Major League

Plot synopsis:
Rachel Phelps, a former Las Vegas showgirl, has inherited the Cleveland Indians baseball team from her deceased husband. She wants to move the team to Miami, which has promised her a sweetheart deal including a new stadium. In order to do this, she must reduce the season's attendance at Cleveland Stadium to under 800,000 tickets sold, which will trigger an escape clause in the team's lease with the city of Cleveland. Believing that finishing dead last will knock attendance down low enough for her to move, she instructs her new General Manager Charlie Donovan to hire the worst team possible from a list she has already prepared. The list includes veteran catcher Jake Taylor, who has problems with his knees and was last playing in Mexico; incarcerated pitcher Ricky Vaughn; power-hitting outfielder Pedro Cerrano, who practices voodoo to try to help him hit curve balls; veteran pitcher Eddie Harris, who no longer has a strong throwing arm and is forced to doctor his pitches; and third baseman Roger Dorn, a one-time star who is under contract but has become a high-priced prima donna. As manager, Phelps hires Lou Brown, a career minor league manager of the Toledo Mud Hens who works in the off-season as a tire salesman.At spring training in Tucson, Arizona, the brash but speedy center fielder Willie "Mays" Hayes crashes camp uninvited, but is invited to join the team after displaying his running speed. Spring training reveals several problems with the new players. Vaughn has an incredible fastball but lacks control. Hayes is able to run the bases quickly but hits only pop flies, and Cerrano, despite his tremendous power, cannot hit a curveball. The veterans have their own problems: Dorn refuses to aggressively field ground balls, afraid that potential injuries will damage his upcoming contract negotiations, and it becomes clear that Taylor's bad knees will be a season-long concern. On the final day, when Brown is to cut the team down to 25 players, Dorn plays a practical joke on Vaughn, making him believe he was cut, resulting in a locker-room brawl.After the team returns to Cleveland before the season begins, Taylor takes Vaughn and Hayes out to dinner but comes across his ex-girlfriend Lynn, who is dining with her current beau. Taylor believes he can try to win her back by proclaiming that he has a major league job again, but is disappointed to hear that she is already engaged.The Indians' season starts off poorly. Vaughn's initial pitching appearances end in disaster, with his wild pitches earning him the derogatory title "Wild Thing." On a rare occasion when Vaughn does get a ball over the plate, it is hit well over 400 feet by the New York Yankees' best hitter, Clu Haywood. Brown discovers that Vaughn's eyesight is poor; once Vaughn gets glasses his control greatly improves, and he becomes the team's ace. Despite their flaws, the team begins to improve, so Phelps decides to demoralize them further by removing luxuries, such as replacing their team jet airplane first with a dilapidated prop plane, then with an old bus. However, these changes do not affect the Indians' performance and the team continues to win. One night after an Indians loss where the team showed great promise, Brown mentions to Donovan that the team could do much better, perhaps even providing a few All-Stars for the league, if there was one thing to pull them all together. Donovan reveals Phelps' plan to Brown, who then relays the same news to the players. Brown also tells them that if the team plays too well for Phelps to void the lease, she will release them all regardless. With nothing to lose, the team agrees to get back at Phelps by winning the pennant. Brown motivates the team further by providing a double-layered cardboard cutout of Phelps from her showgirl days; after every victory, a piece of the second layer is removed, eventually presenting a nude picture of Phelps.The team plays very well down the stretch of the season, and clinch a tie for first in the American League East by beating the Chicago White Sox on the last day of the season. This forces a one-game playoff with the division's co-leaders, the Yankees. Prior to the playoff, Taylor continues to try to woo Lynn back and they share a night together. Vaughn learns that he will not be the starting pitcher for the game and goes to a bar to mope, where he encounters Suzanne Dorn. Feeling spited after witnessing her husband Roger with another woman; she retaliates by luring Vaughn to sleep with her. Vaughn is unaware of who she is until she tells him before leaving the apartment.Taylor advises Vaughn to keep his distance from Dorn for most of the game by staying in the bullpen. The game remains scoreless until the seventh inning when Harris gives up two runs. Cerrano comes to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and misses badly on two curveballs. He angrily threatens his voodoo god Jo-bu, then hits the next pitch--another curve--for a two-run homer. In the top of the ninth, the Yankees are able to load the bases for the power-hitting Clu Haywood, and Lou decides to bring Vaughn in to pitch to him. While Taylor taunts Haywood from behind home plate, Vaughn strikes out his nemesis on three straight fastballs to end the inning.With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Hayes manages an infield single. The Yankees respond by bringing in their headhunting closer, Duke Simpson, to pitch to Taylor. After Hayes steals second, Taylor and Lou trade signs in the dugout, and Taylor points to center field, calling his shot. The Duke responds by throwing a fastball straight at Taylor's head, but the catcher is undeterred and gets back up and points again. However, with Hayes running, Taylor bunts instead, catching the Yankees infield off-guard. Despite his weak knees, Taylor manages to beat out the throw to first as Hayes rounds third and heads for home plate. Hayes slides safely into home, giving the Indians the win on a walk-off single. As the team celebrates, Dorn punches Vaughn in the face but then helps him up to continue the celebration. Jake finds Lynn in the stands, who raises her left hand to show that she is no longer wearing an engagement ring, and they reunite as the film closes.

Tags: comedy, humor, psychedelic, entertaining

Review:
The movie has plenty of funny moments and mishaps that the characters do just to make you laugh while at the same moment you cheer for the team in each game of the season.
Plus the cast of Wesley Snipes, James Gammon, Dennis Haysbert, Corbin Bernsen, and Tom Berenger all worked very good together even Bob Uecker is a joy as the Indians very funny play-by-play announcer.
Major League is just one of those movies when you watch it each time you enjoy it and you just love to cheer for the underdog.
If you are a baseball fan and love a little comedy mixed with winning then Major League is a movie to watch many times..
It was very fitting, since the Cleveland Indians at the time were the laughingsock of the Major Leagues and for years, they were stuck in the realms of mediocrity or in last place year after year.The cast was great; Led by Tom Berringer, and Margaret Whitton.
I'd like to know why, because that was one of my favorite scenes.-"Oh now you come around; But he isn't fooled"- Eddie Harris on seeing Pedro Cerrano crossing himself.Here's a few bits of trivia on the movie:-Funny thing was seeing Pete Vukovich as Klu Haywood, a first baseman.
Her contract with the city specifies that if the team attendance dips below 700,000 for the season, she can move the team and she wants the warm sun of Miami instead of winters on the Cuyahoga River.Building a winning team in baseball is a lot harder than what you see in Major League.
But this collection of goofballs, misfits, and has beens actually get mad enough and start winning.Major League has a nice collection of players playing ballplayers like veteran catcher Tom Berenger, narcissistic third baseman Corbin Bernsen, juvenile delinquent rookie pitcher Charlie Sheen known as Wild Thing for his lack of control, Wesley Snipes as center-fielder Willie Mays Hayes and Dennis Haysbert as a Santeria observing power hitter.
My favorite in the film is veteran manager James Gammon who pulls this collection together for a winning team.Major League is a film for baseball and film fans it so nicely blends the interests.
A million thanks to Tom Berenger, Wesley Snipes, Charlie Sheen and the rest of a great cast for making such a funny and heart-warming movie.
Bull Durham was a bit too much of a chick flick to be a real baseball fans movie of choice.Major League isn't a movie that's going to solve world peace or anything but if you want a light hearted, entertaining film that is hysterically funny then you need to see this.Charlie Sheen being a former high school pitcher who was able to get 85 mph on his fastball, which isn't as fast as characters 100 mph.
What holds the movie together is the easy charm and camaraderie of the cast, which features some tried and true character actors: Bob Uecker, basically playing himself; Margaret Whitfield, playing her patented "bitch" role, and James Gammon, playing the wise old coot who has seen it all.
Rounding out the cast are Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen and Rene Russo, who at the time was new to features.
A Cuban defector (because his religion is voodoo) who can only hit fastballs (Dennis Haysbert), the worlds laziest third baseman (Think Bernsen as a clean shaven Wade Boggs), a catcher with shot-out knees (Berenger channeling Johnny Bench or Cartlton Fisk), a near-sighted pitcher who throws 100 MPH at everything but the plate (Sheen), and the lead-off hitter who thinks he is Rickey Henderson (Wesley Snipes).
They put together a great group to do a movie that is nothing special - losers and has-beens win the pennant.I like Charlie Sheen and he is worth watching in anything he does, especially "Two and a Half Men." He was perfect in the character of the renegade.I just saw Corbin Bernsen recently in The Dentist, and he can bring laughs to any movie.Rene Russo?
I love her and even though her part was small, it was great.Wesley Snipes, Tom Berenger, and Dennis Haysbert all had a unique way of making this a great movie.
But as time goes on, and despite their problems, this Cleveland team begins to come together and play well, you start to like them and hope they will do better, perhaps because we're raised to like the underdog.Some of the success of this movie must go to the director, who knows how to pace things so that we get involved in them, even though most of the characters aren't particularly likable.So, in the end, you could do worse, and you won't be bored..
Most notable in that regard was Charlie Sheen (as "Ricky 'Wild Thing' Vaughn"), Tom Berenger ("Jake Taylor"), Corbin Bernsen ("Roger Dorn") and Wesley Snipes ("Willie Mays Hayes").
Enter a crew of misfits that feature aging players like Eddie the pitcher, an aging catcher whose knees are not what they used to be Jake Taylor, and Roger Dorn who cares more about life after baseball than playing the game with any passion in the present.
Amusing and fun-filled baseball comedy about some players of the Cleveland Indians who band together to make a serious run for the play-offs when they hear that their new owner has plans to move the team to Florida.Writer/director David S.
(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!
These are the original comedy things added to this great baseball film about the new owner of the Cleavland Indians who wants the team to finish dead last so she can sell the team.
Charlie Sheen as "Wild Thing" Vaughn, I mean you gotta love his bad boy character.As funny as this movie is, it's the vulnerability of the three main stars is really what makes the movie work..
It's been 25 years since this band of losers and misfits came together and transformed Cleveland Indians baseball.Major League may be formulaic, especially in the second half of the film, but it is memorably unpredictable in moments and quite charming.
I find myself sometimes just wanting to watch an amazing movie and Major League is one of those movies.I believe I have watched this movie at least 10 times and it never gets old when I watch it.The acting is first class staring a young Wesley Snipes, Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger.
Also, with future star Dennis Haysbert as a voodoo worshiping slugger (very funny)and of course Bob Uecker!!The plots and trials and hard-aches of the Cleveland Indians are so poignantly displayed and presented in a way that it makes Major League a movie that I can watch over and over..
Along with a group of misfits they discover that the only way to save their team is to win the whole thing...This film is simply genius and one of my favorite comedies of all time.
To put it simply, she sabotages the team, the stadium, and everything else in various ways to assure a poor season.The team is mainly made up of rookies like Willie "Mays" Hayes (Snipes), Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Sheen), and Jake Taylor (Berenger).
Not looking at Gammon's filmography, I assume his career wasn't made up of too many more famous roles like his portrayal of Lou Brown.Charlie Sheen was extremely hilarious in this film, but watching it only makes me more sad about he just continues to make an ass of himself to the media.
An enjoyable baseball comedy, a cast of greats, but a cast of people whose lives either ended tragically or just were forgotten.Starring: Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Rene Russo, James Gammon, Margaret Whitton, and Wesley Snipes.
Tom Berenger is terrific as a burned-out ball player, James Gammon is a hoot as the coach, 24's Dennis Haysbert is great as Voodoo worshiping Cerrano and even Corbin Bernsen is good as well.
Perhaps I'm a little bias because I play the sport, but there's something about America's pastime that really hits home in the movies.Major League tells the made-up (but totally based on the real-life struggles of the Cleveland Indians) story of a group of misfits hired by a new owner to lose as many games as possible, to ensure her plan of moving the team down to Miami.
Luckily, the comedy and drama both balance each other out quite well.With a memorable cast of misfits, including Charlie Sheen as the fireball pitcher Ricky Vaughn, Tom Berenger as the old but still effective Jake Taylor, Wesley Snipes as Willie Mays Hayes, Dennis Haysbert as the religious Pedro Cerrano, and of course the colorful Bob Uecker as the Indians play by play announcer.
I also find it sometimes difficult to watch a sports film, baseball in particular, because the movies have a hard time capturing how a game flows and looks.
Wesley Snipes, Tom Berenger, Dennis Haysbert, Corbin Bernsen, Charlie Sheen and Bob Uecker are excellent in their roles.
Wesley Snipes, Tom Berenger, Dennis Haysbert, Corbin Bernsen, Charlie Sheen and Bob Uecker are excellent in their roles.
I love how the film holds nothing back as well, unlike the sequel where the language and what not was toned down.no movie based on the national pastime can ever claim to be as hysterically funny as Major League.
Throw the great sport of baseball into the mix and it is a win/win for those who love the game and those who just want to have a good laugh.
"Major League" is a funny sports movie, but I can't agree with some who think it ranks among the best of the baseball films.
And any movie with Charlie Sheen playing a character nicknamed Wild Thing will have an outlandish moment or two.
It's just that there aren't enough of those great moments to allow the movie to really be that brilliant, outrageous baseball comedy so many people remember it as being.The story is your typical sports underdog tale.
The brash but speedy Willie "Mays" Hayes (Wesley Snipes), veteran pitcher (Chelcie Ross) who lacks an strong arm, an voodoo practices baseball player (Dennis Haysbert) has trouble hitting curve balls, an spoiled third baseman (Corbin Bernsen) who is already under contract and Lou Brown (James Gammon) is hired by Phelps since he knows how to manage an baseball team.
There is not a single weak link in the entire ensemble, which makes picking a favorite character almost impossible.Without a doubt my favorite baseball movie, the portrayal of America's favorite past time is done with a humorous touch to the slightest detail, with the score board, the local regular fans, and of course Bob Uecker as the broadcaster, who utterly steals the show.If you haven't seen this movie, give it a try.
I really loved the following line "One hit, that's all we got one goddamn hit!" Former Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager and Brewers Pitcher Pete Vukovich each make small appearances in the movie, and this was one of the first major films for Rene Russo.This is a really great movie, and it's more then a guilty pleasure.
The striking thing to me is that you don't have to have any knowledge or love of baseball to enjoy this movie, it thrives on locker room mentality and crowd demented loyalty for its laughs; and Major League delivers them almost at every turn.
The cast is made up of big names-Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Rene Russo and Wesley Snipes are in it for laughs-and you should be as well.
Major League (1989) **** (out of 4)Wonderful crowd-pleaser about a group of misfit baseball players who are thrown together by an owner who hopes they're bad enough so that she can relocate the team to a new city in the off season.
If Troma, the Farrelly brothers, and Mel Brooks ever conspired to produce a movie with baseball as a centerpiece, it probably would end up looking a lot like Major League.
Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Rene Russo and Wesley Snipes all star as the "Bad News" Cleveland Indians who are searching for their first pennant in thirty years.
If you are a baseball fan you cant NOT like this movie and you should get chills like I do every time I see the final game and the finale of the film, very emotional and a great ending.
When the Bear-I mean the Indians, find out why they were hired, they have that coming-of-age moment when they decide to rise up and "win the whole thing." Like the 1973 Mets, who came from 11.5 games back at the end of August to pass five teams and win the division, these Indians play hard, even Dorn gets into the act and plays like it's a contract year, and the movie climaxes on the final day of the season with the Indians and Yankees in a playoff for the title.The subplots are well-acted and the casting was superb, as the future careers of many actors in this film testifies to..
Charlie Sheen, Tom Berrenger and Rene Russo all provide good performances and keep the pace going at a fair clip but it's Margaret Whitton as the scheming owner, James Gammon as the coach and particularly the outstanding Bob Uecker who provide the films standout characters.
I love all of the characters: Taylor, Hayes, Lou Brown, Cerrano, Dorn, Harris, the Wild Thing, Rachel Phelps, and even the hated New York Yankees.I think there is more quotable dialogue here than in any other baseball movie, including Bull Durham.
The acting is good as well, even on the technical/baseball side of things.Comedy is tough to quantify, but this is the funniest movie I've ever seen (and I've seen it upwards of 30 times).
Major league is the story of the Cleveland Indians back when they couldn't win a ball game.
Major League is definitely one of the funniest baseball movies I have ever seen.
It is a film about the under dog who gets on top, a bunch of misfit players who come together to get one over on their bitch of an owner played by Margret Whitton , Charlie Sheen is great as Wild Thing Rick Vaughn with a brillant haircut , Berenger has a great line when he is talking to Corbin Bernsen, after Bersen had not dived for a ball during a game " If you ever tank a play like that again I will cut your nuts off and shove them down your F****** throat ".
Some good performances are given by Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Rene Russo, and Wesley Snipes.
Their new owner (Margaret Whitton) has brought together the worst players so the team will lose more games than anyone else in baseball.
I remember back in the days when Cleveland and especially the Tribe were laughingstocks...oh, back to the movie, hehe...Bob Uecker is hysterically funny as the Indians' radio announcer, and Tom Berenger looks very comfortable and relaxed as the veteran catcher.
A hilarious baseball movie about a bunch of misfits, cons, and old-timers that make the best of the situation and try to win the American League pennant.
When that nutty lot is thrown together on the field because the owner of the Cleveland Indians wants attendance to drop so bad that she can move the team out of town, hilarity ensues!Yet, I actually think that what held this movie back a bit (dropping it from a four to three star rating) was the fact that, at times, it tried to take itself a bit too seriously.
One of the best lines in the movie occurs when team management is going over the list of invitees to camp..."This guy here is dead!" "Cross him off then!" Great acting all around especially from Berenger and Sheen, but the one who steals the show is Bob Ueker, playing over the top commentator Harry Doyle.
The movie takes a look at the laughing stock of baseball, at the time, the Cleveland Indians.
There are many great scenes prior to any baseball being played at all, including one of the best lines in the movie when they are looking over the people they want to invite to camp."This guy here is dead!" "Cross him off then".
As baseball movies go, MAJOR LEAGUE is my favorite.
Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, James Gammon, Wesley Snipes, Rene Russo and Margaret Whitton star in this 1989 comedy.
He's as effortless as the lead in ML as Kevin Costner was in his 80s baseball movies.The diverse supporting cast is sublime: Charlie Sheen as closer Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn, Corbin Bernsen as egotistical, media-schmoozing 3rd baseman Roger Dorn, scene-stealing James Gammon as scruffy, take-no-prisoners manager Lou Brown, Wesley Snipes as slick "Willie Mays" Hayes, Dennis Haysbert as voodoo-worshipping Pedro Cerrano, sexy Margaret Whitton as devious team owner Rachel Phelps (undercutting the team hoping it will lose so she can sell it for profit), enchanting Rene Russo as Jake's true love Lynn Wells, and last but not least Mr. Baseball Bob Uecker, used brilliantly in an all-too-welcome role as Indians announcer Harry Doyle.The strength of ML is that it has a real "everyday" appeal that one doesn't find to often in movie comedies.
Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) is the washed up catcher, Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert) is a voodoo outfielder, Willie 'Mays' Hayes (Wesley Snipes) is the uninvited player, Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) is the pitcher who can't throw a strike, and Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernson) is the player waiting to be traded.After learning of their owners ploy the team must come together to win the division without killing one another.