The Unnatural is the fourteenth and final episode of the first season of What's New, Scooby-Doo?
Premise[]
The gang goes to a baseball stadium to see Luis Santiago break Cab Craig's home run record. However, the ghost of Cab Craig haunts the stadium, putting both the players and the game at risk.
Synopsis[]
Baseball player Luis Santiago practices his batting at the baseball stadium Cookie Co. International Park, looking to break a world record, but is attacked by the ghost of the previous record holder, who warns him not to break the record. Later, Mystery Inc. visits the same stadium, with Fred having won a contest to meet Luis Santiago. Before meeting Santiago, they meet J.T. Page, a former player of the baseball team who was cut due to inappropriate conduct. He is forced to work as the team mascot, Mr. Grizz.
The game begins, but is almost immediately attacked by the ghost, who bursts the lightbulbs and throws flaming baseballs at Mystery Inc. After the attack, Santiago identifies the ghost as all-time record holder Cab Craig, and Mystery Inc. meets Santiago's rude publicist, Autumn Summerfield. Investigating the attacks, Fred, Velma, and Daphne examine the lightbulbs, finding they have been sabotaged to explode with a small generator.
Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby accidentally fall into a trapdoor, leading them to the Potters Stadium, the old stadium that Cookie Co. International Park was built over. They are attacked by the ghost again, who attempts to lock them in a hot sauna, only for them to be rescued by Fred, Daphne, and Velma. Together, Mystery Inc. investigates the booth of the radio broadcaster, Bob Taylor, where the lights have strangely been left on. They find that Taylor was on Craig's baseball team, but had a poor batting average. Suddenly, they find the ghost playing the organ, who chases them around the stadium.
After escaping the ghost, they find Summerfield trying to take pictures of the ghost for publicity, but Daphne claims she is lying; she said she was driving home in a storm, but her suede shoes are dry. Then, they find that the ghost has opened the stadium's retractable roof, allowing rain to fall into the stadium. The ghost attacks them again, chasing them onto the rooftop, where they jump over the widening gap in the roof. The ghost, however, does not make the jump, falling through the bottom of the stadium and into the Potters Stadium below. Following the ghost, they find that the ghost has been soaking baseballs in kerosene to create his flaming baseballs. After meeting with Taylor and Santiago, they prepare a trap to capture the ghost during the game.
After the match has started, the ghost appears to throw a flaming baseball at Santiago, but Daphne uses water sprinklers to extinguish the baseball. When the ghost attacks Shaggy and Scooby, he accidentally falls into a cannon. The cannon accidentally fires at Shaggy and Scooby, launching all three of them into a net. Scooby unmasks the ghost as they are displayed on the stadium's jumbotron.
The ghost was revealed to be Bob Taylor, who wanted to prevent Santiago from breaking Craig's record because Craig was his friend. Velma first noticed that he was not a real ghost when he noticed Cab Craig was right-handed, but Taylor is left-handed. Summerfield reveals that she told the truth to Mystery Inc. earlier; she had brought an extra pair of shoes. After Taylor is handed to authorities, Mystery Inc. sits with baseball catcher Mike Piazza and watches Santiago break Cab Craig's record.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Luis Santiago (only appearance)
- J.T. Page (only appearance)
- Steve Powell (only appearance)
- Shelly (only appearance)
- Autumn Summerfield (only appearance)
Villains:
- Baseball Specter (only appearance)(Bob Taylor's disguise)
- Bob Taylor (only appearance)
Other characters:
- Cameraman (only appearance)(no lines)
- Audience (only appearance)(miscellaneous speaking)
- Umpire (only appearance)
- Miscellaneous Grizzlies (only appearance)(no lines)
- Grizzles' opponent (only appearance)(no lines)
- Cab Craig (only appearance)(no lines)(projector)
- Police officers (only appearance)(no lines)
- Mike Piazza (only appearance)
Locations[]
- Cookie Co. International Park
- Commentator booth
- Concession stand
- Potters Stadium
Objects[]
- Baseball bats
- Baseballs
- Pizza (mentioned)
- Shaggy's flashlight
- Barrel
- Fred's wristwatch
- Nachos
- Peanuts
- Soda
- Chocolate Milkshakes
- Candy bars
- Apple
- Oranges
- Popcorn
- Autumn Summerfield's camera
- Projector
- Projector screen
Vehicles[]
Suspects[]
Suspect | Motive/reason |
---|---|
J.T. Page | He was angry that he was cut from the team, forced to work as the team mascot. |
Autumn Summerfield | Publicity for Santiago. Her shoes were dry, even though she said she left the park in a rainstorm. |
Culprits[]
Culprit | Motive/reason |
---|---|
Bob Taylor as the Baseball Specter | He did not want Luis Santiago to break Cab Craig's record. |
Cast[]
Songs[]
Song | Credits | Performed by | Character performance by |
---|---|---|---|
"Play My Game " | Written by Allison Robertson, Bret Anderson, Maya Ford, and Torrance Castellano | The Donnas | N/A |
Continuity[]
- Velma calls Scooby a "ham" when he's dressed as Mr. Grizz, which she called him several times in the original series.
- Fred's surname was revealed in The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries episode, Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo.
- Two transition scenes with a baseball zooming across the screen includes the full names of the gang written on it. Fred's surname was already mentioned above. The rest of them are as follows:
- Shaggy's surname was revealed in The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show episode, Wedding Bell Boos!. Instead of using his nickname it actually says his birthname, "Norville", revealed in the A Pup Named Scooby-Doo episode, The Sludge Monster From The Earth's Core.
- Daphne's surname was revealed in The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show episode, No Sharking Zone.
- Velma's surname was revealed in The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries episode, Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo.
Notes/trivia[]
- This episode is a semi-remake of the episode The Ghost That Sacked the Quarterback from The Scooby-Doo Show. Both happen on a sports field, on the night of an important event, at a stadium built on top of the old version (one of the main differences between the two episodes being that the first episode focused on football instead of baseball).
- The What's New, Scooby-Doo? tune plays when Scooby dances as Mr. Grizz.
- During this scene, Velma says "What a ham!" in reference to Scooby's performance, which she often did in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! whenever Scooby pretended to have a cold or a sore foot.
- One of the baseball players looks exactly like Fred.
- This episode features baseball catcher Mike Piazza as a guest star.
Cultural references[]
- The title of the episode is a pun on the baseball novel and its film adaptation, The Natural.
Miscellaneous[]
- Disguises: Daphne and Velma as ticket salespeople; Shaggy and Scooby as baseball coaches.
- Traps: Daphne uses water sprinklers to extinguish the ghost's flaming baseballs; Shaggy and Scooby lure the ghost into a cannon; the cannon is fired, launching the ghost into a net.
- Clues: A generator hooked to the lightbulbs, Bob Taylor's trading card with his batting average, a barrel filled with baseballs in kerosene, and a film of Cab Craig.
- "Zoinks" count: 1.
- "Jeepers" count: 1.
- "Jinkies" count: 0.
Adaptations[]
- In 2015, ABDO Publishing published Scooby-Doo and the Unnatural.
Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches[]
- Before Shaggy took a bite of his sandwich while Scooby digs for leftovers, the lettuce's color was changed from green to pink then green again. It may be have some coloring error during production.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- None known.
In other languages[]
Language | Name | Meaning |
---|---|---|
Arabic | أمر يفوق الطبيعة | A Supernatural Occurrence |
French | Le base-balleur fantôme | The Phantom Baseball Player |
Greek | Τα Τρομακτικά Παιχνίδια | The Spooky Games |
Polish | Rekord wbrew naturze | Record Against Nature |
Home media[]
Hva' Nyt, Scooby-Doo?: Del 4 - Den Uhyggelige Mumie! DVD released by Warner Home Video on May 24, 2005.
What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Volume 5 - Sports Spooktacular VHS released by Warner Home Video on June 14, 2005.
What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Volume 5 - Sports Spooktacular DVD released by Warner Home Video on June 14, 2005.
What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Volume 4 - Mummy Scares Best! VHS released by Warner Home Video on July 18, 2005.
What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Volume 4 - Mummy Scares Best! DVD released by Warner Home Video on July 18, 2005.
What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Volume 4 - Mummy Scares Best! DVD released by Roadshow Entertainment on October 5, 2005.
Quoi d'Neuf, Scooby-Doo?: Volume 4 - Le Réveil de la Momie DVD released by Warner Home Video on November 3, 2005.
What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Complete 1st Season DVD set released by Warner Home Video on February 20, 2007.
What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Volumes 3 & 4 - Movie Monsters & A Magic Mummy! DVD released by Warner Home Video on May 30, 2011.
- The episode was supposed to be included on Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales: Field of Screams compilation DVD on May 13, 2014, however it was replaced by The Creepy Case of Old Iron Face from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which is not sports-themed. This change doesn't make any difference, since both episodes have been previously released and have the same running time. It's worth noting, though, that the former is associated to sports, while the latter is not.
3 Spooky DVD Treats: What's New, Scooby-Doo? - Volumes 4-6 DVD released by Warner Home Video.
Quotes[]
Shaggy: OK Fred, so like what's your plan? |
External links[]
Previous episode: | Series: | Next episode: |
Pompeii and Circumstance | What's New, Scooby-Doo? Season 1 |
Big Appetite in Little Tokyo |