Major League: Back to the Minors (1998)

Director:

John Warren

Writers (WGA):

David S. Ward (characters)
John Warren (written by)

Release Date:

17 April 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sport

Tagline:

They're Just Nine Players Short of a Dream Team

Plot:

Aging minor league pitcher Gus Cantrell is planning to retire, but then Roger recruits Gus to be the manager of the South Carolina Buzz...

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Sequel | Third Part | Sports Team

Cast

Scott Bakula	...	Gus Cantrell
Corbin Bernsen	...	Roger Dorn
Dennis Haysbert	...	Pedro Cerrano
Takaaki Ishibashi	...	Taka Tanaka
Jensen Daggett	...	Maggie Reynolds
Eric Bruskotter	...	Rube Baker
Walton Goggins	...	Billy 'Downtown' Anderson
Ted McGinley	...	Leonard Huff
Kenny Johnson	...	Lance Pere (as Kenneth Johnson)
Judson Mills	...	Hog Ellis
Lobo Sebastian	...	Carlos Liston
Thom Barry	...	Frank 'Pops' Morgan
Peter Mackenzie	...	Carlton 'Doc' Windgate
Tim DiFilippo	...	Juan Lopez #1
Tom DiFilippo	...	Juan Lopez #1

Also Known As:

Major League 3: Back to the Minors (USA) (working title)
Major League 3: The Minors (USA) (working title)
Major League III (USA) (short title)
Major League: The Minors (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Charleston Naval Base, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Morgan Creek Productions

Trivia:

The "South Carolina Buzz" were actually the Salt Lake Buzz - which was the Pacific Coast League farm team of the Minnesota Twins. Formerly the Portland Beavers, the franchise moved to Utah in 1994 and had 7 straight winning seasons. In 2001, the team became part of the Anaheim Angels organization under the name Salt Lake Stingers. Both team were named in honor of the Salt Lake Bees, who played in SLC on and off from 1915 to 1970.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: A batter lays down a bunt and Gus (the catcher) is shown stepping forward and picking up the ball. The ball is stationary and sitting just a few feet in front of home plate, which is inconsistent with the speed of the ball that was hit. Obviously, a second baseball has been placed on the ground (initially out of the camera's view) for Gus to field.

Quotes:

[after accidentally-on-purpose spilling a soft drink on the Minnesota announcer]
Harry Doyle: Oh, I'm so sorry. Here, here's a twenty. Go get yourself another suit.

Movie Connections:

References Little Big League (1994)

Not the majors

This film did nothing to help carry on the success that Major League's I & II started. As a matter of fact they didn't mention the Cleveland Indians once during the whole film. What happened to the "Comeback Kids"? Did they finally win the World Series or did they just give up? I understand that the story was about a minor league team but come on. What was their motive for winning? I hope it wasn't to see if they could beat the Minnesota Twins ( the way those guys are playing now anybody can beat them ). After they finished their season in first place did they go on to the championship or did they just go to Disneyland like everyone else? The only highlights of the film was seeing Pedro Cerano and Tanaka return to baseball ( although it was a bit cheesy learning how they quit the majors only to return to the minor league later on ). Bob Uecker was great as always (did he get fired as the Indians head announcer?). I hope that if a fourth one is on the horizon that it is not a repeat of this awful season.