I’m a pretty big fan of the TV series “The Simpsons,” and like any true fan of any series, I have my favorite characters, favorite quotes and favorite episodes.

My all-time favorite episode is season 4, episode 17″Last Exit to Springfield,” which chronicles Homer Simpson’s brief stint as a union head (International Brotherhood of Jazz Dancers, Pastry Chefs and Nuclear Technicians) at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. One of the funniest scenes involves Homer in Mr. Burns’ basement during negotiations:

If Homer isn’t successful in his negotiations, then he will have to settle for bargain braces for his daughter Lisa, which means a painful procedure:

Believe it or not, my childhood dentist wasn’t that different from this guy! I SWEAR he was a sadist.

In the end, Homer is successful in helping negotiate the company dental plan, and Lisa gets her “normal” braces.

But “Last Exit to Springfield” isn’t the only Simpsons episode on my list of favorites! Another is season 3 episode 17 of “The Simpsons” titled “Homer at the Bat.” Which features performances by several real-life Major League Baseball players – including Ozzie Smith, Darryl Strawberry, Wade Boggs, Mike Scioscia, Steve Sax, Ken Griffey Jr., Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens and…Don Mattingly (more about him in just a bit).

Don Mattingly, like nearly all of the other MLB players that Mr. Burns hires as ringers for his company softball team, runs into a series of misfortunes which prevent them from playing. Mattingly’s misfortune was being unable to keep his hairdo up to Burns’ standards, which got him kicked off the team.

Mattingly’s misfortunes were pretty small compared to other MLB players in this episode. He didn’t end up suffering from gigantism like Ken Griffey Jr., didn’t become a toxic avenger like Mike Scioscia and didn’t end up in the void of a “Mystery Spot” tourist trap like Ozzie Smith (seriously that’s how I want to go).

But did Mattingly’s hairdo problems with Burns have some basis in fact? Possibly…Just this morning, I got sucked into looking at a clickbait article about stupid rules different companies/corporations force their employees to follow. And the New York Yankees apparently had a rule about (drum roll) hair styles.

To view the article, click here: https://moneyversed.com/s/weird-company-rules?as=6dap23848132536490065&fbclid=IwAR3EofNiqlnbusbrE3FmZpXNASSZ43NoIq9lzYKd5vHjO6-8oIiebYvFhBA&utm_source=fb&utm_campaign=6dap23848132536490065&utm_medium=z020108&bdk=0

Since the 1970s, New York Yankees players, coaches, and male executives have been banned from growing beards or long hair. Moustaches, however, are just fine.

quote from article I just read on the Internet

Sure, I know you can’t believe every fact you read on the Internet! But another quote from that Simpsons episode helps me prove my case:

Fine! (to himself) I still like him better than Steinbrenner.

Don Mattingly, Homer at the Bat, referring to Mr. Burns

Wikipedia tells me that Don Mattingly was a New York Yankees player between 1982 and 1995. And my experiences of watching “Seinfeld” tells me that Steinbrenner could have been “that” kind of boss. I’m not really much of a follower of “sportsball,” but I do try to soak up whatever fun facts I can for the sake of trivia! Speaking of fun facts, did you know that nearly all of the dialogue from the MLB players in this episode was recorded individually – ideally whenever the players happened to be playing games in California? This whole process took about nine months. I’d say it was well worth the effort!

Well? What are you waiting for? Go watch that episode RIGHT NOW! 🙂