Baseball Movie Review: Little Big League (1994)

[Tyomoth]

Image courtesy of Copyright by Columbia Pictures and other relevant production studios and distributors. Intended for editorial use only.

I'll never forget my first pro baseball game. It was May 15th, 1987, and I was at the Metrodome in Minneapolis with most of my sixth-grade class. I was already a huge Twins fan, and Kirby Puckett was far and away my favorite player. At this point, we had no idea what that season had in store for us. We were just excited to be inside the Metrodome watching Señor Smoke, Juan Berenguer, take the mound against the Boston Red Sox. Long story short, or at least less long, the game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning when Kirby stepped up to the plate and took Bruce Hurst deep for a 2-run shot. We lost our minds. The pure joy and adrenaline of that moment haven't been matched at a game since. Why? I've seen walk-offs, but I'm not a kid anymore.

First Pitch

"Little Big League" opens with a Little League game. When an odd situation occurs where three kids end up at the same base, neither the coaches nor the ump knows the right call. So, naturally, they turn to one of the kids -- Bill Heywood (played by Luke Edwards). He explains that the lead runner gets the base and the other two are out, noting that "the same thing happened to the Brooklyn Dodgers in a game in 1926." Okay, so we immediately know that the kid is a walking baseball encyclopedia. Got it. Then, we learn that his grandfather, played by Jason Robards, owns the Minnesota Twins, and Billy gets to go to games and visit the clubhouse with him. Some of the players know him. It's a good life for a kid. 

Then, grandpa dies. and leaves the team to Billy. How is a kid going to run an MLB team?

The Mid Innings

Things don't start out well for Billy. The team's manager is a hard-nosed, old-school guy who doesn't like the idea of working for a kid. In short order, Billy ends up firing him, only to discover that no other managers want the job either. So, what's a kid to do but take the job himself? It's a bumpy beginning for him, and life on the road is a bit much for a kid. To make matters worse, his first baseman (and friend), Lou Collins, played by Timothy Busfield (also in Field of Dreams), is trying to woo Billy's mom. The team ends up with a decent season and ties with the Seattle Mariners for a Wild Card spot, setting up a "Game 163." 

The Last Inning

Of course, that last game is a nail-biter that goes to extra innings. And, as if that's not enough, Billy needs to decide whether or not to give Lou his blessing to marry his mother. Yeah, that needs to happen during the game, right? I won't spoil the ending as far as the team's season goes, but when it's all over, Billy steps down as manager and gets back to being a kid again. But he's helped his players learn to have fun playing baseball again, and that's a pretty good deal. 

The plot for "Little Big League" is clearly meant for kids, and that's okay. It's a kids' movie. But overall, as a baseball movie, it's still kind of fun. There are a lot of cameos from big-name MLB players from the early '90s, including Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, and about a dozen more. Can you spot them all? 

"Little Big League" doesn't make my top 10 and maybe not even my top 20, but it's good innocent fun. Grab a hot dog, some popcorn, and give it a shot.

Run Time: 1 hr 59 minutes
IMDB Score: 6.2/10
Scorecard: Sneaky double
Best Line: “Baseball is a kid’s game...grown-ups only screw it up” (Bob Lemon as quoted by Billy Heywood)

Player of the Game: Edwards does a nice job as Billy Heywood. It would have been easy for this to get too cheesy and the character to come across as annoying, but he plays it well. 

Fun Fact: Ashley Crow, who plays Billy's mother, is the real-life mother to Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Gold Glove/All-Star centerfielder for the Chicago Cubs. 

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[Wedman13]

I'm probably biased but this was the most fun I've ever had.