Take Me Out to the Holosuite ( episode ) When Captain Solok of the Federation starship " T ' Kumbra " challenges former classmate Sisko and his crew to a game of baseball , Sisko refuses to lose to the arrogant Vulcan and begins to take the game too seriously . Summary . Teaser . When the docks at Deep Space 9 for repairs , her captain – a Vulcan named – visits Sisko in his office to discuss the maintenance schedule , and apparently to disparage Human s in general . Solok had recently received the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor and makes a point of reminding Sisko it is his second . The " T ' Kumbra " has been in combat in the Dominion War for six months , and Solok makes note that DS9 is well behind Federation lines . He even disparages the maintenance schedule as " inefficient . " Sisko responds , calmly refuting his thinly veiled insults with his own . Then , Solok brings up a final matter that prompts Sisko to call for an immediate assembly of his senior staff in the wardroom the instant the turbolift carries Solok out of Ops . It seems that Solok and his all - Vulcan crew have challenged Sisko and the crew of DS9 to a " contest of teamwork , courage , and sacrifice " that Sisko couldn ' t turn down – a game of baseball ! Act One . Deep Space 9 ' s senior staff is skeptical , especially since none of them has ever played the game before , but they accept the challenge and promptly start learning all they can about the game . As they learn the basics and quite a lot of terminology ( Bashir is convinced " Fancy Dan " is a phrase Dax invented until he reads it for himself ) , the excitement spreads to others aboard the station . Leeta and Rom are both interested in trying out for the team as a way to get closer to Nog . Even Quark begrudgingly agrees to try out after some harsh " encouragement " from Leeta . So , an unlikely collection of baseball players , dubbed the " Niners " , gathers in one of Quark ' s holosuite s – Benjamin and Jake Sisko ( the only two who actually know how to play ) , Worf , Kira , Ezri , Bashir , O ' Brien , Quark , Nog , Rom , and Leeta . After an inspirational speech from Coach Sisko , the players pair off for some easy throw - and - catch to get started . Nog , Worf , O ' Brien , and Bashir get off to a good start , but everyone else clearly need more than a little practice . Quite a few balls go sailing past the target catcher , while others seem to be aimed right for someone ' s head . Rom has more trouble than anyone , missing balls even as they fly right past him . Act Two . By the end of the first practice most of the team is in the infirmary with various injuries . Quark had some bones in the back of his skull repaired ( after an incident involving Rom and an errant bat ) . Ezri is just generally in pain ( after thinking she could do all the things Emony Dax once did as an Olympic gymnast ) . O ' Brien , worst of all , has torn his rotator cuff once again and won ' t be able to play . Disappointed , Benjamin recruits him as the batting , pitching , and first base coach . He also recruits Odo as the umpire – the only person he trusts to be impartial . Unfortunately , that still leaves a hole to fill , so Sisko " pulls a few strings " and brings in Kasidy Yates , a fellow die - hard baseball fan . With her next few cargo runs mysteriously reassigned , she has just enough free time to join the team as third base coach . With the addition of Yates and plenty of practice the team improves a little , though Rom still hasn ' t actually hit a ball , and isn ' t especially good at catching either . Nog and Leeta keep encouraging him , but Sisko eventually gets so discouraged he kicks Rom off the team completely . Act Three . The other players ( except Jake , Worf , and Yates ) insist they ' ll quit the team if Sisko won ' t let Rom play , but Rom won ' t hear of it , assuring them that he ' ll be content to watch from the stands and give his encouragement . With Rom off the team it seems like they ' re improving quite a lot . Baseball has even permeated their normal activities . Quark , for instance , has his waiter s throw glasses down to him from his second level so he can practice catching , and Kira is delighted to see Odo practicing umpire moves in the security office . Meanwhile , Yates makes Sisko explain the real reason he ' s so vehement about winning the game . Sisko tells her that it ' s not about baseball , it ' s about Solok . Solok was in Starfleet Academy with him , and he met the Vulcan in a bar called The Launching Pad where he made disparaging remarks about how Humans were " emotionally handicapped . " Already having had a few drinks in him , Sisko challenged Solok to a wrestling match , which , due to Vulcan strength , Sisko naturally lost ( and ended up in the infirmary ) . Yates laughs a bit , and quickly apologizes , telling Sisko that Vulcans are three times stronger than Humans . Sisko admits this , and says that had it ended there , all would have been well . But it didn ' t . Solok used the incident to write papers proving that Vulcans are naturally superior to Humans in every way , even after they ' d graduated . Still , Sisko doesn ' t want the Niners to know why he ' s so concerned about the game , and makes Yates promise not to tell anyone either . Despite her promise , she does promptly tell the team , who just take it as further motivation to win the game – for their captain . Act Four . So the Niners face Solok ' s Logicians on the holosuite field , though without spectators ( per Sisko ' s wishes ) and start the game with Odo in his umpire ' s uniform overseeing everything . A Vulcan batter hits the first pitch completely out of the park , and it doesn ' t take long for the runs to rack up against the Niners . By the end of the first inning the Logicians already have four runs , while the first three Niners up to bat strike out . They manage to keep the Logicians down to just one run per inning the next three innings , but that ' s still a score of 7 – 0 to the Vulcans . The Logicians don ' t score at all in the fifth inning , and Kira actually makes her way to second . With two outs , Worf steps up to bat . Strike . Ball . Ball . Strike . Ball . He prepares himself for the last pitch and when the ball flies by on the outside he steps back , then tosses the bat aside and starts to jog to first even as Odo calls , " Strike three ! " Benjamin and Worf are both incensed and scream at Odo while he calmly asserts that the ball " caught the outside corner . " Benjamin gets furious at that and pushes Worf aside and argues chin to chin with Odo , going so far to jab Odo ' s chest as he ' s shouting . Without hesitation , Odo throws Sisko out of the game , quoting the rule book regarding physical contact with the umpire , and tells him to look it up in the stands . Act Five . Benjamin stalks off to the stands muttering to himself that it was a ball , not a strike , and throws himself into a seat near where Rom has been sitting the whole time . The Niners manage two outs against the Logicians at the top of the ninth inning , and Worf throws the ball to Nog at home plate just as the Vulcan batter steps across and returns to the Logicians dugout . Nog doesn ' t manage to tag him out , but the runner didn ' t actually step on the plate . Odo watches silently , and O ' Brien realizes what must have happened , but Nog doesn ' t know which player it was ! Failing any better idea , he runs to the Logicians dugout and starts tagging each one , but the last one on the bench runs toward home at the last second . Nog throws to Jake , who tags the Vulcan out as he slides in . They get the third out ! Even Benjamin , up in the stands , is overjoyed . " " That ' s what I love about this game – you never know what ' s going to happen next , every situation is different . " " With a gleam in his eye , he looks over at Rom . The Niners still haven ' t scored a single run in the bottom of the ninth , but Nog is on third when Sisko sends Rom to bat in full Niners regalia . He fills the stadium with holographic spectators and even calls upon an announcer to introduce Jake Sisko ' s pinch hitter , but Rom completely misses the first two pitches . Bashir and O ' Brien try to signal that he should bunt the ball down the baseline as the third pitch sails toward the plate . Rom leans forward to try to decipher their signal , bringing his bat right into the ball ' s path . It glances off and rolls down the first base line . The crowd cheers and Nog takes off , sliding into home just in time . They ' ve scored ! The Niners rush onto the field and lift Rom in the air . Solok is confused and angry , and grabs Odo by the shoulder to protest , but Odo just grins and tosses Solok from the game . The Niners have decided to end the game before even a single out in the ninth inning , and Solok can ' t understand it . Even as the team celebrates in Quark ' s , Solok protests that they ' re only attempting to " " manufacture triumph where none exists , " " but every one of the Niners is willing to accept that , even going so far as to toast " manufactured triumph " . When Solok protests further , they just accuse him of being emotional , irritated , defensive , angry , jealous , and quite bitter . Solok ' s continued disparaging comments at their " Human " reactions only leads to further mockery by the Niners with Dax and Quark laughing that despite his intelligence he doesn ' t seem to know what a Human actually is . ( " " Did I forget to wear my spots today ? " " – Dax ) To top it all off , Kira tosses Sisko a new baseball for his desk – signed by every player on the team . Sisko offers it to Solok , asking " " Would you like to sign it ? " " Solok storms off , amid laughter . Memorable quotes . " " It ' s been a long time . " " " " Ten years , two months , five days . " " " " You mean you don ' t know it to the " minute " ? " < br > " " " Of course I do . . But " Humans " are often irked by such precision . Especially the more " emotional " Humans . " " " " Which is why when their captain challenged us to a contest of courage , teamwork , and sacrifice , I accepted on your behalf . " " " " We will destroy them . " " " " I hope you learned your lesson . " " " " Always look behind you before swinging a bat . " " " " How many is that ? " " " " Today ? I think he ' s missed ten . " " " " War is an inefficient business . " " " " They just . . . chewed it ? " " " " No , they infused the gum with flavor . " " " " What flavor did you infuse it with ? " " " " Scotch . " " " " I know that look . It ' s the I ' d - really - like - to - smash - something - but - she ' ll - think - I ' m - crazy look . Well , don ' t let me stop you – they ' re your quarters . Smash away if it ' ll make you feel better ! " " " " Computer , eliminate the spectators ! " " " " Alright , Niners , let ' s hear some chatter . " " " " Hey , batter , batter , batter , batter , batter . " " " " Hey , batter , batter , batter , batter , batter , batter , batter . " " " " Death to the opposition ! " " " " WHAT ? ! What ' re you talking about ? That ball was at least a half a meter out ! How come you called it a strike ? Reverse the call ! Reverse the call ! " " " " That was low and outside ! " " " " The ball was clearly outside ! " " " " Oh , what the " hell " were you looking at ? You can ' t tell me that ball was over the plate . What were you doing , regenerating ? " " " " You ! YOU ' RE OUTTA HERE ! " " " " What ? ! " " " " No player shall at any time make contact with the umpire in any manner . ' The prescribed penalty for the violation is immediate ejection from the game . Rule number 4 . 06 , subsection A , paragraph 4 . Look it up – but do it in the stands . YOU ' RE GONE ! " " " " What do I do ? " " " " Find him and kill him ! " " " " Did I forget to wear my spots today ? " " " " All that intelligence and he still doesn ' t know what a Human looks like ! " " Linescore . Ejections : Deep Space Niners manager Benjamin Sisko ejected by HP Umpire Odo ( 5th ) ; T ' Kumbra Logicians manager Solok ejected by HP Umpire Odo ( 9th ) Links and references . References . 47 ; Alpha Quadrant ; Anthem of the United Federation of Planets ; autograph ; bar tab ; baseball ; bunt ; chewing gum ; Christopher Pike Medal of Valor ; clavicular joint ; coach ; ; ; ; Earth ; ejection ; eye on the ball ; Ferengi ; foul ; ; ligament ; Logicians ; meter ; Niners ; " Old Man " ; ; Promenade ; psychology ; Quark ' s ; rib ; separated shoulder ; Sisko ' s friends ; Solok ' s Vulcan friends ; spots ; Starfleet Academy ; The Slider ; ; toast ; umpire ; zygomatic bone