Saturday Morning Cinema on a Sunday evening, it’s happening because I can’t believe how fast the weekdays tick by, and a post that was supposed to be written on a Wednesday finds itself landing on Monday Eve. That’s all inconsequential, however, for the content of this post. We’re here because the summer continues to burn bright and the baseball season marches toward its conclusion. Today’s masterpiece for discourse is Little Big League.

Coming out a year after Rookie of the Year, the similarities are apparent. You have a child thrust into a ridiculous professional baseball scenario. Where Rookie of the Year focused on playing the game, Little Big League actually ventures into the front office. Young baseball trivia savant Billy Heywood inherits ownership of the Minnesota Twins from his grandfather and, in a Machiavellian maneuver, installs himself as the team’s manager. Okay, he probably was not pursuing power when he became manager, but the feel of the film would certainly change if you put a Game of Thrones spin on it. Billy, oppressed by the awkward shackles of puberty, lures his grandfather into comfortable complacency before poisoning him and ascending to the throne. Then, drunk with power, Billithion of House Heywood takes dictatorial control of his troops as they sweep through army after army before finally being humbled by a series of defeats. His reign was bright and full of fury before exploding in its finale. Yeah, I kind of like that take.

Actually, I like the movie as it is too. I am a Minnesota Twins fan and always have been. Seeing them featured in a major motion picture was an exciting event. Unfortunately, the film portrayed them as they were in 1994. The Twins won a World Series in 1991 before entering a dark period of futility that nearly saw them eliminated from the league before again finding their winning ways in the early 2000’s. As a young fan watching the portrayal of a fellow young fan realizing a dream of taking over his favorite team, I was enamored. Throw in cameos of recognizable big leaguers, and it was a pretty solid recipe for a feel-good movie that will be embedded in nostalgia for at least one Midwestern ten-year-old boy.

Watching Little Big League in close proximity to Rookie of the Year absolutely made it feel as though a template had been used to make both movies: pre-teen boy in a surreal situation, struggles handling adult responsibilities, the presence of the team goofball, and a professional ballplayer dating the kid’s mother. Regardless, each has its charm and fun. Nostalgia, at least for me, keeps this movie from showing its age. Is it a good movie? It’s probably okay, but there is plenty of fun and ridiculousness to make it watchable more than once. Also, random aside, I can’t tell how far Ken Griffey Jr. runs in the last baseball scene, but I’m pretty sure the footage is just him running from right field to left field rather than from center field which is what he would have played. Okay, that’s all. Watch the movie if you like baseball or like the Minnesota Twins.