“Major League” is the quintessential baseball movie. It was one of my favorite movies of all time when I was growing up, and its hilarity has done nothing but increase with every subsequent viewing. As a baseball player in my youth, this movie struck a special chord with me because I not only saw the humor from the perspective of a fan of comedic movies, but I was able to associate myself largely with the styles of jokes they told throughout the movie. I had grown up around similar behavior and humor my entire life, and Major League brings back many great memories of a childhood spent in a dugout.
“Major League” follows the fictional story of the hapless and helpless Cleveland Indians. Mired in last place, the team is inherited by Rachel Phelps, a former Las Vegas showgirl, whose ultimate plan is to move the team out of the cold Cleveland area to the warm beach area of Miami. To do this, Phelps invites players to spring training that she is sure will lose a lot of games and help drop the attendance below 800,000 for the season. This would void the lease with the city and allow the team to move. Then something goes horribly wrong as her plan is discovered. The team decides to play like a championship caliber club purely out of spite, much to the delight of Cleveland fans. Phelps tries to take drastic measures but the more she seems to interfere, the more the team unites and the better they play.
One of the best qualities of the movie was in the casting. The players and coaches alike were typecast perfectly into their respective roles, the most notable of which was James Gammon’s role as manager Lou Brown. The surly personality and gruff voice that Gammon brought to the role of the Cleveland Indians’ skipper created a coaching character that any competitive baseball player would tell you they have encountered at least once in their life. Additionally, the talent of Bob Uecker (announcer Harry Doyle) was a flat out treat for anyone to watch. A baseball broadcaster by profession, Uecker’s sense of humor and timing were uncanny throughout the movie.
The movie’s jokes were absolutely brilliant. Watching the movie, it is amazing how eerily similar the movie’s dialogue seem to mirror dugout conversations had by legitimate baseball players. After a basket catch by Willie “Mays” Hayes (Wesley Snipes) in center field, he races back toward the dugout expecting high fives. Instead, Lou Brown shakes his hand and says “Nice catch Hayes! Don’t ever [freaking] do it again!” This is, word for word, a conversation I’d had with a coach in the past, so it hit very close to home when I heard it the first time.
I’d give the movie a rock-solid four out of five stars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38xVTbEBOKQ
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