'Major League' turns 30: How a Dodgers hero helped turn Hollywood stars into a real baseball team
Compared to the other great baseball movies of all time, “Major League” — which was released 30 years ago Sunday — faced a different kind of challenge during its making.
“Bull Durham” was about the minor leagues. “Field of Dreams” was about ghosts playing on a cornfield in Iowa. “The Sandlot” and “Bad News Bears” were about kids. “A League of Their Own” and “The Natural” captured baseball of the past.
“Major League” needed to replicate Major League Baseball in modern times, which is no small feat. Even if the premise of the movie was that these Cleveland Indians were built to lose — that they were tanking before tanking was a thing — the baseball needed to be believable.
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“I just couldn’t cast a guy who wasn’t credible as a baseball player,” David S. Ward, the writer and director of “Major League,” told Yahoo Sports this week, reflecting on the film 30 years later.
Replicating real baseball was important, something the crew of “Major League” went to great lengths to achieve, including setting up a baseball camp for the actors and finding a former World Series MVP to teach these Hollywood stars how to be a believable baseball team.
“Major League” is a comedy first, but there’s a reason it resonates so strongly with baseball fans and players all these years later. It’s rooted in realism — real baseball action, real clubhouse antics. That wouldn’t have happened without Ward’s commitment to casting actors with enough baseball skill to be a believable Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn or Pedro Cerrano.
There were varying degrees of baseball ability and baseball résumés. Charlie Sheen, who played Wild Thing, could throw 80 mph and came to the set a very good baseball player. Corbin Bernsen (Roger Dorn) and Dennis Haysbert (Cerrano) both played in high school. Wesley Snipes (Willie Mays Hayes) didn’t have a ton of baseball experience but was a great athlete. Tom Berenger (Jake Taylor) was probably the least baseball-savvy of the bunch, but as you’ll learn, a catcher’s mask can really help.
“A thing I did with most of them,” Ward said, “before I cast them, I took them outside and we just played catch. I saw who could throw and who couldn’t. As we got further along and we had people who were into the final two or three, we had them do batting practice. I didn’t want anyone who couldn’t throw the ball. It’s very hard to disguise that.
“Tim Robbins in ‘Bull Durham,’ ” Ward continues, “He couldn’t throw the ball 15 feet.”
How the Dodgers helped
“Major League” is a movie about the hapless Cleveland Indians. It was shot in Arizona and Milwaukee. And it wouldn’t have worked out as well if not one for one particular member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
When Ward was looking for a technical advisor for “Major League,” he turned to the Dodgers and manager Tommy Lasorda. Ward visited the Dodgers’ clubhouse and was eventually pointed in the direction of Steve Yeager. By then, Yeager was retired but lived on in Dodgers lore for winning the World Series co-MVP in 1981.
“He had a great personality and guys really liked working with him,” Ward said. “He knows how to run a good baseball training camp in a really short period of time. You need someone who knows how far to push the guys when they haven’t played baseball in years.”
As Ward was scouting locations for filming, Yeager put the cast through a two-week training camp in the L.A. area. While baseball realism was part of the goal, so was making sure the actors didn’t get hurt and throw off the shooting schedule.
“Once I cast them, I turned them over to Steve,” Ward said. “Not only to do the baseball stuff, but to do basic conditioning. If you’re not in shape and you’re not able to make baseball moves, it’s very easy to injure yourself — to pull a hamstring or something else that takes a lot of time to heal. Baseball moves are a lot of stops and starts. You go from a stop to a very quick run. If you’re not used to using those muscles, you can injure yourself. If there’s a day when you want to shoot a guy making a throw or running and making a catch, and he can’t run, you gotta find something else to do.”
It wasn’t just a short-term job for Yeager. He eventually had a role in “Major League,” playing third-base coach Duke Temple. He stayed on for the two sequels that followed afterward.
“Since he had a catcher’s mask on, you couldn’t really tell it was Yeager making most of those throws,” Ward said. “The shot in the movie where Taylor picks off a runner at first — Yeager made that throw. He did two takes, right on the bag both times. That’s when you know you’re dealing with a professional.”
While Tom Berenger didn’t have the best throwing arm, it turned out some of his “Major League” teammates were actually quite capable. And not just Sheen, whose baseball ability has been well documented over the years.
“There is the shot in the movie where Wesley [Snipes] jumps high over the fence and catches a ball, and he actually did that,” Ward said. “It wasn’t a batted ball, the balls were being thrown by Yeager — he was trying to throw them at a height where Wesley could jump and get them. We had to do a little visual effects to enlarge the ball. You almost didn’t see the ball go into his glove his hands were so fast.”
The most impressive baseball feat, however, might have been Haysbert’s power. His role as Pedro Cerrano called for him to have incredible power but also a tough time hitting a curveball. For the real Haysbert, the curve wasn’t a problem and the power was real.
“Dennis could hit the ball really well,” Ward said. “We were shooting in Milwaukee County Stadium and he hit a legitimate home run. He hit the ball over the fence. Those were the kind of things I was looking for.”
That we’re talking about “Major League” 30 years later is a good indication that Ward’s casting techniques combined with Yeager’s baseball IQ paid off. Sure, when we look back at “Major League,” we think about the classic lines (“Juuuuust a bit outside”) and the clubhouse moments and Jobu. But we also don’t immediately roll our eyes at the baseball parts.
“It was really important to us,” Ward said, “to get a group of guys who looked like they could actually play. They’re not professional quality, but you aren’t going to look at them and say, ‘That guy can’t play.’”
I was 12 years old when I saw that movie.....it came out in April right at the beginning of my Little League season....and yes, I got that Wild Thing design in the back of my head.
Joined: 25 Apr 2015 Posts: 31910 Location: Anaheim, CA
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:13 pm Post subject:
"I got it right here in my contract, it says I don't have to do any calisthenics I don't feel are necessary. So what do you think about that?"
(Peeing sound)
By the way, has there ever been a better casting of an actor for a role as James Gammon was for manager Lou Brown? He genuinely could have received an Oscar nomination. Pure perfection.
Joined: 25 Apr 2015 Posts: 31910 Location: Anaheim, CA
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:30 pm Post subject:
Oh my goodness, while looking up clips on YouTube, I just came across something. This is my favorite baseball movie ever, and I can't believe that I never knew that this scene below was going to be the original way the movie ended, only to be scratched due to focus groups overwhelmingly not liking it. Wow!
Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 18201 Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 6:18 am Post subject:
ChickenStu wrote:
Oh my goodness, while looking up clips on YouTube, I just came across something. This is my favorite baseball movie ever, and I can't believe that I never knew that this scene below was going to be the original way the movie ended, only to be scratched due to focus groups overwhelmingly not liking it. Wow!
So glad they cut it. We would have been denied this epic Rachel Phelps moment.
Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 40345 Location: Dirty South
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:23 am Post subject:
numero-ocho wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Oh my goodness, while looking up clips on YouTube, I just came across something. This is my favorite baseball movie ever, and I can't believe that I never knew that this scene below was going to be the original way the movie ended, only to be scratched due to focus groups overwhelmingly not liking it. Wow!
So glad they cut it. We would have been denied this epic Rachel Phelps moment.
Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 40345 Location: Dirty South
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:27 am Post subject:
ChickenStu wrote:
"I got it right here in my contract, it says I don't have to do any calisthenics I don't feel are necessary. So what do you think about that?"
(Peeing sound)
By the way, has there ever been a better casting of an actor for a role as James Gammon was for manager Lou Brown? He genuinely could have received an Oscar nomination. Pure perfection.
he was perfect....but it was extremely good casting across the board. Tom Berenger was an excellent Jake Taylor....and who could have did Roger Dorn better than Corbin Bernsen? Chelcie Ross as Eddie Harris....just perfect!
Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 67619 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 11:06 am Post subject:
adkindo wrote:
numero-ocho wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Oh my goodness, while looking up clips on YouTube, I just came across something. This is my favorite baseball movie ever, and I can't believe that I never knew that this scene below was going to be the original way the movie ended, only to be scratched due to focus groups overwhelmingly not liking it. Wow!
So glad they cut it. We would have been denied this epic Rachel Phelps moment.
That scene is epic. It so displays what Rachel Phelps was. I crack up every time I see it. _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Joined: 25 Apr 2015 Posts: 31910 Location: Anaheim, CA
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 2:35 pm Post subject:
adkindo wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
"I got it right here in my contract, it says I don't have to do any calisthenics I don't feel are necessary. So what do you think about that?"
(Peeing sound)
By the way, has there ever been a better casting of an actor for a role as James Gammon was for manager Lou Brown? He genuinely could have received an Oscar nomination. Pure perfection.
he was perfect....but it was extremely good casting across the board. Tom Berenger was an excellent Jake Taylor....and who could have did Roger Dorn better than Corbin Bernsen? Chelcie Ross as Eddie Harris....just perfect!
Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 67619 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:17 pm Post subject:
ChickenStu wrote:
adkindo wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
"I got it right here in my contract, it says I don't have to do any calisthenics I don't feel are necessary. So what do you think about that?"
(Peeing sound)
By the way, has there ever been a better casting of an actor for a role as James Gammon was for manager Lou Brown? He genuinely could have received an Oscar nomination. Pure perfection.
he was perfect....but it was extremely good casting across the board. Tom Berenger was an excellent Jake Taylor....and who could have did Roger Dorn better than Corbin Bernsen? Chelcie Ross as Eddie Harris....just perfect!
And, of course, Uecker.
Bob showed the potential to have a second career, acting. _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 40345 Location: Dirty South
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 5:40 pm Post subject:
one thing that I noticed in that movie many years later watching that I found really strange was the way Jake (Tom Berenger) just kept walking into homes he had never been in before.
-- Early in the movie, when he thinks he is following Rene Russo home, but it actually leads him to her boyfriends penthouse/condo. He just walks into the building, notices what floor she exits the elevator, then takes it up to the top floor which opens right into her boyfriends residence!
-- Then later when he sees Russo at one of his games as it ends....and he jumps into his car in his uniform to follow her to her apartment. She enters, walks up the steps and sets down in chair.....then a few seconds later, he appears at the top of the stairs!
Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 40345 Location: Dirty South
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 5:46 pm Post subject:
another favorite scene is after seeing Pedro Cerrano with the large snake for luck and not getting the "red card"......Willie Mays Hayes goes an gets that tiny green snake for luck before opening locker.
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So glad they cut it. We would have been denied this epic Rachel Phelps moment.
