Here’s the Pitch Update

Revised to include my oversight in omitting the Bad News Bears TV show.

While baseball and TV go great together, episodic series about the national have never done well. None of the attempts have lasted more than one season.

Ball Four. Based on Jim Bouton’s seminal book and starring the author as aversion of himself. Five episodes in 1976.

Bay City Blues. 1983, from the folks who brought you Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue, starring Dennis Franz, Micheal Nouri, Bernie Casey, et al. Eight episodes.

A League of Their Own. 1993 show based on the hit movie by Penny Marshall. Starring Cary Lowell (Law and Order) in the Dotty Henson role played by Geena Davis with Megan Cavanagh and Tracy Reiner reprising their roles as Marla Hooch and Betty “Spaghetti” Horn. Six episodes.

Back in the Game, a truly terrible show from 2013 about a former star softball player who takes over as coach of her son’s little league team. A Full of stereotypes and cliches and a totally unconvincing athletic job by the lead and a phone-it-in performance by James Caan who played the gruff but lovable grandpa. How this managed to last a whole 13 episodes, I don’t know. From the trailer: “Terry Gannon is one tough mother, but life has thrown her a curve,” and “I’m gonna take you so deep, you’re gonna be making me breakfast, baby.” What??? That makes no sense. Was that supposed to pass for sexual innuendo? Fail.

The BNB, TV edition, came hot on the heels of the hit movie in 1973 and lasted a whopping 26 episodes. Guess you have to strike while the iron is hot. It featured Jack Warden as the Walter Matthau role of Buttermaker, Corey Feldman as Regi Tower,  and Meeno Peluce as Lucas Tanner. HT to Facebook friend Rob Bellamy for the note.

The only one that seemed to sustain was HBO’s crude Eastbound and Down, about a John Rocker-type redneck who couldn’t keep out of his own way. Warning: Clip is NSFW.

But could this be the baseball series that finally makes a go of it?

Pitch has the imprimatur of Major League Baseball (I wonder how they decided that the San Diego Padres would have the honor of being the first to take this on?) and the production values are obviously high. But can this sustain as an entire series, rather than a one-shot movie? In fact, IMDB actually lists Pitch as a TV movie, not a series. It’s hard to tell from the trailer: does all the action take place in one episode, or over the course of the run? If the former, well, what else are you going to say? Obviously there will be logistical problems. How will they handle the locker room? This seems to be contemporary, i.e., not set in the distant future where gender issues might no longer be a thing. Romance between Baker and a teammates? An opponent? A front office employee? Will here be the lunkhead who insists she must be gay because, sports?

The most recognizable (to me) names in the cast include Dan Lauria, who played Kevin Arnold’s dad in The Wonder Years; Ali Larter (Heroes); Kylie Bunbury (Under the Dome, a “so bad it’s good” stinker); and Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Saved by the Bell, NYPD Blue, etc.).

As the saying goes, stay tuned.