Take Me Out to the Holosuite


"Take Me Out to the Holosuite" is the 154th episode of the television series , the fourth episode of the. The title refers to the 1908 song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", the official anthem of baseball. The episode aired during the 1998 World Series. Sisko and station staff play a baseball game in Quark's holosuites with the crew of a visiting Federation space vessel.
This episode was first broadcast on October 21, 1998.

Summary

The episode develops the recurring motif of Captain Benjamin Sisko's love of baseball, which was established in the pilot episode Emissary |"Emissary".
Sisko accepts a challenge from a Vulcan crew to a game, and forms a team from his regular staff members in short order. The Vulcan crew's starship, the T’Kumbra is in for repairs after a tour of duty in the Dominion War.
The DS9 team is called the "Niners", which in turn became a term for fans of the series.
In this episode, Deep Space Nine staff plays a game of baseball with the crew of a visiting starship in a holosuite. This episode was written by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Chip Chalmers. Guest stars include Greg Wagrasky as Solok, Chase Masterson as Leeta, and Penny Johnson as Kasidy Yates.

Plot

A Starfleet starship docks at Deep Space Nine. Sisko recognises its captain, Solok, as a former classmate and longtime rival. Solok believes that his all-Vulcan crew are superior in every respect, and challenges Sisko to a baseball game in the holosuite. Sisko accepts, even though this gives him only two weeks to form a team into shape, and his son Jake is the only other potential member who has played the game before.
Sisko's team trains hard and suffers injuries. Impatiently, he dismisses Rom from the team, and the squad nearly quits in protest. Sisko admits to Kasidy Yates that he is taking Solok's challenge so seriously, but it is not because of baseball, it is because of Solok: At Starfleet Academy, Sisko challenged Solok to a wrestling match after Solok provoked a drunken Sisko by announcing that he was studying "illogical human bonding rituals", but Solok won causing Sisko several injuries. Kasidy was amused that Ben would have even challenged Solok, because Vulcans are three times stronger than humans. Afterwards, Solok used the incident as evidence of his viewpoint that Vulcans are superior to humans. Solok published 5 papers on the wrestling match during their time at academy, and after they graduated Solok published over a dozen papers comparing Vulcans and humans, each beginning with an analysis of the wrestling match, and Sisko refused to lose at his favorite sport to Solok. Sisko makes Kasidy promise to keep this between them, but she immediately tells the truth to the whole team, making them understand just how much this means to Sisko.
When the game is played, the Logicians immediately build up a good score. Sisko gets into an argument with the umpire, security chief Odo, and is thrown out of the game for laying a finger on him.
Near the end and 10-0 down, the Niners are desperate to score a run. Rom's son Nog makes it to third base. In consideration for Rom's feelings, Sisko sends him into the game. Rom accidentally hits a perfect bunt, which brings Nog home, giving the Niners their only run in a 10-1 loss. The team's celebration confuses Solok, who protests to Odo, but also touches him so Odo ejects him too.
After the game, the DS9 crew relax at Quark's bar, toasting the triumph of team spirit over Vulcan superiority. Solok protests their celebration, only to be taunted. After continued disparaging attacks by Solok that are met with more mockery, Kira throws Sisko a baseball that his whole team has signed. When Sisko asks Solok if he wants to sign the ball, Solok leaves.

Production

, who plays Rom, is actually a baseball player in real life and considered going pro before deciding to become an actor. Because Grodénchik was so good at playing right-handed, he was forced to switch to playing exclusively left-handed on camera in order to give a convincingly "bad" performance. Cinefantastique noted that Michael Piller was fond of baseball and this influenced some of his productions.
in California, where the holosuite scenes were filmed
The outdoor scenes were shot at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

Reception

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter ranked "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" as the 16th out of 20 best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes. The A.V. Club notes in its 2014 review of the episode, that it investigates the emotions of losing, and leadership of an 'underdog' sports team.
In 2016, SyFy ranked this the 8th best holodeck episode of the Star Trek franchise.
This episode is noted in the book Playing the Universe: Games and Gaming in Science Fiction as an example of gaming in science fiction, of spacecraft crew playing a game baseball in a holographic simulation.
The show is noted for its impact on fan culture, with reproductions of the baseball jersey featured in the television show made available for sale in the late 2010s. This episode is noted for the cast of the showing forming a baseball team and being fitted with sports apparel of that game, the baseball jersey. The baseball game holosuite program was rated by Gizmodo as the number #1 best holodeck program of Star Trek. The episode is noted for exploring Sisko's interest in baseball and its humour.
In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter ranked "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" as the 61st best episode of all Star Trek episodes, and the 16th best of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In 2016, Vox rated this one of the top 25 essential episodes of all Star Trek.
In 2019, CBR ranked this the 7th best holodeck-themed episode of all Star Trek franchise episodes up to that time. In 2019, CBR rated "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" as the 15th funniest Star Trek episode.

Connections

The starship T’Kumbra is referenced or utilized in several Star Trek novels.