Episode Recap: A Leela of Her Own

Fry spots a pizza parlor opening down the street. Fry,Bender and Leela head over to try it, and the decor, chairs etc. are just not quite right. The pizza itself, with its stucco, scarab and guano toppings, is awful. Since he used to work in a pizzeria, Fry promises to help the Cygnoid owner, Blecch, create more palatable pizza and an authentic parlor. A wide screen TV is essential, and after it is installed, the Cygnoids, Fry, Leela and Bender watch the Earthican Pastime, blernsball. The Cygnoids are confused and Fry says that if they are going to be true Earthicans, they must learn to play blernsball. In Central Park, the Planet Express blernsball team faces off against the Cygnoids. Leela is the pitcher and her pitches bean each Cygnoid batter in the head until she has beaned a run in. The crowd loves all of the beaning and cheers wildly, drawing even more onlookers. Nelson Doubledeal, owner of the New York Mets, approaches Leela and offers to make her the first female blernsball player as a publicity stunt. Leela is so thrilled by the offer she does not understand its commercial limitations. 

Leela receives a cold welcome from the Mets Manager, who dismisses a one-eyed woman throwing bean balls as a novelty act. Leela retorts with her belief that she is a trailblazing sportswoman. At a game the next day, the Mets are getting creamed and the crowd starts streaming toward the exits during the fifth inning. Doubledeal puts in Leela whose between-the-eyes bean balls draw the audience back to their seats. The fans roar their approval and Doubledeal is ecstatic about the publicity. Leela is tapped by an ad agency to endorse "Bean-Bay Beans" and becomes a fan favorite. During an autograph session at the Cygnoid pizzeria, Jackie Anderson, a young woman serious about becoming a major league blernsball player, scoffs at Leela and calls her a freak show, not a serious athlete. Leela is crushed that her heroism has actually been comic relief and vows not to be the worst blernsball player of all time. 

At the Blernsball Hall of Fame Leela meets the reigning worst player of all time…Hank Aaron XXIV. Hank practices with Leela and eventually she pitches without hitting him. At the next game in Fenway Park, where the Cygnoid family sells its pizza franchise for a million dollars, Leela begs to be put in the game. The Manager scorns Leela until she tells him that she’s been training with "Hank Aaron." Leela goes to the mound and Jackie Anderson comes to bat in her major league debut. After two strikes, Jackie gets a homer off of Leela’s third pitch—Leela definitively wins the title of the worst player in blernsball history. After the game, Jackie consoles her by pointing out that Leela has inspired women athletes to prove they could play better than she did. Leela is comforted that she had made a positive difference in female athletics after all.