Cooperstown isn't letting just regular baseball players into its Hall of Fame anymore. Well, for now at least, they're making a special exception for one iconic cartoon baseball player.
At an 'induction' ceremony Saturday in Cooperstown, N.Y., the National Baseball Hall of Fame presented The Simpsons character Homer Simpson both a plaque and an eternal spot in baseball history.
"Inept safety inspector turned city-wide softball hero, right fielder led Springfield Nuclear Plant to City Championship Game, then sacrificed his body to win it all," the plaque said in part.
{"version":"1.0","title":"Homer Simpson, welcome to \"immortality.\" #FirstLook #HOFHomer #HOFClassic","author_name":"baseballhall","author_url":"https://www.instagram.com/baseballhall","author_id":187662300,"media_id":"1523996888209228289_187662300","provider_name":"Instagram","provider_url":"https://www.instagram.com","type":"rich","width":658,"height":null,"html":"&#lt;blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version=\"7\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"&#gt;&#lt;div style=\"padding:8px;\"&#gt; &#lt;div style=\" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;\"&#gt; &#lt;div style=\" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;\"&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt; &#lt;p style=\" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;\"&#gt; &#lt;a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/BUmUxhogwIB/\" style=\" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;\" target=\"_blank\"&#gt;Homer Simpson, welcome to \"immortality.\" #FirstLook #HOFHomer #HOFClassic&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt; &#lt;p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"&#gt;A post shared by Baseball Hall of Fame ⚾ (@baseballhall) on &#lt;time style=\" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;\" datetime=\"2017-05-27T14:16:48+00:00\"&#gt;May 27, 2017 at 7:16am PDT&#lt;/time&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;\n&#lt;script async defer src=\"//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js\"&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;","thumbnail_url":"https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s480x480/e35/18722038_1370052629751926_9059164021105623040_n.jpg","thumbnail_width":480,"thumbnail_height":480}
Simpson, 'star' baseball player in the early-1990s, first made his appeal for the Hall of Fame ballot in The Simpsons episode, 'Homer At The Bat' aired in February 1992. The episode featured guest appearances by MLB All-Stars such as Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith, Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., Dodgers catcher Mike Scioscia, and Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly.
"My record for eating hot dogs will never be broken. I've been a fan for 40 years, which is how long some games take. And I can't wait for the ceremony in Canton, Ohio," said Simpson in a prepared statement to Rolling Stone.
The ceremony Simpson referred to in Ohio is home to the Football Hall of Fame. D'oh!
Dodgers second baseman Steve Sax, Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs and Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith posed with Simpson following his official welcome into the Hall of Fame.
{"version":"1.0","title":"A legendary reunion to celebrate Homer's \"induction\" into the Hall of Fame. #HOFHomer #HOFClassic (📸: Milo Stewart, Jr.)","author_name":"baseballhall","author_url":"https://www.instagram.com/baseballhall","author_id":187662300,"media_id":"1524010851810439983_187662300","provider_name":"Instagram","provider_url":"https://www.instagram.com","type":"rich","width":658,"height":null,"html":"&#lt;blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version=\"7\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"&#gt;&#lt;div style=\"padding:8px;\"&#gt; &#lt;div style=\" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:37.68518518518518% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;\"&#gt; &#lt;div style=\" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;\"&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt; &#lt;p style=\" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;\"&#gt; &#lt;a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/BUmX8uQAHMv/\" style=\" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;\" target=\"_blank\"&#gt;A legendary reunion to celebrate Homer's \"induction\" into the Hall of Fame. #HOFHomer #HOFClassic (📸: Milo Stewart, Jr.)&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt; &#lt;p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"&#gt;A post shared by Baseball Hall of Fame ⚾ (@baseballhall) on &#lt;time style=\" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;\" datetime=\"2017-05-27T14:44:32+00:00\"&#gt;May 27, 2017 at 7:44am PDT&#lt;/time&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;\n&#lt;script async defer src=\"//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js\"&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;","thumbnail_url":"https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/18645590_1902078600077885_7327823173209030656_n.jpg","thumbnail_width":640,"thumbnail_height":482}
WATCH | 'Homer At The Bat' gives Homer, MLB All-Stars the spotlight
{"thumbnail_width":480,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JhnqEjM2Yxc/hqdefault.jpg","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/user/1908AnnoCatuli","width":459,"height":344,"author_name":"1908AnnoCatuli","provider_name":"YouTube","type":"video","title":"Darryl Strawberry on The Simpsons","provider_url":"https://www.youtube.com/","version":"1.0","thumbnail_height":360,"html":"\n&#lt;iframe width=\" 459\" height=\"344\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/JhnqEjM2Yxc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"&#gt;&#lt;/iframe&#gt;\n","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhnqEjM2Yxc"}