#278: Little Big League
Release Date: December 20th, 1971
Format: Streaming (Tubi) Written by: Gregory K. Pincus Directed by: Andrew Scheinman 2.5 Stars
Little Big League, an underappreciated entry in the swath of kids sports movies to emerge from the 1990s, is flawed. It’s an interesting movie, and surprisingly moving at times, but who is this movie for?
The story of a 12-year-old, baseball-loving kid named Billy Heywood (Luke Edwards), who inherits the Minnesota Twins from beloved grandfather (played sweetly by Jason Robards), is a stretch. In a matter of days of owning the Twins, Billy installs himself as manager and goes on the road with the team during his summer break from middle school, trying to lead the underachievers to a playoff appearance.
Totally implausible nonsense, sure, but that’s not the movie’s major flaw. It is a kid’s movie, after all.
What makes Little Big League flawed is the tone and the subject matter. For what should be a baseball fairytale, it is instead completely serious and sober at times. Little Billy Heywood never really knew his own father, who died during Billy’s infancy, so the death of his grandfather is particularly devastating for him and his single mother, Jenny (played by Ashley Crow, who incredibly enough is the real-life mother of Cubs all-star outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong). Director Andrew Scheinman shoots these scenes of mourning and loss with real dramatic weight.
Billy experiences other hardships as well. His childhood friendships are strained because he’s on the road all of the time, and he’s forced to grow up quickly now that he lives in a man’s world. When it’s time to cut an aging Twins veteran, Jerry Johnson, from the team because he’s no longer hitting, Billy tries to explain that he feels bad, too.
“You’re my favorite ballplayer of all time. My friend Joey offered me a Wade Boggs and a Sammy Sosa card for you and I wouldn’t do it.”
Jerry responds, “Is that supposed to make me feel better? Am I supposed to tell my wife that I just got cut by a 12-year-old, but it’s okay because he likes my baseball card?” You’re making a big mistake. I’m not through yet. I’ll catch on somewhere, and when I do, I’m going to come back here and stick it right in your face!”
Jerry slams the door behind him, and Billy is left staring down at the desk in front of him. This poor boy. His feelings are really hurt, and it’s a sad scene.
It’s scenes like this that make Little Big League such an interesting watch. It’s a dramatic, thoughtful kids baseball movie with an adult tone and a plot that makes no sense. I liked watching it, but you might be better off just sticking with The Sandlot.
Postscript: Little Big League really is an interesting watch. There are some great, great character actors here (John Ashton, Kevin Dunn, Dennis Farina). The baseball scenes are beautifully shot, with a nice mix of sports players who can act and actors who can play sports. The filmmakers are definitely baseball people. Everything makes sense and looks good from a baseball perspective. On a more nefarious note, one of the movie’s lead actors is Timothy Busfield, who plays Twins 1st baseman Lou Collins, the love interest of Billy’s mom Jenny. As I’m writing this, Timothy Busfield’s life is currently falling apart, with numerous women alleging sexual assaults over the last 30 years, one of which occurred on the set of Little Big League and was settled out of court several years ago. Busfield’s performance is warm, and his character is an empathetic mentor for young Billy. It’s a bit disturbing now to watch him on screen and know that the real person is a monstrous predator.
