Rookie of the Year (film)

For other uses, see Rookie of the Year (disambiguation).

Rookie of the Year
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Daniel Stern
Produced by	Robert Harper
Written by	Sam Harper
Starring	Thomas Ian Nicholas Gary Busey Neil Flynn Daniel Stern Dan Hedaya
Music by	Bill Conti
Cinematography	Jack N. Green
Editing by	Donn Cambern Raja Gosnell
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	July 7, 1993
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$56,500,758

Rookie of the Year is a 1993 American sports comedy film starring Thomas Ian Nicholas and Gary Busey as players for the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

The cast also includes Albert Hall, Dan Hedaya, Eddie Bracken, Amy Morton, Bruce Altman, John Gegenhuber, Neil Flynn, Daniel Stern (who also directed) and John Candy.

Plot

Henry Rowengartner (Nicholas), 12-year-old Little Leaguer, has dreams of playing in the major leagues. One day, Henry breaks his arm trying to catch a fly ball (he slips on another ball that is laying on the ground) and has to wrap it in a cast. Once the arm is healed, the doctor removes the cast and discovers Henry's tendons have healed "a little too tight," thus enabling Henry to cock his arm back and fire it forward with incredible force.

A fateful trip to Wrigley Field for a Chicago Cubs game results in Henry's friends getting a home run ball hit by the visiting team, the Montreal Expos. However, when they give it to Henry to throw back onto the field (per Wrigley tradition), his tightly-healed arm throws the ball so hard that it reaches home plate on the fly. Looking for a miracle to save the club, which is suffering slumping attendance, general manager Larry Fisher (Hedaya) tries to get the kid to join the Cubs.

For the remainder of the season, Henry has to juggle the culture shock of actually playing in the major leagues; working with one of his heroes, aging pitcher Chet Stedman (Busey); and time with his friends. Under it all, his mother, Mary (Amy Morton), tries to keep him grounded while resisting attempts by Fisher and her boyfriend, Jack (Altman), to exploit his newfound fame.

Cast

• Thomas Ian Nicholas as Henry Rowengartner
• Gary Busey as Chet "Rocket" Steadman
• Amy Morton as Mary Rowengartner
• Patrick LaBrecque as George
• Robert Hy Gorman as Clark
• Bruce Altman as Jack
• Dan Hedaya as Larry "Fish" Fisher
• Albert Hall as Sal Martinella
• Eddie Bracken as Bob Carson
• Daniel Stern as Phil Brickma
• Neil Flynn as Okie
• W. Earl Brown as Frick
• Ian Gomez as Odd Bellman
• Andy Berman as Ernie
• John Candy (uncredited) as Cliff Murdoch

Location

The Dodger Stadium scenes were filmed at U.S. Cellular Field, then known as Comiskey Park.

Variations with novelization

A young adult novelization of the film was written by Todd Strasser in 1993. At one point, Henry hits a grand slam due to his incredible arm strength. However, this stands in contrast to what occurs in the film, as Henry is not shown to be a competent hitter.

Reception

The film has received mostly mixed reviews from critics, receiving just a 39% on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 18 critics.

External links

• Rookie of the Year at the Internet Movie Database
• Rookie of the Year at Box Office Mojo
• Rookie of the Year at Rotten Tomatoes