Little Big League: The Kids Movie That Went Harder Than It Had Any Right To 

Night Nurses from Jersey

Holy flashback. .. .My name appears in your video at 28:28 - best 3+ months of my life playing one of the Twins. Still have the items tucked somewhere including a copy of the script Thanks for acknowleding the true baseball we put into it. Jay Wange

They actually do setup the “Should we pinch hit for Scales” thing earlier in the film. One of Billy’s 1st games managing (maybe the 1st), he makes the decision to let Scales bat with 2 outs in the 9th and a chance to tie the game. Then the press asks him about it after the game and he says he wanted Scales to bat because he was confident in his offense. Then it comes back around & pays off in the climactic Mariners game.

This was my favorite baseball kid movie growing up, surprised to see how bad it’s numbers did. It had the most realistic mlb feel to it for sure. Great video as always man

They made Johnson and Griffey seem so damn cool. It was definitely my favorite baseball movie as a kid, but that's probably cuz I was a nerd who wanted to manage a big league team

They showed how managing a baseball team turns you into a different kind of person. Billy was the realistic kid for a change, not always upbeat and didn’t always do the right thing. Definitely not for kids entertainment but true baseball fans will stop to watch this classic anytime

growing up in Minnesota this was my favorite baseball movie as a kid. I got my teacher to let us watch it in class in 5th grade. I definitely got in trouble for the night nurses scene. Great video!

The thing with thinking of PHing Scales isn't in your face, but all through the movie people remark he's not a great hitter, when Billy shows confidence in Scales, and Mickey later says he likes Billy, he's told "of course you do, he's the only person in the world who thinks you can hit." Even when I was younger, thst wasn't out of nowhere like the Hilbert thing.

Second favorite baseball movie to The Sandlot. I'm dead serious. This movie took baseball seriously, while still being comedic. Felt much more legitimate in the way it dealt with strategy and tactics and the day to day grind of being an MLB ballplayer.

I love how eerily similar Tony Todd got his role is to Willy "Mays" Hays is played by Wesly Snipes. Both essentially just crashing a tryout.

I loved little big league as a kid specifically because it looked like real baseball. I never liked movies like Rookie of the Year that the on field action was silly or it looked like all the pitches were arcing into home at 60 mph

I genuinely used Bowers’ mathematic formula in elementary school. One of my favorite silly scenes of all time but genuinely helps you learn how to calculate a real world situation

In regards to the scene where Billy let Scales hit instead of pitch hitting... Earlier in the film, Scales made a comment in the locker room where he said that he like Billy as a manager because Billy believed in his abilities at the plate, one of Scales teammates tell him that he only likes Billy because Billy is the only person in the world that thinks Scales can hit.

Being a little leaguer at about 9-10 when these films came out - in a small town - where there was nothing to do except play baseball and go to the movies… … ‘twas a magical time.

I think the issue with Little Big League is that as a kids movie it didn’t appeal to adults even with all the major leaguers in the film. And I feel that it was more “adult” than other kid baseball movies. There was no mythical beast as in The Sandlot, no Angels making a pro team commit 17 errors on one play, and no 100mph throwing 12 year old striking out pros. I loved this movie growing up, and I appreciate it more now as an adult for how well the baseball scenes are portrayed in the film. I will have to make sure I watch the whole video before writing my comment because you said exactly what I did😂

This movie is what gave Griffey the cocky-but-loveable persona we all know him to be. And this movie is also what gave Randy Johnson the no-nonsense persona we know him to be.

One thing not mentioned here that I always liked about LBL was the ending. Movies like this so often end with the big win, it was refreshing to have them lose the big game. And yet it wasn't a downer, having the fans bring the team back out was more moving than simply winning would have been.

One thing you didn't talk about here was that it was that it was shot in the actual stadium where the primary team played, unlike some other baseball films, and shot in more than one ballpark. As someone who's always appreciated the uniqueness of ballparks, this also was a major contributor to the realism factor.

Also, absolutely pissing myself at the story of how Busfield asked Johnson if he could throw two pitches in the same spot and he just says "yeah I don't know how to do that"

On the subject of Billy Heywood, that the kid isn't some smiley doofus is what I enjoy so much about the film. It's about a kid who is thrust into an adult world in a position of leadership and really, Billy is using managing the team as a means of coping with his grandfather's death...keeping the team alive that season was his way of keeping his grandfather alive. Billy deals with real issues like grief, growing up without a father, and the burden of balancing responsibilities and personal relationships. Billy's arc is going through the 5 stages of grief and at the end he's accepted the death of his grandfather by becoming a kid again. He also has other negative traits that he overcomes or begins to overcome by the end of the movie. All of which really falls into the realism of the film. If Billy were just some goofy kid, the film wouldn't work. But Billy's own psychological struggles are reflected in his baseball struggles, so there is a lot more narrative weight behind the baseball play rather than winning or losing the fictional game.

The real reason this movie didn't do better at the box office is because it opened around the same time as "The Lion King" and "Forrest Gump."

The thing is, Billy being a bit of jerk is probably the most realistic portrayal of what would happen if a kid his age was put in that position. He is very knowledgeable about baseball but he is very immature and doesn't understand how to deal with people in a work environment. Plus, by that end he matures some and mellows on some of that.

The Troy Startoni segment is absolutely wild.

That scene where the kid goes through a hypothetical bullpen usage was always a favourite of mine.

I managed a video store in the 1990s. Playing this movie in-store and hearing it in the background was how I grew to appreciate it.

I was the target demo when all of these movies came out (9-10yo baseball player/fan). I loved Sandlot and Little Big League because of how well they got the baseball to feel right. ROY and Angels I hated because they didn't. Now that I'm older I can see what they were trying to do, but at the time they just felt overly corny.

So glad you did a full length video on this movie! I always remember it being my favorite baseball movie growing up, didn’t know why but this makes it all make sense! lol

A stat correction: There are actually 11 world series titles in the guest stars, you forgot Ivan Rodriguez's World Series title with the 2003 Marlins.

Duane Davis also had a pretty famous father...the legendary Hall of Fame defensive end and captain of the Lombardi Packers, Willie Davis.

Probably have watched this movie over 50 times growing up. "So you own the team and the stadium?" "Yeah" "Can I have 5 bucks?" "I don't have 5 bucks." Genius.

I still love this movie. Oh, I'm a Seattle fan and seeing Griffey blast one, Randy bringing the heat( although he looks like he's just soft-tossing in the film), and Lou Piniella going, "What the Hell was that?" leaves me feeling 10 again.

Also also, the music that plays when Griffey is walking to the plate makes him look terrifying. When he got walked, he looks back at the catcher like “If you won’t let me take it deep then looks like I’ll have to steal every base.”

I put this over Angels in the Outfield only because it was more believable as a kid. Sandlot is first by a WIDE margin. Then Rookie of the Year. For this one, they tried to go for "kid bossing adults around." What kid didn't fantasize about being the boss? The problem is that it wasn't very funny. Billy just flexes the whole time, and he's mostly mean. It's played like he's way over his head and can't handle the pressure of running a franchise (as a kid would probably feel in a similar situation). There is no wonderment and fantasy in the movie. It's played very straight the whole time.

The one thing this video did NOT answer: If Joe can paint a house 3 hours and Sam in 5 hours, how long will it take if they paint the house together?

Growing up in minnesota and being a lifelong twins fan, I love this movie. Love the acting- the math problem the horse named friday John Gordon’s obscure stats. Just great

Brad Lesley also payed in the NPB in Japan hence why he was on Takeshi's Castle/MXC, he played for the Hankyu Braves.

I HAVE WAITED FOR SOMEONE TO MAKE A VIDEO ON THIS CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE FOR FAR TOO LONG. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I LOVE YOU.

Little Big League was the best of the four and I will die on that hill.

Can't tell you how much I love this. My siblings and I grew up watching so many baseball movies over and over again, quoting them back and forth, etc. We love LBL, and were amazed as kids as to how good the baseball in LBL was, and have frequently pleaded with friends and others to rewatch it for that reason. Was already excited when I saw you briefly cover it in your earlier video on baseball movies. But this deep dive is fantastic, and will be getting shared with a lot of folks. Bravo, sir. Love the channel. Keep up the great work.

This is one of the movies I watch every year to get ready for baseball season. The fact that they cared enough to do the baseball stuff correctly for a kids' movie is probably the main reason why it holds up. Also, the musical montages are amazing.

So glad you made this video. This was always one of my favorite movies, not just baseball movies. My kids are 9 and 11 now and they love it too. It has everything. And the baseball is so good. We worked on a hidden ball trick play at my boys travel practice yesterday. I told all the boys to go watch this movie to see how it's done. Thanks again for making this. Brings back great memories.

Somehow you always seem to make the most interesting baseball content on things I never would have thought I’d find interesting

Great video! One note - Scales pinch hitting is setup earlier in the film. In Billy’s first game Scales pops out to end the game - afterwards one of the interviewers asks Billy if he considered pinch hitting for scales and Billy says he thinks Scales has great power to the gaps and they needed an extra base hit. It’s hinted at throughout that Scales struggles from the plate but Billy believes in his ability nonetheless

Thanks for the breakdown of this 90's baseball movie classic. I was a big fan of this movie as a kid because it had a know-it-all kid (like me) and great baseball play. I was surprised as a kid how underappreciated it was (Rookie of the Year was much more popular with my friends).

Brad Lesley was a friend during college. You left out a couple interesting points about his baseball career. Brad's reaction to an infield put out was part of ABC's intro to The Wide World of Sports. His antics on the mound were wild before mound celebrations existed. Because he was known to physically celebrate too hard with his teammates, they nicknamed him the Animal. He then spent several years in the Japanese pro league and became very popular. Animalson! He was a big hit in Japan and had a regular part in the original Wipe Out series as the villain who shoots a water power hose at contestants knocking them off the course. Brad was a good man. RIP

Griffey's homer in the Wild Card tie breaker is the best movie HR ever hit. I proudly own a Billy Haywood Twins jersey. I was first introduced to "Runaround Sue" because of this film.

I loved the baseball movie ranking video, and appreciated all the work that went into it..all the hours watching, note taking, editing etc. and this one you went above and beyond. Two of the best videos (not just sports) of any kind I've ever seen on RU-vid.

You nailed it: definitely the best portrayal of baseball in a movie, but not a movie I liked as a kid because the kid in the movie isn't somebody you can identify and sympathize with. I also find it interesting that even when the main kid is a rich jerk he doesn't have a biological dad at home just like the other three kids' baseball movies of the time that were mentioned. Apparently that was the formula for developing child characters in the early 90s.

This is incredible. THANK YOU. 😭🙏 This movie was aimed at baseball lovers without them meaning to do it. That's what happened

With Scales they mentioned earlier at some point in the movie that he was known for being a great fielder but not the strongest hitter so they would pinch hit for him. This is why he asked if they wanted him to hit in the finale. Hope that helps

No matter how it did, I LOVED this movie as a kid. Edit: The fact that PCA's mom was the mom in the movie is wild. Never woulda thought about that. I'm sure there's some great banter from guys on his team about that lol.

Im surprised they made a movie about the Twins in 1994, considering they had just won two titles in 1987 and 1991. Baseball movies that feature real teams are usually teams who have a drought or havent won, like the Cubs-Angels-Indians

Just wanted to say your research you've clearly done for this video is fantastic! I have such fond memories of this movie as a kid, and watching this I've learned so much about the production. As both a baseball nerd and film nerd, really well done!

Growing up in the Twin Cities... around 13 at the time of this movie I loved it.. LOVED seeing the Twins on the big screen. Plus it was right in the middle of our two championships which means every kid in the Twin Cities was all over baseball.

I love it when his mother grounded him because he was arguing with the Umpire,

I love this movie, but as a diehard M's fan, it's nearly laughable to me that the big bad bully team in this movie is the 1994 Mariners.

I thought this was one of the few who considered this film realistic, the music, the action, the fact that it is "wide" and shows the stories, the stadiums with precision and the plays, there is no where to get lost, it helped me to love plus baseball, thanks for this tremendous review and minidoc!

You dug way more into this movie than anyone ever needed to...... And I sincerely thank you for it!

Major League and Rookie of the Year are two of my favorite baseball movies,, but Chelcie Ross and Gary Busey were thoroughly unconvincing as pitchers. The authenticity of the baseball in Little Big League really stood out.

Watching Rookie of the Year today is almost unbearable. As a kid I enjoyed it. But it hasn't aged well at all. Now I loved Little Big League maybe a little more than ROTY as a kid but now as an adult in my 40s Little Big League held up and is way more watchable with it's real feel MLB action.

To this day, this is my favorite baseball movie. The reasons why you listed for Little Big League not connecting with kids is the reasons why I love it. The realism is what makes it for me.

24:24 - Ivan Rodriguez did win a World Series. 2003.

I remember watching this in the theaters and it’s still one of my favorite sports movies. I watch it roughly once a year with my own kids now. I think it’s one of the funniest sports movies out there.

Man I wish you uploaded every few days or so, your videos are phenomenal!

After watching this video. I now want to see a full length video on whether the MLB cameos in little big league could beat the mlb cameos in Homer at the bat.

Monday, June 19, 2023, 3:35 AM. This was the exact moment when I learned that Poindexter in Revenge Of The Nerds was played by Timothy Busfield.

CARLOS BAERGA! I forgot he was in that movie! I remember this time. I was in 6 & 7th grade. So, they were aimed directly at my age group.

Bought a copy shortly after seeing this video (it came in real quick) and just finished watching it. As an older baseball fan I can definitely enjoy how well they replicated the game with actors and real players. Also figured out what baseball movie it was where I heard Run Around Sue in. Been trying to remember for awhile. Also it is a good movie in its grounded nature though I can see why it didn't get the same sort of attention Rookie of the Year got. Big thing is that I can't imagine very many kids wanted to be the manager rather than the star player of a baseball team.

So many sleepless nights cured by Night Nurses from Jersey

The realism of this movie is top notch! As a Dodger fan, as a kid it always bothered me in Rookie of the Year how they used Comiskey Park to pinch hit for Dodger Stadium. As an adult I understand the limitations of shooting locations and budgets, but it still really breaks my immersion. LBL had the uniforms, stadiums, and atmosphere right. I’ll always appreciate it for nailing the details despite the story’s shortcomings. It’s a family favorite!

I am 63. A lifelong baseball movie junkie and this is one of the best. So many lists ignore this one and have all the cliched movies at the top. Mr Baseball with Tom Selleck is terrific too! The best? The Sandlot!!!!! Captured my own youth perfectly!!!!

Billy Heywood's character was an attempted depiction of what a manager would act like at the time. Remember, he fired Dennis Farina''s character because the players did not like him but the team was also losing. I thought Billy's character was a bit of fresh air.

Gotta breakdown more baseball movie casts/lineups, this was awesome

Fantastic video, thank you! Also, I was today years old when I realized the Wally Joyner cameo wasn't actually a Mark Harmon cameo. I've seen this movie a couple dozen times over the past (nearly) 30 years and I've always believed that was Mark.

39 seconds in, why do i have chills. There's something deeoer about the sports movies we grew up with that explain us compared to the others today. Thanks for making this

Good lord, I imagine going up against Randy Johnson was stressful enough if you were a pro I couldn't imagine the absolute terror of being an amateur and having him throw "light" at you.

lmao that randy johnson story is great

Good to see this movie getting the respect it deserved

Whenever I'm in a hotel I always want to throw water balloons.

I've only seen this movie as an adult and have liked it each time I've watched. The authenticity helped a lot. And the fact that the kid was the manager and not a player.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time, Billy Haywood was a baseball encyclopedia!!! lol, all four of the movies listed at the beginning are awesome movies.

I maintain this: Rookie of the Year plays out like a movie written by writers told to write a cute little movie about baseball. Little Big League plays out like it was written by someone who genuinely loved the sport.

Reason for its failure could be market fatigue. As you mention the other kids oriented baseball movies that time. Plus Major League II, while not a kids movie on the face of it, a lot more family friendly than the 1st movie, also released in '94. That's a lot of similar premised movies very close to another. Not a real bankable star either. Biggest name is probably Jason Robards, the grandfather owner who of course is not in it for very long. Some solid character actors as you point out, but no real big star of the day. It's still a movie I enjoy and I will say a bold one for having the team lose at the end. Love that Griffey robs the would be homer at the end. Me & a friend still laugh about that to this day.

Amazing video! Great research into the actors/ballplayers in each role, I had no idea about any of their backgrounds... what a story Tony Todd is! I adored this movie growing up, watching it constantly on VHS... sometimes rewinding and playing again right after I watched it lol. Probably didn't realize at the time how technically brilliant the in-game sequences were, although maybe that was unconsciously part of why I liked it so much. Well done highlighting this! While I think Billy is a smartass (and for the most part stays that way while he is a manager), he feels like he has to be mean or throw his weight around with his talk because he knows or inherently senses that he has far less experience in life, let alone baseball, than the players. So he sees what other managers do and how they've acted and reacted to their players, umpires, the media, etc (he starts out a big baseball fan so he probably has read up on different lore of managers in history doing this or that, seen video of managers and players arguing in the dugout and so on) and tries to mimic those behaviors. What he can't glean most of the time from just watching televised games and highlights (or even in person, maybe being in the clubhouse a handful of times) is the actual content of what the managers are saying, he can really only learn body language (unless he's a Jomboy-level lip reader lol)... he can only imagine what other managers are actually saying to their players when they criticize them. So there is little to no subtext to what Billy is saying when he criticizes them, it's just direct, few jokes if any, because he's more of a kid and fan then he is an associate/business partner. Admittedly I haven't seen the movie in full in a long while, but I think I remember the hitting coach trying to be a bit of a coaching mentor to Billy; I think the story would've been improved by a manager from a different team, whether an actor or actual major league manager, coming in as a mentor to guide Billy along the journey at different points (again I can't remember that being a significant part of the movie)

The most underrated baseball movie there is. Easy Top 5 all time baseball movie in my book. The real players made it that much better. And that Twins pitcher, #13, I thought he looked a lot like Mark Portugal. Only if he pitched with the other hand.

22:58 The shot of Johnson's wild pitch against Kruk ITSELF should go in the hall of fame.

Great video! There was one mention of Mickey Scales being pinch hit for in Billys first postgame interview. The reporter asked him, after Scales popped out to Tettleton to end the game, if he would should have pinch hit for Mickey, Billy said no stating his belief in Scales ability to hit.

This video is spectacular - it's rare I can sit and watch a RU-vid video for more than a minute or two, this was worth the half hour; thank you!

As a 90s, kid, the main character being rather unlikable is exactly what held that movie back in my eyes.

One of my favorite shots is when they’re on the road in Boston and it’s a foggy afternoon game at Fenway. Such a beautiful sight. The feel of baseball

You need to count Lou Piniella, dude. He played himself as the Mariners' manager. He was also a stud in the big leagues.

bro this video is so good. I grew up with Little Big League. It's my favorite baseball movie and love that you made a documentary about it.

I am Minnesota native who still lives in the state and worked at movie theater when all four came out and this was my third favorite among the four. #1 being The Sandlot and #2 Rookie of the Year. For most of the reasons mentioned. The non-baseball scenes were just so forgettable.

Its a good movie, but Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch will always be the greatest baseball movie ever

There is a setup for Scales. Earlier in the movie Billy mentions in a speech to the team about Scales potential. Afterward Scales mentions “I like this kid”, and one of his teammates pops off “of course you do, he’s the only one who thinks you can hit.”

Loved your in depth video about the athletes of LBL. I also loved how you talked about the kid baseball movies of 94’. All of those movies were a huge part of my childhood!

I never understood why the Minnesota Twins were the team in this movie because they were a few years removed from winning their 2nd World Series in a 5 year span.

There was also the cobb and major league 2 in 94. Then you had the babe ruth movie in 92 and a league of their own. There was a lot of baseball movies going on.

I believe the actor that plays the starting pitcher for the twins in the last game is Kent Paulson

This movie needs a sequel. Twins at target field