Movie review: ‘Major League’

FloridaGator80
A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

With college basketball’s “March Madness” in progress and the baseball season’s opening day being March 25, 2026 (one night game; a full slate on March 26), I’m continuing a sports theme for the seasons. On the basketball front, I’ve reviewed “Hoosiers” (click here to read it) and the underrated “Blue Chips” (click here to read my review). Now, I’m gonna take a look at baseball. I want to review a film from that sport, but won’t for the decidedly deserving “Bull Durham” (the schoolyard politics of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon always leaves a nasty taste in one’s mouth even in such a great film) or “Field of Dreams” (there are just a few too many layers in it for an amateur reviewer like myself to evaluate). So, I’ll do the rollicking comedy “Major League,” which is arguably the “Caddyshack” of the baseball world – but, of course, “Major League” is not even half the film that “Caddyshack” is, but it is really funny and has nice work from its eclectic cast.

‘Major League’
(1989; 107 minutes; rated R; directed by David Ward and starring Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen and Rene Russo)

JUST A BIT OUTSIDE … THE NORM

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional opinion and trivia and the updating of links on April 9, 2016. I again expanded it on March 29, 2024. I again expanded it on Jan. 17, 2025. I again expanded it on March 23, 2026.)

It takes a catch phrase to help define a sports movie. Just take “Noonan!” for example from the golf comedy classic “Caddyshack.” You hear it at just about every golf course on earth every time there’s a fun round being played (I believe even the pros would say it the rule allowed them to taunt an opponent). As for baseball, “Major League” delivers its own strike with “just a bit outside!” by announcer Bob Uecker in the film as he described a pitch so far off the plate it hit the backstop.

“Major League” came out in early April just in time for the start of the 1989 baseball season and is the story of a bunch of misfits who, naturally, come together in spite of all odds and prevail. However tired and predictable the plot, it is the actors – especially the supporting cast – who make this one shine. From the big, menacing Voodoo-practicing slugger (remember “Pedro Cerrano” and his iconic god “Jobu” from Haitian vodu practiced by the Cuban exile?) to the aging pitcher who uses vaginal lubricant to “doctor” up the baseball, they are easily recognizable to all baseball fans and became almost instant folklore.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

The on-field action isn’t too good since they look like actors pretending to be ballplayers (although a real ballplayer did stunt double work for star Tom Berenger as the team’s catcher). However, that’s incidental and something else is what makes “Major League” good. It’s how the characters interact and the backstory about Berenger winning back the love that he had lost.

Briefly: The vacuous new owner of the Cleveland baseball team – a trophy wife whose husband has died – wants the team to lose big in the coming season so that attendance levels will be so low that she can legally move the team to Miami (this before the establishment of the original Florida – now Miami – Marlins in 1993). To that end, she picks a group of losers and has-beens to come to spring training. However, of course and naturally, the team gels and winds up foiling all her plans.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

Although there is a pair of co-stars here (Berenger as “Jake Taylor” and Charlie Sheen as “Rick ‘Ricky’ ‘Wild Thing’ Vaughn”), the best acting job mimics the best job in baseball – James Gammon as manager “Lou Brown.” Just like a team manager must craft a team, Gammon gives a gravelly-voiced performance that establishes him (even when he’s a tire salesman) the team’s solid foundation based somewhat on an underlying menace that he brings to the fore. He’s tough, but also understanding and worldly-wise.

It’s a top-of-resume effort from Gammon, who was also in “Cold Mountain,” “The Iron Giant” and “Silverado” (click here for my review) as well as on TV in shows diverse as “Nash Bridges” and “Monk.” He died of cancer at the age of 70 in 2010.

Here’s a rundown of some of the rest of the principal cast:

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

    An Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner (not for this one), Berenger is cast perfectly and easily shows as much maturity on the field as he lacks off the field with his ex-wife, played by Rene Russo. He knows the right things to do on the field – although his knees are worn out – and wants to do the same with Russo and manages a solid effort. Berenger was in “Sniper” and was even better in “Betrayed” as a farmer-turned-right-wing gunman (click here to read my review). His nomination and win came for the Vietnam drama “Platoon” and he was solid in the iconic “The Big Chill.” However, he was also in one of the worst-ever films: “The Dogs of War” that was an embarrassment to both actors and the source material of the best-selling novel of the same name.

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

    Russo, who plays “Lynn Wells,” doesn’t have much of a chance to show off her stuff since her character is pretty much lost in the baseball story. Her relationship with Berenger had potential for much more (they even cut a wedding scene with them for the end of the film because filmmakers said it would detract from baseball). Russo is smooth here and doesn’t stretch her talent. She was terrific in the remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” (click here to read my review) and I especially enjoyed her work in the little-remembered comedy “Big Trouble” with Tim Allen (click here for my review). Russo was also in the golf-themed misfire “Tin Cup” (click here to read my review).

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

    Sheen is another piece of excellent casting as the slightly off-center pitcher with a lot of velocity on his fastball, but not much accuracy at first (he needed glasses). Sheen actually underplays this role somewhat and also shows some versatility through a couple of scenes such as his shocked response to Berenger after finding out he slept with a teammate’s wife. Sheen is of course most famous for his off-screen personal antics, but was pitch-perfect in TV’s “Two and a Half Men” (which became dreck with the talentless Ashton Kutcher after Sheen was fired) and is also remembered for “Wall Street.” He wasn’t bad, either, in the rom-com “Good Advice” (click here to read my review) and was solid in the crime drama “No Man’s Land” (click here to read my review).

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

    Dennis Haysbert makes his “Pedro Cerrano” the most memorable and remembered character here. “Cerrano” seeks success through voodoo, has a god named “Jobu” and packs even more menace than Gammon. It’s quite a threatening role and one you wouldn’t recognize as the calm, grounded guy doing the Allstate insurance commercials today. Haysbert manages to make sure that even now, you won’t touch Jobu’s rum! He was in “Heat” with Robert DeNiro an Al Pacino (click here to read my review) as well as well as a number of TV shows including “24” and “Empire.”

The rest of the supporting actors do a good job, but I’ll only be able to knock out a couple of mentions as there are too many to note individually:

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

    An Image award winner and three-time nominee (not for this one), Wesley Snipes plays “Willie Mays Hayes” and he’s is team speedster, who literally runs his way onto the team. Snipes is nicely subdued here and thereby makes the character as effective as any actor could make it. Snipes was even better in “Demolition Man” opposite Sylvester Stallone (click here to read my review) and was in “Rising Sun” with Sean Connery before running his personal life aground on tax fraud charges and was also in “The Expendables 3.” However, his tour-de-force role as a murderous drug kingpin in “New Jack City” is at the top of his resume (click here to read my review), just ahead of “White Men Can’t Jump.” He won for “America’s Dream” and was nominated for “White Men Can’t Jump” from the NAACP’s Image Awards.

  • A two-time Primetime Emmy nominee, Corbin Bernsen is most famous for developing a wonderful character and got his nominations for TV’s “A. Law.” He is the team’s high-paid but average star “Roger Dorn.” Bernsen plays a bigger role in the sequel and does good work in this one, but he doesn’t distinguish himself by being able to elevate the character. For whatever reason, I best liked his work on TV’s “Psych.”
  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

    Chelcie Ross plays aging pitcher “Eddie Harris” and is truly good with his voice and sarcastic attitude. He shines best when showing Sheen all the stuff he uses on baseballs. Ross was much nastier in a better role in “Hoosiers” and was a bad guy in “Ri¢hie Ri¢h.”

  • Margaret Whitton plays “Rachel Phelps” and is the villain here by wanting to sell the team and take it away from its rightful home in Cleveland. However, I say it’s sad that her character is a toss-in because despite having promise, it is given just a small piece of the cinematic pie Whitton doesn’t do much with even the throw-away role. Every story needs a villain and she’s it. Whitton was in “Nine ½ Weeks.” Whitton died of cancer at 67 in 2016.
A promotional still photograph from the movie “Major League.”

Finally, I arrive on the topic of Uecker. A longtime broadcaster, he came to the attention of “Major League” filmmakers because of TV beer ads. He’s truly in his element and probably wishes he could have said the same things broadcasting that he does in the film. Uecker is funny, exceptionally smooth in his delivery and hits his mark each time. He was in the first “Major League” sequel as well as TV’s “Mr. Belvedere” in a short entertainment career of nine roles. A native of Milwaukee, Uecker died at 90 on Jan. 16, 2025, just 10 days shy of his 91st birthday.

“Major League” did OK at the box office as it finished 26th in 1989 with $49.7 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. It was made on a budget of $11 million and with subsequent DVD sales and cable movie appearances, it has been a winner for its investors, too. The No. 1 film of the year was “Batman” with $251.1 million, while “Lethal Weapon 2” was second with $197.1 million. Other films from that year that I have reviewed include:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Beringer’s birth name is Thomas Michael Moore; Sheen’s birth name is Carlos Irwin Estevez; Snipes’ middle name is Trent; and Haysbert’s middle name is Dexter.
  • The working title of the film was “Dead Last.”
  • In real life Sheen was offered a baseball scholarship to Kansas, so he had some experience on the mound. However, filmmakers moved the pitcher’s mound 10 feet closer to home plate so Sheen’s signature fastball would appear to have more velocity than he could actually manage (as a young pitcher, his was in the 80-mph range).
  • The memorable line “Just a bit outside …” was improvised by Uecker.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “The opponent slugger known as Yankees home run threat Haywood was played by former pitcher of the Milwaukee Brewers, Peter Vuckovich. Peter Vuckovich never hit a single home run in his entire 11-year major league career. In fact, during 8 of those 11 years he never made a single plate appearance, since he was pitching in the American League – which uses a designated hitter to bat for the pitcher.”
  • Click here IBDb.com’s extensive trivia page for “Major League”…

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