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Little Big League

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For the band, see Little Big League (band).
Little Big League
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew Scheinman
Written byGregory K. Pincus
Produced bySteven Nicolaides
Andrew Bergman
Mike Lobell
Starring
CinematographyDonald E. Thorin
Edited byMichael Jablow
Music byStanley Clarke
Production
companies
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • June 29, 1994 (1994-06-29)
Running time
119 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million (US)[1]
Box office$12 million (US)[2]

Little Big League is a 1994 American family sports film about a 12-year-old who suddenly becomes the owner and then manager of the Minnesota Twins baseball team. It stars Luke Edwards, Timothy Busfield, and Ashley Crow. The film is director Andrew Scheinman's first and only feature film directorial project.

Plot

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12-year-old Billy Heywood is a Little League Baseball player whose grandfather, Thomas Heywood, owns the Minnesota Twins. When Thomas dies, Billy learns that he is now the owner of the Twins. Thomas' will specifies that the team executives are to help Billy until he is old enough to run the team by himself.

Billy quickly runs afoul of the team manager, George O'Farrell. Billy believes O'Farrell is too hard on the players, while O'Farrell despises the idea of working for a kid. After O'Farrell repeatedly insults, Billy fires him.

With no other managers willing to work for a kid, and with summer break starting in two days, Billy decides to name himself the new manager. He reaches out to the Commissioner of Baseball, who approves after consulting with Jenny, Billy's mother. The players are very skeptical, but Billy promises that if he does not improve the team's last-place position in the standings within a few weeks, he will resign. The team quickly moves up to division race contention. Unfortunately, not all is going smoothly for Billy, as his friend and star first baseman Lou Collins takes a romantic interest in his widowed mother Jenny.

Billy picks up bad habits on the road, especially when he gets ejected from a game and an one-game "suspension" by Jenny for swearing at an umpire because of a call he didn't like. He is troubled when he must release his personal favorite Twins player, Jerry Johnson, who is in the twilight of his career; Billy's awkward handling of the situation ends up making Jerry feel even worse.

Throughout the season, the pressures of managing the team begin to wear Billy down and consume his free time. His friends do not like how his managerial responsibilities are keeping him away from being with them. Even when he's physically present (as opposed to on the road with the team), he is typically distracted by team business.

After Jenny spends her birthday with Lou rather than Billy, Billy uses Lou's minor batting-slump as an excuse to bench him, sending the Twins into a losing skid. Billy later tells Jenny that he's tired of being a "grown-up" and decides to quit as manager after the end of the season, even reinstating Lou to starter on first base.

With four games left, the Twins trail the Seattle Mariners by four games in the wild card race. The Twins win their last four while the Mariners lose four straight, forcing a One-game playoff at the Twins' Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to determine who advances to the postseason.

The two teams trade three-run home runs during the course of the game, and extra innings are required. The Mariners eventually take the lead. Down to their final out, and Lou about to go up to bat, he tells Billy that he has asked Jenny to marry him, and that her reply was "Ask Billy". With a runner on base, Billy says if Lou hits the game-winning homer he will give his blessing, but quickly relents and gives Lou his consent whether or not he hits a homer. Facing Randy Johnson, Lou hits a long fly ball to center field, but Ken Griffey Jr. makes a leaping catch at the wall to rob Lou of a homer and end the game.

With their season over, Billy tells the players he is officially stepping down as manager, with pitching coach Mac MacNally taking his place, as well as bringing back Jerry to be the third base coach and new hitting instructor. The players object to losing Billy, but he reminds the team that he will still be present as the owner, and says that he might come back as manager if junior high doesn't work out. When being informed that none of the fans have left, Billy, along with the rest of the team, returns to the field to receive a standing ovation.

Cast

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  • Luke Edwards as Billy Heywood (manager - #20)
  • Timothy Busfield as Lou Collins (first base - #4)
  • John Ashton as Mac Macnally (pitching coach - #56)
  • Ashley Crow as Jenny Heywood
  • Kevin Dunn as Arthur Goslin (general manager)
  • Billy L. Sullivan as Chuck
  • Miles Feulner as Joey
  • Jonathan Silverman as Jim Bowers (relief pitcher - #49)
  • Dennis Farina as George O'Farrell
  • Jason Robards as Thomas Heywood
  • Wolfgang Bodison as Spencer Hamilton (center field - #34)
  • Duane Davis as Jerry Johnson (right field/Designated Hitter - #31)
  • Leon "Bull" Durham as Leon Alexander (first base - #23)
  • Kevin Elster as Pat Corning (shortstop - #2)
  • Joseph Latimore as Lonnie Ritter (left field - #24)
  • Brad Lesley as John (Blackout) Gatling (relief pitcher - #38)
  • John Minch as Mark Hodges (catcher - #12)
  • Michael Papajohn as Tucker Kain (right field - #5)
  • Scott Patterson as Mike McGrevey (starting pitcher - #19)
  • Troy Startoni as Larry Hilbert (third base - #15)
  • Antonio Lewis Todd as Mickey Scales (second base - #11)
  • John Gordon as Wally Holland (play-by-play)

MLB personalities as themselves

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Actor Kevin Elster was an active MLB player when the film was shot, while two of his fictional Twins teammates were played by former MLB players Leon Durham and Brad Lesley. John Gordon, who plays the fictional announcer Wally Holland, was the actual radio announcer for the Twins from 1987 through 2011,[3] and was elected into the club's Hall of Fame in 2016.[4]

Ashley Crow's son, Pete Crow-Armstrong, eventually became a major-leaguer himself for the Chicago Cubs.[5]

Today's Major League Baseball rules prohibit a manager from having any ownership stake in a team. That had happened earlier, when Emil Fuchs owned the Boston Braves and tried to save money by managing the team himself, without any success. The best known example was Connie Mack, who was part-owner of the Philadelphia Athletics, but assumed sole ownership after the death of Ben Shibe. Mack served as the manager of the Athletics for fifty years. This record is now deemed unbeatable, since the ownership rule was passed after Mack died. The most recent example was an attempt by Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner to manage the team in 1977. He did so for only one game (a 2-1 loss) before being informed that he was not eligible.

Reception

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The film has a score of 35% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews.[6] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 57 out of 100 based on 20 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7] In his three-and-a-half star review, Roger Ebert gave the film praise for being a family movie that doesn't dumb down for its audience or feel predictable.[8]

Year-end lists

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The forgotten brilliance and influence of 'Little Big League'". The Kansas City Star. July 15, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  2. ^ Little Big League at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ "Society for American Baseball Research". Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  4. ^ "The Minnesota Twins Induct Legendary Broadcaster John Gordon Into Hall Of Fame". July 18, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  5. ^ "Cubs prospect called up for MLB debut decades after his mom starred in 'Little Big League'". September 11, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  6. ^ "Little Big League (1994)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  7. ^ Little Big League, retrieved 2021-07-06
  8. ^ Ebert, Roger (June 29, 1994). "Little Big League". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  9. ^ Elliott, David (December 25, 1994). "On the big screen, color it a satisfying time". The San Diego Union-Tribune (1, 2 ed.). p. E=8.
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