Episode no. Season 7Episode 4 Production code 554 | ||
Original air date October 21, 1998 (1998-10-21) | ||
"Take Me Out to the Holosuite" is the 154th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the fourth episode of the seventh season. It was first broadcast on October 21, 1998. The title refers to the 1908 song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", the unofficial anthem of North American baseball.
Contents
The episode develops the recurring motif of Captain Benjamin Sisko's love of baseball, which was established in the pilot episode "Emissary". Sisko accepts a challenge from a physically superior Vulcan crew to a game, and forms a team from his regular staff members in short order.
The DS9 team is called the "Niners", which in turn became a term for fans of the series.
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 quit in protest. Sisko admits to Kasidy Yates that he is taking Solok's challenge so seriously because Solok beat him at a wrestling match back at Starfleet Academy. Since then, Solok would use that incident to constantly write papers about proving Vulcans are superior to humans, which carried on even after graduation. And now Sisko refuses to let Solok beat him at his own game. 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 (Solok's team) immediately build up a good score. Sisko gets into an argument with the umpire, security chief Odo, and is thrown out for laying a finger on him.
Near the end and 10-0 down, the Niners (Sisko's team) 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 throws him out too.
After the game, the DS9 crew relax at Quark's bar, toasting the triumph of team spirit over Vulcan superiority. Kira hands Sisko his baseball, which the whole team have signed.