As he did in several other Murder, She Wrote (1984) scripts, writer Donald Ross named several of the characters after jazz musicians. John Eaton is a pianist and jazz educator. Doc Evans was a traditional jazz cornetist from the 1930's until his death in 1977. Pete Briggs was the tuba player for Louis Armstrong's Hot Seven in 1927. Harry Dial was a drummer who also worked with Armstrong. Irving Randolph was a 1930's trumpeter who played with Cab Calloway. Lt. Caceres is named after 1940's baritone saxophonist Ernie Caceres. Kel Murray was a non-jazz bandleader who shared the 1935 "Let's Dance" broadcasts with Benny Goodman and Xavier Cugat. Mike Warlop is named after 1930's French jazz bandleader Michel Warlop. There is also an unseen but mentioned character named Flip Phillips, after the star tenor saxophonist from Woody Herman's First Herd in the mid-1940's.
The title refers to the umpire's announcement to the batter in American baseball when he has completed his time at the plate after having experienced the maximum number of strikes allowed before one is out.