Mr. Baseball (1992)

Director:

Fred Schepisi

Writers (WGA):

Theo Pelletier (story) &
John Junkerman (story) ...

Release Date:

2 October 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

An inspirational baseball movie.

Plot:

A fading baseball player is traded to a Japanese team and has trouble fitting into the society.

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Baseball Player | Baseball Team | Television Commercial | Apology

Cast

Tom Selleck	...	Jack Elliot
Ken Takakura	...	Uchiyama, Dragon's Manager
Aya Takanashi	...	Hiroko Uchiyama
Dennis Haysbert	...	Max 'Hammer' Dubois
Toshi Shioya	...	Yoji Nishimura, Jack's Interpreter / Guide
Kosuke Toyohara	...	Toshi Yamashita
Toshizo Fujiwara	...	Ryoh Mukai
Mak Takano	...	Shinji Igarashi
Kenji Morinaga	...	Hiroshi Kurosawa
Joh Nishimura	...	Tomophiko Ohmie
Norihide Goto	...	Issei Itoi
Kensuke Toita	...	Akito Yagi
Naoki Fuji	...	Takuya Nishikawa
Takanobu Hozumi	...	Hiroshi Nakamura
Leon Lee	...	Lyle Massey

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Germany:6 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment

Trivia:

Dennis Haysbert who plays Max, goes on to play for the Cleveland Indians as Pedro Cerrano in Major League (1989).

Goofs:

Continuity: In the locker room when "The Chief" (Uchiyama) is fining Jack for disrespect of equipment, Jack hands him an additional 10,000 Yen. The Chief asks in Japanese (and Yoji translates into English) "What is the second one for?" Jack replies, "That's for the next time." Yoji doesn't translate Jacks answer into Japanese, yet The Chief asks (again, in Japanese and Yoji translates) "He wonders when the next time will be." He inadvertently reveals that he understands/speaks English, long before when he reveals it during the scene at the grandparents' home.

Quotes:

Max 'Hammer' Dubois: Max Dubois. Around here they call me Hammer. Don't ask me why.
Jack Elliot: Jack Elliot.
Max 'Hammer' Dubois: Yeah. I know who you are. I've been in Japan, not dead.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Married with Children: Dial B for Virgin (#9.7)" (1994)

Great movie

I agree with BigAlC - this movie actually prepared me for a lot of the cultural differences and practices before I went to live in Japan for a year in 1993. Tom Selleck does a fantastic job here, as always, and the movie is greatly humorous and educational. I'm a big fan of Tom Selleck's, and he blesses this part with his usual charm and charisma to this part, bringing the film to life in a way I can't imagine any other actor being able to pull off.

This film featured some first-rate Japanese actors, and it was highly entertaining to watch them as they interacted with Selleck - I can imagine the fun he had during the actual filming of the movie - Japan's an awesome place to go, whether you want to party, sight-see or just try to take everything in.