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Darren McGavin went uncredited over billing; Randy Newman's theme; the clock homer was inspired by Bama Roel of the Braves; a six-minute-longer director's cut; the 'little boy in you' quote was Ray Campanella's; filmed at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium; the Parkside Candy Store is real; 3,000 extras at $3.35 an hour plus cardboard cutouts; no one has hit the cover off a ball; the Savoy Special bat is at Cooperstown; Hobbs modeled on Ted Williams; the 1939 Pirates went 68-85; Bret Hart's catchphrase; the halo shot was real; Bobby the Batboy was found at a produce stand; Levinson voiced the radio announcer; the $20,000 bribe is $366,000 today
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:10Read transcript
- Darren McGavin was cast late and would have received lesser billing than the other stars, so he chose to go uncredited; the hosts call it idiotic pride over practicality, since his IMDB is Love Boat, Fantasy Island and Rockford Files.
- Randy Newman wrote the theme, the I Love L.A. guy whose song lives on at Laker games; Hobbs breaking the scoreboard clock was inspired by Bama Roel (as transcribed) of the Boston Braves showering Dixie Walker with glass at Ebbets Field on May 30, 1946, and the Wrigley clock was not introduced until 1941.
- A director's cut six minutes longer trims the Redford and Close opening and adds Bump Bailey and Gus scenes; one host would not have minded more Bump given his sudden death and the Memo factor; a tangent on Bump as a nickname lands on calling Jason Gallagher Bump.
- Roy's line that a big leaguer needs a lot of little boy in him was a Ray Campanella (as transcribed) quote; the film was shot in Buffalo at War Memorial Stadium, built in 1937 and demolished in 1988, whose short right field limited wide shots, and TriStar spent $500,000 aging it; the hosts protest the demolition and note Buffalo was good enough for the film but not Antonio Brown.
- The lemonade shop where Glenn Close takes Roy is the real Parkside Candy Store at 3208 Main Street in Buffalo, serving ice cream, homemade candy and sandwiches; this leads to a wife who judges places by their signs and an old-school milkshake spot near Pasadena.
- About 3,000 extras were recruited at the $3.35 minimum wage and cardboard people in straw boater hats filled the rest of the stands; the Hall of Fame has no record of anyone hitting the cover off a ball; the Savoy Special was a 1930s beer brand, and the bat and the bloody uniform are at Cooperstown.
- Whether Roy would really bleed through a 20-pound fire-retardant uniform is parked for a later category; Hobbs was loosely modeled on Ted Williams, lefty number nine, who wanted to be the greatest hitter who ever lived.
- The real 1939 Pirates finished 68-85 and the Reds won the pennant at 97-57; Brett the Hitman Heart (as transcribed) took 'the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be' from this movie; the Glenn Close halo shot was timed to the setting sun, not CGI.
- Bobby the Batboy was played by George Wilcoz (as transcribed), discovered at his parents' produce stand in Buffalo for his only movie, and he lingers two seconds too long after handing Roy the bat; Ruth Ann Steinhagen inspired Harriet; Barry Levinson did uncredited voice work as the Knights' radio play-by-play man.
- The $20,000 bribe is about $366,000 in today's money; the hosts wonder what a stake in a 1939 team was worth to justify bribing everybody in sight, guessing the gambling money was worth nearly as much since there was no TV money.