50 Fun Facts About Major League Movie

Which real Major League Baseball team is the fictionalised subject of the 1989 film?

The writer-director grew up in suburban Cleveland and figured a movie was the only way he would ever see them win anything.

Who wrote and directed Major League?

He had already won an Oscar for writing The Sting; John Warren wrote and directed the third film.

To which city does new owner Rachel Phelps plan to move the team?

An escape clause lets her break the lease if attendance falls below a set number, so she sets out to build the worst team in baseball.

What was Rachel Phelps's job before she inherited the team from her late husband?

Her character was loosely inspired by Georgia Frontiere, who inherited the Rams and eventually moved them to St. Louis.

Manager Lou Brown is hired away from thirty years running which minor-league club?

James Gammon plays him; in the sequel he suffers a heart attack and Jake Taylor takes over as manager.

Where is the team's spring training held in the film?

Hi Corbett Field, the Indians' real spring home from 1947 to 1992, was used, with University of Arizona players as extras.

Ricky Vaughn's nickname comes from a fastball that hits what speed with no control?

Charlie Sheen, a high-school pitcher himself, topped out well short of that and later admitted using steroids for two months to look the part.

What turns out to be the cause of Vaughn's wildness?

Once fitted with his famous glasses he becomes dominant, and the team starts to win.

Where was Vaughn recruited from?

Jake Taylor, by contrast, was playing in the Mexican League when the Indians called, and sees the season as his last chance.

Which pitch does power hitter Pedro Cerrano famously struggle to hit?

He defected from Cuba to practise voodoo freely, and keeps a voodoo shrine in his locker.

What is the name of Cerrano's voodoo figure?

A company began selling Jobu figurines after the 25th anniversary, packaged like the locker shrine.

How does Willie Mays Hayes make the team?

The actor was a relative unknown at the time; Omar Epps took the role in the sequel.

Veteran pitcher Eddie Harris compensates for a fading arm by doing what?

The character is modelled on a real Hall of Fame spitballer with a fondness for vaseline.

Which real-life pitcher inspired the character of Eddie Harris?

Perry's reputation for greaseballs and spitballs was so strong that umpires routinely searched him.

Third baseman Roger Dorn is more concerned with what than with playing hard?

Corbin Bernsen plays him; by the sequel Dorn has bought the team, and by the third film he owns a big-league club of his own.

Jake Taylor's ex-girlfriend Lynn Wells has what job when he tries to win her back?

Rene Russo, another then-unknown, plays the former Olympic athlete who is engaged to someone else.

Which real broadcaster plays sardonic radio man Harry Doyle?

His call of a wildly off-target pitch, 'JUST a bit outside', is quoted by sportscasters to this day.

How does Phelps punish the team when it starts winning?

Amenities keep vanishing, but the team keeps improving anyway.

Which general manager finally reveals Phelps's scheme to Lou Brown?

Charles Cyphers plays him; the reveal comes with the team at 60–61 and Brown passes it on so they can win out of spite.

How many of their final 44 games do the Indians win to force a tie for the division?

That leaves them level with the Yankees on the last day and sets up the one-game playoff.

Which team do the Indians face in the one-game playoff that ends the film?

Vaughn strikes out their best slugger on three straight fastballs before Taylor's bunt-and-run wins it 3–2.

How does Jake Taylor win the playoff game in the bottom of the ninth?

He calls his shot, then bunts with Hayes on second; Hayes scores and the Indians win 3–2.

Which Yankees slugger does Vaughn strike out on three straight fastballs in the ninth?

He is played by Pete Vuckovich, a real Cy Young Award-winning pitcher.

Why does Roger Dorn punch the team's young closer during the final celebration?

Suzanne Dorn did it for revenge after seeing her husband with another woman on TV; Vaughn had no idea who she was.

In the scrapped alternate ending, what does Phelps reveal to Lou Brown?

Test audiences preferred her as a villain, so the twist was cut and later included on the 'Wild Thing Edition' DVD.

Which Randy Newman song about the Cuyahoga River fire scores the opening montage of Cleveland?

The river famously caught fire in 1969, and the film's very first image is one of the Guardians of Traffic on the Hope Memorial Bridge.

In which city was most of the film actually shot, standing in for Cleveland?

It was cheaper, and the producers could not work around the Indians' and Browns' schedules; the scoreboard even shows Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV sign.

Which ballpark doubles for the Indians' home in the game scenes?

It was demolished in 2001; its old field is now a Little League park called Helfaer Field next to the Brewers' current home.

Which future Scrubs and The Middle star plays the commenting longshoreman in his first credited film role?

He is shown again in the bar during the final celebration.

Before he was known as Pedro Cerrano, Dennis Haysbert later became famous for playing which TV president?

He also became the long-running voice and face of Allstate Insurance ads.

How fast did Charlie Sheen's own fastball top out while filming?

He had pitched for his high-school team, and in 2011 admitted using steroids for nearly two months to improve for the role.

Which studio released Major League in the US in April 1989?

The sequels moved to Warner Bros., and Major League II dropped from an R rating to PG.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide on an $11 million budget?

It opened at number one in the US and took almost $50 million domestically.

Which real 1989 Cubs reliever earned the nickname 'Wild Thing' and later wore 99 with the Phillies?

The Wrigley organist played the song when he came in, later swapped for the X recording from the film after his trade.

What jersey number does Ricky Vaughn wear?

It has been borrowed by real pitchers ever since, most famously by Philadelphia's closer in 1993.

Which catcher filmed a one-man 25th-anniversary tribute playing Lou Brown, Cerrano and Vaughn?

That same year Topps issued 1989-style baseball cards for Dorn, Taylor, Harris, Phelps, Vaughn and the voodoo figure.

A Major League video game was released in 1989 exclusively for which console, and only in Japan?

Japan also took to the sequel, which opened at number one there and stayed for three weeks.

Which original cast member did not return for Major League II, having become a star in his own right?

Omar Epps took over as Willie Mays Hayes, now a Hollywood actor who fancies himself a power hitter.

In Major League II, which arrogant all-star catcher does Roger Dorn sign, threatening Jake Taylor's job?

David Keith plays him; he is traded to the White Sox and ends up as the final out Vaughn strikes out for the pennant.

In the sequel, Pedro Cerrano abandons voodoo for which religion, losing his edge?

He finds a balance in Game 7 and hits the go-ahead home run.

Which Japanese comedian plays outfielder Isuro 'Kamikaze' Tanaka, who keeps crashing into fences?

He is one half of the duo Tunnels and returned for Back to the Minors.

Which team beats the Indians in the ALCS before the sequel, then faces them in its Game 7?

Phelps gives the team a phony pep talk before Game 4 to sabotage them, and they lose three straight before winning Game 7.

Which sports comedy starring Charlie Sheen's brother did Major League II knock off the top of the US box office?

Emilio Estevez's Ducks gave way; the sequel grossed about $53 million worldwide but sits at 5% on Rotten Tomatoes.

What rating did Major League II carry, unlike the R-rated original?

It was also released by Warner Bros. rather than the original's studio.

Which talk-show host appears as himself in Major League II?

Jesse Ventura also turns up as a character called White Lightning, and Randy Quaid is an uncredited heckler named Johnny.

Who plays Gus Cantrell, the ageing minor-league pitcher turned manager in Back to the Minors?

He is ejected for the 'frozen ball trick' while pitching for the Fort Myers Miracle before Dorn hires him.

In Back to the Minors, Roger Dorn owns which Major League club, whose Triple-A team is the Buzz?

The Buzz play the big club at the Metrodome, where the lights are switched off to force a tie.

How does snobby Twins manager Leonard Huff stop the Buzz winning their first challenge game?

The game ends in a tie, but the press reports the minor leaguers outplayed the Twins anyway.

How did Back to the Minors fare at the box office?

It was released by Warner Bros. in April 1998 and is now treated as a standalone sequel.

Which real World Series MVP catcher plays third-base coach Duke Temple in the first two films?

Pitcher Pete Vuckovich plays the Yankees' slugger and Willie Mueller is uncredited as Yankees pitcher Duke Simpson.