I Rewatched A League Of Their Own (1992, Dir. by Penny Marshall)


Last night, I saw that A League of Their Own was on Netflix. I tried to get my sister to watch it with me, but she just told me that she liked the high ones and called me a nag. (It makes sense if you’ve seen the movie.) So I rewatched it by myself and cried all over again.

In case you’re one of the two people who haven’t heard of this movie, A League of Their Own takes place during World War II. With professional baseball players either enlisting or getting drafted, people worry there might not be another season of baseball until the war ends. Candy-bar manufacturer Walter Harvey (played by director Penny Marshall’s brother, Garry) creates the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, with the requirement that the players not only know how to handle a bat but also look good in the impractical short skirts he expects them to wear while sliding into home. The movie follows the first season of the Rockford Peaches. Geena Davis plays Dottie, the catcher whose husband is serving overseas. Lori Petty plays Kit, the pitcher who struggles to hit high fastballs and who is also Dottie’s sister. Rosie O’Donnell and Madonna play two players from New York. Tom Hanks is Jimmy, the alcoholic former player turned manager who says, “There’s no crying in baseball!”

It may be heresy to admit it, but A League of Their Own is not my favorite baseball movie. (That would be Major League.) Most of the actresses, especially Geena Davis, are convincing as baseball players, and I love that the movie shone a light on the real-life AAGPBL. (Sixty former AAGPBL players appear in the movie.) But as a baseball fan, it’s always bothered me that the movie doesn’t really examine any of their games in depth. We know that Dottie is a good catcher, that Kit is a good pitcher, that Madonna can catch a baseball in her hat, and that Evelyn (Bitty Schram) cries when she gets yelled at, but we don’t learn much about the other players on the team and what they’re good at. The Peaches win games, but I would have liked to see more of how they won.

I still love A League of Their Own, though. The bonding between the players gets to me. They’re all from different parts of the country. Some of them are married and some of them are definitely single. But from the minute they’re selected to play in the AAGPBL, they form a family of their own. When one of them reveals that she’s never learned how to read, the players teach her. When Evelyn needs to bring her bratty problem child on the road, the team looks after him. When Jimmy makes Evelyn cry, the team rallies around Evelyn. Everyone remembers Jimmy saying there’s no crying in baseball, but they forget he got kicked out of the game afterward. (Jimmy eventually becomes a better coach.) When one player gets the telegram that her husband has been killed in the war, everyone cries. In the film’s epilogue, Evelyn’s son says that she was never happier than when she was playing for the Peaches, and I can understand why. The heart of the film is the relationship between Dottie and Kit. Even though you can guess from the start that Kit and Dottie are eventually going to end up on different teams and face each other in the big game, it’s still an emotional moment when they find themselves on opposite sides of the plate.

A League of Their Own is on Netflix, so watch it if you haven’t seen it before. Or, if you’re like me, rewatch it and try not to cry all over again when the former players reunite at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Hurry up, though. It’s leaving on September 30th.

 

 

Celebrate Labor Day With Baseball!


As of today, my beloved Texas Rangers sit at 71-73. There are only 18 games left in the regular MLB season. Usually, when the season is nearly over and your team is sitting on a losing record, you spend your time hoping that next year will be better. Luckily, the entire AL West has been struggling this season, so even though the Rangers have a losing record, they’re still in second place and only two games behind the Astros.

In other words, we’re still in this!

Baseball is a funny game. One of the things I love about it is that a team can struggle all season and still suddenly hit a burst of good luck at the end. On Saturday night I screamed for joy when the Rangers, after struggling for eight innings, managed to tie the game in the ninth. Then I screamed for a totally different reason when they allowed the Rays to score three runs and win in the tenth. But yesterday I cheered when the Rangers defeated the Rays 8-6.

The Rangers aren’t playing today. They’ve got Labor Day off, and I hope they’re preparing mentally to pull off a miracle over the next 18 games. We’ll be playing the Mariners, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, the hated Blue Jays, the Mets, and the Twins. If we can’t even beat the Mets, I’m going to be very sad.

Of course, the Astros are going to have to do their part and lose their next few games. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

Saint Rita of Cascia is the patron saint of impossible causes. Some people probably think the Rangers are an impossible cause this year. That’s the same thing they said in 2023, when the Rangers proved the doubters, the haters, and the northerners wrong by winning their first World Series. Saint Rita, advocate of the impossible, pray for us.

And go Rangers!

A Cautious Update On The Rangers


Last week, a friend of mine told him that it feels like a piece of his heart dies every time that his favorite football team loses.  I told him that was how I felt about the Rangers.  At least my friend only has to worry about dying 16 times during the year.  I’ve died 69 times this season and there’s still almost a month to go until the playoffs!

My update on the Rangers is that we’re struggling.  As of today, we’ve got a 69-71 record and we’re in second place in the American League West.  The good news is that the Astros have only got a 70-69 record so, if we win a few and they lose a few, we could still grab the top spot from them and make it to the playoffs.  And you never know what might happen in the playoffs.  Sometimes the team that no one gives a chance suddenly comes on strong and proves the doubters wrong.  That’s what happened the last time the Rangers won the World Series.

In other words, I still have hope for my team!  October is approaching and everyone around here is getting ready for our annual Hororthon.  Nothing would make me happier than to spend Halloween watching the Rangers.  Could it happen?  We’re not having a great season but at least we’re not the Angels.

So, even though we lost to the Athletics today and we lost big, I will continue to cheer for my team.  They’re my team, both when they’re winning and when they’re struggling.  They’ll be my team no matter what but I really, really hope that they’ll be my team in the playoffs.

Go Rangers Go!

 

The Texas Rangers Set A World Record!


Today is not only America’s 250th birthday!  It’s also the day that the Texas Rangers set a world record by pouring the world’s largest glass of beer at Globe Life Field in Arlington!  Behold 600 gallons of Budweiser in one very big glass!

They started pouring at noon and finished at 1:45 in the afternoon!  The previous record was 545 gallons and it was held by the UK.  By pouring 600 gallons, the Rangers brought the record home to America!

Congratulations, Rangers!

4 Shots From 4 Films: America’s Game


4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, for America’s birthday, I want to celebrate America’s game!

4 Shots From 4 Films

The Natural (1984, Dir. by Barry Levinson)

Major League (1989, Dir. by David Ward)

Eight Men Out (Dir. by John Sayles)

Eephus (2024, Dir. by Carson Lund)

Guess Who Won Last Night… Again!


Guess who beat the Guardians last night… again!?

Go Rangers!

I know that I keep saying that I can’t allow myself to get excited because I might jinx the team but I’m going to take the risk.  If they start losing, I’ll go back to not getting excited.  I’ll fight the jinx.  I think I can beat it.

For now, the Rangers are 44-42.  We’re only one game up on the Mariners so we can’t afford to get cocky.  But I’m finally feeling good about this season!  The only question right now is whether or not we’re going to sweep this series against the Guardians.  Go Rangers!  I’m cheering for you!

Guess Who Beat Cleveland Last Night?


Last night, the Rangers beat the Guardians 6-3 and, dare I say it, they’re finally starting to look like a playoff team to me!

Again, I’m trying not to jinx them by getting too excited.  Whenever I get too excited or too confident, it seems like they always end hitting a bad streak.  I am trying to trick the Baseball Gods into thinking that I’m “Comfortably Blasé,” as my sister puts it.  But it’s not easy to stay calm when your team has a good night!

I love this.  I my Rangers.  I love America.  And I love the great American pastime.

GO RANGERS!

(By the way, in the video below, ignore the annoucners when they try to dismiss the American League.  Everyone knows that baseball media is biased in favor of the National League.)

The Rangers Are 42-42!


I’ve been trying not to write too much about the Rangers because I’m worried that I might jinx them.  It seems like every time that I get excited and start posting about them, they hit a rough streak.  So, I have been keeping quiet and not getting ahead of myself.  The Rangers have broken my heart a few times this season but they’ve made me cheer too.

I’m cheering right now.

Finally, we’re in first.  Our record isn’t great.  42-42.  .500.  But the last few games have got me excited.  We just swept the Blue Jays.  That’s a big deal for a Rangers fan.  The Rangers and the Blue Jays don’t exactly have the best histroy.

Even though Jose Bautista is no longer playing and Rougned Odor is no longer a Ranger, it’s impossible for me not to think of this wonderful moment whenever the Rangers play the Blue Jays.

The All-Star Game will take place on July 14th.  It’s always pointless to speculate too much about the playoffs until after the All-Star Game.  The Rangers are starting a series against the Guardians later today and who knows how that will go.  (The Guardians helped the Rangers move into first place by defeating the Mariners.  Thank you, Cleveland!)  But right now, I’m feeling good.

I love baseball.

Go Rangers!

A Scene That I Love: The American Express Commercial From Major League


“Don’t leave home without it!”

The Cleveland Indians (yeah, I said it) are finally in the race for the pennant and, as a result, they get to star in their very own credit card commercial.  The main reason that I love this scene is because, even when appearing in a commercial, each member of the the team still has their own personality and style.

From Major League, one of the greatest baseball films ever made:

A Scene That I Love: Jackie Robinson Hits A Homerun in 42


I nearly shared the “there’s no crying in baseball” scene from A League Of Their Own as a reminder to myself not to cry, no matter what the Rangers’s final record is.

But then I decided that I would rather share this scene from 42, in which Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) takes his team to the World Series!  Forget about Black Panther and Da 5 Bloods.  This was Boseman’s greatest performance.