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The Rewatchables ·

Major League

year 1989decade 80sdirector David S. Wardgenre Sportsgenre Comedy
host Bill Simmonshost Rembert Browne format 30th Anniversary
All 15 categories

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 1:15:26

Split: Lou Brown’s “win the whole fucking thing”

Bill Simmons: Candidates include ‘This guy is dead. Cross him off,’ ‘hats for bats,’ ‘just a bit outside,’ and ‘How’s your wife and my kids?’

The film

Major League (1989)

Directed by David S. Ward · Sports

102 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Tom Berenger Jake Taylor
Charlie Sheen Ricky Vaughn
Corbin Bernsen Roger Dorn
Margaret Whitton Rachel Phelps
James Gammon Lou Brown
Rene Russo Lynn Wells
Wesley Snipes Willie Mays Hays
Charles Cyphers Charlie Donovan
Chelcie Ross Eddie Harris
Dennis Haysbert Pedro Cerrano

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

22:25

Most Rewatchable Scene

The final-game run from Pedro Cerrano’s home run through Rick Vaughn striking out Clu Haywood

The final-game run from Pedro Cerrano’s home run through Rick Vaughn striking out Clu Haywood

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:25Read transcript
  • The first spring-training arrival, the red-tag reveal, and Serrano's first Jobu scene are nominated early. — Rembert Browne
  • The 'screw the owner, let's do this' scene where the manager gathers the team is another nominee. — Bill Simmons
  • Serrano's home run in the Yankees game is treated as one of the strongest choices. — Bill Simmons
  • Rick Vaughn’s Wild Thing entrance and walk from the bullpen are nominated separately from his final strikeout. — Bill Simmons
  • Vaughn striking out Haywood, including the pitch selection and Haywood's reaction, is a central finalist. — Bill Simmons
  • The running bunt, Willie Mays Hayes scoring, and the team celebration are praised as well-filmed final-game moments. — Bill Simmons
  • Rembert Browne adds the team’s American Express commercial as an alternative rewatchable scene. — Rembert Browne
  • The discussion settles on the whole final-game run, with the home run through the strikeout singled out as the peak. — Rembert Browne
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30:27

What’s Aged the Best?

Bob Uecker’s Harry Doyle broadcasts

Bob Uecker’s Harry Doyle broadcasts

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:27Read transcript
  • Having Jake Taylor win with a surprise bunt instead of a home run is introduced as an Aged Best answer. — Bill Simmons
  • The movie’s slow motion, especially Willie Mays Hayes running in pajamas during the opening, is offered as another Aged Best answer. — Rembert Browne
  • The opening credits’ documentary-like Cleveland images are praised for establishing the city and stakes. — Bill Simmons
  • Casting performers who look and move like baseball players helps the games feel credible. — Bill Simmons
  • Charlie Sheen’s youth and physical credibility as a pitcher hold up especially well. — Bill Simmons
  • Bob Euker as the lifelong local radio hack is praised throughout and is ultimately chosen as the winner. — Bill Simmons
  • The movie captures the day-to-day aspect, ebb and flow, and checkpoints of a baseball season. — Bill Simmons
  • The roster’s pre-Moneyball specialization, including speed, defense, and relief pitching, feels ahead of its time. — Bill Simmons
  • James Gammon’s Lou Brown is praised as a funny, credible manager rather than a sentimental caricature. — Bill Simmons
  • The film captures baseball's rule-bending, dugout drama, rituals, and superstitions. — Bill Simmons
  • Using the Yankees as the final villain restores their evil-empire role after a weaker decade. — Bill Simmons
  • The worst-to-first pennant story delivers the kind of baseball-movie magic the hosts want from the genre. — Rembert Browne
  • The grizzled manager's absurd hunch succeeds even though putting in Charlie Sheen should not work. — Rembert Browne
  • The Wild Thing sequence is credited with creating the closer-entrance-music tradition that followed. — Bill Simmons
  • The R rating, swearing, and adult jokes give the sports comedy an edge missing from safer versions. — Rembert Browne
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43:11

What’s Aged the Worst?

Charlie Sheen’s later baggage is the named vote, with Jake Taylor’s stalking and Wesley Snipes’s running called honor...

Charlie Sheen’s later baggage is the named vote, with Jake Taylor’s stalking and Wesley Snipes’s running called honorable runners-up, before the hosts qualify the result as a nine-way tie for first. The almost entirely white setting, later Bob Uecker imitators, Snipes’s throwing and sequel distance, the Lynn-centered freeze-frame, the ‘off the reservation’ phrase, and Pedro Cerrano’s stereotyped characterization are also among the criticized elements.

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:11Read transcript
  • Charlie Sheen’s off-screen history changes how his performance and Wild Thing persona play now. — Bill Simmons
  • The team and stadium crowd are overwhelmingly white apart from Willie Mays Hayes and Serrano. — Bill Simmons
  • The future sports-movie imitators of Bob Euker never reproduce this unique success. — Bill Simmons
  • The movie uses conspicuous slow motion and editing to sell Willie Mays Hayes as exceptionally fast. — Bill Simmons
  • The writer-director says Wesley Snipes was such an unskilled baseball thrower that the movie omitted scenes of him throwing. — Bill Simmons
  • Wesley Snipes’s later distance from the movie and refusal to return for the sequel complicate the affection for Hayes. — Bill Simmons
  • Jake Taylor’s pursuit of Lynn repeatedly ignores her boundaries and reads as stalking. — Bill Simmons
  • The final freeze-frame centers Lynn in the pennant celebration even though the team barely knows her. — Bill Simmons
  • Serrano's shifting Haitian or Dominican identity, voodoo practice, tribal music, and speech pattern are criticized as a racial stereotype. — Rembert Browne
  • The home-run phrase 'off the reservation' is separately criticized as poorly aged. — Rembert Browne
  • The final call names Charlie Sheen, gives honorable-runner-up mentions to Jake’s stalking and Snipes’s running, then qualifies everything as a nine-way tie for first. — Bill Simmons
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55:51

Casting What-Ifs

Dyan Cannon for Rachel Phelps; Jeremy Piven’s deleted bench-jockey role

Dyan Cannon for Rachel Phelps; Jeremy Piven’s deleted bench-jockey role

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:51Read transcript
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56:53

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Clu Haywood, played by Pete Vuckovich

Clu Haywood, played by Pete Vuckovich

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:56:53Read transcript
  • The owner and Bob Uker are proposed as candidates based on their limited time and impact. — Bill Simmons
  • Clu Haywood is proposed and accepted as the winner. — Rembert Browne
  • Bob Euker's unnamed broadcast partner is accepted as another candidate because of his weird facial reactions. — Bill Simmons
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57:38

Half-Assed Internet Research

Rejected roles, alternate endings, Milwaukee production logistics, baseball-player casting, injuries and stunts, Wild...

Rejected roles, alternate endings, Milwaukee production logistics, baseball-player casting, injuries and stunts, Wild Thing history, sequel tensions, cast friendships, and Margaret Whitton’s dispute with Ron Shelton

In the discussion (23)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:38Read transcript
  • Wesley Snipes reportedly turned down Do the Right Thing, although the role is not identified in the discussion. — Bill Simmons
  • Tom Berringer reportedly turned down the Crockett role on Miami Vice. — Bill Simmons
  • An alternate ending exposed Rachel Phelps as secretly supporting the team, but test audiences preferred her as a straightforward villain. — Bill Simmons
  • Milwaukee stood in for Cleveland during filming, including County Stadium and local crowd scenes. — Bill Simmons
  • About 20,000 extras were recruited for the Yankee-game crowd scenes. — Bill Simmons
  • Dennis Haysbert recalled being emotionally overwhelmed when the team ran onto the field as the crowd roared. — Bill Simmons
  • Former player Steve Yeager was the technical adviser, played the third-base coach, and doubled for Tom Berenger at catcher. — Bill Simmons
  • Former major-league player Willie Mueller played Yankees pitcher Duke Simpson. — Bill Simmons
  • The discussion says Chelcie Ross had pitched in college, although twenty years had passed since he had thrown a ball. — Bill Simmons
  • Steroid use reportedly helped raise Charlie Sheen's fastball for the movie. — Bill Simmons
  • A filming shoulder injury led Charlie Sheen to stop for cortisone shots and anti-inflammatories on the way to work. — Bill Simmons
  • Mitch Williams adopted Wild Thing with the Cubs, and the movie sequence is credited with creating the closer-entrance-music tradition. — Bill Simmons
  • Wesley Snipes complained about repeated sliding after getting strawberries, and Steve Yeager answered that he had done it for twenty years. — Bill Simmons
  • The fictional owner plans to move the team to Miami, and the discussion connects that premise to later Cleveland and Florida baseball history. — Bill Simmons
  • The hosts find Willie Mays Hayes’s wall of dirty black gloves creepy when imagining him bringing a date home. — Rembert Browne
  • A Jake-and-Lynn marriage scene intended to follow the Yankee game was filmed and deleted. — Bill Simmons
  • Dennis Haysbert's Yankee-game home run reportedly traveled 315 feet down the left-field line and hit the top of the wall. — Bill Simmons
  • In Dennis Haysbert's account, the close cast went to bars together and joined James Gammon’s poker games. — Bill Simmons
  • Charlie Sheen recalled James Gammon arriving badly hungover and called him an absolute warlock. — Bill Simmons
  • The oral history says Sheen coordinated women flying into Milwaukee, and Sheen compared it with women passing each other on the road during Young Guns. — Bill Simmons
  • Burnson mistakenly punched Charlie Sheen while filming the ending and left a welt. — Bill Simmons
  • Stacey Carroll's limited acting career and departure from the business are discussed in connection with Dorn's wife. — Rembert Browne
  • Margaret Whitton’s work on Major League and a settlement involving Ron Shelton and Bull Durham are discussed at the end of the research block. — Bill Simmons
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1:06:38

Apex Mountain

Margaret Whitton and James Gammon

Margaret Whitton and James Gammon

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:38Read transcript
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1:07:49

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Chelcie Ross

Chelcie Ross

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:49Read transcript
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1:08:14

Is This Movie Better With…?

Michael K. Williams

Michael K. Williams

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:14Read transcript
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1:08:27

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Corbin Bernsen

Corbin Bernsen

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:27Read transcript
  • Roger Dorn’s theatrical body language and pained reactions during fielding practice make Corbin Bernsen the overacting choice. — Bill Simmons
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1:08:59

Picking Nits

Jake Taylor’s supposed catching greatness, his healthy-enough-to-bunt knees, player finances and roommates, his abrup...

Jake Taylor’s supposed catching greatness, his healthy-enough-to-bunt knees, player finances and roommates, his abrupt lack of sexual interest, bullpen-car travel, Tom Berenger’s intended appeal, Roger Dorn missing a TV camera, Vaughn’s accessibility to Dorn’s wife, and lineup continuity in the final game

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:59Read transcript
  • Jake Taylor is called a great catcher even though the movie offers little evidence of elite catching. — Bill Simmons
  • Jake’s bad knees are emphasized, yet he can execute and run out the decisive bunt. — Bill Simmons
  • The players’ salaries, housing, and roommate arrangements do not consistently fit their major-league status. — Rembert Browne
  • Despite Jake Taylor’s stewardess and paternity-suit backstory, the hosts call him asexual because he never tries to hook up with anyone in the movie. — Bill Simmons
  • The bullpen car’s slow road travel makes Jake’s arrival at Lynn’s house implausible. — Bill Simmons
  • Tom Berenger is described as probably an ’80s rugged, handsome type. — Bill Simmons
  • Roger Dorn somehow fails to notice the television camera crew filming him leave a hotel with another woman. — Bill Simmons
  • The hosts cannot explain how Dorn’s wife finds Ricky Vaughn alone at an empty bar when he is famous and the team is about to play a playoff game. — Bill Simmons
  • The final-game batting order and lineup continuity raise questions about who bats where and when. — Bill Simmons
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1:15:26

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

Split: Lou Brown’s “win the whole fucking thing”; Pedro Cerrano’s “I do it myself”

Split: Lou Brown’s “win the whole fucking thing”; Pedro Cerrano’s “I do it myself”

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:26Read transcript
  • Candidates include ‘This guy is dead. Cross him off,’ ‘hats for bats,’ ‘just a bit outside,’ and ‘How’s your wife and my kids?’ — Bill Simmons
  • The declaration 'fuck you, Joe Boo, I do it myself' is a finalist. — Bill Simmons
  • Jake Taylor's library question about the whale section in Moby Dick is nominated. — Rembert Browne
  • Willie Mays Hayes saying they should have gotten a live chicken is nominated. — Rembert Browne
  • Willie Mays Hayes calling his first steal a step toward the Hall of Fame is nominated. — Rembert Browne
  • The owner's 'I hate this fucking song' reaction to Wild Thing is nominated. — Rembert Browne
  • Bill Simmons chooses Lou Brown's 'win the whole fucking thing' line. — Bill Simmons
  • Rembert Browne says he loves 'hats for bats' but selects the Jobu line as his favorite. — Rembert Browne
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1:18:30

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Yes—a 10–13-episode series, potentially centered on another struggling franchise such as Seattle

Yes—a 10–13-episode series, potentially centered on another struggling franchise such as Seattle

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:30Read transcript
  • The movie’s season-long structure is proposed as a ten-episode Netflix series. — Bill Simmons
  • The hosts say the same premise could move to another city and use the Seattle Mariners as an example. — Bill Simmons
  • They remain enthusiastic when the imagined order expands to a 13-episode Netflix series. — Bill Simmons
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1:19:36

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Willie Mays Hayes’s stolen-base total, Pedro Cerrano’s strikeout and home-run balance, pitcher-win logic, and whether...

Willie Mays Hayes’s stolen-base total, Pedro Cerrano’s strikeout and home-run balance, pitcher-win logic, and whether Bull Durham would improve if Charlie Sheen played Nuke LaLoosh

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:36Read transcript
  • Willie Mays Hayes’s batting average and stolen-base totals prompt questions about how often he reached base. — Bill Simmons
  • Serrano's strikeouts and home runs and the staff's credited wins are compared with the team's record. — Bill Simmons
  • The hosts debate whether Charlie Sheen in the New Lerush role would make Bull Durham better enough to justify replacing him in Major League. — Bill Simmons
  • One host initially favors the Bull Durham substitution, while the other wants both movies preserved; the question remains unresolved. — Bill Simmons
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1:22:27

Who Won the Movie?

Split: Wesley Snipes; Charlie Sheen

Split: Wesley Snipes; Charlie Sheen

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:27Read transcript
Podcast choices
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More from the conversation

The episode marks the film’s thirtieth anniversary during its release week.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:14Read transcript
The opening traces Wesley Snipes’s 1989–95 run across sports, crime, action, and drama roles and compares his range with Denzel Washington and John David Washington.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:36Read transcript
Charlie Sheen’s 1986–89 run through Lucas, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Platoon, Wall Street, Young Guns, Eight Men Out, and Major League is praised.
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:25Read transcript
The movie’s strongest stretch begins once the players learn of the owner’s plan and decide to win the pennant.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:47Read transcript
Tom Berenger’s seven-year 1980s run is compared with Sidney Moncrief’s underappreciated basketball career.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:30Read transcript
Writer-director David Ward’s Minnesota Twins relocation story is cited as inspiration for the owner’s tank-and-move plot.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:52Read transcript
Roger Ebert’s one-and-a-half-star rating is stated for Major League II; Bill Simmons says he could not locate an Ebert review of the first Major League. No rating is assigned to the episode film.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:05Read transcript
A reference to ESPN’s Not Top Ten describes a sports-highlight feature rather than an episode ranked-list segment.
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:29Read transcript
The apparent Craig mention occurs inside a Black Tux advertisement and does not qualify as spoken-body producer evidence.
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:41Read transcript
The opening and closing contain no named theme-month cue; the Field of Dreams teaser identifies only the next episode.
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:28Read transcript