It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown

It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown
Genre	Animated TV Special
Created by	Charles M. Schulz
Written by	Charles M. Schulz
Directed by	Bill Melendez
Voices of	Justin Shenkarow John Christian Graas Marnette Patterson Bill Melendez Gregory Grudt Travis Boles Elisabeth Moss Michael J. Sandler Noley Thornton Jessica Nwafor
Composer(s)	Judy Munsen
Production
Executive producer(s)	Lee Mendelson
Producer(s)	Bill Meléndez
Running time	22 minutes
Chronology
Preceded by	Snoopy's Reunion
Followed by	It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown

It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown is the 35th prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally slated to air on CBS in Spring of 1992, but was cancelled until eventual release on video.

Plot

The special follows the spring training of Charlie Brown's baseball team, which is having problems. A child named Leland (Frieda's little brother) joins the team. Lucy points out that they are the only team without uniforms, so Charlie Brown and his team train hard for the first game of the season. Thanks to Leland, Charlie Brown's team wins, 27 to 26, therefore getting their uniforms (A recurring plot line is that Leland is so short the other team's pitcher either constantly walks him or beans him in his batting helmet). However, the team loses their next game because Leland has to quit because their new uniforms are too big for him, with Charlie Brown saying at the end, "It's not how you look, it's how you play the game."

Notes

• This special never aired during prime time (the first Peanuts special to have the [dis]honor), but was shown on certain cable TV networks afterwards.
• Second appearance of Frieda's little brother Leland who first appeared in It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown.
• This is the fifth time Charlie Brown's team has won a ball game in animated specials. The other times are,"A Boy Named Charlie Brown", "It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown," the "Baseball" segment of the "Snoopy's Cat Fight" episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show (where Charlie Brown is too sick to play and Linus fills in), and the "baseball" segment in the "You Can't Win, Charlie Brown" episode of Charlie Brown and Snoopy (with Rerun on their team, but they had to give up the game because Rerun gambled that his team would win).
• This is the last episode to not have music written by Vince Guaraldi in it (It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown was the revival of Guaraldi's music).