Major League: Back to the Minors | |
---|---|
Directed by | John Warren |
Written by | John Warren |
Based on | Characters by David S. Ward |
Produced by | James G. Robinson |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Tim Suhrstedt |
Edited by | O. Nicholas Brown Bryan H. Carroll |
Music by | Robert Folk |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $18 million |
Box office | $3.5 million |
Major League: Back to the Minors is a 1998 American sports comedy film written and directed by John Warren. It is the third installment in the Major League film series (following 1989's Major League and 1994's Major League II ) and is considered a standalone sequel. The film stars Scott Bakula, Corbin Bernsen, Dennis Haysbert, Takaaki Ishibashi, Jensen Daggett, Eric Bruskotter, Ted McGinley and Bob Uecker.
Aging minor league pitcher Gus Cantrell, who plays for the Fort Myers Miracle, is ejected from the game following the "frozen ball trick". Roger Dorn, now the owner of the Minnesota Twins, recruits Gus to be the manager of the Buzz, the Twins' AAA minor league affiliate. Gus's mission is to make a real team out of a bunch of players who include ballet dancer turned ballplayer Lance "The Dance" Pere, minor league lifer Frank "Pops" Morgan, Rube Baker, Taka Tanaka, Pedro Cerrano, pitcher Hog Ellis, home run hitter Billy "Downtown" Anderson, and pitcher Carlton "Doc" Windgate, a medical school graduate who throws the slowest fastball in the minors.
However, Gus clashes with Leonard Huff, the snobby manager of the Twins. One night in Minnesota, Gus and his fiancee Maggie Reynolds are having dinner with Roger and Huff at an upscale restaurant, where Huff challenges Gus to a game between the Buzz and the Twins. Gus accepts the challenge.
The game is scheduled to take place at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minnesota. The Twins take a 3-0 lead in the 6th inning, but Downtown hits a home run that ties the game at 3-3 in the 8th inning. But with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, and with Doc one strike away from striking out home run hitter Carlos Liston, Huff has the stadium's lights turned off so the game can end with a tie rather than give the Buzz a chance to win in extra innings. However, the media reports that the Twins were still outplayed by the Buzz.
Huff now wants to bring Downtown up to the Twins, even though Gus believes that he is not yet ready. Downtown jumps on the opportunity, turning his back on Gus. Without Downtown, the Buzz start losing again. With the Twins, Downtown starts hitting poorly, proving Huff wrong. Gus manages to get the Buzz back on track, and Downtown is sent back down to the Buzz, where Gus teaches him how to be a more well rounded hitter. Gus leads the Buzz to a division title in their league.
Gus issues a challenge for Huff to bring the Twins to Buzz Stadium for another game. If the Twins win, Gus will give his salary for the year to Huff. If Gus and the Buzz beat the Twins, Gus can take over as the manager of the Twins. Huff accepts the challenge and takes the Twins to play against the Buzz. This time, the Twins take a 4-0 lead in the 6th inning, but the Buzz still manage to come from behind with three runs, and then win the game, 5-4, thanks to a game-winning two-run home run by Downtown. Gus decides that he wants to stay with the Buzz so he can continue to work with minor league players on their skills and hopefully turn them into stars.
The film flopped at the box office, grossing only $3.6 million in ticket sales [1] against a budget of $18 million.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 21% of 19 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.5/10. [2] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale. [3] [4] [5]
David S. Ward, the writer and producer of the original Major League, announced in 2010 that he was working on a new film, which he calls Major League 3, which instead acts as a proper sequel to the second film and hoped to cast the original stars Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes and Tom Berenger. The plot would have seen Sheen's character Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn coming out of retirement to work with a young player. [6] In 2017, Sheen expressed interest in doing the sequel. [7]
Robert George Uecker is an American former professional baseball catcher who is the primary broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Major League is a 1989 American sports comedy film produced by Chris Chesser and Irby Smith, written and directed by David S. Ward, that stars Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, James Gammon, Bob Uecker, Rene Russo, Margaret Whitton, Dennis Haysbert, and Corbin Bernsen.
The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Fort Myers, Florida, and play their home games at the Lee County Sports Complex at Hammond Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,500 and opened in 1991. The park is also used as the Minnesota Twins' spring training facility.
Dennis Dexter Haysbert is an American actor. He is known for his roles as baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the Major League film trilogy, Secret Service agent Tim Collin in the political thriller film Absolute Power, Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the CBS military action drama series The Unit, God on the Netflix show Lucifer, and President David Palmer on the first five seasons of 24. He has also appeared in the films Love Field, Heat, Waiting to Exhale, and Far from Heaven, as well as the science fiction series Incorporated.
Matthew Hanks LeCroy is an American former professional baseball catcher, first baseman, and designated hitter. He is currently the manager of the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals.
The following are the baseball events of the year 2006 throughout the world.
Major League II is a 1994 American sports comedy film and sequel to the 1989 film Major League and it is the second installment in the Major League film series. The film stars most of the same cast from the original, including Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Corbin Bernsen. Absent from this film is Wesley Snipes, who played Willie Mays Hayes in the first film and who had become a film star in his own right by 1994. Omar Epps took over his role. Several new cast members appear in Major League II. David Keith plays Jack Parkman, a selfish superstar catcher who is looking to replace the aging Jake Taylor as the starter. Takaaki Ishibashi, of Japanese comedic duo Tunnels, is outfielder Isuro "Kamikaze" Tanaka who helps excite the team. Eric Bruskotter is rookie catcher Rube Baker who is getting used to the MLB life. Unlike the first film, which was rated R, Major League II was rated PG and released by Warner Bros. instead of Paramount Pictures.
Timothy Shawn Teufel is an American former professional baseball second baseman and coach. He played Major League Baseball from 1983 to 1993, most notably as a member of the New York Mets with whom he won a world championship in 1986. He also played for the Minnesota Twins and the San Diego Padres. He is a member of the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a fan favorite with the New York Mets and became known for his batting stance, the "Teufel shuffle", in which he wiggled his buttocks back and forth before the pitcher's delivery.
Takaaki Ishibashi is a Japanese comedian, singer and actor. He is best known as a member of Tunnels and Yaen with his partner Noritake Kinashi.
The 1984 Minnesota Twins season was a season in American baseball. The team spent much of the season contending for the division title, but finished with a record of 81–81, tied for second in the American League West, and three games behind the division winner Kansas City Royals. Their 81–81 record was an 11-game improvement from 1983, and a 21-game improvement from their 102-loss season of 1982.
The 2006 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 106th season. They won the ALCS. They represented the American League in the World Series before falling to the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 1. The season was their 106th since they entered the AL in 1901. It was their seventh season since opening Comerica Park in 2000, and the first since 1993 where the team finished with a winning record and made the playoffs for the first time since 1987.
The following are the baseball events of the year 2008 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 2009 throughout the world.
The 2009 American League Central tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2009 regular season, played between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins to determine the champion of the American League's (AL) Central Division. It was played at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 6, 2009. The Twins won the game 6–5 in a thrilling 12-inning battle, and advanced to the 2009 AL Division Series where they were swept by the New York Yankees; the Tigers failed to qualify for the postseason.
The 2010 Atlanta Braves season was the franchise's 45th season in Atlanta along with the 135th season in the National League and 140th overall. It featured the Braves' attempt to reclaim a postseason berth for the first time since 2005. The Braves once again were skippered by Bobby Cox, in his 25th and final overall season managing the team. It was their 45th season in Atlanta, and the 135th of the franchise. Finishing the season with a 91–71 record, the Braves won the NL Wild Card, only to be eliminated in the NLDS by the San Francisco Giants in four games.
The 2010 National League Championship Series (NLCS) was a best-of-seven game Major League Baseball playoff series that pitted the winners of the 2010 National League Division Series—the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants—against each other for the National League Championship. The Giants would defeat the Phillies, four games to two, to advance to their first World Series since 2002. The series, the 41st NLCS in league history, began on October 16 and ended on October 23. The Phillies had home field advantage as a result of their better regular-season record. The Phillies hosted Games 1, 2 and 6, while the Giants were at home for Games 3, 4 and 5.
The San Francisco Giants are an American baseball team. Their 2012 season marked their 130th year in Major League Baseball, as well as their 55th year in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and the 13th at AT&T Park. The Giants finished with a record of 94–68, They finished in first place in the National League West, and defeated the Cincinnati Reds in five games in the NLDS thereby becoming the first National League team to come back from a 2–0 deficit in a best-of-five series by sweeping three games in the opponent's park. The Giants defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games after overcoming a 3–1 deficit in the NLCS and advancing to the World Series to face the Detroit Tigers. They swept the Tigers in four games to win their second World Series title in three years. The season also saw Giants pitcher Matt Cain throw a perfect game on June 13, 2012.
The 2015 Minnesota Twins season was the 55th season for the franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their sixth season at Target Field and the 115th overall in the American League. The team finished second in the American League Central with an 83–79 record, their best overall result since the 2010 season, which was the last year they made the playoffs. The team remained in the running for a wild card berth in the American League playoffs until losing Game 161. They would eventually win a wild card berth two years later, in 2017. In between, however, the team lost 103 games.
The 2018 National League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the Milwaukee Brewers against the Los Angeles Dodgers, for the National League (NL) pennant and the right to play in the 2018 World Series against the AL Champions, the Boston Red Sox.
The 2019 American League Division Series were two best-of-five series in Major League Baseball (MLB) to determine the participating teams of the 2019 American League Championship Series. The three divisional winners, seeded first through third, and a fourth team—determined by the AL Wild Card Game—played in two series. These matchups were:
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)