Season 1, Episode 21: Spring Training

Spring training

Oh look, Brenda is out for the second and final jog she ever goes on. Pretty soon, she is joined by a dog, who refuses to leave.

Meanwhile, on the baseball fields, Jim, Brandon, and Steve are coaches of a little league team. First off, why are Brandon and Steve wearing baseball pants? How involved in this game are they planning on getting? Also, Steve is wearing a halter top and very high waisted baseball pants. Uh, I’m sorry, what? Jim hurts himself hitting a ball. He asks Brandon if he and Steve can fill in. Brandon tried to recruit Dylan who tells him no because of the baseball parents. 

At practice, Steve has found another use for his Raiders hat, and a parent has donated mits, balls, and bats. I’m sure that will be important later.

Brenda comes home and discovers the jog dog in their garbage. She tries to reason with him before realizing that he doesn’t speak English and she offers to feed him.

Back at the ball fields, Noah, some entitled rich kid, tells Brandon off and refuses to accept his punishment and Steve refuses to back him up. His mother is the team mom and brings dim sum for a treat. Steve loves dim sum. But not Brandon.

At dinner, Brandon relays the days events to Jim, who gets disproportionately upset about Brandon’s attitude about the players. Brandon explains that it’s just so different than Minnesota. Brandon, it’s been almost a year. You haven’t figured that out by now? During dinner, the family keeps hearing noises coming from the garage and Brenda admits that she is hiding a dog out there.

Jim Walsh says “No way” to the dog because he will be the one who ends up taking care of it. First off, has he been talking to my husband, and second off, I’m guessing Cindy will be the one who takes care of him like she does everything else. Jim insists Brenda take the dog to the pound immediately, and Cindy tells everyone to calm the f down. She tells Brandon to put flyers up in the neighborhood, Brenda to take care of the dog, and for Jim to have a seat. 

Steve is annoyed by the booger picker on the team and reaches out to a team dad to have the kid traded, and wow Steve. He’s a kid. And sometimes you just got to dig one out. 

Back at Casa Walsh, Brenda, Kelly, and Donna try to train Wally (the horrible name Brenda picked out for the dog) but he’s having none of it. Instead, he wants to lick Donna’s leg and ridicule the Stars and Stripes Jean shorts Kelly is wearing.

Brandon doesn’t agree with Steve’s trading of the booger picker. Brandon, being Brandon, thinks he is entitled to yell at another adult before Steve tells him that he is 16 and the guy is friends with Jim and Brandon doesn’t just get to yell at everyone.

Brenda tries to reason with the dog again, and the dog ends up in Brenda’s bed. Jim’s going to be so mad…

Brandon’s team has a practice game against Nat’s inner city team, and there is a definite disparity between ability and access. Shocker. Noah, the consummate a-hole, mocks a kid on Nat’s team. Brandon tries to pull him, but he refuses to get off the field, and Steve refuses to back Brandon, so Brandon quits. Because of course he does.

He argues with Jim about his behavior, but guess what…..Brandon doesn’t get in trouble. Jim finally agrees that when he’s back on his feet, Brandon can quit coaching. He’s going to learn so many lessons. Brandon heads to the Peach Pit to apologize to Nat, and ends up agreeing to help Nat coach. He then enlists Dylan’s help, who is more than happy to get away from the barking dog. Brenda, meanwhile, tries to talk everyone she knows, and even people she doesn’t know, into taking the dog. She has David convinced, but then David asks for a date with Kelly.

All of a sudden, Nat is desperate for his team to be good, even though he’s coached a losing team for several years. Brandon reaches out to Andrea, who knows of a good pitcher. 

Back at Casa Walsh, Wally has gotten out and can’t be found.  They all reminisce about how much they are going to miss him, and the fact that he always looked like he had eaten gravy. Brandon apparently didn’t actually quit coaching, he was just “helping Nat’s team with some drills.”

Nat’s (Andrea’s) ringer is….gasp…..a girl! Who is a great hitter and pitcher. The horror! The league president tries to tell Jim how to manage, and Jim’s like, hey maybe Brandon was right. That Noah kid continues to be an a-hole, and the president’s son lobs a ball to a member of the other team, who hits everyone in, and a Nat’s team wins the game! The president is pretty angry at Jim’s coaching choices and I’m reminded of sitting in the stands when my husband used to coach. Calm down parents. Your kids actually not that good.

All of a sudden, Wally returns, bounding through the park, and Brenda is excited to see him. She bends down to embrace him, and the ungrateful mutt runs right past her to the booger picker. It is actually his dog, and is named Rupert. Why do all these people hate dogs so much? Brandon and Jim walk off the field together and we never see them coach another game.