Corrected entry: Haywood (the big Yankees slugger) has a long mustache that extends downwards all the way to his chin in the style of a fu manchu. George Steinbrenner, the owner of the Yankees, would NEVER allow that. Under Steinbrenner's rule, no Yankee is allowed to have facial hair below the upper lip. Goatees, beards, and long mustaches would be shaved.
Correction: Many Yankees who played during the Steinbrenner years wore facial hair. Hunter, Jackson, Munson, Tidrow. Steinbrenner's rule was about long hair.
Corrected entry: Throughout the entire movie, it seems that Ricky Vaughn is both used in the starting role, and also as a closer in the bottom innings. Though not impossible, this situation is very unlikely in the major leagues.
Correction: Vaughn is a starting pitcher. He has quite a few complete games which explains his appearances in late innings. In the last game,(which was a one game tie breaker) he is used in a 'closer' status. This is not uncommon for big league teams, to use their best pitchers as closers in important games.
Corrected entry: When the Indians are playing the Yankees in the one game playoff, keep your eyes on the stadium clock in the background. At various points of the game the clock reads 10:20.
Correction: Considering the owner of the team was trying her best to get the team relocated to Miami, it makes sense that she wouldn't spend the money to fix the stadium clock.
Corrected entry: When Cerano hits the home run to tie the game versus the Yankees at the end of the movie he carries his bat with him around the bases - an automatic out.
Correction: Nowhere in the rulebook of baseball does it say that carrying a bat around the bases is an automatic out. As such, he would only be called out if he were to use that bat to his advantage. But since the ball was out of play (over the fence), no advantage would be gained and he would NOT be called out.
Correction: It absolutely is an out.
Absolutely incorrect. There is no rule that prohibits a batter from carrying his bat around the bases as long as he does not use the bat to interfere with the play. In fact, Alex Bregman carried his bat passed first base in game 6 of the 2019 World Series, and Juan Soto carried his almost to first later in the game. Neither suffered any out, penalty, or ejection.
There is no penalty for violating an "unwritten" or informal rule, so this would not be an automatic "out" according to the "official" rules. Cerano may have gone against the status quo by not conforming to what is considered appropriate or good sportsmanship, so might be viewed negatively by his peers or opposing teammates. Cerano was not "out", but his show-offish behavior was more along the lines of an "outcast."
Corrected entry: When talking with his GM, Lou Brown says he thinks his team has "one or two potential all-stars." 1) He says the team's record is 60-61, which would put them in mid-August, about a month after the all-star game. 2) At least one of the players has to be an all-star, since under MLB rules all teams must be represented on the all-star team. (01:08:25)
Correction: Lou Brown could just have been commenting on the overall talent level of 2 or 3 of his players when he says there are a few potential all-stars. He didn't necessarily have to mean the All-Star game that season, just that in the future there are going to be a few players on his team that will turn out to be all-stars.
Corrected entry: In the final inning of the final game, when Taylor "calls his shot", the opposing pitcher throws at Taylor, knocking him down. Announcer Doyle says Taylor refuses "to dust himself off", but when Taylor climbs back in the batters box, his uniform is not nearly as dirty. (01:36:55)
Correction: Doyle is announcing for radio, not for TV. He may say Taylor doesn't dust off for dramatic effect, when Taylor may have dusted off a bit while the camera is not on him. Radio announcers are notoriously "hypoaccurate" to heighten the drama.
Corrected entry: In the films final scene when Tom Berenger's character is going over to the stands when he sees Rene Russo's character, there is a man who runs out of the stands on to the field with many others. He is rather large and wearing a blue t-shirt. After they show Rene Russo in the stands and the man come out, they cut away to Tom Berenger and when they cut back to Rene Russo and she is coming out of the stands the same large man in the blue t-shirt comes out of the stands again. He already left the stands once and you really notice a man of his size especially a second time.
Correction: The large man in the blue t-shirt doesn't actually run onto the field - he just steps out of the stands and mingles with the crowd a little (if you look closely, you can see that the crowd itself is pretty close to the stands). In the second shot of him, he hasn't moved very far from where he was before. There's enough time between shots where he could've simply gone back to his original position in the stands.
Corrected entry: During the Oakland game (where Dorn tanks the ball), Taylor visits Vaughn on the mound. The home plate umpire is seen cleaning off the plate. Taylor returns to his position, inadvertently kicking enough dirt onto the plate to keep the umpire from seeing the edges. The umpire doesn't call time to clean it off, as evidenced by the plate still being dirty when the Oakland batter pops out to Taylor to end the game. (00:54:40 - 00:55:20)
Correction: This is a mistake made by the umpire, not a movie mistake.
Corrected entry: In the scene where The Wild Thing makes his major league debut, he comes in the game with a runner on second. He then proceeds to throw 12 straight balls (as Doyle says) and walks the bases loaded. However, throwing 12 straight balls would have walked a run home (the runner who was originally on second). Then when the Yankee hits his grand slam, the shot of the scoreboard shows only four runs instead of the five it should have shown.
Correction: There was no runner on base when he came in. Jake tells Rick that IF a runner reaches second, the first sign would be the indicator. Also, Harry Doyle says, "You can close the book on (pitcher), thank God." What that means is that the former pitcher left no inherited runners on base.
Corrected entry: On the last play of the game, after Hayes stole 2nd base, the batter Taylor gives the signs for a play he has in mind. He will bunt as Hayes runs for 3rd base. One the first pitch he points to the stands as if he intends to hit a home run where he is pointing. The pitcher knocks him down with an inside pitch and Hayes is not running. However, on the next pitch, Hayes is running. I think it is highly unlikely that the play called for Hayes to run on the 2nd pitch.
Correction: its commom to have a sign for the 2nd pitch and not the first. and Jake obviously knew the pitcher would throw at him when he "called his shot" so it is possible.
Corrected entry: In the opening day scene, Willie "Mays" Hayes hits a single. You see Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker) in the press box turn to his left and he and his colleagues give the thumbs up, including a woman wearing a light blue blazer. After Hayes is picked off first, Doyle turns to his colleges and they all gesture with the jerkoff motion, but that woman is nowhere to be seen in the pressbox when that happens.
Correction: It was almost a full minute between Hayes getting the single to when he was picked off. She had plenty of time to get up and leave.
Corrected entry: Throughout the movie Jake Taylor bats second in the lineup. No sane manager would ever put his 30-something-year-old catcher, with bad knees, in the two hole. Slow base runners tend to hit into a lot of double plays, which would negate Willie Mays Hays' speed advantage at the top of the line-up.
Correction: True, but remember, Lou Brown was working at a tire store before he was the Indians' manager. He isn't exactly Joe Torre.
Rachel Phelps said that Lou Brown had managed the Toledo Mud Hens for the past 30 years.
Corrected entry: When Vaughn is pitching to Haywood in the ninth inning of the playoff game, Taylor, the catcher uses the conventional sign of one finger for a fastball. However, the bases are loaded. It is generally accepted that when there is a runner on 2nd base, as is the case here, different signs are used, so that the runner would not be able to tip-off the batter at to what pitch the pitcher will be throwing.
Correction: Jake's dialogue lets the batter know what's coming anyway.
Corrected entry: The one-game playoff at the end of the movie takes place in Cleveland. However, the Yankees had obviously won the season series, therefore would have had the advantage of having the playoff game in their stadium.
Correction: Actually, when two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, the league holds a coin toss to determine where the playoff game will be held, regardless of who won the season series. Baseball only uses tiebreakers such as season series to seed two teams that have already qualified for the playoffs, but this is a byproduct of the Wild Card era in baseball, which was not in effect in 1989, when "Major League" was released.
Corrected entry: When Jake is at his girlfriend's apartment, he mentions she was an alternate swimmer (or diver) on the '80 Olympic team. The US boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Correction: Although the US boycotted the 1980 Olympics, Teams and alternates were picked. She could well have been an alternate, but not attended because of the boycott. Many athlete's dreams were shattered because of this political move.
Corrected entry: If Phelps really wants the Indians to lose, why doesn't she trade or cut anyone having a decent season during their winning streak?
Correction: Considering that the team in comprised of the lowest litter, no other team would risk getting rid of their players for some that are considered the worst players in the game.
Corrected entry: While they checked for red tags in their lockers after their last spring training game, the Indians were wearing their road grey uniforms. Willie Mays Hayes celebrated making the team by running outside and dancing under the Cleveland Stadium sign. If the game was played at the Indians' spring training facility, the Indians were the home team. They should have worn their home white uniforms.
Correction: The players were coming back from a road game to where the Indians' play their games which is why they had their "away" jerseys on.
Corrected entry: When Cerano is using a snake to draw a symbol on his locker to ward off the termination paper, he draws a symbol, but on the next shot of the same scene the symbol has changed.
Correction: He's not using the snake to draw the symbol; he's using the snake after the symbol has been drawn, to draw a crucifix form.
Correction: If this were real that would be true. However, there is no mention of Steinbrenner as the Yankees owner in the film. The Indians' owner is a stripper - that is not real either. Since this is a fantasy, "real" rules are suspended and the fu manchu is allowed.
Zwn Annwn