A group of boys from the wrong side of the tracks want to start a little league baseball team but they have to find a coach.  Luckily, right before the deadline, they find a homeless drifter (Burt Reynolds) sleeping in the dugout.  The drifter doesn’t know his name or anything about his past but he does know a lot about baseball.  The team names him Jack Robinson (after Jackie Robinson) and he teaches them how to play baseball and they find a barn for him to sleep in.  Jack dates one the player’s mom (Reba McIntire) and helps the kids with their homelives before a near-tragedy causes him to remember who he used to be.

I like most baseball movies but this one sent a pretty bad message.  If you’re looking for a coach for your baseball team, don’t just give the job to the first drifter who shows up.  The kids were lucky that the drifter turned out to be someone with baseball experience instead of a cannibal.  Jack was a good coach and I appreciated his emphasis on the fundamentals but I also thought it was strange that none of the parents were worried about a total stranger wanting to spend all of his time with their children.  Except for Reba McIntire, the acting was pretty forgettable but all of the kids looked like they knew what they were doing in the baseball scenes so that was a plus.  This movie never scored but it did get a few base hits.