90210 S1E20: Spring Training

This one obviously has something to do with baseball. I have a vague recollection of Brandon coaching a kids baseball team, and though I don’t actually remember this, I’m going to guess that one of the kids is being abused. That sounds just up 90210’s alley.

A cute shaggy dog follows Brenda home. Jim introduces Brandon and Steve to Franklin, the president of the West Beverly Hills Baseball League. Apparently the boys are coaching Little League. But, the first day out Jim hurts his back. Lucky for him, his family is totally unsympathetic. Did Shannen Doherty get a boob job? Obviously everyone on this show looks older than 17, but she suddenly looks 28 and has cleavage.

Steve is tough on a kid who picks his nose and Brandon feels bad for him. Davey, who belongs to Franklin, is energetic and eager to please. Steve is surprisingly good with the kids. Brandon keeps calling people “large guy” instead of “big guy.” What is that about?

Davey’s dad buys the team brand-new equipment, which weirds Brandon out. Brenda finds the shaggy dog eating the Walshes’ garbage. She tells him to go away, but is swayed by his cute little gaze. She decides to keep him, hides him in the garage, and names him Wally. When her parents find out, we learn that Brenda has had a string of problems with dogs, including leaving one outside during a Minnesota winter to freeze to death.

Meanwhile, Brandon has a run-in with a little brat named Noah, who belongs to the team mother. He also learns Nat is a coach for the Mid-City Parks & Rec Center, and Nat wants his kids to practice with Brandon’s kids. I sense some trouble coming between the haves and have-nots. Steve wants to trade the nose-picking kid to another team because he’s dead weight. West Beverly sure takes Little League seriously.

Nat brings his rag-tag bunch of kids to the park and the rich kids are all, “Pshaw, they don’t even have uniforms!” Brandon tries to teach the rich kids about respecting their opponents, but then Franklin says he doesn’t want the poor kids using the new equipment. Noah is a total jerk, so Brandon tries to eject him from the game but Steve goes against him. Brandon storms off the field, but he can’t quit because Jim still can’t move, so he agrees to stay until Jim is better.

When Brandon apologizes to Nat, he ends up with a job as a coach for Nat’s team. As I’m watching this, a dim memory is resurfacing: I think the dog belongs to one of these kids, and that’s why the kid is acting messed up. Maybe that explains why Noah is such a douche. Brandon enlists Dylan to help him run a baseball clinic for the poor kids. And though the kids get better, they’re still not great. So, the coaches recruit a ringer from the Valley that Andrea knows, named Avery, to be their pitcher. Meanwhile, Wally escapes from the garage.

After coaching Nat’s kids, Brandon shows up for the game as a coach for the West Beverly kids. Doesn’t that send a mixed message to the poor kids? Dylan fills in as assistant coach for the poor kids, and looks totally wrong in the outfit. I mean really:



When Avery shows up, it turns out that Avery is a GIRL! Shocking! At the end of the game, the worst player on Nat’s team is up to bat and Noah shouts all sorts of horrible things at him. So Davey, remembering Brandon’s advice about treating the other team with respect, throws a super easy pitch and the kid gets a hit. And with that, the rich kids get their little butts kicked.

Just then, Wally comes racing across the field and it turns out he belongs to the nose-picking kid. That icing was not really necessary on top of this cake.