spree with a triple play. After the triple play, Magnum runs off the field toward first base and high-fives TC and they proceed off the field. As the Blasters run onto the field, the camera cuts to a shot of Rick walking away from home plate carrying the catcher's mask. Remember, at this point Rick is now the Pitcher, not the catcher, however, this is obviously a shot of Rick when he was still catcher as evidenced by him carrying the catcher's mask. You could make the argument that maybe he just happended to pick up the mask on his way back to the bench, however, in this same shot, Rick's hat is also reversed, with the bill of the hat facing backward as often worn by catchers so that they can wear the mask while wearing their hat underneath.

6. When Magnum is batting for the final time he is using an aluminum bat and as he hits the softball the sound used (crack) is the sound of a wooden bat hitting a baseball, not an aluminum bat hitting a softball, which is more like a dull 'thud' sound.

7. At Magnum's last at-bat, he hits the ball into what appears to be right-center field, and you can see the outfielders chase the ball back to the fence. As Magnum is running the bases and rounds 2nd base watch carefully for the guy playing what looks like 'short-center' field, and it appears that he has a ball in his right hand ready to throw toward home plate, however, at the same time you see the outfielder throw the ball to his cutoff-man (#11). Perhaps the director had the guy playing short-center throw a ball as well for timing purposes, as it is easier to time the throw from short-center as opposed to way out in right field.

8. As Magnum is playing solitare in Higgins' study, he lays out seven separate stacks of cards as Mickey is coming into the study carrying Buzz's copy of the Mona Lisa. The camera focuses on Mickey from behind Magnum's right shoulder and you can see a portion of the cards laid out. Visible at this point are the cards in the 6th and 7th position which are face up. The card in the 6th position is a face card and the card in the 7th position appears to be the 6 of clubs. The card in the 5th position is not turned up, nor are the cards in the 4th or 2nd positions. Cards in the 1st and 3rd positions have cards face up. When Mickey turns over the 'Queen of Hearts' it is between the 'Jack of Clubs' and '8 of Hearts.' However, these cards were not showing just seconds before. In fact, the entire configuration of the cards is different when the Queen of Hearts is turned up as compared to just seconds before.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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#10 Post by J.J. Walters »

As usual IH, simply amazing attention to detail! Thank you! I've updated the episode guide.

In #2, Rick says, "Come on T.C., a lizard could have caught that! I've seen better hands on my mother!"

In #4, "sweetheart" is not a flub. It's in character for Rick to say something like that in a softball game, especially since "Killer" is the team's #1 player and ace pitcher.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#11 Post by J.J. Walters »

A Magnum fan recently emailed an important note about this episode:

Higgins casually mentions that he has a Victoria Cross medal, the UK's highest medal of honor for bravery in combat!

I had a vague recollection of this being mentioned from years ago. I've been keeping an eye out for it as I revisit these episodes, but couldn't find it until now (thanks to Stephen Huntley). I must have watched this episode two or three times since the DVD came out, but somehow I still managed to miss this important reference! :oops:
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#12 Post by IslandHopper »

Actually, he doesn't casually mention it; it was more of an exclamation. When Higgins walks into the study, he finds Buzz conducting a photo shoot of one of his Buzzettes, who was wearing only Higgins' Victoria Cross. :shock:
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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#13 Post by J.J. Walters »

LOL!

He didn't mention that part, and I didn't check the episode yet. I remember that scene, but I don't remember the Victoria Cross reference. How in the world did I miss that?! :?

In any event, I now finally know the episode, and the context, of the Victoria Cross reference! All the relevant pages have been updated. Phew, I feel better now. ;)
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#14 Post by J.J. Walters »

I would love to know where they filmed the softball game scenes. rubber chicken, Sam, anyone?

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Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#15 Post by Sam »

James,
I may be wrong but I think it was at Kapaolono Park on Maunaloa Ave between 11th and 12th ave..The key here is to check the houses in left and right fields. It sounds like a job for RC.

If that is wrong..that location was used for the basketball shots in the episode where TC's buddy (the stunt guy) was killed in the store.

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