Not bad from Mr. Duchovny. Writing and directing both choppy, but with promise. Doesn't hurt that I'm a sucker for baseball. :-)

Would a New Mexico ballpark in 1947 have had integrated seating, as this one did? And what the heck explains that ad for war bonds, two years after WWII ended, and with rockets adorning it to boot(not in our arsenal in that form during the war)? Were we still paying off the war then, blissfully ignorant of the joys of deficit spending? ;-)

And I hate to say it, but Josh isn't too bright for an extraterrestrial. He didn't even flinch before that baseball caught him in the coconut. Most human beings would at least try to get out of the way.

I'll let everyone else have their turn at bat now.

The flashing lightning revealing the baseball player's real face is an homage to "I Married An Alien!"

More as they develop (commercial break almost over...)

Apparently, it's going to be one homage per commercial break. this time, Josh-the-alien and Arthru Dales screaming recaps Elliot and E.T.

*Great* dialogue between Mulder and Scully at the beginning of the episode. The goofing off shows more to their relationship than slumbering desire.

Hey, it's a good thing that alien blood wasn't toxic to humans, they way the bybrid blood used to be.

How could they *ever* make a human-alien hybrid with an alien that isn't carbon-based? The Conspiracy must have scietific tools *light years* ahead of anything we can even imagine today. Wow!

of course, this is almost a nit-proof premise, since it's told as a story in the past--and stories can be embellished, misconstured, and altered from one end to the left...

If this whole story is a flashback told by the other Arthur Dales, how does it include events that he didn't see (like, the lab technician being killed, or the whole KKK scene, or the dialogue between the bounty hunter and Josh at the end)?

Arthur Dales tells Mulder that all the great ballplayers were aliens. One of those mentioned was Babe Ruth who, I believe, played in the 1920's, yet the alien ballplayer's comments indicated that no other alien would understand playing the game and those other players had no problem being famous.

Mark--the movie referred to is "I Married a Monster from Outer Space."

Keith--I got the impression that the other Arthur Dales story about all the great baseball players being aliens was a joke, or Dales imagination running away with him.

As to the integrated ball park, since this was a Negro League game, I'm surprised there were any whites at all (other than the scouts).

If the Feds really wanted to catch "Ex", why didn't they go to the next stop on the Grays' schedule, Grays vs. Rosewell?

Ex made a comment at the beginning that he liked playing in "the cactus league." That was a name for the minor league clubs in the Southwest. As a black man, Ex wouldn't be allowed to play for them (unless he got drafted by the majors).

How did the Alien Bounty Hunter just happen to be hanging out in Macon, Georgia just as Dales was looking for Ecksley? Since Ex had hit 60 home runs, he must have been with the Grays for the entire season.

This is the first time the ABH changed shape to kill someone. Does he only do this for full-blooded aliens?

61 home runs in one season in the Negro League is not that significant. There was a player (Josh Gibson?) who allegedley hit more than 70.

This was a vitually plotless story, but the baseball theme made it enjoyable. To me, any way. Loved the "Agent McGyver" gag.

There was one gag, though, that confused me. The kid that delivered the booze to A. Dales was the same kid ("Po'Boy") at the baseball game watching Ex, and was the same kid feeding baseballs into the pitching machine for M&S. Am I missing some point here?

Most modern pitching machines are automated; you don't need anyone to feed in the balls.

Are we to believe that the Rosewell team only had one pitcher? That's the only explanation for keeping him in the game after all those wild throws.

Aliens must have very hard heads. Ex took a ball to the head, without even a batting helmet to protect him. A pitched ball can reach speeds up to 100 mph; it should have killed him! Of course, the way it lightly bounced off his head, it appeared to have been thrown in slow-pitch softball style.

I thought the ball hit Ex in the side of the head. Yet the blood appeared to be coming from his occipital ridge (the back of his head).

I *loved* seeing Mulder and Scully getting a little frisky. It was a fun, light episode. The ending was heartwarming.

From the bewilderment that Ex had when he was dying, it sounded like because he didn't change shape, he didn't have alien blood when he died. This contrasts the death of other shape-shifters we've seen. Perhaps Duchovny was following a Pinnochio (sp?) path: Ex really *wanted* to be a human so he could play baseball, so he *became* one. Hmm.

And why have Arthur Dales' brother be Arthur Dales? Did the original actor die? Odd.

This was very enjoyable. I especially liked that last scene.

It's clear that Ex's situation is meant to remind us of Jeremiah Smith's. He's one of the colonists (though Smith was probably a hybrid) who has in effect joined the rebels.

Shouldn't Mulder know that Arthur Dales lives in Florida? Or did he get confused and think he moved back?

Oh, and I think there's a double significence in that fact that Mulder wore a "Gibson" uniform at the end.

Did anyone catch the ET reference at the beggining? An unseen alien rolls a ball back to a human. Also, the title is a parody of "The Natural", a baseball movie.

Did anyone else catch Mulder's confusion when he heard from Arthur Dales (Not the original, not the sister, not the goldfish...) that his brother Arthur (the original) moved to Florida? Didn't we already see Mulder & Scully down there with him in "Agua Mala"? (You remember, "Don't all the nuts run downhill...") Mulder apparently knew that he was down there, so where does this episode fit into the time scheme of this season?

Who rolled the ball back to the outfielder?

NANJAO, in the scene where "Ex" is explaining that his race doesn't laugh because of the small mouths and all he keeps his teeth together in keeping with this. However, moments later "Ex" sings normally with a bunch of the other ballplayers. He may have meant that there is no laughter in their true form but I didn't get the impression that these aliens spend a whole lot to time in their true form and thus ought to have taken on some of our characteristics, chiefly laughter. (When was the last time you went through the whole day and didn't hear a laugh?)

Also, I must add that this is a pretty good effort considering that DD is not a writer. This episode probably won't make any ten best list of the whole series but it's better that SK's contribution and he IS a writer.

The blurb at the end of the main theme is IN THE BIG INNING.

Since the the teaser was set in July 1947, it would not have been very easy for X to be the first black player in the American League. Larry Doby, the first black player, in the American League, made his major league debut in July 1947.

Where were Quark, Nog and Rom?

They are the oranges aliens. This one about grey aliens. Just wondering, did Exley ("Ex") die. If he were human, his wound wouldn't be deadly, just very painful. If he survived, he may have joined the American Leauge.

I'm not an expert on baseball, but it looks like Exley made a few mistakes. First, he should have ran or walked the bases in the teaser. Second, when he was hit in the day game he should have taken a base.

Also, I guess the project stated earlier than than 50 years ago. Going by this ep. any where from 1914 (Ruth's rookie year) to 1942 (5 years prior).

Next week- Viva las Lone Gunemen or the 3 Stooges do Las Vegas.

Hmmm... 60 homers by July. He could have finished the season with 100 or more. Also, wouldn't fielding a Major Leauge team of aliens be a good way to fund the Consiortium. Mabye a team in Florida, "Where all the nuts roll down hill".

Charles--Ex was stabbed through the spinal cord into the brain with that big needle. I'm pretty sure he died.

Ex may have sat out the rest of the game after being hit by the ball. In that case, a pinch runner would go to 1st (it's not clear in the episode).

You are right about the teaser. Even if the ball is hit out of the park, the batter has to run all the bases. The run doesn't count until the runner touches home.

There were lots of ET references, including the map that Ex left Dales, that showed "Home" (indicated by a drawing of home plate).

Nit (got one at last!): when Dales sees Ecksley's alien reflection in the window of the bus, there should have been no reflection - "Ex"s pillow was too far forward of his face to allow for a reflection!

Did anyone catch the 47 in Mulder's office? I missed it 'cause a friend of mine and I were yacking.

"Agent MacGyver"? Why? Because Mulder makes something out of nothing? I don't get it. Explanation please?

Because they both start with the letter M. It's just a way of showing that Arthur Dales II is a bit of an old coot and not a completely trustworthy narrator.

Interesting that the two Arthur Dales don't look anything alike in their older years, but appear to be twins in their younger years.

Scully called her frozen "treat" a dreamsickle. It looked like a cone to me.

Why would Mulder try to get a taste of the nonfat rice tufuti dreamsickle after he bad mouthed it earlier (no pun intended)?

The reason why Arthur Dales II narrated this story (completely unneeded, except to provide a different character to harass Mulder) was, I believe, that Darren McGavin (Dales I) was tied up with other matters.

Someone on the Internet swears that McGavin has a cameo at the end, standing in for M. Emmett Walsh (Arthur Dales II).

Also, someone wonders if they really do have a sister named Arthur Dales, will the same actor end up playing her in her younger days (she probably met the CSM--gosh, these Daleses meet the best people).

In answer to "Why would Mulder try to get a taste of the nonfat rice tufuti dreamsickle after he bad mouthed it earlier (no pun intended)?"... he was being juvenile and mucking around!

And in response to "There was one gag, though, that confused me. The kid that delivered the booze to A. Dales was the same kid ("Po'Boy") at the baseball game watching Ex, and was the same kid feeding baseballs into the pitching machine for M&S. Am I missing some point here? " - he was obviously a Time Lord.

A very young Time Lord too, concidering how they age. He must have stolen his parent's TARDIS for a joy ride.

Why does the ABH change form after killing the doctor? What if someone sees him?

Anonymous: Maybe he just regenerated into a very young body?

When Josh Exley and Arthur Dales II are throwing the baseball back and forth and Arthur is insisting Josh ought to run away, Josh is proclaiming how its (as in the almost symbiotic race of hosts for the "black oil") race do not believe in pride or proving oneself. However, Josh then proceeds to persuade Arthur to narrate to future generations what he (i.e., Josh Exley) had done on the baseball grounds, a form of arrogant fame or sense of accomplishment. Additionally, the Alien Bounty Hunter signifies that as an executioner, he reveals his true identity (those gray aliens certainly tend to look very much alike, though, but perhaps that is what they think of us) to his intended victim. He, in turn, orders Josh to reveal his true identity so that he may DIE WITH HONOR. Have you caught on to my point yet? The aliens do not laugh, but Josh does; the aliens do not believe in self-portrait or legacy, but this opinion is contradicted by both Josh AND the Alien Bounty Hunter. By the way, I actually do enjoy this episode and consider it one of my favorites. One discord I have with it is this: I would rather believe Arthur Dales II was being facetious when listing baseball players who were aliens. Josh Exley was outright stated as the only one to pull this trick. I loathe it when a TV show's episode needlessly confuses its premise.