Look and learn: Here's how you do it

Baby Blues scores with a great reversal-of-expectations in the third panel.

What's more, those of us who have lived in the Northeast and upper Midwest are perfectly in tune with the idea of spring sports that will begin practice in March with baseball in the gym or lacrosse in the plowed parking lot, so the gag works beyond the simple reversal: The joke isn't that they're playing baseball in the snow -- it's that their coach is starting in the actual dead of winter, and, of course, the parents are sucked into it all.

And too much absurdity can kill a gag, but "the umpire brought a snow shovel" is just the right touch. It's not just a practice, but they've actually scheduled a game. The dry delivery allows for an increasingly ridiculous scenario to unfold just out of our view, like the unheard half of a Bob Newhart telephone conversation.

All in all, a very well-crafted three-panel strip. Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman are pros, but even they should be particularly proud of this one.

Comments

[Sherwood]

This one had me laughing more than I probably should have, but I am one of those who remember the weirdness of baseball in a gym before the thaw.

Speaking of Newhart -- he was on a recent episode of NCIS (looked horrible) playing a retired medical examiner. Diane and I cheered aloud when he picked up a telephone about midway through. I wonder what percentage of the viewership recognized the salute.