Gatchaman Episode 63 – Massacre of the Mecha Curve Ball

Gatchaman Episode 63 – Massacre of the Mecha Curve Ball



We see an array of bright lights, but it is not an interrogation chamber. Rather, we are looking at a night baseball game. Cheering spectators are in the stands, and the third baseman is getting ready to take his turn at bat.

The scene pulls back, and we can see that we are watching the television in the Snack Jun. Apparently there are some serious baseball fans on the Science Ninja Team!



It’s the bottom of the ninth, and the Monsters (yes, that’s the name of the baseball team) are losing 2 to 0. But if the player at bat, Shimanaga, can hit a home run, the game will be tied.

And Shimanaga misses the first pitch.

“What’s wrong with Shimanaga?” Jinpei complains. “Why couldn’t he hit it? It was good!” He covers his face in disgust.



“You might as well give up. It’s a loss for the Monsters.” Ryu tells him.

Jinpei turns his view to Ken and Joe, seeking another target for his anger.

“All this time and you’ve only bought water?” he complains.



Ryu is taken aback by this, but I guess he’s in the clear, as he appears to be drinking orange juice.

“Yeah, so?” Ken laughs.

“Strike two!” the announcer calls from the television, and Jinpei is distracted again, hitting the set.

“Gee, Shimanaga, are your eyes open?” Jinpei asks angrily. He moves to kick the television, but is stopped by an irritated call.

“Jinpei!” Jun lectures. “If you’re not going to help out with the bar, then just get lost.” Her voice doesn’t sound very menacing, but then, she is tossing around an ice pick as she’s talking.



“Come on, this is the best part!” Jinpei pleads. “I’ll help you after this, okay, Sis? You know I’m good for it!”



But Jun turns away angrily, stabbing the ice pick into a block of ice.

“Honestly!” she says angrily. “We’re going out of business if we keep letting customers on tabs take up all of our barstools!” Ouch! Sounds like someone in the room should be wincing…

“Cool it, Jun!” Ken says, oblivious as usual. “Come on, there’s no need to take things out on us.”



I can’t see what Ken is drinking, but it sure looks to me like Joe has orange juice, not water.

“Keep it down, willya?” Jinpei butts in. “This is the best part of the game, so zip it!”



“Okay, with my tab, I guess I’d better.” Ken says sheepishly, rubbing his head.



Oh look! Ken is drinking orange juice too! Unless the water in Utoland is a weird shade of orange… ewww…..

At the baseball game, there’s another pitch, and Jinpei bites his towel in anticipation.



“All right! Give me a home run, Mr. Shimanaga!” Jinpei urges.

And he does. Jinpei cheers.



But Ryu bangs his fist and lowers his head in disgust.

“Great!” he moans. Guess he was betting on the other team?

But it’s not quite a home run. The ball is still in the outfield, bouncing around. Shimanaga is running around the bases, but as he passes one, his foot seems to stick to it, and he falls down, rather than running forward.



“What are you doing? Get up and run!” Jinpei shouts.

Ken is shocked by this turn of events!



Just as Shimanaga breaks his foot free, he’s tagged out.

“Aw, you moron!” Jinpei whines. “That ain’t no pro!”

“Aw, you moron!” Jinpei whines. “That ain’t no pro!”

“Too bad for you, Squirt!” Ryu says, slapping his hand onto Jinpei’s head.



I wonder if Ryu won enough money from Jinpei to pay off his tab?

Shimanaga is booed off of the field.

“This blows!” Jinpei says, moving to turn off the set.

“Hold on!” Ken says.

“Big Bro, you don’t want to watch this sorry game anymore, do you?” Jinpei asks.

“Something caught my attention about what just happened to that ball player.” Ken says.



“Huh? What you talkin’ ‘bout, Bro?” Jinpei asks, in a very bad Gary Coleman impersonation.

“Are you saying the game was fixed?” Ryu asks.

“No, I’m not.” Ken replies. “But didn’t the way Shimanaga moved look kind of queer to you?” Queer? Ooh, does Ken have his Gaydar on? Yaoi fans, take note!

“Yeah, now that you mention it.” Jinpei says thoughtfully. “I guess it was a little odd for a fast runner like him.”



“It didn’t look like he sprained his ankle or anything.” Ryu notes.



“Ken, why do you even care about stuff like that? It’s not like you’re a fan.” Joe asks. Hmmm… perhaps a yaoi fan might say Joe was jealous? Okay, I’ll stop with the yaoi comments… I promise!



“Well you see,” Ken explains, “there’s a report from Dr. Nambu about an incident involving a baseball game.”

And instantly, the entire team is being briefed by Dr. Nambu at the Crescent Coral Base.



“The incident happened a few days ago during a baseball game in Ameris.” Nambu says. “During a fifteen second blackout, all of the players and umpires on the field suddenly disappeared. It’s simply incomprehensible to me.”

Ken and Joe take in this news with serious expressions.



“Do you think it could be Galactor up to its old tricks again, Doc?” Ken asks.

“Hmm…” Nambu replies, closing his eyes, bowing his head and rubbing his chin. “I can’t think of anyone other than Galactor who would be capable of executing such an intricate plan on a large scale like this.”

“Damn! They’re trying to do a big magic show or something this time!” Joe curses.



“Doctor, do you have any idea why they kidnapped the players?” Jun asks.



“I’ll bet they got mad because the team lost the game!” Jinpei jokes.

“Jinpei…!” Jun says threateningly.

“I don’t know the answer to that yet,” Nambu says, ignoring Jinpei’s outburst, “but I believe there has got to be some other reason.”

“Is it possible the same kind of incident that happened in Ameris could happen here?” Ken asks.



“Interpol Headquarters has requested the Science Ninja Team’s assistance on this puzzling case.” Nambu informs them. Hmmm… what makes Interpol think the Science Ninja Team can help?

“They can request, but for us this is like trying to figure out a magic trick!” Ryu sighs unhappily.



“Wait a sec!” Ken says, placing a reassuring hand on Ryu’s shoulder. “Remember that really messed-up play that happened in yesterday’s game?”

“I don’t wanna hear it!” Jinpei runs up.

“Jinpei!” Jun smacks the boy. “Don’t be stupid!”



“Could what happened yesterday be connected to the disappearances?” Ken wonders out loud.

“Oh, I see. That’s why you watched the game ‘til the end.” Joe finally gets it.



“Yeah, something about that game bugged me!” Ken confirms. “Doctor, can we stake out the stadium to investigate?” Sheesh, Ken, of course you *can* stake out the stadium. I think the word you’re looking for is *may*… sigh.

“Good idea.” Nambu responds thoughtfully, ignoring Ken’s lapse in grammar. “The same type of incident might happen again.”

“I want all of you to go to Gorakuen Stadium for surveillance tonight.” Nambu orders the Team.

“Shazam! Checking out a night game, huh? How cool!” Jinpei dances with joy before Jun pounds him on the head.



“We’re going there on a mission.” she reminds Jinpei as she whaps him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” Jinpei squeaks.

__________________

Sure enough, we see a brief shot of goons in the scoreboard, before it begins to gleam, and the lights move down, as if to attack. They turn on, and the Team is blinded.



Wow, even their visors don’t help!

“Let’s get out of here!” Ken cries.



Everyone runs off, but the baseball field begins to break apart. Ken finds himself standing over a large crack.



The others are in this predicament as well!





Despite their efforts to stay above, they begin to fall down into the hole that has just been created.



Ken tries very hard not to fall in.



Joe shoots his cablegun.



Joe holds on with his gun, and Ryu grabs Joe’s leg as he falls. Joe retracts the cable, and the two ninjas move away.



“Come on, Joe! Please!” Ryu begs.

The two escape and turn back just in time to see the field closing up.



“Ken!” Joe shouts.

“Jun!” Ryu adds.

I guess now they know what happened to Jinpei and all the players.

Ken and Jun are lying on a metal floor at the bottom of a long shaft.



“Jun, Jun, are you all right?” Ken asks softly, as he opens his eyes.

“I’m fine.” she tells him.

“Let’s just stay still a little longer.” he advises her.



“Okay.” she whispers.

Sure enough, a large clear dome comes out of the floor to cover them.



A tube connects to the top of the dome, spewing in purple gas. Oh no! Not the dreaded purple gas from episode 61!



“Gas!” Ken cries, in case we didn’t know what the purple haze was. He and Jun cough and choke, and we see that they are being monitored on a viewscreen by our favorite villain.



“How do you like sucking up the air in there, Science Ninja Team Numbskulls?” Katse sneers. “That poisonous gas is 100 proof!” Hmmm… does Katse realize that ‘100 proof’ only means 50%?

“There’s no way to defend against it.” Katse goes on. “Now let’s get this thing going before the others show up!” And he presses a button on his control panel.

But lest you think he’s set off some deadly weapon, he starts speaking into the panel.



“Captain Bismal, haven’t you completed the work yet?” Katse demands. The Captain appears on the screen. Ooh, and now I see the source of ADV’s name for him! (Yep, his name isn’t in the subs.) He’s wearing a Pepto-pink skintight outfit with red accents that look like tongues… or perhaps muscles? Little yellow spikes, reminiscent of the yellow fangs on the goon masks, stick out of his shoulders. I’ll bet this guy has a hard time finding a girl to slow-dance with him at the Galactor socials.



The Captain looks like he’s standing in front of a missile.

“We’re ready to install the detonator right now, M’Lord.” Bismal says in a very ‘Texas’ sort of drawl.

“Right. Take care of it right away!” Katse snaps.

“Aye.” Bismal acknowledges. “The Super Megaton Hydrogen Bomb.” He gestures to the massive missile behind him, in case you hadn’t noticed it yet.

We see goons working on the bomb, as we head off to a commercial break.



While Solid Gold Ken isn’t Pepto-Pink, he would sure look nice on my mantel!

When we return, Nambu is standing up hurriedly.

“Are you saying both Ken and Jun were kidnapped when they tried to rescue Jinpei?” the Doctor gasps. Joe and Ryu appear sheepish at this statement.



“Well, to be more precise, they disappeared into the ground.” Joe clarifies.

“It amounts to the same thing!” Nambu points out. “And to think, after all the warnings I gave them.” Um… what warnings? I’m not recalling any warnings…

“They fell right into Galactor’s trap.” Nambu steams.

“But Dr. Nambu, they both acted like they were trying to be captured, to me.” Ryu says hesitantly. Really? I don’t recall that, but let’s go with it, shall we?



“Actually, if they had wanted to escape, they could have done it with their Bird Capes. Hmmm….” Nambu says, his anger cooling. I’ll take this opportunity to mention that Jun could have used her yo-yo in the same way Joe used his gun.

Joe’s face lights up as his bracelet does the same.



Is it just me, or does he have a Chucky-like expression? Maybe it’s just because we were talking about Chucky dolls in the last episode…

“Well, speak of the Devil! Here they are now.” Joe says. “This is G2 here, go ahead!”

But it’s not Ken or Jun’s voice that comes out.

“This is G4, Jinpei!”

“Huh? Aw, it’s only Jinpei.” Joe says in a disappointed tone. I am here! Weren’t they all concerned about Jinpei just a little while ago?

“So, you’re still alive?” Ryu asks conversationally.



“That’s not very nice!” Jinpei lectures. “It took a lot of trouble contacting you!” We can see that Jinpei is in a cell with the baseball umpires, who seem to be wearing… tuxedos? And white gloves?





“Don’t steam your shorts, Shortstop.” Joe says casually. “What’s the status down there, anyway?”

“Take a wild guess. All bases are loaded with no outs.” Jinpei reports. Gee, they’re really taking this baseball metaphor a bit far, aren’t they?

And now Dr. Nambu is in on the conversation. Rather than just lean over and talk into Joe’s bracelet, he pulls out a massive, high tech cell phone.



“Never mind that.” Nambu says. “What happened to the other players who were kidnapped with you?”

“It’s kind of screwy, but all those ballplayers are being given really intense training so they can fight for Galactor!” Jinpei reveals.

We see a shot of a robot with a very long Pinocchio-nose. A ball shoots out of the nose.



Shimanaga hits the ball, and it pounds right through the robot, crunching into the metal wall. Captain Bismal comes up to congratulate him personally on his work.

“Very good! You’ve been well-prepared through baseball. You’ll be working for Galactor before you know it!” Bismal sounds like an evil, Texas-Rancher version of Fagin (from Oliver Twist).



We can hear Jinpei’s voice as we look at the baseball player.

“Shimanaga looks like a totally different person!” he says. “He’s probably screwed up because of some kind of drug, or gas.”

“All right, Jinpei, I copy that.” Nambu says into his oversized phone. Maybe using oversized objects is Nambu’s way of appearing thinner?

“Ken and Jun have already infiltrated.” the Doctor goes on. “I want you to work with them and report Galactor’s activities.”

“Really? Big Bro and Sis are here?” Jinpei is all smiles. “Thanks for sending in the pinch hitters!”



But Jinpei’s smile turns into a frown.

“I’ll call you again later. Bye!” He turns quickly and moves away from the bars of his cell, lying down on the floor.

We see two sets of green-uniformed legs approaching the cell door. Jinpei lies on the ground, his eyes closed as we hear the cell door opening and closing. Footsteps come closer. Jinpei opens his eyes to see…



Ken and Jun have been deposited on the floor of the cell next to him!



“Sis! Big Bro!” he calls out, oblivious to the umpires around him who no longer seem to be quite so out of it. “They’re both deader ‘n dead! All because I messed up…” He begins crying.



“Jinpei!” Ken says.

“Jinpei?” Jun asks.

Jinpei freaks out as Jun’s hand starts twitching. He jumps back in terror.

“Aaah! It’s the living dead!” he cries. (FTR, the subs say ‘Ghosts!’)

“Jinpei, hold it down!” Ken lectures quietly. “Why are you freaking out?”

__________________

Now it’s just the White Shadow and the Pink Heartburn.



Ken leaps out of the way of Bismal’s swing and contacts Nambu on his bracelet.

“Dr. Nambu!” he calls. “This is Gatchaman. Do you read me? Please come in!”



“This is Nambu. Go ahead!” Nambu replies on his massive phone. Joe and Ryu are apparently listening in.



“Yes, are you sure?” Nambu asks, but we don’t hear Ken’s side of the conversation. Presumably their talk is interrupted from moment to moment by Bismal and his club. “I understand. I’ll try to get it arranged right away.” Nambu puts down the phone.

“We’ve got a serious problem here.” Nambu says to Joe and Ryu.

“Doctor, we have to make them cancel the night game!” Joe exclaims. I guess he and Ryu heard Ken’s silent report.



“Darn tootin’!” Ryu adds.

“Impossible, the game has already started.” Nambu replies, pulling up his sleeve to check the time on his watch.

“What?” Joe is shocked.

“Our only chance is to locate the detonator and disarm it as soon as possible!” Nambu orders. “We haven’t a second to waste!”

“No problem.” Joe says casually. “Ryu and I will try to take care of that.”



“I’m counting on you.” Nambu says. “I’ll have to explain the situation to the police and enlist their help. Now get a move on!”

“You got it!” Joe and Ryu shout, barely taking time to salute before they run out of the room.

We cut to the park, where the game is going on. Joe and Ryu are searching for the detonator.





Meanwhile, at the amusement park next door to the stadium, Katse pops out of a hatch at the top of one of the rides. He is quickly followed by Jun and Jinpei.



Just as they figure out where they are, the circular platform Jun and Jinpei are on begins to spin rapidly.

“Whoa, make it stop!” Jinpei moans.



“Let’s get out of here!” Jun says, throwing out her yo-yo. She pulls Jinpei to safety. Unfortunately, they land on a roller coaster track. Can you just guess what’s going to happen next?



Yep, it’s the Galactor Mecha Bullet Train!



Is it just me, or does its head look like that of the Turtle King?

Jinpei points out that a train is coming from the other direction as well.



But they jump away just as the two trains hit.



Jun and Jinpei see Katse rising up an elevator tube in front of them.



Hi escape pod seems to be the top of one of the rides. Once inside, Katse activates a viewscreen, which shows the inside of the ballpark.

“Too bad I won’t get to see the end of this game.” Katse says to himself. “Go ahead, lose your cool now, Science Ninja Team. Farewell!” And he blows them a kiss on two fingers. Yes, really.



“Save me a seat in Hell!” Katse says, before taking off in his amusement-park-ride rocket.

“Damn it! You coward!” Jinpei shouts after the departing rocket. “Stupid rat fink Katse!”



“Jinpei,” Jun reminds him, “we have to move quickly. Let’s hurry up and find the detonator.”



“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Jinpei admits.

Meanwhile, inside the base, Ken is still avoiding Bismal, who is now using his club as a bat to pelt Gatchaman with the metal balls we saw the pitchers throwing earlier.



Ken is narrowly managing to avoid the balls.



Ken throws his boomerang at Bismal, who knocks it back with his club. Ken is horrified to see his own weapon approaching him!



The boomerang scratches Ken’s face, making him bleed. Yes, ‘real’ honest-to-goodness blood here, people!



The boomerang sticks into the ceiling, and Ken slumps to the floor, as if the tiny scratch from the boomerang was enough to completely disable him. Hmmm… somehow, I’m not buying it.

But Bismal is. He moves in for the kill…

And we cut back to the stadium. Ryu is still searching for the detonator.



And so is Joe.



Policemen are searching as well.

“You haven’t found it yet?” the Chief of Police is saying on the phone, near a despondent Nambu. “Well look harder, Stanley!”



“We’re counting on you, Science Ninja Team.” Nambu mutters to himself, his head in his hands.

Back to Ken, who is leaping away to avoid Bismal’s attacks.

“Batter up!” Bismal shouts as he swings. He jumps into the air after Ken.



But as he hits the ceiling, Bismal’s club hits Ken’s boomerang, which is still stuck there. Now Bismal’s club is stuck to the boomerang, which is stuck to the ceiling. Ken takes advantage of Bismal’s confusion and punches him.



As Bismal falls, he is treated to this unique view of the White Shadow.



Bismal lands on the ground, after being stomped on by Ken in mid-air. His club clatters out of his hand, the boomerang still stuck in it.



“Three pitches and three strikes. The hardest hitters always miss inside balls.” Ken notes. Hmmm… I was expecting a more punchy ‘Three strikes and you’re out!’ line, but I guess Ken wanted to elaborate a bit.

“Now spill it!” Ken grabs Bismal by the collar, shaking him. “Where’s the detonator, you Galactor loser?”

“I don’t know…” Bismal chokes.

“I won’t let you off with that!” Ken exclaims. “You must be the one who set it! So tell me, out with it!”



Ken starts banging Bismal’s head against the floor.

“Millions of lives are at stake!” Ken shouts. “Tell me where it is! Now, damn it!”

Ken bangs Bismal against the floor so hard that the man’s mask breaks in two and falls apart, revealing his strange green hair. Hmmm… could he be related to Jun?

“Device is behind where the home run ball hits the rear screen.” Bismal moans.



“Wait, what are you talking about?” Ken is horrified. “When there’s a home run…”



We cut to Joe, who is speaking to Ken via bracelet.



“What, Ken?” Joe asks. “Do you mean that when a home run ball flies into the rear screen…?”

“Oh yeah!” Jinpei points. “That thing usually spurts water to celebrate!” Ah, so the musical home run fountain does play a crucial role in the plot after all!



“This is bad!” Jun mutters.

So, do they call off the game, preventing a home run from being hit?

No. Instead they call Dr. Nambu, who screams at them all to ‘hurry’.

So they do. Joe is moving faster than anyone can see.



Ryu climbs the fence as speedily as he can.



And Jun and Jinpei are dashing down.



And of course, at that moment, a player hits the ball. The announcer states that it looks like it ‘could be a home run’!

“Great Scott!” Nambu practically screams in horror.

__________________

BOTP Episode 63 – Zoltar Strikes Out

Deep beneath the sea, here, at Center Neptune, defense command base for Planet Earth and the outer worlds of the Federation, there is, now and then, a moment of peace and quiet.

We move from our peaceful scene of Center Neptune viewed from the waters, to one of Zark descending to his station from his elevation tube.



“With no emergency alerts in effect, I might even get a chance to sneak a peek at the baseball game on my monitor tonight.” Zark reveals. “You know, everybody has a dream, even robots! And I’ve always dreamed of being a big league player!”

Zark flies across the room, with Rover looking on curiously.



“I’d be awfully good in the outfield.” Zark tells us. “I can really cover a lot of ground!” Yeah, but at his flying speed, the entire game would be over before Zark crossed the outfield.

1-Rover-1 barks.

“Yes, 1-Rover-1,” Zark replies, “and you’d be a very good bat boy… if you didn’t eat the bats! Actually, I really should be a pitcher. With my control and concentration, I’d pitch a no-hitter every time out!” Yeah, until a player on the other Team started talking like Susan, and then Zark would simply break down!

“I can see it now,” Zark goes on, “the last of the ninth in the Intergalactic Playoffs, the count is full! I reach back for a little extra…” And Zark actually does reach back. He’s got his boomerang.

“Wind up, and deliver!” Zark finishes, throwing the boomerang around the room.



1-Rover-1 watches it as it circles.



This time, Zark actually manages to catch the boomerang without having it crash into his control panels.



“Strike out! I win the big game!” Zark crows. “So much for dreaming. Better get back to reality.” He turns toward his monitors once more.

“Well, that’s good.” he notes as he looks at his screens. “Still no sign of any disturbance in outer space. Maybe I will just see how the ball game is going. I know G-Force will be watching down in the Snack Bar.”

And now we are treated to a slow disco beat as we see the bright lights of the ball game.

And up at bat for the Masters (not the Monsters) is… Joe Galactor! Yep, just like the whale named Nambu, this is our proof that somebody at Sandy Frank productions was actually listening to the Japanese audio once in awhile.

The baseball announcer sounds like Mark plugging his nose. It’s the bottom of the ninth, and the Sharks have 2, the Masters have zip. But there are two men on base, and their ‘number one slugger, Joe Galactor’ is up! Here’s the pitch…

And we cut to the Team watching the game at the Snack Bar.

Joe Galactor gets a strike.

“In a slump!” Keyop burbles.

“Stop it, Keyop! He’s our main man!” Tiny protests.

“Man out!” Keyop grimaces menacingly. Tiny seems startled by this pronouncement.

Joe Galactor has strike two.

“Trade him!” Keyop broops, hitting the television set. But Princess stops him before he kicks it.

“Keyop, the set isn’t the one striking out!” Princess says softly, as she casually tosses around an ice pick.

“Gotta lose my aggressions!” Keyop says.

“Why get excited? Joe’s due for a hit!” Mark says, rubbing his head with a sheepish expression.

According to nasal-Mark announcer, Joe Galactor is still in there, although he’s fouled off five in a row. There’s another pitch, and Keyop bites his towel in anticipation.

And Joe belts it! Keyop is excited. But wait a minute… his foot is caught on the bag! He’s tagged out!

“Yeeech! Unreal!” Keyop moans, slapping his face.

“Told you!” Keyop burbles. “Joe’s a bum!” And I have to say, I’m to hear a burbling Keyop call Joe a name. I’m just waiting for the Joe I’m thinking of to come up and pound him into the ground!

“You notice, he walks better than he runs.” Tiny comments, as he watched Joe Galactor leave the field.

“It’s a real barrel of laughs to watch a game with you guys.” Jason says sarcastically.

“You know that was weird, Jason.” Mark says. “Like he was stuck in glue! Let’s check with the Chief.”

And instantly, there they are, all talking to the Chief at Center Neptune.

“We’ve just received word that somehow, working in absolute secrecy, Spectra has managed to conceal a powerful bomb the size of a blimp, somewhere within the radius of twelve miles of this building.” Which building? Center Neptune? Hmm… perhaps they’re not at Center Neptune, but Galaxy Security Headquarters.

“It probably took six months to assemble it, since secrecy was so important.” Anderson thinks out loud.

“So it must be underground.” Mark deduces. “Otherwise, they’d need a pretty big tent.”

“But this is right in the city!” the Chief counters. “Even if you wanted to build openly, you can’t find a lot!”

“But they found an empty lot, and one that wasn’t busy for six months!” Tiny points out.

“Sounds ridiculous, but it must be true.” Mark says, putting a hand on Tiny’s shoulder. “Now how did they do it?”

“Big down payment!” Keyop suggest.

“Can’t you be serious?” Princess asks, smacking Keyop on the head. Oh, my eyes! A member of the Team hitting another member? And a child to boot? I’m traumatized!

“That ball game last night… it was played in the middle of a city.” Mark recalls.

“On a large lot that was vacant during the off season.” Jason adds.

“Which lasts about six months!” Mark notes.

“So tonight, why don’t you all take in a ball game?” the Chief suggests.

We see the ballpark, and hear Zark’s voiceover.

“I wish I could have gone to the ball game with G-Force. I’m a terrific scorekeeper. I don’t even need paper or pencil. I store every statistic in my cross-digital memory banks.” Groan…

“But something tells me this game isn’t going to be all fun for G-Force.” Zark gets back on topic as we see Mark and Princess sitting in the stands (including the masked man behind Mark). “They’re working undercover at the ballpark to poke around and see what they can find out.”

Tiny is working as a food vendor.

“Get your ice cold pop here!” calls Tiny.

“Boy, over here! I’ll have one!” calls back a spectator.

And Jason is in the high tech scoreboard, manually turning numbers.

“So I get stuck with keeping score.” he says. “That’s not what I call scoring!” For the smutty among you, let the fanfics commence.

The announcer now calls out ‘Number One, Joe Galactor, batting for the Masters’. It’s not nasal Mark this time. There’s a different announcer.

Joe Galactor hits a foul ball into the crowd. A spectator catches it.

Keyop, dressed as a ball boy, tells the spectator to ‘throw it here’! And the spectator does. Freaky…

Keyop thanks the man and runs off.

“So far, I don’t see anything strange.” Princess remarks.

“Except Keyop as a ball boy.” Mark notes. “Yet, I can’t forget what happened at second base last night. That was weird.”

Joe Galactor hits a home run, turning on the fountain switch. Everyone cheers and Keyop runs onto the field.

The lights go out. It seems that all power is gone as the G-Force Team stares in shock. Yet somehow, even without power, the announcer’s voice is able to carry over the loudspeaker, telling everyone to remain calm.

The lights come on, temporarily blinding Mark. But instead of crying out about it like Ken does, he simply says, “Something mighty strange is going on down there!” in his best Shaggy voice. Despite his calm and relaxed tone, Mark’s face is aghast when he finally sees the field.

It’s empty!

“What happened to the fielders?” Princess asks anxiously.

“It’s just as if the Earth swallowed them up!” Mark replies. He talks into his communicator.

“Tiny, Tiny, did you see anything? Anything at all? Did you see where they went?”

“No, no, it was real dark up here.” Tiny answers.

“No,” adds Jason. I guess he was listening in. “The lights just came on in here too. I didn’t see anything.”

“Okay, Team,” Mark orders through his communicator, “stay out of sight. Later, when the stadium is empty, we’ll take a look around. The Chief’s hunch was right on. Some very peculiar things are happening here… like half a team disappearing!”

The spectators all run away from Mark and Princess. Then Princess starts to run down to the field as well.

“Princess! Where do you think you’re going?” Mark wants to know.

“But Keyop’s disappeared!” she explains.

“I’m sorry, Princess,” Mark replies, “but we can’t risk going after Keyop yet.” Princess’ eyes and face tremble.

There’s a brief fade to black (commercial break?) and we’re back to the stadium. The G-Force Team is in full uniform now, and sneaking into the ballpark. Unlike the Science Ninja Team, it appears they never left, which IMHO was the smarter move.

Of course, the Owl is still tripping over himself as he falls over the wall.

Princess checks out the pitcher’s mound while the guys check out the bases.

__________________

In his escape pod, Zoltar turns on a screen to look at the baseball game.

“There is really no point in everybody’s being destroyed by the most powerful bomb in history!” he says to himself. He blows a kiss with his fingers. “Bye-bye, fools!” He takes off.

“Big chicken! Run scared!” Keyop clucks after Zoltar. And yes, he really is clucking like a chicken.

“Don’t gloat!” Princess lectures. “One of these days, he may forget he’s a coward!”

“I won’t!” is Keyop’s response.

Meanwhile, Mark is still being pelted by balls from the Jailer, who is now using his club as a bat. He throws his boomerang at the Jailer.

“Strike three!” Mark yells.

But the Jailer hits the boomerang away with his bat. Mark’s weapon sticks into the ceiling. Before it does, it seems to fly by Mark’s face, but we don’t see him being hit, and certainly there’s no blood. Despite this, Mark slumps down to the floor. The Jailer moves in for the kill and swings…

And we’re back to the ball game. Everyone is looking for the trigger.

“If you’re a trigger, where do you hide?” Tiny asks himself as he searches.

“Where could they put it?” Jason wonders.

Back in the base, Mark avoids the Jailer’s hit and leaps up. The Jailer follows, and his club gets stuck on the boomerang embedded in the ceiling. Mark kicks, but we don’t actually see his boot connect with anything. He drops to the floor, and the Jailer does too. The boomerang is now embedded in the club.

“Where is the trigger mechanism for the bomb?” Mark asks the Jailer, grasping his collar.

“Don’t know what you mean…” croaks the Jailer.

“Zoltar bragged it was going off by remote.” Mark explains. “Where is the switch? Where is it?” His face looks far angrier than his voice would indicate. He is not banging the Jailer’s head on the floor. But the Jailer’s mask splits in half for some unknown reason and falls off.

“The fountain… home run… sets off bomb…” the Jailer whispers.

“The outfield fountain?” Mark gasps. “We mustn’t allow a home run!”

“Don’t let a ball hit the fountain!” Mark’s voice is now telling Jason over their communicators.

“Why didn’t I bring my fielder’s mitt?” Jason moans.

“Their best hitter!” Keyop points toward the field.

“Nice to know.” says Princess sarcastically.

“Get to that fountain!” Anderson orders from his big phone.

Jason speeds to it. Tiny climbs slowly over a fence. Princess and Keyop are dashing forward. The batter hits a ball… It looks like a home run!

“Stop it!” Anderson yells over his phone. All of the members of G-Force (except Mark) are running now. Everyone launches their weapons at the ball…. and they all miss. Tiny hides his face.

But something flashes out of nowhere and hits the ball! It’s Mark’s boomerang!

Everyone sighs in relief.

“Safe at home!” Tiny grins.

Mark contacts everyone over their communicators.

“We knocked it out!” he tells them. “But it sure ruined the game. That was a cinch homer!”

“I’ll get a bunch in there to dismantle the bomb.” the Chief says from his big phone. A bunch of what? Girl Scouts? Anderson doesn’t say.

“They can replay the game tomorrow. Good work!” the Chief congratulates them. He moves over to his window to look out at the city.

“It’s good to have you intact, and right where you belong.” he says quietly.

The Phoenix rises into the sky, the ballpark in the background.

“That guy got gypped out of a home run!” Tiny notes.

“I’m thinking of Zoltar always walking around with two strikes against him.” Mark says.

“Just trying to give baseball a bad name!” Keyop burbles.

“Imagine… calling baseball ridiculous!” Princess is shocked.

“I’m glad G-Force got through that safely.” comes Zark’s voiceover. “It certainly sent shivers down my Optical Sensory Circuits, when all those weapons missed the ball and hit each other!”

We cut to a shot of Zark rising up his elevation tube.



“But the Team is on the way home now, and that’s what matters.” he reminds us as he gets out of the tube. “I can’t believe anyone would hate baseball as much as Zoltar does.” You know, that’s unfair. Zoltar didn’t necessarily hate baseball. He just chose the stadium as a place to hide his bomb. I think they’re bashing on him for the wrong thing!

“I hope he never gets mad at chess!” Zark shudders as he walks across the room. “I’d hate to think he’d trigger every chessboard so it would explode when he moved a chessman.” Yeah… as if…

“Come to think of it, it would speed up the game a lot.” Zark notes, as he lays back on his oil-changing platform. Of course, this is the perfect time for Susan to call.

“Center Neptune Control. 7-Zark-7.” Zark answers the hail.

“Hi Zark.” comes Susan’s breathy voice. “This is Susan, out on Planet Pluto.” Of course, Zark has his usual antennae erection.



“Hello, Susan!” he says. “I hope there’s not another emergency already!”

“No, everything is quiet.” Susan replies. “I just wanted to call and compliment you on another brilliant job.”

“Thank you, Susan.” Zark says. “But those G-Force people are the ones who really do the job, you know!”

“You could do it all, if you had to.” Susan whispers huskily. Ugh. The very thought makes me ill. Then we’d have the ‘Zark, Rover and Susan Show’, and there’d be no reason to tune in, except as a mental torture technique for masochistic individuals.

“And I heard you say you would like to be a baseball pitcher!” Susan reminds Zark. “I think you would be a better batter.”

“Oh, really?” Zark practically giggles. “Why?”

“Well, you never strike out with me.” Susan simpers.

Now Zark’s antennae pop and he really does giggle. It’s a good thing the episode is over, because I’m running off to the bathroom…

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I think I've said it here before, but this is a chance to find Galactor through indirect means. The stadium is clearly part of the base (unless Galactor somehow retrofitted it). Investigate the contractors and subcontractors. Since Galactor operates in secret, the people who built the base must be full-on members of the organization.

An amusement park would make a great cover for Galactor activity. Supplies and equipment are delivered nearly every day, and witnesses will assume that anything they see has something to do with the park's operation. Just keep the goons out of sight (or dress them in something else).

Yeah, kidnapping the players in the middle of a game made no sense.

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Benefits, not features; benefits, not features

Well, I figured that if I saw something Chucky-like you'd want to know, Marie...

I don't know, but perhaps the tuxedos and white gloves were standard attire for Japanese baseball umpires in the early 70s. After all, as a culture, they are more formal than Canadians and Americans (and that's the only other type of baseball I have any familiarity with) and so I could see an outfit like that on the playing field. I tried to Google for a picture of a Japanese baseball umpire, but the closest I got was a professional Japanese baseball (male) cheerleader. Don't ask...

My guess is that for whatever reason, Tatsunoko wanted to do a baseball-themed episode (perhaps the equivalent of the World Series was coming up at the time this episode was first aired?) and they hastily stuck a plot together to get the Science Ninja Team to a ball game. It probably didn't hurt in selling these shows to Sandy Frank that there was a baseball episode, as that's something American kids can relate to as well.

And Marie, actually, my favorite thing is the guy with the germ mask sitting behind Ken in the crowd.

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Hey, I just realized something! Check out Ryu's amazing color-changing pants!

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Oh definitely more Austin Powers! But yes, I was beginning to get sick of baseball metaphors! But this episode is just so ridiculous that you just have to go with the flow. And I'm sure you can tell that I was laughing the entire way!

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I based my conclusion that Galactor built the stadium on the fact that the stadium lights are apparently controlled from that base, and the way the field opens up.

The amusement park in 'The Neon Giant That Smiles in the Dark' must have also been a Galactor front. Too much risk of innocent park maintenance personnel stumbling upon the disguised weapons and the rocket concealed in the 'castle,' otherwise.

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Benefits, not features; benefits, not features