In this episode, Lisa coaches Bart's Little League baseball team to a record winning streak by using her book smarts in statistics and probability.
It features an opening sequence and couch gag written by British graffiti artist and political activist Banksy, who stated he had been "inspired by reports that Simpsons characters are animated in Seoul, South Korea".
A visit by Dahlia Brinkley, the only Springfield Elementary graduate ever to enter an Ivy League college, gives Lisa a severe inferiority complex because she is involved in very few extracurricular activities.
When Ned Flanders resigns as coach of Bart's Little League team, the Springfield Isotots, Lisa seizes the chance to extend her résumé and takes the position.
He is tagged out at the plate, costing the Isotots their championship bid, but Lisa thanks him for helping her learn to love baseball as a game, and the team cheers them for resolving their differences.
[2] After the Simpsons arrive at home, the camera cuts to a shot of them on the couch, then zooms out to show this as a picture hanging on the wall of a fictional overseas Asian animation and merchandise sweatshop.
[4] The camera tracks down to a lower floor of the building, where small kittens are thrown into a woodchipper-type machine to provide the filling for Bart Simpson plush dolls.
[4] A man shipping boxes with The Simpsons logo on the side uses the tongue from a severed dolphin head to fasten shut the packages.
The shot zooms out to reveal that the sweatshop is contained within a grim version of the 20th Century Fox logo, surrounded by barbed wire, searchlights, and a watchtower.
'"[7] Simpsons casting director Bonnie Pietila was able to contact the artist through the film's producers, and asked if he would be interested in writing a main title for the show.
"[6] Series creator Matt Groening gave the idea his blessing, and helped try to make the sequence as close to Banksy's original storyboards as possible.
[9] Banksy told The Guardian that his opening sequence was influenced by The Simpsons long-running use of animation studios in Seoul, South Korea.
"[1] BBC News reported that "According to [Banksy], his storyboard led to delays, disputes over broadcast standards and a threatened walk out by the animation department.
"[1] Although conceding to the fact that The Simpsons is largely animated in South Korea, Jean went on to state that the scenes shown in titles are "very fanciful, far-fetched.
"[2] Eric Hochburger of TV Fanatic criticized the Mike Scioscia cameo, although he said that "[w]hile this week's installment will never replace our favorite Simpsons baseball episode, "Homer at the Bat," there [was] certainly plenty of great jokes and a strong enough story with heart to keep us entertained.
"[9] Colby Hall of Mediaite called the sequence "a jaw-dropping critique of global corporate licensing, worker exploitation and over-the-top dreariness of how western media companies (in this case, 20th Century Fox) takes advantage of outsourced labor in developing countries.
"[16] Melissa Bell of The Washington Post felt Banksy's titles had helped revive The Simpsons' "edge", but after "the jarring opening, the show went back to its regular routine of guest cameos, self-referential jokes and tangential story lines.
What is shocking is that Fox ran Banksy's ballsy critique of outsourcing, The Simpsons, and the standards and human rights conditions that people in first world nations accept.