Little Big League (1994)

A young boy is bequeathed the ownership of a professional baseball team.

Director:

Andrew Scheinman

Writers:

Gregory K. Pincus (story), Gregory K. Pincus (screenplay)

Stars:

Luke Edwards, Timothy Busfield, John Ashton

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Edwards	...	Billy Heywood
Timothy Busfield	...	Lou Collins
John Ashton	...	Mac Macnally
Ashley Crow	...	Jenny Heywood
Kevin Dunn	...	Arthur Goslin
Billy L. Sullivan	...	Chuck
Miles Feulner	...	Joey
Jonathan Silverman	...	Jim Bowers
Dennis Farina	...	George O'Farrell
Jason Robards	...	Thomas Heywood
Wolfgang Bodison	...	Spencer Hamilton
Duane Davis	...	Jerry Johnson
Leon Durham	...	Leon Alexander
Kevin Elster	...	Pat Corning
Joseph Latimore	...	Lonnie Ritter

Storyline

When the owner of the Minnesota Twins dies suddenly, his will bequeaths the team to his grandson Billy, a devotee of baseball who, although only 12, has devoured voluminous lore, knows the team intimately, and has shown an uncanny sixth sense of what they need to improve. They hate their manager, so Billy quickly fires the SOB, winning their instant approval. However, this turns to dismay when he announces their new manager: Billy Heywood. How will Billy convince a gang of proud, tough men to stick around and take orders from a kid? On the other hand, what's to lose-- the team has nowhere to go but up.

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Plot Keywords:

minnesota twins | baseball | boy | 12 year old | grandfather | 

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Taglines:

The Minnesota Twins Have a New Owner.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild language and sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kleiner Trainer ganz groß

Filming Locations:

Edina, Minnesota, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$12,211,068

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment,Lobell/Bergman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby DTS SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Thomas Heywood was depicted as being very similar to Carl Pohlad, the real life owner of the Minnesota Twins at the time of the film. This includes both holding large financial fortunes. Pohlad owned the Twins from 1984 until his death in 2009, after which family heirs took inheritance of the team.

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Goofs

When the twins are playing at Fenway Park, they are in the first base dugout, which can be seen when the camera is facing Billy and you can see Pesky Pole in the background. The Red Sox's home dugout is actually on the first base side, and the visitors' is on the third base side

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Quotes

Billy Heywood: Here's an easy one. Who was the first black player to play in the major leagues?
Thomas Heywood: You want me to say Jackie Robinson, but I won't. Fleet Walker for Toledo. I believe the year was 1884.

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Connections

References Gojira (1954)

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Soundtracks

"Jeff Beck and Stanley Clarke
appear courtesy of EPIC RECORDS

User Reviews

Surprisingly, the best baseball ever, and I've seen them all

We got this movie on videotape for the kids, but it just blew me away. Here we are in 2009, and Lou Pinella, Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr. -- all of whom are in this movie -- are still part of the game. That's just luck, but the dialog in this film is outstanding. It is far more than a kids' movie. Sure, there are scenes where a so-called ''adult'' film would have relied on profanity (Jerry Johnson letting his 12-year-old manager know that he didn't like being cut, no matter how much the kid liked his baseball card) but the message is clear.

When the kid asks pitcher Mike McGreevy how much a free agent who can't throw strikes is worth, or when he puts down his hot-headed reliever by asking if he thinks the team doesn't have anybody else who can get people out, it's priceless. Or how's this from his bench coach, about Johnson's slump: "Kid, don't you think there's a problem when you get that excited over a seeing-eye single?" or (from the angry reliever): "I've been looking over some film, and you were right about my mechanics, so I ... guess you're not a rat boy.''

Despite what might seem like an absurd premise, I have never seen a more realistic baseball movie, and I am a member of SABR and a baseball fan of more than 50 years. The Twins are still wearing the uniforms in this film, and until today (10/11/09) were still playing in the same stadium.

It pays homage to the franchise's history by calling the team's GM "Goslin'' -- a Hall of Famer from the Twins' days as the Senators.

Get this movie. Even the music is good. You will not regret it.