Major League: Back to the Minors (1998)

Aging minor league pitcher Gus Cantrell is planning to retire, but then Roger recruits Gus to be the manager of the South Carolina Buzz, the Twins AAA minor league team. Gus's mission is to... See full summary »

Director:

John Warren

Writers:

David S. Ward (characters), John Warren

Stars:

Scott Bakula, Corbin Bernsen, Dennis Haysbert

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Aging minor league pitcher Gus Cantrell is planning to retire, but then Roger recruits Gus to be the manager of the South Carolina Buzz, the Twins AAA minor league team. Gus's mission is to make a real team out of a bunch of players who include ballet dancer turned ballplayer Lance "Lance the Dance" Pere, Frank "Pops" Morgan, Rube Baker, Taka Tanaka, Pedro Cerrano, Hog Ellis, home run hitter Billy "Downtown" Anderson, and Carlton "Doc" Windgate, who throws the slowest fastball in professional baseball. Gus ends up clashing with Leonard Huff, the snobby, arrogant manager of the twins. One night in Minnestoa, Gus and his girlfriend Maggie Reynolds are having dinner with Roger and Huff at an expensive-looking restaurant, where Huff challenges Gus to a game between the Buzz and the Twins, then Huff starts a fight with Gus, who accepts the challenge. The game is scheduled to take place at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minnesota. The Twins take a 3-0 lead in the 6th inning, but Billy ...

---

Plot Keywords:

baseball | sequel | baseball movie | sports team | third part

---

Taglines:

They're Just Nine Players Short of a Dream Team

---

Genres:

Comedy | Sport

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Major League 3: Back to the Minors

Filming Locations:

Charleston Naval Base, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$2,087,011 (USA) (17 April 1998)

Gross:

$3,551,208 (USA) (15 May 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Productions, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Roger Dorn's Minnesota Twins owner suite, a number 4 Lou Collins jersey hangs in a case, a reference to Timothy Busfield's character in Little Big League.

---

Goofs

There are two obvious instances of blue screen use. One is when Taka Tanaka is making a relay throw home during the game in Minnesota. Another is when a Buzz player is sliding home beneath an apposing catcher. It's an obvious lift of a similar scene in one of the prior Major League movies in which the catcher appears to be added into the shot.

---

Quotes

Gus Cantrell: I hate to have to do this, but there's a speech clause in my contract. I know you guys have been reading the papers. That this is just a thing for publicity, part of my ongoing feud with Leonard Huff. But it would selfish of me to put you guys in such a jam just for publicity. No my motivation is deeper than that. It's ego.
[the players laugh]
Gus Cantrell: I know your coaches would go out there to have fun or to fulfill your dream. I am asking that you win this one for me. Yeah! Win this one for Gus Cantrell...

---

Connections

Follows Major League II (1994)

User Reviews

Not A Major League film, but still enjoyable.

Perhaps not the big names as the first two installments of the series, but an enjoyable movie that teaches that you don't have to be biggest or the best, as long as you give it all you've got and have fun. Scott Backula gives a great and convincing performance as a minor league coach, Ted McGinley does what he does best, play a self centered egotistical, overbearing idiot. He has been brilliant with the same type character in vehicles like "Married With Children." Who else could have pulled this character off. This movie delves into some of the situations faced by both major and minor league players. There are good players who spend their entire baseball careers in minor league. In the days we live in of multimillion contracts, and players who think they are gods, it might be better to see men who play the sport more for fun than money. Perhaps if some of the Major League stars in real life would learn to have fun playing, then we as fans would get a better game.