What I want is for us to finish dead last.
The Cleveland Indians have been in the cellar for decades; when the owner dies suddenly, his scheming, ex-showgirl wife, Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), takes over the day-to-day operations of the team. She wants to move the team to the warmer climate of Miami, Florida. To accomplish her goal, she has to reduce attendance at Municipal Stadium below a total of 800,000 ticket sales, which will void the team’s lease with the city of Cleveland. Further, once she moves the team, she would be able to fire all the current players and replace them with an entirely new roster.
Rachel instructs her new general manager (Charles Cyphers) to field the worst team possible; from a list she’s already written. Former minor league manager and current tire store employee Lou Brown (James Gammon) is hired to manage the team. Their group of washed-up has-beens and never-will-be players are: the once-great All-Star catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) who now hobbles around on two bad knees; the prima-dona veteran third baseman Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen); the power hitter, Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert), who practices voodoo and can hit the cover off a fastball — but misses breaking pitches completely; the speedster Willie Mays-Hayes (Wesley Snipes) who can’t leg out a pop-up; and the young fireballer Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), the bad boy who can throw 100MPH but is more likely to knock a hitter’s head off rather than throw a strike.
Things begin as planned. In-fighting plagues the clubhouse; Vaughn’s affair with rival teammate Roger Dorn’s wife Suzanne (Stacy Carroll) and Jake’s pursuit of his old flame Lynn Wells (Rene Russo) complicate the player’s personal lives. The play on the field manages to sink below even the modest expectations for such a rag-tag group of players; and the city of Cleveland has already begun mourning another losing season before the first pitch is even thrown. On opening day, only the most ardent fans show up, fully expecting another cellar dwelling season.
Despite all of these issues, the team’s grizzled manager somehow keeps the club from self destructing. Amazingly, thirty-nine games into the season, the Indians are 15-24 and only 7 games out of first place in the American League East. Angry that the team has managed to stay competitive, Phelps orders that all luxuries be taken away from the team–she replaces their airplane with a bus and removes the whirlpools from the clubhouse–but these changes have little effect. When Lou Brown learns of Phelps true plans for the team, he begins to hatch a plan to make sure his team wins the American League East pennant.
Bob Uecker is great as Harry Doyle, the longtime Indians broadcaster who has dropped his professional facade after watching countless years of inept play.
Doyle (on air): “That’s all we got, one goddamn hit?”
Broadcast Partner (shocked): “You can’t say goddamn on the air.”
Doyle: “Don’t worry, nobody’s listening anyway.”
Writer/director David S. Ward, who wrote The Sting, gives every main character a distinct personality and the dialogue to match. His tight script makes us laugh at nearly every scene, while simultaneously capturing the joy of playing baseball. Major League is easy for most of us to identify with because haven’t we all dropped an easy fly ball, or totally wiffed on a pitch? Even if you’ve never played a sport, Major League reminds us that athletic pursuits aren’t just about winning but they serve as a form of bonding as well.
What is so special about Major League is the fact all audiences — Indians fan or not, baseball fan or not — can enjoy the laughs and the drama both on the field and off, as if they were sitting in the bleachers and soaking it all in with peanuts and hot dog. As a diehard Red Sox fan, for 107 minutes, I can’t help but route for that ragtag group of Cleveland Indians.
Major League comes to Blu-ray with a solid 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. The film’s opening credits montage showcases some dirt and debris, soft imagery, and an obvious layer of grain. Once the movie gets started, the transfer is an average high definition transfer of a classic catalogue title. The film retains a grain structure throughout but offers only moderate levels of fine texture and detail. The image, at times, takes on a slightly soft texture but generally, appears adequately sharp and crisp. While colorful, the transfer doesn’t appear terribly robust in is display of the palette. The green grass and varied colors of the Major League uniforms — the red worn by the Indians or the green and yellow of the Athletics, for example — all stand out nicely enough. Flesh tones appear fairly reproduced. Major League presents a rather ordinary image but is a solid job.
Major League touts a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This is a front-heavy soundtrack that never creates much of an atmosphere. Whether in the spring training ballgames or inside a chic restaurant, the rear channels present virtually no ambience. The track does come alive near the end with the sellout crowd singing along to Wild Thing, though still without much of a surround experience. Still, both the song and the crowd noise pour from the speakers clearly. Dialogue reproduction is strong throughout.
Major League has a few interesting special features:
• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director David S. Ward and Producer Chris Chesser. Provide a nice, laid-back track, Ward shares his love for the Indians, talks about the franchise, the city, both discuss shooting locations, deleted scenes, filming techniques, the baseball and athletic ability of the actors and much more.
• My Kinda Team: Making Major League (480p, 23:10) features cast and crew interviews discussing how the film came together, the character traits of the primaries, the baseball skills of the actors, the film’s staying power, etc.
• A Major League Look at Major League (480p, 14:27) is a great piece featuring real Major and Minor leaguers who currently play, or once played, for the Cleveland Indians, including Paul Byrd, Aaron Boone, Jason Michaels, Jensen Lewis, and Grady Sizemore. Also interviewed are Indians broadcasters Tom Hamilton and Rick Manning.
• Bob Uekcker: Just a Bit Outside (480p, 12:43) features the same participants as above, along with some cast and crew and Uecker himself, looking back on his professional career and the memorable performance he delivers in the film.
• An alternate ending with filmmaker introduction (480p, 4:18).
• A tour of Pedro Cerrano’s locker (480p, 1:36).
• A photo gallery.
