Chapter 18: Take Me Out to the Ballgame

“Alright!” shouts Charlie, as coins come gushing out of the slot machine. He runs his hands through the pile of coins gleefully.

“So… that’ll be enough?” you ask.

“Sure, sure!” he says. “Enough to get you into the Home Run league, anyway.” He counts out the money. “198, 199, 200. Okay, you’re all set. Head over to Home Run stadium. You’ll be on the red team, naturally.” He proudly brushes off his bright red jacket. “If you head over now, you’ll have time to warm up. See you there!” He disappears into the Casino crowd.

“I don’t like that guy,” says Melvin, brooding.

You don’t much like him either. “I don’t get it,” you say. “If he’s lying about the ring, why is he letting us do the challenge at all?”

“Beats me,” says Melvin. “But I guess we’ll find out. That is, if we can win. You ready to play some ball?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” you shrug.

“Home Run baseball is a little… weird,” explains Melvin.

“Weird how?”

“It’s hard to explain. Only two players, but also ghosts, and you can control the ball with your mind.”

“Okay, yeah, that does sound weird.”

“Yeah,” says Melvin. “It has a bad rap, but it’s really fun. Come on,” he says, “You pitch and hit, and I’ll be the ball.” He’s excited now. “Baseball and helping the Queen at the same time? This is gonna be great!” He zips out towards the door, and you thread through the crowd after him.

When you get to the stadium, Charlie is there to meet you, and points you to the locker room, where you change into your red uniform. Melvin meets you out on the mound. “Okay, let’s warm up a little. Pitch me right over home plate.” The blue robot you are going to play against is still in its dugout. You wind up, and pitch Melvin towards the plate. ZIP! He goes in a perfectly straight line. He zips back to you and says, “That was pretty good, but that’s not how it’s played here at Home Run stadium. Here, the ball can wiggle all over the place.”

“Okay,” you say, “so start wiggling.”

“No, no,” says Melvin, shaking his head, not that he has a head, “you control me with your mind. Try again.” You wind up again, and pitch the ball toward the plate, but this time imagine it veering left, and then right back over the plate. And it works! Melvin zips back. “Alright! You’ve got the hang of it! Now all you have to do is get it past this guy.” A large blue robot with gritted teeth comes lumbering out of the dugout and stomps up to the plate. A mechanical umpire calls out “Play Ball” in a robotic voice, and the game begins.

Put the Home Run cartridge into your Atari 2600. Use game select 1, and set the difficulty switches to b. Play until you are able to win the game. Post a link to a video in the comments section of yourself completing the challenge.