Hello fellow Trekkies and baseball fans.
One of the more fun episodes of Deep Space Nine, and a nice change of pace during the seventh season of the show which is neck deep in the Dominion War, is "Take Me Out to the Holosuite."
Please note, some spoilers lie ahead.
In this episode, DS9 is visited by the USS T'Kumbra, a starship with an entirely Vulcan crew, under the command of Captain Solok. Solok and Ben Sisko went to the Academy together, and Solok believes Vulcans are a superior race to Humans. Solok eventually challenges Sisko and his crew to a baseball game. Sisko, a huge fan of the game, takes Solok up on the challenge and recruits the crew and other station regulars to DS9’s team, the Niners.
Even though the Niners make a valiant effort, they end up losing to the T’Kumbra’s team, the Logicians. However, it’s not a complete blowout, and thanks to some last-minute heroics from a future Grand Nagus, the Niners snatch a “manufactured triumph” from the Logicians by keeping the game from being a shutout and only losing 10 to 1.
For those of you who may not be very familiar with baseball, it is worth noting that other than Sisko, his son Jake, and Cassidy Yates, none of the Niners players have actually played the game before. In the course of only a few days, they’re able to rally as a team and hang-in with the physically and mentally superior Vulcans of the T’Kumbra. Frankly, on paper, the Niners should have gotten shellacked. However, I believe one person’s contribution in particular was pivotal to holding the Logicians to only 10 runs… Jake Sisko.
Yes, the box score for the game isn’t stellar. Jake gives up 10 runs on 14 hits (that’s a nice and even Earned Run Average [ERA] of 10.0). But, what’s really impressive is that Jake pitched a complete game. That’s to say, Jake pitched all nine innings of the game without a relief pitcher coming in to replace him. By today’s standard in Major League Baseball, that’s a rare feat.
Of course, Jake most likely didn’t have a choice. He was the only pitcher on the team with any experience at the position and nobody would have been able to relieve him anyway. In addition, we know that Jake is also batting in the game. So, no “designated hitter” to help keep his fatigue down when he’s back at the stretch.
Unfortunately, we don’t get
... keep reading on reddit ➡i ain’t gonna begrudge him for this but I mean it’s a little weird that a woman that looks like she’s in her mid 20s is dating a 16 year old boy. Imagine if the genders were swapped.
I lost my father very suddenly over 40 years ago, when I was a teenager, and I miss him every day. This relationship makes my pain even sharper because it reminds me of what was torn away from me. Strange, how someone can mourn for over 40 years….
The main writers/producers of DS9 (Ira Steven Behr and Co.) had a virtual convention on Youtube two weeks ago (hosted by “Jake Sisko “ Cirroc Lofton).
During the video they spent a few minutes talking how they approached all the big issues like racism, homosexuality, war, PTSD … back in the 1990ties when they were writing scripts for the show.
Some interesting insights (Avery Brooks had the reputation that he hated white people in 1992, powerful people wanted to get rid of him before the first episode), especially from minute 46:00 on regarding tackling the “big issues” in a weekly SciFi show back then. Recommended.
https://youtu.be/wJQ3wlgQmR0
Every son who had a father who was a very different personality will find it strike a chord. The obvious love between them even so is inspiring.
Kudos to both actors.
Kai Winn has to dress up like Grandpa Sisko or the Pah Wraith landlord will kick her out --and she just can't afford the high rent at Celestial Condominiums!
A Pah Wraith in the form of Rom plays the landlord character, it's like Three's Company Meets Bosom Buddies in a wormhole.
"Why, no, Kosst Amojan.. er... I mean, Mr. Rom... I haven't seen any pesky Vedeks around here.. I've just been preparing my famous Creole shrimp and some nice hasperat... or, rather... pralines for desert..
Mid way through rewatching DS9 again. Just keeping thinking this would be amazing to see!! So many great stories possible. Really get into the people dealing with issues as oppose to governments and leaders like the other star treks do. Great excuse to bring the Ferengi back if he's still living that area. His Dad is pretty magic! Any thoughts?
Yes, I’m of course referring to their mutual baseball obsession.
Baseball, as a sport has been more or less extinct for centuries.
(Yes, there are some “amateur leagues” mentioned, but they’re probably more like historical re-enactors than an actual sports league).
Now imagine your boss at work, being absolutely obsessed about some 16th century game that few people have ever heard of.
You meet him and his son in the local mall, dressed up in 16th-17th century outfits, ready to go play some Paille-Maille in the local park.
(Paille-Maille: 16th century precursor to croquet: The closest comparison I could think of.)
Every time you mention you have a day off coming up, your boss always goes: “Oh yeah? You should totally join me for a round of Paille-Maille! Me and my son could use a Garrisonaire on our team!”
There is absolutely no way that a common lunch topic aboard DS9 isn’t: “Wow, that Sisko is kind of a weirdo, isn’t he?!”
Often followed by:
“I think it runs in the family. I saw his son on the promenade the other day, and he was wearing some sort of giant, artificial hand over his normal hand. And was wearing some weird museum clothes.”
Scenario: Takes place football field. DCEU batman has his gadgets (no batmobile or plane). Black widow has her gadgets. Wesley Crushers left arm is missing and he has a tricorder. Jake Sisko has couple of sharpened pencils.
They start off opposite ends of the field
Or rather selling the stem bolts for land and then selling the land.
Always been really curious about this, anything alluded to in canon?
DS9 has the best representation of kids and coming of age story in the Trekverse.
The 320th Rule of Acquisition clearly prohibits the establishment of potentially-gay interspecies relationships.
He decided as a teenager and never wavered from that. In some ways, he seemed very open-minded at least in regards to Ferengei compared to the Starfleet personnel (early on) on DS9.
I liked that he didn't get flak from Ben or anyone else for not wanting to join. Despite so many singing praises to Starfleet, it was perfectly fine for all those in uniform if you didn't want to buy into the Hype and join.
Let's focus on something nice and that everyone can appreciate, i.e. the great relationship between Ben and Jake.
The Bajoran light ship (and Bashir and Jadzia)
He often seems overlooked or underrated by fans. What did you think of him? How was the writing for Jake and the acting by Cirroc?
From my understanding the Captain was born in Louisiana. Usually team affiliation for people in that state is either Houston Astros or Atlanta Braves. Yet Sisko wears a Giants hat during the Vulcan Holodeck game.
Jake likely was born in San Francisco while Sisko was finishing the Academy which (making assumptions) would make Jake more of a likely Giants fan, yet he wears a Braves hat.
Yes, we can chalk the Braves hat to Jake affiliating New Orleans as more his home but Ben wearing a Giants hat only makes sense if he didn’t get into baseball until he got to the Academy, but there’s no real proof of that.
Small tidbit that always interested me since I love baseball (Go Cubs Go!) and wanted to see everyone’s thoughts.
Nog and Jake Sisko committed a huge security breach when they accepted the Willie Mays baseball card from Weyoun to give to Captain Sisko. The baseball card could have been a changeling infiltrator.
I just watched the DS9 episodes “The Visitor” and “Take Me Out to the Holosuite”, and I noticed that the signature on one of Jake’s books in the former and Jake’s signature on the signed baseball in the latter are almost identical. Just a nice piece of continuity there.
In reality the station remained in orbit of Bajor as a backwater outpost. After several years of negotiations Bajor was admitted into the federation. The most exciting thing that ever happened is that the maquis got a little to spicy for the Bajoran provisional government so Starfleet sent DS9 the USS voyager to help. The mere presence of the voyager crew on the station caused Jake to write another story where they were stranded on the other side of the galaxy.
He just has to casually mention that his dad is ben sisko and the panties come off.
In DS9, Jake Sisko dates a woman working the dabo wheel named Mardah. Ben Sisko establishes their ages in a conversation with O’Brien: Jake is 16, and Mardah is 20. Mardah is an adult working an adult job, and Jake is a child who’s last plot involved a school science project gone awry. However, Sisko’s disapproval is just that: not outrage that his son is in a situation that is headed for statutory rape at Warp 9, just disapproval that his son is dating someone older, that is subsequently headed off when Sisko realizes his son is more “mature” than he thought (the proof offered is playing dom-jot and writing poetry).
We know that Sisko cares about age-related cutoffs: when he is promoted to Captain, he snatches the champagne flutes out of Jake and Nog’s hands before they can take more than a sip, because they’re underage.
No one mentions the idea of an imbalanced power dynamic that puts Jake in a vulnerable position. No one mentions any criminality. Star Trek is an American production, and nowhere in America would this relationship be considered legal and not heinous. It’s especially disturbing that the show is putting forth the idea that this minor is intellectually or emotionally mature enough to engage in any relationship with an adult because he gambles and writes. “You’re not mature for your age, he’s just a predator” is advice that is unfortunately relevant and necessary, and not just for young girls.
Is there any explanation for this in the show?
The first scene shows Ben and Jake in a runabout and zooms in on the station. The very last scene shows Jake and Nerys on the promenade and zooms out from the station. Jake is in both the first and last scene.
And then it got me thinking. DS9 starts out fairly light and gets darker as the show goes on. Perhaps this could show Jake aging and being exposed to more. And I think all of the material in the show is something Jake either experienced or could have heard about from another officer or his father.
Nog and Jakes Sisko committed a huge security breach when they excepted the Willie Mays baseball card from Weyoun to give to Captain Sisko. The baseball card could have been a changeling infiltrator.
