'Major League' a hit with mix of antics, believable action

The door to the bullpen swings open, a reliever emerges and a familiar song comes blasting through the stadium’s PA system, energizing the crowd.

Before Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman took the mound with this type of fanfare, there was Ricky Vaughn, the fictitious bad-boy pitcher who entered the climactic game of the movie “Major League” with the song “Wild Thing” announcing his presence.

“I was listening to the recording of ‘Wild Thing’ — not the original one by the Troggs, but the one by X, and it was such a big sound, it sounded like a thousand people were singing it,” said David S. Ward, the movie’s director. “I thought, this would be really interesting if people got so into this kid, this pitcher, that when he came into the game, they would stand up and sing ‘Wild Thing.’”

“Major League” didn’t invent the idea of an entrance song for a reliever, but the 1989 film was certainly onto something when Vaughn, played by Charlie Sheen, strode to the mound to help the Cleveland Indians out of a jam in the ninth inning against the Yankees. It’s a scene that has aged particularly well — and one that exemplifies why the movie remains so endearing.

For all its goofy antics, exaggerated characters and memorable one-liners, “Major League” also stands out because the play on the field — especially at the end — feels reasonably authentic. And that was no small feat.

The film was voted No. 8 in The Associated Press Top 25 favorite sports movies poll.

“I think that the baseball in the movie, I think it was pretty good baseball,” said Steve Yeager, the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers catcher who played a coach in the movie and was a technical adviser for the film. “I never heard anybody that I played with or...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Major-League-a-hit-with-mix-of-antics-15224108.php