#67: Major League (1989)

Director: David S. Ward
Starring: Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen and Corbin Bernsen
Plot: “The new owner of the Cleveland Indians puts together a purposely horrible team so they’ll lose and she can move the team. But when the plot is uncovered, they start winning just to spite her.”
Stock: Holding
Previous Ranking: #62

“I play for the Indians.”
“Here in Cleveland? I didn’t know they still had a team!”
“Yep, we’ve got uniforms and everything, it’s really great.”

A movie that will never leave this list. It defines who I am in a way no other film has ever come close to.

My good friend Kevin and I watch this movie every spring before the Indians season starts. Why?? I have no idea. Maybe to remind us of where we’ve come from. Maybe to give us hope for the future. Maybe to give us a few laughs before the real Indians make us cry. Who knows.

Roger Dorn, Pedro Cerrano, Ricky Vaughn and Lou Brown. These names never actually played or managed for the Indians, but it feels like they have. Every time I see someone fail to get in front of a ground ball I usually make a Dorn “ole” reference. Every time I see a pitcher miss badly I usually give a “just a bit outside” line. Every time the Indians lose to the Yankees I refer back to the “one of these days we’re going to figure out how to beat those guys” moment.

I laugh every time I watch Major League … thanks largely to Bob Uecker’s performance as Harry Doyle. He has so many one-liners it’s ridiculous. The way he commentates is where a large part of my sense-of-humor originates. It’s based on sarcasm and observation.

“Just a reminder, fans, comin’ up is our “Die-hard Night” here at the stadium. Free admission to anyone who was actually alive the last time the Indians won a pennant.”

UPDATE

Even after all these years of watching Major League I’m still learning new things about it. Recently, I discovered that there is an alternate ending to the movie, where despite portraying the villain throughout, the “bad” owner turns out to be “good” the entire time. She pretends to want to move the team to Florida in hopes of motivating the team to play well.

I was blown away by this, but eventually started to think it would have made for a better ending. Unfortunately, audiences preferred the villainous owner, which just goes to show you – the public doesn’t know what’s good for them.

Fun Fact: When Cerrano hits the homerun in the final game against the Yankees, it was not in the script for him to run around the bases with the bat in his hand. What actually happened was that Dennis Haysbert actually did hit a homerun during the take and was so shocked that he forgot to drop the bat before he started running.

Hint for #66: Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Rob Gronkowski, etc.

Peace Be The Journey