Batter Up: A Look at the 1989 Baseball Comedy “Major League”

The MLB season is now in full swing and I wanted to take a look at a couple baseball-related movies. This review will be focusing on the hilarious 1989 classic “Major League.”

Released on April 7, 1989, “Major League” grossed $75 million worldwide ($50 million domestically) from an $11 million budget and received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences. It later spawned two sequels (“Major League II” and “Major League: Back to the Minors”), neither of which repeated the success of the original comedy.

The new owner of the Cleveland Indians, former showgirl Rachel Phelps, has a sweetheart deal to move the team to Miami. But to break the lease with the city of Cleveland, ticket sales have to plummet.

So Phelps hires the most incompetent players available, including near-blind pitcher Rick Vaughn and injury-prone catcher Jake Taylor. But her villainous tactics accidentally foster a can-do team spirit, turning the Indians into potential winners.

“Major League” was, and remains, highly regarded by audiences as a quintessential, “feel good” sports comedy. It’s still widely considered one of the best baseball movies out there, praised for its good humor, very memorable characters, and its rewatchability. And I’ll admit, after watching this movie many times over the years, it’s still a really hilarious watch.

“Major League” delivers a great blend of underdog sports drama, the very quotable silly humor and the genuine baseball action. The charismatic cast can still leave you fairly entertained - in particular Wesley Snipes, Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen - and Bob Uecker’s comedic radio commentary are easily some of the major highlights of this 80’s movie. And, it’s also ultimately a feel-good story of a rag-tag team overcoming a very unlikable owner.

This baseball comedy has a roster of some misfit characters that will still bring many laughs, such as Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn (straight out of the California Penal League), Jake Taylor (a veteran catcher and moral center of the team who is desperately hanging onto his career), Willie Mays Hays (a really fast base-stealer who can’t hit anything) and Pedro Cerrano (a power hitter who practices Voodoo).

While this movie features many humorous moments, the Pedro Cerrano/Jobu subplot steals the show every time. In the movie, Cerrano sets up a shrine in his locker, while offering Jobu cigars and run to help with his hitting. There’s a scene where one of the teammates tries to steal Jobu’s rum - with Cerrano famously saying “Is very bad to steal Jobu’s rum … is very bad” - and once he steals the rum, he ends up getting smacked in the head with a bat.

There’s also the hilarious radio commentary from the Harry Doyle character (played by Bob Uecker) that’s truly iconic for his hilarious and blunt play-by-plays of the terrible Cleveland Indians. One of my favorite moments is when his radio partner reminds him not to curse on the air and Doyle simply replies, “Don’t worry, nobody’s listening anyway.”

The comedy also delivers an underdog story where a new, manipulative owner assembles a rag-tag team of washed up and inexperienced misfits to lose games on purpose, only for the team to rally together, overcome their limitations, and battle for the division title. The underdog story is actually inspired by the movie’s writer/director David Ward’s love for the historically struggling Cleveland Indians, the movie turns the team’s disastrous reputation into a triumphant, comedic underdog story.

Released in 1989, “Major League” is widely considered one of the best and most rewatchable sports comedies ever made, balancing slapstick humor with a genuine underdog story. “Major League” remains a beloved classic because it captures the spirit of a team “coming together” while providing laughs in just about every scene.

MPA: Rated R    (runtime 107 minutes)

TRIVIA: When director David S. Ward asked Bob Uecker to play Harry Doyle, Ward chosen Uecker because of his acting work in the Miller Lite ads and on the sitcom “Mr. Belvedere.” Not until Ward met Uecker did he learn that Uecker had been the radio broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers for nearly 20 years. In the opening titles, the name “Higbees” is visible on a downtown building. This is the same department store in “A Christmas Story.”

Make sure to check out my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook for more fun trivia bits about this movie!

Initial release date: April 7, 1989

Streaming services: Paramount Plus/various PVOD services

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOXv5KgGj_Y

• Real-life relief pitcher Mitch Williams (with the Chicago Cubs at the time of the film's release) was inspired to model himself after the Rick Vaughn character. He began to wear the number 99 and had "Wild Thing" played when entering games, shortly earning the nickname "Wild Thing." In addition, the modern-day tradition of relief pitchers, mainly closers, having their own intro songs was largely inspired by this film.

• For many of the wide crowd scenes of the climactic playoff game, there were over 20,000 extras in the stands. When the team first ran onto the field with the crowd roaring, Dennis Haysbert admitted to being emotionally overwhelmed by the experience. Former Major Leaguer and technical advisor Steve Yeager noticed Haysbert's reaction and said to him, "That's what it's like 162 times a year."

• When director David S. Ward asked Bob Uecker to play Harry Doyle in the film, Ward had chosen Uecker because of his acting work in Miller Lite ads and on the sitcom Mr. Belvedere (1985). Not until Ward met Uecker did he learn that Uecker had been the radio broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers for nearly 20 years.

• David S. Ward is actually a life-long Cleveland Indians fan. His inspiration for creating the movie was that he thought it would be the only way he would ever see the Indians actually win anything.

• The Rachel Phelps character and her plan to move the Indians was inspired by real-life Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith. In the 1970s, during the planning stages of constructing the Metrodome stadium, Griffith had negotiated for an escape clause in the team's lease which said that if the Twins' home attendance was under 1.4 million per season for three consecutive years, the team could be released from its contract and leave Minnesota. Like the Phelps character, Griffith let quality players depart via free agency and used cheap, inexperienced rookies and has-beens. The Twins lost 102 games in their first year in the Metrodome in 1982, then 92 games the year afterward, with attendance under 900,000 in each of those seasons. A group of investors from Tampa bought 42 percent of the team, and the Twins were on the verge of moving to Florida. To many fans, it appeared that Griffith had weaseled the escape clause into the contract and set up the roster so he could put it into practice. The situation was avoided when Griffith sold the Twins to banker Carl Pohlad. The Tampa group sold its minority stock to Pohlad, and the Twins remained in Minneapolis.

• Harry Doyle's line "Just a bit outside," which became one of the film's more memorable and imitated catchphrases, wasn't in the script. Bob Uecker improvised the line, and several others under initial encouragement from David S. Ward.

• Dennis Haysbert, who played Pedro Cerrano, actually hit multiple home runs on camera while filming "Major League". In the final game when Haysbert hit his final home run, he was so excited he forgot to drop the bat and ran the bases with it despite that not being in the script.

• The movie was followed up by the sequel "Major League II." One year after the sequel's release, the actual Cleveland Indians would win their first American League Pennant since 1954, leading some to refer to the experience as "Major League III."