Major League (1989)
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A struggling baseball team must overcome internal conflicts and a sabotaged roster to succeed in a single season of professional play.
The story
After inheriting the struggling Cleveland Indians baseball team, Rachel Phelps intends to move the team to Miami by intentionally creating the worst team in the major leagues. She replaces the current roster with a mix of rookies and washed-up veterans, including a pitcher with no control and a prima donna. As the season progresses, the mismatched group of players must learn to work together as a team despite their personal differences and the sabotage of their owner. The team faces a grueling season where they must overcome their individual flaws to find success on the field.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Rachel Phelps, a former showgirl, inherits the Cleveland Indians and attempts to move them to Miami by sabotaging the team's performance. She hires manager Lou Brown and recruits a roster of 'misfits,' including Jake Taylor, Roger Dorn, Eddie Harris, Pedro Cerrano, Willie Mays Hayes, and the 'Wild Thing' Ricky Vaughn. The team faces internal friction, particularly between Dorn and Vaughn, but they improve as they learn to play together. Near the end of the season, the team exceeds expectations and finds success. In a final playoff game against the New York Yankees, the Indians win in the bottom of the ninth after a series of dramatic plays. The film features an alternate ending where the owner's motives are different, but the theatrical version portrays her as a villain. The story concludes with the team celebrating their victory and the players' personal lives finding resolution.
- First release year
- 1989
- Runtime (minutes)
- 106
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David S. Ward
- Writers
- David S. Ward · writer
- Cast and characters
- Tom Berenger; Charlie Sheen; Corbin Bernsen; Margaret Whitton; James Gammon; Rene Russo; Bob Uecker; Wesley Snipes · Pedro Cerrano; Dennis Haysbert · Pedro Cerrano
- Genres
- sports comedy
- Themes
- teamwork; overcoming adversity
- Tone and mood
- comedy
- Premise and plot tags
- sports; underdog
- Franchise connections
- Major League
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 83% · scale: percentage · review count: 40; Metacritic · score: 62 · scale: 100 · review count: 15
- Awards and nominations
- AFI's 10 Top 10 · Nominated Sports Film · 2008 · Nominated
- Production trivia
- The film was primarily shot in Milwaukee because it was cheaper than filming in Cleveland.; The character of Eddie Harris is based on pitcher Gaylord Perry.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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