It is very unwise to steal joeboo's rum.

Rating: Null/10 (22 October 2002)

I saw this movie when it was originally released in 1989. As a not-so-strapping boy of 15, I wasn't particularly familiar with baseball, and didn't have any particular interest in it. But hey, it was a movie, and I got to see it for free. And it was funny. (I think that this movie was made for 15-year-old boys!)
But I also couldn't believe for a moment that the Indians were a real baseball team. I mean, what baseball team would allow themselves to be made fun of this way?
Imagine my surprise the next morning when I discovered that the Indians were, in fact, a real ball club, and they really were as bad as they were portrayed as being in the film! I immediately bought a Chief Wahoo hat and declared myself an Indians fan.
Watching this film today is like a nostalgia session. Cleveland's Municipal Stadium (the "mistake by the lake", built as part of Cleveland's bid for the Olympic games) has long since been torn down, as was the Brewers' stadium in Milwaukee used for the scenes "inside" the ballpark. The Indians, though faltering in the 2002 season, are still a far better team than they were in 1989. (An odd side note - the San Francisco Giants' last trip to the World Series was in 1954 - when they played the Indians! That was the last time the Tribe won the AL pennant until 1997, when they lost the World Series to the Marlins.) Cleveland has actually been cleaned up pretty substantially since the film was released, and a few buildings have been added to the skyline. The Browns even have their own stadium nowadays!
There are certainly movies that have better baseball ("Bull Durham" comes to mind), but not many that have as much fun with the sport.