I loved the movie Little Big League. Is it realistic? In many ways, no. I did, however, find the actual gameplay to be better than most baseball movies including one of my all-time favorites, Major League. LBL used a combination of actors and former player to field the Twins with several cameos from big names like Tim Raines, Rafael Palmeiro, Pudge Rodriguez, and Wally Joyner, not to mention Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson in the final game. For a youngster, it was cool to see a “kid” manage a big league team and even now the movie holds up and is an enjoyable watch. I figured I’d re-watch it with my running thoughts…
*I never noticed this! The opposing coach from the movie’s opening scene is Jeff Garlin!
*In one of the few scenes of Billy Heywood (Luke Edwards) playing baseball, we learn why Billy was better suited as a manager and not a player. No lower body at all on his swing.
*When I was younger, I didn’t quite understand what Billy’s grandfather meant when he said to eat as many ice cream sundaes as you can while you’re young because you can’t do that as freely when you get older. I’m now 30 years old and 100% understand what he means!
*Timothy Busfield played one of the movie’s protagonists, Lou Collins. I don’t think he was a good guy in many of his films.
*A manager and pitching coach would never fight like that in the clubhouse.
*Duane Davis, who played Jerry Johnson, is the son of the late Willie Davis, HOF player for the Packers.
*There’s so much awesome trivia in this movie.
*There are a ton of realistic interactions, like the scene in which Billy’s grandfather, Thomas Heywood, tries to convince Billy’s mom to let him see Roger Clemens on a school night. I remember having to argue to see certain people play on school nights when I was younger.
*Billy’s movie mom, Jenny (Ashley Crow) has a son, Pete Crow Armstrong, who will be one of the top picks in the upcoming baseball draft.
*It was probably not until the 50th time that I saw the funeral of Thomas Heywood that I didn’t cry.
*I love Jason Robards’s voice.
*Blackout Gatling, played by the late Brad Lesley, was always pretty intidimating. It wasn’t until years later I learned he actually played pro ball and was known as “The Animal.”
*I’m sure Dennis Farina is a great guy but he’s a you-know-what in every movie he’s in.
*Love the immediate sexual tension between Jenny Heywood and Lou Collins. But Lou just signed a multi-year deal and Jenny is the mom to a 12-year old so, what’s the age difference? Gotta be at least five years and probably seven…
*Love this line about the difficulty of managing in the AL from Billy’s friend Chuck.
*This is one of my favorite scenes in a baseball movie. The GM and pitching coach are questioning the viability of Billy managing the Twins and he takes them to school!
*Bob Uecker was awesome as Harry Doyle in Major League. Nothing will top that. however, it is worth noting that longtime Twins broadcaster John Gordon, who played their movie broadcaster Wally Holland, was pretty funny, too.
*It was odd that pitching coach Mac Macnally (John Ashton) wa the one giving the signs for a hit-n-run.
*Glad Jerry Johnson recovered from the gruesome leg injury he suffered as Alvin Mack in The Program.
*For an All-Star first baseman, Lou Collins didn’t have forearms or triceps that fit the bill.
*Ok…in the game against the A’s, Pat Corning, played by former Ranger Kevin Elster, took second on a walk. I probably did that three or four times in little league thanks to this movie!
*In the monopoly scene, I always played it was $400 if you landed on Go.
*It’s funny how they were waiting in the airport before a road trip. That doesn’t happen. Nope. Charter planes. Straight from the car or bus on to the plane.
*I’m not going to lie. At some point in my life I looked up to see if Night Nurses From Jersey was real.
*The scene in Boston in which Billy falls asleep mid-game is obviously totally unrealistic.
*Let’s assume that a 12-year old was managing the Twins, don’t you think his two best friends who received unprecedented access because of it would lay off getting upset at him because his schedule became a little busy?
*Mac played the role of every coach on the staff, it seems. He was providing guidance on the pitching and the hitting.
*Never noticed the important detail: they had a patch on the jersey for Thomas Heywood, Billy’s late grandfather, just like they would in real life if an owner passed away. Nice job.
*Pudge Rodriguez with his big acting debut!
*I always hated that Billy had to DFA Jerry but this always confused me: why was their relationship so great when Jerry wasn’t playing anyway? Jerry complained about needing more at-bats but didn’t seem to have a strained relationship with Billy.
*Hmm…Billy is probably the first person to use “You’re a big dork” when arguing with an ump…
*Imagine if the best player was dating the manager’s mom in the social media world. Almost like the whole Lebron-Delonte-Lebron’s mom thing…
*So a team’s best player gets benched because he was 0-for-his-last-12? Yeah…not happening.
*So Lonnie Ritter, the team’s cleanup hitter, was playing with two separated ribs and the manager didn’t know about it? Even after he got X-rays? As a youngster, I totally fell for that.
*The big issue I have with the stickball scene, which looked like tons of fun, was not that they believed he wasn’t Billy Heywood, but that Billy all of a sudden went from a bad baseball player to a really good one.
*Every time I hear the song “Runaround Sue” I think of the montage from this movie.
*I totally used to pump my glove like Bowers…
*I never asked Dave Magadan, former Rangers pitching coach, about his role in this movie.
*I love the classic team building exercise of helping your 12-year old manager do his homework! Seriously, though, I enjoyed that scene…
*So, the Twins-Mariners game was actually filmed before an actual Twins-Mariners game and for that particular game, they actually had the Metrodome packed.
*OK, OK, OK! This, my friends, is where I first fell in love with Griffey. Technically, he was a bad guy, right? But he so dang cool.
*I love the line from his homer from Wally Holland: “People take vacations shorter than that!”
*Tony Todd, who played Mickey Scales, told me he actually hit the home run in real life. That’s believable for Todd, who was a really good baseball player in Southern California before injuries beset his career.
*I love the line, “You gotta do what ya gotta do, Junior” that Lou Collins said to Griffey when he was on first.
*The hidden ball trick play was great and a fun part of the movie, but it is worth noting that the way they executed it is also a balk, ha!
*Season on the line. Down to the final out. What is the manager doing? Discussing with the on-deck hitter about marrying his mom!
*I had nightmares about Randy Johnson after this movie.
*I still have the hopes that Lou Collins hits a home run here. With that said, I love the fact that the predictable doesn’t happen here.
*Griffey had to run like seven miles to make the play. But he made it and it was Gary Matthews Jr.-esque. Or, some might say it was Griffey Jr.-esque.
The Mariners win. The Twins lose. But Billy gets a raucous ovation and the acceptance and approval of the players so everyone wins!
Seriously, still an entertaining movie. Love it.