In case you haven’t heard, Bill Murray teamed up with his brother Brian Doyle-Murray to produce “Extra Innings”, a short comedy series covering minor league baseball. Episodes are released on the Facebook Watch platform, and under ten minutes long. Below is a recap and review of some of the highlights from the first two episodes. These two episodes both focus on the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, a Future’s League Collegiate Baseball summer team based out of the popular Massachusetts destination.

Season 1 Episode 1 Review: “Get ‘Em: Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, Part 1”

I was excited to hear a few weeks back that Bill Murray would be releasing a new baseball show set across a different minor league baseball stadium each episode. Growing up on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, I was even more excited to learn that the first episode of the series centered on a team close to home, the Martha Vineyard Sharks. Even though I spent many summer afternoons and evenings watching Cape Cod Baseball League games growing up, I wasn’t even aware that Martha’s Vineyard even had any baseball team at all.

“Extra innings” begins with a long intro sequence featuring cartoon animation as well as clips of fans, players, and the brothers in action. The theme song resembles a very old timey baseball melody, although the entire intro feels to carry on too long in my opinion. I was beginning to wonder what was in store, and if the show would offer more than Bill Murray simply wanting to halfheartedly film a show in his favorite vacation spots.

These doubts were unwarranted, as the opening scene starts off strong with the brothers in a dugout imitating two coaches taking notes on an unnamed player, recording innovative sabermetric stats such as “stagnant ball exit velocity”, “shoe size”, and “last 4 SSN digits”. I’m sure Bill James is taking notes on how to incorporate these new statistics. This scene is ultimately quite the spit take as both Brian and Bill alternate question and answer mimicking the infamously disgusting habit of baseball managers.

For those who wouldn’t recognize Brian Doyle-Murray, he has an IMDB page longer than some academic citation lists and the distinctive voice of many characters in films with Bill Murray, although to me one of Brian’s most memorable roles is Clark Griswold’s overbearing boss in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. In the spirit of the holidays, I’ll fight anyone who thinks there is a better Christmas movie.

One of the best scenes was Brian, playing the role of a steroid distributor, trying to convince two of the Shark’s pitchers to take their game to the next level. Claiming to have found a loophole in the rules, he pitches them a container of Amish Beard Wax in lieu of a French or Austrlian foreign substance. Some of the other highlights for me included Brian impatiently waiting in line for the single Porta Potty to open up, or Bill explaining the Martha’s Vineyard version of hitting for the cycle (the striped bass, bluefish, bonito, and sperm whale, for those non-locals) to the Sharks’ bullpen pitchers.

Season 1 Episode 2 Review: “Objects May Leave the Field: Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, Part 2”

I enjoyed the first episode enough to tune in for Episode 2, which continues to follow the Murray brother’s antics with the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks. The first scene opens with Bill and Brian sitting on a bench, cautioned by the notice that “Objects May Leave the Field.” The warning proves important as the brothers are soon assaulted by multiple baseballs flying over the fence, and soon by other objects such as a beach-ball, seaweed, towel, and even a small fish dubbed the “catch of the day”. I thought this was a funny way to incorporate the summer beach vibes of the Vineyard into the episode.

Later, Bill maintains his friendship with Murphy, the Porta Potty service operator. His sense of humor really shines through in these conversations, especially as he takes an overwhelmingly keen interest in the disposal of the waste. Bill’s friendly and humorous demeanor continues with him displaying his Cub’ World Series Ring to the bullpen pitchers and considering the best offers from the young pitchers.

I thought one scene featuring the kiss cam with a group younger girls started to go in the wrong direction, but Bill turns this scene around and into laughter with a surprise puppet. Another great scene setup Brian selling cotton candy to a young fan and being forced to cut him off, claiming it’s past 7th inning, after all. For example, I learned that the Martha’s Vineyard fielded a team at all,

Conclusion

I’ve noticed that most of the scenes are very short skits, but both Bill and Brian are able to quickly setup a joke or gag very quickly and effectively. I’m beginning to learn just how committed Bill Murray is to the sport of baseball, and I think this comedy show is a great way for him to advocate the minor leagues experience. For example, I learned that the Cape Cod summer league had a little brother in the Future’s Collegiate Baseball League. Curiosity drove me to discover some unique rules observed by this league, such as tie games automatically resulting in a sudden death home run derby after the ninth inning, or that at least half of each team’s roster must be composed of local New England permanent residents.

Bill and Brian, if you’re reading this, I implore you guys to film an episode next season up in Maine to cover the Portland Sea Dogs. You couldn’t ask for a better city or local crowd to watch a minor league baseball game. Maine is Vacationland after all.

As for the countless fans and followers of Bill Murray or baseball, you should watch these short episodes on Facebook Watch below. New episodes air every Monday, and Episode 3 should already be up by the time of this posting.

Watch “Extra Innings” here: https://www.facebook.com/billbrianextrainnings/