“Get me central casting…”

April 10, 2014

Apropos of earlier entries about the 25th anniversary of Major League and a suggested new line of bio-pics, here’s a list from SI.com’s Extras Mustard of “11 Sports Movie Characters Who Would Suck at Their Sport in Real Life.”

Two of the 11 come from baseball flics, including Henry Rowengartner in Rookie of the Year

https://i2.wp.com/www.bloguincollege.com/thenorthendzone/images/stories/movie-of-the-day-rookie-of-the-year-L-mT9RdO.jpeg?resize=279%2C208Ignoring the fact that Henry Roadenhowser was four years too young to even sign a contract with the Cubs, the real farce in Rookie of the Year is the notion that he would have any success as a pitcher. Even if Gardenhoser had the ability to throw the heat due to an injury that makes no sense, it’s very doubtful that he would have possessed the concentration and poise to face — and strike out — major league hitters. Plus the one time he had to bat, everyone in attendance had legitimate concerns that he was going to die. With all respect to Goenrader, I think his major league career would likely have consisted of one pitch quickly followed by Tommy John surgery.

and Willie Mays Hayes in the aforementioned Major League (although I think several of the other characters could fit this limit as well).

https://i1.wp.com/mypartyshirt.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/w/i/willie-mays-hayes_1.png?resize=180%2C180The classic sports comedy Major League turned 25 on Monday, and to honor the flick, Big League Stew compiled 15 little known facts about the movie. Perhaps the most interesting is that center fielder Willie Mays Hayes never throws a baseball during film. The reason for this was that Wesley Snipes had never played baseball before filming the movie and thus couldn’t throw a ball convincingly. I’m no sabermetrician, but I think most experts agree that the ability to throw a baseball is a desirable quality in a center fielder.

Do take a minute and visit that Big League Stew link; interesting stuff.

Haven’t seen the movie in a while and it’s not burned into my memory, so I can’t be sure, but did Pedro Cerano throw a ball from the outfield?

 

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