Mr. Baseball
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Mr. Baseball is also the self-applied nickname of Bob Uecker.
| Mr. Baseball | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Fred Schepisi |
| Produced by | Fred Schepisi Doug Claybourne |
| Written by | Theo Pelletier (story) John Junkerman (story) Gary Ross (screenplay) Kevin Wade (screenplay) Monte Merrick |
| Starring | Tom Selleck Ken Takakura Dennis Haysbert |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Distributed by | Universal |
| Release date(s) | October 2, 1992 |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Mr. Baseball is a 1992 American film that starred Tom Selleck and was directed by Fred Schepisi.
[edit] Plot
Jack Elliot (Tom Selleck) is an aging American baseball player who's put on the trading block by the New York Yankees in favor of a younger player (played by former Chicago White Sox legend Frank Thomas, currently playing for the Toronto Blue Jays), and there's only one taker: the Nagoya Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Leagues.
Right away, the arrogant Elliot clashes with the Japanese culture and he soon alienates his new teammates. He believes the rules and management style of his new skipper, Uchiyama (Ken Takakura) are ludicrous and continues to do things his way, which leads his already dwindling performance to suffer more. His only ally on the team is another American ballplayer, Max "Hammer" Dubois (Dennis Haysbert), but even he's fed up with Jack's attitude and lack of respect for the game and his team.
At the same time, Elliot's developing a relationship with the beautiful Hiroko (Aya Takanashi), whom he later finds out is Uchiyama's daughter.
After one too many outbursts, Elliot is suspended. He later has to swallow his pride and admit his deficiencies. In a rare show of humility, he apologizes to the team, who rally around him and teach him the value of sportsmanship and respect for hard work. Uchiyama lifts his suspension and begins to work with Elliot on improving his play. The reinvigorated Jack Elliot's enthusiasm for team play is contagious and the mediocre Dragons become contenders for the Central League pennant. Eventually, Elliot gets the opportunity to break Uchiyama's record of seven consecutive games with a home run. His new-found respect for team play becomes apparent in crucial game against the Yomiuri Giants. With the potential winning run at third base, Uchiyama tells him to swing away, knowing that a home run would break his record. But Elliot sees the Giants' infield is playing deep and bunts. The Giants are caught off guard and the suicide squeeze is successful.
[edit] Popularity
This movie appears to be very popular in Japan. It is often shown on local and satellite channels to this day.
[edit] Trivia
- Universal Studio was owned by Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial at the time of the film's release.
- Tom Selleck is an avid baseball fan and a former minority owner of his hometown team, the Detroit Tigers.
- The scene where a frustrated Jack Elliot turns his bat upside down in protest of the opposing team not pitching to him was inspired by a real incident involving American ballplayer Randy Bass of the Hanshin Tigers. In 1985, Bass, arguably the most prolific American-born player in Japanese baseball history, was close to breaking the Japanese league's single season record of 55 home runs, held by Sadaharu Oh (it has since been tied by two other players: Alex Cabrera in 2001 and Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes in 2002.) However, as Bass closed in on the record, many teams began refusing to pitch to him, and he ended the season with 54 long balls. During a game, he batted with his bat upside down out of frustration. Ironically, the legendary Oh, due to his half-Chinese parentage, faced similar discrimination. Discrimination against foreign-born players is touched upon in a scene where other American players complain about such things as umpires giving Japanese pitchers a strike zone "the size of a Buick" against American batters.
