Baseball Movie Review: A League of Their Own (1992)

It's kind of shocking that it took until 1992 for someone to do a movie about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The fact that women not only had to keep American factories and stores running while the guys were off fighting WWII, but they had to save the American pastime, is a tale of heroes. But, not only did "A League of Their Own" bring the story of the AAGPBL to life, it did it right. Starting with Penny Marshall, one of the most acclaimed female movie directors, taking the driver's seat. 

First Innings: The movie opens with an elderly lady packing up some things, then looking at old photos, and eventually a very old catcher's mitt. This is the modern day, and she's supposed to go to some sort of reunion. So, right off the bat, you can tell this one is going to hang heavy on the nostalgia. 

Flash back to a women's fast-pitch softball game where sisters Dottie Hinson and Kit Keller are playing. It's obvious very quickly that Dottie (played by Geena Davis) is taller, deemed more attractive, and a considerably better ball player. Kit (Lori Petty) suffers from a heaping helping of sibling envy. Then the fun starts. A very crude baseball scout (Jon Lovitz) comes to the dairy farm where they're working to offer Dottie a chance to play in a new all-girls baseball league. She's skeptical at first, but when it's obvious that Kit is desperate to play, she signs on as long as Kit gets a contract, too. 

Then you meet the team. Like most of these ragtag sports movies, you have a team with diverse talents and personalities. To point out just a few, the Rockford Peaches lineup card has:

Mae Mordabito (Madonna) - A good-looking ex-stripper who loves the attention as much as the game, but she's good.

Doris Murphy (Rosie O'Donnell) - Mae's rough-around-the-edges sidekick. A very good all-around player.

Ellen Sue Gotlander - (Freddie Simpson) - The sweet, blonde bombshell who plays a mean shortstop. 

Marla Hooch (Megan Cavanagh) - The comically ugly second baseman who can flat out mash.

Here's the catch. The team needs to play in short skirts, take etiquette lessons, and never be without makeup. To their dismay, it's as much a pageant as it is a baseball league. Oh, and their manager is a Hall of Fame caliber major leaguer, Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), who's washed out of MLB and pretty much drunk all the time. 

Middle Innings: As the season starts, you start to see the girls bonding (and fighting) and Manager Dugan slipping into pathetic drunken behavior. Dottie sort of takes the helm as the player/manager whenever he's not functioning. But eventually, the team starts to play good ball, and he takes notice and starts doing his job. However, the league as a whole is suffering. The girls are asked to make it a bit more of a show, which frustrates them at first, but they'll do anything to stay on the field. They start making trick catches, blowing kisses, and even raffling off real kisses. It all works and they bring fans to the ballpark. 

Then, just as the Peaches are headed to the playoffs, things get interesting. The competitiveness between Dottie and Kit escalates, and the league owner declares his intention to shut it down once the war is over. The battle of the sisters leads to Kit getting traded from Rockford to Racine. 

In a particularly hard-hitting moment, just before their first playoff game, a telegram delivery guy comes into the locker room announcing that he has a "telegram for one of you ladies from the war department." Dugan opens it with the appropriate somberness and walks over to Betty "Spaghetti" Horn. Their left-fielder and pitcher just lost her husband. 

Final Out: Things jump forward a bit. The team is headed to the World Series, and Dottie is leaving the team because her husband has come home from the war. What? Say it ain't so, Dottie! Who are the Peaches facing in the World Series? None other than the Racine Belles. Of course, it goes to a Game 7 and... well, I won't spoil the ending for ya.

All in all, Marshall does an admirable job with this film. Hanks is wonderful as Jimmy Dugan. He bounces seamlessly from drunken buffon to smart and conscientious manager to raving madman. But it's the relationship between Dottie and her sister, Kit, that carries the movie. Both Geena Davis and Lori Petty excel in their roles. On top of all that, the actual baseball action is pretty fun to watch, and there is plenty of it. 

Is it a top 5 baseball movie for me? No. Not for me. But "A League of Their Own" is in the top 10 and is just a really solid movie that does justice to the history it helps preserve. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Run Time: 2 hr 08 minutes
IMDB Score: 7.4/10
Scorecard: Triple down the line
Best Line: Jimmy Dugan: Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! (How could I NOT pick that?)

Player of the Game: Hanks is great, but I think Geena Davis is the cleanup hitter here. She does well with her character, and she looks like she can really play. 

Bench Player: If there is a weak link in this one, I'd give it to Rosie O'Donnell. I've liked her in plenty of stuff, but here I thought her performance just came across as fake and awkward.