MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 4,068 this week

The Winning Team (1952)

6.2
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.2/10 from 422 users  
Reviews: 16 user | 5 critic

Poor health and alcoholism force Grover Cleveland Alexander out of baseball, but through his wife's faithful efforts, he gets a chance for a comeback and redemption.

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (screenplay), 3 more credits »
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 47 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 36 titles created 15 Aug 2011
 
a list of 152 titles created 1 week ago
 
a list of 1015 titles created 1 month ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Winning Team (1952)

The Winning Team (1952) on IMDb 6.2/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Winning Team.
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Aimee Alexander
...
Grover Cleveland Alexander
Frank Lovejoy ...
Eve Miller ...
Margaret Killefer
James Millican ...
Bill Killefer
...
Willie Alexander (as Rusty Tamblyn)
Gordon Jones ...
George Glasheen
Hugh Sanders ...
Joe McCarthy
Frank Ferguson ...
Sam Arrants
Walter Baldwin ...
Pa Alexander
...
Ma Alexander
Bob Lemon ...
Jesse 'Pop' Haines
Jerry Priddy ...
Ballplayer
Peanuts Lowery ...
Ballplayer (as Peanuts Lowrey)
George Metkovich ...
Ballplayer
Edit

Storyline

In 1911, Grover Cleveland Alexander - Alex to his friends - is a Nebraska country hayseed who says he wants to settle down, marry his girlfriend Aimee Arrants and be a farmer to offer Aimee a secure and stable life. However he always seems to drop everything whenever the opportunity to play baseball, specifically as a pitcher, arises. This focus on baseball does not sit well with either Aimee or her father, who see it as Alex solely wanting to have fun while shirking responsibility. When Alex is asked to pitch in a game against a visiting professional team, he seizes the chance and throws a three hitter en route to winning the game. That leads to a stint on that pro team, the money from which he promises to use to buy Aimee her farm. When an eye injury seems to end his career even before it begins, he changes his focus to being a farmer to please his now wife Aimee Alexander, but thoughts of baseball that can never be in his life still torture him. When his injury does eventually heal... Written by Huggo

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

And here comes the pitch, Yes, the pitch, the pitch for the warmest, most wonderful, most human story ever told, the true story of Grover Cleveland Alexander! See more »


Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

20 June 1952 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

The Big League  »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(RCA Sound System)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening credits show Grover Cleveland Alexander's plaque at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It is accurate in all respects except one: it shows Ronald Reagan's likeness instead of the real Grover Cleveland Alexander. See more »

Goofs

The fans are shown giving a loud, enthusiastic standing ovation to Alexander for his pitching heroics in the 1926 World Series. However, the games that Alexander won in the 1926 World Series were played in Yankee Stadium, meaning that the fans were rooting for the Yankees, not the Cardinals. The fans were stunned when Babe Ruth was caught stealing at second to end the Series - not just because of the way it ended, but because their team had lost to a team it had been heavily favored to beat. See more »

Quotes

Grover Cleveland Alexander: You must be so tired, Dear!
Aimee Alexander: Why should I be tired?
Grover Cleveland Alexander: I've been stealing strength from you all season - every game, every pitch. Without you there, I couldn't have done any of it. God must think a lot of me. He's given me you.
See more »

Connections

Featured in Diamonds on the Silver Screen (1992) See more »

Soundtracks

"Ol' Saint Nicholas"
(uncredited)
Written by Inez James and Buddy Pepper
Sung by Doris Day at the Christmas gathering
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
The first half of this film is reasonably true--the second differs greatly from reality.
19 October 2012 | by (Bradenton, Florida) – See all my reviews

When film began, Grover Cleveland Alexander was a teenager--while Ronald Reagan was almost 40! singing?! This is a biopic about the career of one of the greatest pitchers in major league history, Grover Cleveland Alexander. If you look at the man's statistics, they are staggeringly impressive. Because of this and Alexander's later medical issues, it's not at all surprising they made this film. What is rather surprising, however, is that they chose Ronald Reagan to play the man. When the film began, he was supposed to be a very young man--while Reagan was nearly 40! He did fine in the role, however.

The first half of the film sticks reasonably close to the facts. If anything, it underplayed the greatness of the man (such as not even mentioning his three consecutive 30 win seasons and winning the triple-crown three times). However, around the middle of the film, the story gets hokey--and deviates very far from the truth. While Alexander did have problems with epilepsy and alcohol following his stint in WWI, the film made it look like his life and career fell apart. It also shows him being out of major league ball for some time until he cleaned himself up--but this just isn't true. He never had a losing season and still had excellent statistics until his final season in ball (when he was 43)--and the lengthy downward spiral in the film just never happened. With a career record of 373 and 208, he clearly was no bum! Overall, "The Winning Team" is a highly enjoyable and highly inaccurate and sensationalized film. While I do recommend it (it's well made and interesting), it seems sad that a great man's life was so distorted just to see a few extra tickets. But, that was pretty common for Hollywood during this era.


0 of 0 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
'HELP!' How can I see this film??? cannescrwrtr
No Spellcheck in 1952 abramsa
Two Presidents in one joepozz
Non-goof, Goofs + Baseball and Alexander History mdudnikov
Premiere beatlefreak28
Discuss The Winning Team (1952) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?