Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way (1997)

Joe Torre after failing to win a championship when he was a professional baseball player and as Manager to three teams is named Manager of the Yankees. And he finds himself having players ... See full summary »

Director:

Sturla Gunnarsson

Writer:

Philip Rosenberg

Stars:

Paul Sorvino, Robert Loggia, Barbara Williams

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Sorvino	...	Joe Torre
Robert Loggia	...	Frank Torre
Barbara Williams	...	Ali Torre
Isaiah Washington	...	Dwight Gooden
Gailard Sartain	...	Don Zimmer
Marilyn Chris	...	Rae Torre
Eugene Clark	...	Bob Watson
Kenneth Welsh	...	George Steinbrenner
Andrew Jackson	...	Paul O'Neill
Barry Flatman	...	Mel Stottlemyre
Dean McDermott	...	David Cone
Diego Fuentes	...	Mariano Duncan
Aidan Devine	...	Wade Boggs
Rummy Bishop	...	Rocco Torre
Victoria Mitchell	...	Sister Marguerite

Storyline

Joe Torre after failing to win a championship when he was a professional baseball player and as Manager to three teams is named Manager of the Yankees. And he finds himself having players like Dwight Gooden, Wade Boggs and Daryl Strawberry who are considered has beens. And players like David Cone who are ill. But nevertheless thinks he can win with them. At the same he deals with the loss of one brother and another brother battling the same condition that killed his brother.

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Plot Keywords:

baseball | pitcher | new york yankees | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Joe Torre - Baseball ist sein Leben

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

British American Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment, Norman Twain Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

The final out of the World Series was made by the switch-hitting Mark Lemke. However, during Lemke's final at-bat facing right-handed pitcher John Wetteland, Lemke goes from batting left-handed to right-handed to left-handed all during the same at-bat.

User Reviews

Has too much of a low budget look and feel to it to be taken seriously.

Paul Sorvino does a decent job playing Joe Torre, but his performance cannot overcome the low budget look and feel the movie had.

The movie re-enacted a fight scene in a game that the Yankees played on the road in Seattle. Up until a week ago (6/27/99) the Mariners played their home games at the Kingdome, inside and on artificial turf. The fight scene in Seattle takes place outdoors with sunlight and on grass!

In scenes that took place during games, different filming techniques were used to make these scenes appear as though they were taken from televised footage. It looks like the intent was to seamlessly integrate that with actual game footage to give the appearance that the combination of the two came from the same broadcast. It wasn't effective; the end result being that the package was more "seamy" than it would have been otherwise.

The actors who depicted actual ballplayers were overall not very authentic. Only the actor who played Dwight Gooden and the actor who played Mariano Duncan were even halfway convincing. The actor playing David Cone looked like a person that had never played baseball who was trying to act like a baseball player.

Baseball fans are sticklers for details. To make a successful baseball movie, you have to take the time to make sure the details are right. Use authentic jerseys and at least try to duplicate the appearance of a game venue accurately if you can't use the actual venue itself. Get actors who know how to act and talk like baseball players.