Major League memories for a winning movie

 "...JUST a bit outside!" has become a catch phrase for more then just a wild pitch in baseball.  It's been called out by commenters at tennis matches, football games and about any other sport with a ball, but it's just one of the many memorable lines from, Major League.

To this day, Major League, is still one of the most beloved and memorable sports movies of all time and gave us some truly great movie characters and a launching pad for two great careers, Wesley Snipes and Charlie Sheen.

The biggest problem that this movie has, its sequels, it's hard for some to separate the first film from the second, and the second didn't do any favors to the first, as the sequel went far more into the comedy genre than a good up-and-coming baseball film.

Standing on it's own, Major League really is a truly great sports movie, it had a lot more of the life problems that some players see, but was also able to mix in a bit of that movie magic, so that all things come together.

One of the first people that has to be acknowledged is, Mr Baseball Bob Uecker, without him, the film would have had a completely different tone and wouldn't have been the success it was, he stole the show, yet all the rest of the cast is still very memorable.  He was given a completely free hand at his scenes and it really paid off.

The base story is pretty good, a widow and former showgirl inherits ownership of a major league baseball team from her deceased husband, she hatches a plan to sink the team and move it to a more pleasant climate, from Cleveland to Miami.  The ragtag team of has-beens, never should bes and misfits has to come together to win the pennant.  It's basic but really works, especially if you can keep the second film out of your head, it deserves the 🌟

Wild Thing Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), Cerano (Dennis Haysbert) & Jobu, Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes), Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) and the bitch herself, Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitten) are ones that very few sports fans don't know, and a lot of non-sports fans won't forget.  The characters for the film all filled their roles very nicely, almost no crossover.  Even though you might not remember the name, Eddie Harris (Chelsie Ross) you will remember the line, "yo bartender, Jobu needs a refill" and what he was like.  This gang should get the star but I'd like to have seen more of the team represented than just a small handful of the starters, I think this is one of the two things that held the film back.

The casting, was phenomenal, not sure they could have done any better on any of the choices.  Each one ate up their role as if the chef cooked it based on their DNA.  James Gammon was great as Manager, Lou Brown and his short connection with Charlie Donovan (Charles Cyphers), was an excellent scene, and should have had more to it.  Casting gets the 🌟

Next to the sequels, the writing was one of the parts that needed to push themselves more, in the way the team did to mess with Rachels plan, but they slid short and got tagged out.  As I said, the basic story was good, but the script didn't seem to know which direction it really wanted to go.  The comedy from Uecker's announce, Harry Doyle and the problems with Wild Things control were more than enough comedy for the film, but they felt the need to over play some at the expense of what could have been a bit more dramatic story. 

When Jake Taylor walked back out onto the field, we felt the weight of it and that special moment for him, we felt that big league part.  He points to the wall, takes his swing and hits his "home run" and takes his trip around the bases, but it then fell a bit flat as the two rookies didn't have their moment of "WOW, this IS the big leagues" that they should have, another fail of the writing, but we still felt it for Taylor.  On top of that, all the other locations just felt right for the scenes, except one, the bar that Vaughn was sitting alone in when Dorn's wife comes in to pick him up, didn't seem like his kind of place to "be alone".  Two pieces, even though one was more the writers fault, doesn't make it to third base on production.

The soundtrack is an excellent blend of James Newton Howard's great buildup music and Randy Newman's easy blues for, Burn on Big River, gave you the feel of Cleveland and Municipal Stadium near the Cuyahoga River, it made a good setting for the opening credits, you got the vibe of film from that song and you were moved by the background music, encouraging the desire to cheer them on.  The nice mix gets the soundtrack the 🌟

When it comes to the direction of the film, this cast shot says a lot, they really had a good time making the movie and it moves well, you connect to the story and characters at a good pace and get the changes and growth of the story and characters.  There aren't any bits and pieces left dangling, no real unanswered questions that highly affect the story, things wrap up nicely in then end,  David Ward gets the 🌟 for this one, too bad some of his other directorial outings, King Ralph, Major League II and Down Periscope weren't done a bit better, even though I'm a fan of those.

The editor Dennis Hill should get an extra bases high five, as the scenes went well together, the flow and rhythm of the film are good and keep you involved. 🌟

The studio put a fairly good marketing campaign out for the film, but didn't really step up to the plate like they could have, more baseball oriented merchandise like pennants would have been great, as well as action figures through Kenner Toys and their, Starting Lineup sets would be incredible collector items today.  They seemed to just see it as another sports movie, with a decent push, but didn't expect much so they didn't go for the big hit, they played it safe, unfortunately. 

As far are Time & Loyalty, like many sports movies, this one certainly qualifies for the hall of fame, it's still a big hit and fans still cheer for the underdog.  The merchandise has even begun to come around with bobbleheads and Funko Pop figures, along with even being able to get a pair of Wild Thing glasses. 🌟

⚾ A film that could have been an epic, grand slam home run, but didn't have the power to make it over the wall, so it's only a 6 out of 10 stars, but still a movie I will rarely give up the chance to watch.