Friday, February 17, 2012

Flick Friday: Little Big League



This week's flick is Little Big League, the 1994 release that tells the story of Billy Haywood, a 12-year-old who inherits the Minnesota Twins from his grandfather and takes over as the manager. This movie came out a year after Rookie of the Year, which has a kid pitching for the Cubs. Both movies tell similar stories of baseball-loving kids who get to live a dream, get too full of themselves, lose their friends, but eventually change their ways and live happily ever after.

Another similarity in both movies is that both of the boys are being raised by their moms. The moms are both skeptical, but allow their sons to live out their baseball dreams. The moms also find a love interest from among the players on their sons' team. I find it ironic that these baseball-crazy boys are being raised in a home without a dad.

The biggest difference is that the Cubs win the World Series in Rookie of the Year, but the Twins lose the Wild Card playoff game. That apparently can only happen in Hollywood: the Cubs win while the Twins lose.

Most of the baseball scenes were filmed in the Metrodome. The producers made a wise choice there, because with the dome, you can film in the off-season and the weather won't mess things up. You also don't have to worry about trashing the field, since it's Astroturf.

The lead baseball player was played by Timothy Busfield. Though he played a total geek in Revenge of the Nerds, he was very credible as a ballplayer in this movie. I was impressed.

I put together a couple cards using the 1994 Score design as a template. I am getting bored with Topps designs so I figured I'd use another lesser known look.





CUBS CONNECTION

The movie uses American League teams, so the Cubs aren't mentioned at all. But, there was a Cubs connection with the cast. One of the Twins was a player named Leon Alexander.



He should look familiar....Leon Alexander was played by



former Cub Leon Durham. The role was strictly a secondary one, and the Bull didn't have many lines. But he was the only former big leaguer among the cast, though several stars played themselves in action scenes, including



Lou. That dazed look is one that we saw a lot of in Chicago, especially after 2008.

1 comment:

  1. I like the part of the film where the kid pulls out a stack of baseball cards with Billy on them. I think they were 1993 Score, if I remember correctly.

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