Mr. Baseball (1992)

Jack Elliot, once a great baseball player, is forced to play in Japan where his brash, egotistical ways cause friction with his new teammates and friends.

Director:

Fred Schepisi

Writers:

Theo Pelletier (story), John Junkerman (story)

Stars:

Tom Selleck, Ken Takakura, Aya Takanashi

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Selleck	...	Jack Elliot
Ken Takakura	...	Uchiyama
Aya Takanashi	...	Hiroko Uchiyama
Dennis Haysbert	...	Max 'Hammer' Dubois
Toshi Shioya	...	Yoji Nishimura
Kosuke Toyohara	...	Toshi Yamashita
Toshizo Fujiwara	...	Ryoh Mukai
Mak Takano	...	Shinji Igarashi
Kenji Morinaga	...	Hiroshi Kurosawa
Joh Nishimura	...	Tomophiko Ohmie
Norihide Goto	...	Issei Itoi
Kensuke Toita	...	Akito Yagi
Naoki Fuji	...	Takuya Nishikawa
Takanobu Hozumi	...	Hiroshi Nakamura
Leon Lee	...	Lyle Massey

Storyline

Although a one-time MVP for the New York Yankees, Jack Elliott is now on the down side of his baseball career. His batting average is low and one of his few claims to fame is that during the previous year, he led the team in 9th inning doubles in the month of August. With an up and coming slugger ready to replace him, he learns that he's been traded to the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central baseball league. Elliott is set in his ways and quite inflexible, not only in accepting Japanese culture in general, but also with the way the baseball team is managed. When he meets his very pretty PR agent, Hiroko, he begins to gain a greater appreciation that he should accept his current situation. When he realizes her other connection to the team, his attitudes begin to change at an even greater pace

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Plot Keywords:

male objectification | wrapped in a towel | man wrapped in a towel | taking a bath | bathing together | 

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Taglines:

He's the biggest thing to hit Japan since Godzilla!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sensuality and language

Details

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

2 October 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Basebalista

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$20,883,046

Company Credits

Production Co:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment, Outlaw Productions (I), Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the end of the film, Tom Selleck's character is wearing the uniform of the Detroit Tigers. He's wearing the same baseball cap that he wore during his days on the television show, "Magnum P.I."

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Goofs

When Jack calls Doc on the phone at his office in New York and asks Doc to get him out of Japan, it is daytime in Japan. We see that it is also daytime in New York. Since Japan is 13 hours ahead of New York, and assuming a 9-to-5 work day in New York, it could never be daytime in those two places at the same time, at a time when anyone would be doing business in New York.

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Quotes

Jack Elliot: Just let them have a little fun.
Uchiyama: Baseball is work. Not fun.
Jack Elliot: Baseball is grown men getting paid to play a game. When you were a kid, I bet you didn't pick up a bat and ball because you were dying to work. A player's career is short enough. Let them enjoy it.

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Connections

Referenced in Gilmore Girls: That's What You Get, Folks, for Makin' Whoopee (2006)

User Reviews

A slugger can hit anywhere.

Even if you are not a baseball fan, you will enjoy MR. BASEBALL. An aging Major League home run slugger Jack Elliot(Tom Selleck)is traded to the Dragons, a favorite ball team in Japan. American ballplayers are treated like rock 'n' roll stars in Japan and Jack is no exception. The American slugger has trouble fitting into the eastern society and thanks to his interpreter(Kosuke Toyohara)he doesn't completely alienate himself. Another American player "Hammer" Dubois(Dennis Haysbert)tries to help big Jack fit in, but of course the Dragon's new home run hitter is pretty hard headed.

Elliot finds himself in his coach's(Ken Takakura)doghouse more often than not. The team finds him easy to dislike. Unknowingly he finds romance with the coach's daughter(Aya Takanashi)and that is just part of the humor found in this likable and short of heartwarming movie. Most of the humor comes from Jack's interpreter. Selleck fits the role pretty well. Ted Danson would have been another good choice for the role, but Selleck provides enough arrogance to carry it off. Not a total waste of time, but there is doubts about a double header. Twice is enough for me.