Really Major League? Really?

I was watching the classic, Major League recently and I decided to watch the entire trilogy to really break down these movies. And yes, I did watch the third one set in the minor leagues. Now, I’m not saying the movie is impossible but I think some of the things are a little far-fetched.

Let’s start with the owner of the team, Rachel Phelps. A common misconception is that she didn’t want to own a baseball team. She wanted to move the team to a city that didn’t have one – Miami. Can you blame her? Nice weather, good people, and they play baseball all year long. Who wouldn’t want to play baseball there? Her tactics were a little messed up though, I will admit. Rather than just move the team, she tried to use the escape clause in the teams contract. According to the clause, if the team sold less than 800,000 tickets for the season, they could move. Why not just raise ticket prices? No one’s gonna buy tickets if they can’t afford them.

Major League Trailer

Bringing in Jake Taylor was a smart move. He’s a wily veteran who had been around baseball so long that he could manage to survive and scratch out one more season. Taylor’s only issue were his knees. Which brings up the question…why not make him the designated hitter? He’s not much of a runner but you’re not signing him to steal bases. He’s a power hitter. When Mike Piazza’s knees started to go, the Mets moved him to first base and had guys like Vance Wilson and Jason Phillips playing catcher.

Another move that I didn’t understand was bringing all these players that were viewed as some of the worst players they could find. In essence what they ended up doing was bringing in a bunch of crafty veterans and and middle tier prospects. These guys weren’t the greatest players in the world, but they all had potential. And when it comes to prospects, potential is the name of the game.

Ricky Vaughn, a young fireballer with control issues. Remind you of anyone? How about Kyle Farnsworth? Willie “Mays” Hayes, a young center fielder with tons of speed. Pedro Cerrano, a power hitting outfielder. Eddie Harris, a crafty pitcher with a good assortment of offspeed stuff. And who could forget Roger Dorn? I mean, despite playing what manager Lou Brown (RIP) called “ole” defense, he was a solid baseball player and as we saw late in his career and in his retirement, he was a pretty good in the front office too.

I think scouts everywhere should’ve been kicking themselves for missing out on Vaughn. Here’s a prospect who could be good if he’s brought into an organization where he can stay out of trouble and get a pair of glasses. This is as big a mistake in scouting as the Dodgers taking Mike Piazza in the 62nd round or Tom Brady in the 6th.

Another scouting mistake? Willie Mays Hayes. The one thing people around baseball will tell you is that you can’t teach speed. And Hayes has speed. We’re talking Rickey Henderson speed. So he’s got a bit of an ego. Who doesn’t in baseball. Get this guy on first base and you can pretty much call it a run.

The rest of the roster was well put together. Pedro Cerrano eventually put it all together and was able to hit the curveball. Eddie Harris had a decent season considering his age and lack of speed on his fastball. Roger Dorn’s fielding issues were figured out, and overall the team really bonded. Eventually they went on a great run to the postseason that took them to the ALCS, where they lost to the White Sox.

The following season, for some reason the team had a different feel to it. Hayes looked and acted differently, Cerrano became a Buddhist, and Dorn retired. Vaughn appeared to a lose a little speed off his fastball and he admitted he was saving himself to prolong his career. Taylor decided to hang up the cleats and become a coach. He was replaced by Jack Parkman, a big time free agent they acquired from Oakland. Also new to the team is Rube Baker, a minor league catcher who was serviceable despite not being able to throw the ball back to the pitcher and Taka Tanaka, a Japanese left fielder who had a reputation for putting his body on the line to catch fly balls at the wall.

Major League 2 Trailer

In the offseason, Hayes had hurt himself on the set of a movie he did with Jesse Ventura called “Black Hammer, White Lightning” where he did his own stunts. One has to wonder… why is one of the team’s best players, the leadoff hitter allowed to do his own stunts on a movie set? The Indians front office dropped the ball on this one. Do you think the Mets or the Yankees would ever let Reyes or Jeter put themselves in jeopardy like that? I don’t thinks so.

Chemistry is such a big part of baseball and I’m also a little surprised at the front office for bringing in Jack Parkman to be the catcher. Parkman comes off as just an arrogant, me-first kind of player and that relationship was destined to fail. Parkman really didn’t help the team and they had a really slow start to the season. Complacency also served as a major contributor to their bad start. As sad as it is to say, Lou Brown’s heart attack and the Parkman trade to the White Sox really galvanized the team and helped them get to the playoffs. And how fitting is it that they clinched their World Series trip against the White Sox, the team that not beat them the previous season, but also the team they sent Parkman to. Karma was big in this series as it was Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn who was able to regain his old form and get the final out on Parkman.

Major League 3 Trailer

Part of me would love to analyze Major League 3 but all I really have to say about it is that I don’t think that the Twins organization gave Tanaka and Baker any real opportunity to play in the majors. I mean, Baker has his issues, but are you telling me this team couldn’t use a hard-nosed outfielder thats willing to risk his body to make catches in the outfield? Also…where the hell did Roger Dorn get the money to not only buy the Indians from Rachel Phelps, and then later on buy the Twins? The Indians made a nice little run over the years with this group of no name players and washed up veterans. Its nice to know that in baseball, its all about chemistry and not about superstars.