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

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Dec. 18

12:00 PM

HBO

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:

The rookie who pushes Tom Selleck's character off the Yankees roster was played by Frank Thomas, who went on to become one of the best MLB hitters in the 1990s and won two MVP awards.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the game where Elliot (Selleck) gets suspended, he starts a 3-6-3 double play where the batter runner is called safe at first, both the long shot (from left field) and the close up show that the umpire got the call wrong; but Elliot's mitt is positioned differently from shot to shot as is the first base umpire. In the long shot the umpire is about six feet from the base, but in the close shot the umpire is withing four feet of the base.

Quotes:

[during Jack's first game in Japan]
Jack Elliot: [to an opposing Japanese player] Got any naked pictures of your wife?... Wanna see some?
[player ignores him and is able to avoid being "out"ed in a pick-off move]
Jack Elliot: Never mind.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Back to the Future (1985)

This film is a grand slam

Tom Selleck has been for most of his career a box office bust. Even though this movie did not score a home run with movie goers, it is still a nicely done film. It doesn't play down Japanese stereotypes, as the writers of this film did their homework on life in Japan. I used to watch Japanese baseball, and I can tell you that the film does a pretty good interpretation. In Japan, the manager of a ball club is more of a nurturing father. It's also more like work than sport. Players run fundamental drills all day and talent takes a backseat to skill. The movie is nicely done and Selleck does a good job as selfish, self-centered Jack Elliot. Dennis Haysbert is also nice in the supporting role of Max DuBois (He had enough practice being in baseball movies after being in Major League). Ken Takakura is good as the no-nonsense manager of the club. It's a shame he hasn't done any other American films after this one. Aya Takanashi is also nice as Jack's love interest. If you can, get the video or DVD because the TV version makes some of the most absurd edits and cuts I have seen.