As he covers all the news including sports, Les unilaterally accepts a $200 wager from Clark Callahan, station manager at WPIG, on a co-ed slo-pitch game between the two radio stations. Les, who never played any sports, including softball, when he was growing up, he stuck inside taking violin lessons instead, sees the game and the challenge as a rite of passage he never went through but should have as a child. No one else at the station wants to play, largely because they don't want to lose as, unaware to Les, WPIG plays in a city league and plays well. But a series of statements leads to the staff changing their minds and agreeing to defend WKRP's honor on the mound. As sports director, Les still wants to lead the team, including pitch, but quickly learns he is way out of his depth. And despite having played in college, Mr. Carlson shows that his softball prowess doesn't live up to the hype that surrounded him. Although they do devise ways to keep the game close, both Mr. Carlson and Les will literally and figuratively have to step up to plate if WKRP has any hope of winning. That task is all the more difficult as all Les can hear in his head is himself playing the violin, which, to him, is the antithesis of what he is now trying to achieve.
—Huggo