Even 35 years after its release in April 1989, “Major League” remains a hugely funny baseball film. When wrapping sports, comedy, an underdog theme, and an all-star cast is assembled to tell a story, there should be no wonder that “Major League” is a “go-to” favorite decades after its release. David S.
Ward, the film’s writer and director, knew he had a winner waiting to step up to home plate. As a long-suffering fan of the then-Cleveland Indians who had won their last World Series championship in 1948, Mr. Ward had the film’s plot handed to him on a cinematic platter.
Assembling a rag-tag team of has-beens, never-was beens, all with checkered pasts, and one player, Ricky Vaughn, known as “Wild Thing” having been recruited by the Indians from his success pitching in the California Penal League, Major League promised its audience laughs coming from the playing field, in the clubhouse, and away from the stadium. Lead actors Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Rene Russo, Margaret Whitton, and James Gammon brought out their characters’ personalities to a level that surpassed Mr. Ward’s expectations.
Along with the cast’s performances, perhaps one of the most dynamic reasons for the film’s success (budgeted at $11 million to make, it grossed $75 million in worldwide release) was its release date. One month after “Major League” first appeared in movie theaters, another widely successful baseball-theme picture—“Field of Dreams,” starri.
