History Film / AngelsInTheOutfield

-->'''Knox''': I can't substitute my WORST hitter for my BEST hitter!

--> '''George Knox''': One more loss! One more loss which could've been a win! And you call yourselves ''professionals''. I have never, ever seen a worse group of twenty-five players! You don't think as a team, you don't play as a team, you don't even ''LOSE'' as a team! You've all got your heads so far up your ''butts'', you can't even see the light of day! One more loss and I'll...and I'll do this... (throws a chair at a rack of bats) to each and every one of you! (...) I want you ''here'' in uniform at nine tomorrow! We're going back to practicing ''fundamentals''!

** In the remake, the team owner is outraged with Knox's "hogwash" story about real angels helping the team, which is how anyone would respond--except that the entire country has been watching miracles occur on the field hundreds of times over the course of the season. Now, granted, ''angels'' are still a far-fetched explanation, but is it all ''that'' crazy at this point?
--->'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71wde-FPUc Steve Harlow]]:''' The only reason why the guy wasn't being laughed out of the room was because it was the 90s, and there were a lot of bizarre things happening in the world of sports.
--->'''Tim Kurkjian:''' [[Film/HappyGilmore If a hockey player can win the Masters]], [[Film/AirBud if a Golden Retriever can play basketball]], [[Film/SpaceJam if Michael Jordan can play with Bill Murray and Tweety Bird]], then maybe we can believe that the Angels can actually win baseball games.
--->'''Calvin Fanning:''' And to show you the kind of hold Knox has on the press, there's only one person in the room who questions the thing.

* ArtisticLicenseSports: In the remake. In 1993, the American League was divided into two divisions of seven teams each. The Angels would still have to go through another seven-game series against the Eastern champion to win the pennant. [[note]]The American League realigned into three divisions in 1994, the year of the film's release, so had the 1994 alignment been used in the film the Angels would have to win two playoff series instead of one.[[/note]]
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71wde-FPUc Another weird thing]] about that season is that it seemed like they never played a road game."[[note]]They did, but all of those games happened off camera as it was established Knox set up a phone line for Roger to call in angel sightings for away games.[[/note]]

--->'''JP:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71wde-FPUc "The angels could help the team when it comes to getting to the playoffs.]] Once it's time for the pennant, they cannot help anymore." That is the rule.
--->'''Reporter:''' What's the purpose of that rule? That seems a little arbitrary.
--->'''JP:''' Al makes the rules.
--->'''Reporter:''' Who is Al and why does he spend his time helping a baseball team instead of helping starving children?
--->'''JP:''' So Roger could be with his dad again.

* RealityEnsues: Mel smokes a lot in the remake. So [[spoiler: it's not surprising when Roger is informed by Al that he's dying from lung cancer to this. The sad thing is that Mel doesn't even know it yet and it's too far along for anyone to treat.]]

* SpiritualSports: Baseball with angels.

* DownToTheLastPlay: Both versions have the Bottom of the Ninth version.\

* HandicappedBadass: Al reveals to Roger that [[spoiler:Mel has lung cancer and it's terminal, too far along to treat. Yet when the man gets the Angel signal from the whole stadium, he manages to do a DivingSave and catches the bill which wins them the game]].

* DownToTheLastPlay: Both versions have the Bottom of the Ninth version.

* RealityEnsues: Mel smokes a lot in the remake. So [[spoiler: it's not surprising when Roger is informed by Al that he's dying from lung cancer to this. The sad thing is that Mel doesn't even know it yet.]]

** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71wde-FPUc Another weird thing]] about that season is that it seemed like they never played a road game."

* BadBoss:
** Duffy starts off as this. [[DefrostingIceQueen He gets better though]].
** George Knox likewise.
** Played straight with Ranch Wilder, who constantly cuts Wally off in his broadcasts.

* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: Roger's dad in the remake downplays this trope. Despite being a biker who happens to be a sleazy and unloving single parent and a LowerClassLout who gave up full custody of his son without warning, he's more deadbeat than huge and scary.

* BrokenPedestal: Roger becomes crushed after learning his father never loved him to begin with and gives him up to the state without a fight.

* IHaveNoSon: Roger's dad chooses to give up full custody of his son out of laziness, feeling it's for Roger's best interests, and the fact he deep down never loved Roger from the get-go.

** Roger’s father, depending on your interpretation. He cares for his son, but sadly, still gave him up due to lacking the financial means to support him.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Roger's dad might have been a sarcastic, unloving, and uninterested LowerClassLout, but he was in the right in willingly handing Roger over to the state as he knew as a single LowerClassLout biker like himself could not possibly provide the normal family environment that his son Roger should healthily grow up in.

* LowerClassLout: Roger's dad and it's because of this is why he's struggling with child custody. Worse is that he doesn't even care and easily gave up at court, revealing he never really loved his son after all. However, it's likely he knew about his less-then-perfect background and is also why he felt it would be in Roger's best interests if he be a ward of the state in a normal family environment that he could not provide himself.

* ParentalNeglect: Roger's dad is struggling to gain custody of his son due to being an irresponsible single parent with his LowerClassLout lifestyle and gave up full custody without a fight, showing that the man at his core never truly loved Roger to begin with.

* YoureNotMyFather: In the 1994 film, Roger [[spoiler:seemingly accepts that his birth father never loved him and would never reunite with him. [[FamilyOfChoice He accepts George as a real father to him]] when he adopts him and JP.]]

** A great one - even having to work with language that could fit in a kids' movie, it's a scathing rant - in the 1994 film when the Angels lose yet another game:

* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: Roger's dad, a biker who happens to be an irresponsible, sleazy and unloving single parent and a LowerClassLout who gave up full custody of his son without warning.

* GoLookAtTheDistraction: Roger, JP, and Knox do this to David every time they need to shoo him away and talk about the angels.
-->'''Knox''': Buy them Angels jackets!
-->'''David''': It's ninety degrees outside!
-->'''Knox''': Get your butt up there now!

-->'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71wde-FPUc Steve Harlow]]:''' The only reason why the guy wasn't being laughed out of the room was because it was the 90s, and there were a lot of bizarre things happening in the world of sports.
-->'''Tim Kurkjian:''' [[Film/HappyGilmore If a hockey player can win the Masters]], [[Film/AirBud if a Golden Retriever can play basketball]], [[Film/SpaceJam if Michael Jordan can play with Bill Murray and Tweety Bird]], then maybe we can believe that the Angels can actually win baseball games.
-->'''Calvin Fanning:''' And to show you the kind of hold Knox has on the press, there's only one person in the room who questions the thing.

---->'''JP:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k71wde-FPUc "The angels could help the team when it comes to getting to the playoffs.]] Once it's time for the pennant, they cannot help anymore." That is the rule.
---->'''Reporter:''' What's the purpose of that rule? That seems a little arbitrary.
---->'''JP:''' Al makes the rules.
---->'''Reporter:''' Who is Al and why does he spend his time helping a baseball team instead of helping starving children?
---->'''JP:''' So Roger could be with his dad again.

---> '''Umpire.''' Fair!
---> '''Duffy.''' (''stalking out onto the field'') Fair? Fair? Fair ball? Why, thou knave, thou dolt! Thou hast eyes but seest not!
---> '''Umpire 2.''' You heard him, he said fair.
---> '''Duffy.''' Fie, fie upon you and a pox upon you too. Thou art blind, thou black-livered bat!

Both versions are standard kids' movies -- the original has appeal to adults as well -- but feel-good ones ultimately about the power of faith wrapped around a sports story. The 1994 version was followed by two [[MadeForTVMovie Made For TV sequels]], 1997's ''Angels in the Endzone'' (Same thing as ''Outfield'', but with high school football, and replacing the orphan/foster child plot with two boys coming to terms with their father's sudden death) and 2000's ''Angels in the Infield'' which replaced Christopher Lloyd with David Alan Grier as the head angel.

-->"God... If there is a God... if you're a man or a woman... if you're listening, I'd really, really like a family. My dad says that will only happen if the Angels win the pennant. The baseball team, I mean. So, maybe you can help them win a little."

The 1951 film was directed by Clarence Brown and stars Paul Douglas and Creator/JanetLeigh. It's about Pittsburgh Pirates manager Duffy [=McGovern=] (Douglas) being visited by invisible angels who will give his team miracles, as long as he stops swearing and controls his violent temper. A girl from the local Catholic orphanage can see the angels, and a woman reporter, Jennifer Paige (Leigh) who's been covering the Pirates prints the story. [=McGovern's=] bête noire is Fred Bayles (Keenan Wynn), a snarky sportscaster who wants to get something on him. When the manager is beaned by a fastball he lets slip about "talking to angels", and a sanity hearing ensues. Meanwhile, the angels let [=McGovern=] know that his veteran pitcher Saul Hellman (Bruce Bennett) is about to be "signed up" in Heaven, and [=McGovern resolves=] to give Hellman one more turn on the mound. Naturally, the Pirates eventually take the NL pennant, and the reporter and [=McGovern=] ultimately get together and adopt the little girl.

** Ranch Wilder. It's heavily implied that he as a then-JerkJock slid spikes up into George Knox's knee which caused the injury that ended his career. Not only does he all but gloat to him about it on the air (prompting a well deserved punch to the face), but he presses assault charges and takes every opportunity to smear Knox to the Angels faithful. He also manipulates the naive and distraught JP into spilling the beans on the assistance from on high, resulting very nearly in Knox's termination as manager. This shitbag deserves every inch of what he gets at the end of the movie - fired.

** Ranch Wilder. It's heavily implied that he as a then-JerkJock slid spikes up into George Knox's knee which caused the injury that ended his career. Not only does he all but gloat to him about it on the air (prompting a well deserved punch to the face), but he presses assault charges and takes every opportunity to smear Knox to the Angels faithful. He also manipulates the naive and distraught JP into spilling the beans on the assistance from on high, resulting very nearly in Knox's termination as manager. This scumbag deserves every inch of what he gets at the end of the movie - fired.

* BrokenPedestal: Roger becomes crushed after learning his father never loved him to being with and gives him up to the state without a fight.

* CloudCuckoolander: Pitcher Whitt Bass. The announcers even run down several crazy things they've seen him do during the season. This also makes him the butt jokes by the team; the Latino players trick him into thinking "The Star-Spangled Banner" is about a guy named Jose.

* IHaveNoSon: Roger's dad chooses to give up full custody of his son out of both laziness, feeling it's for Roger's best interests and the fact he deep down never loved Roger from the get-go.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Roger's dad might have been a sarcastic, unloving and uninterested LowerClassLout, but he was in the right in willingly handing Roger over to the state as he knew as a single LowerClassLout biker like himself could not possibly provide the normal family environment that his son Roger should healthily grow up in.

* YoureNotMyFather: In the 1994 film, Roger [[spoiler:seemingly accepts that his birth father never loved him and would never is going to reunite with him. [[FamilyOfChoice He accepts George as a real father to him]] when he adopts him and JP.]]

* BittersweetEnding: Downplayed in the 1994 version. [[spoiler: Roger doesn't reunite with his birth father as he wanted despite the Angels turning things around and Roger is informed that Mel will die soon due to his smoking habits. However the Angels manage to win the finals on their own and take the world series. Knox finally eases up and learns to coach his team better and in the end, he adopts Roger and JP finally allowing the three to become an official family.]]

The 1994 Creator/{{Disney}} remake, directed by William Dear and starring Creator/JosephGordonLevitt and Creator/ChristopherLloyd, is about a boy praying that the California Angels will win the pennant, mistakenly believing that if they do, he will reunite with his DisappearedDad. Roger (Gordon-Levitt), currently in foster care, had asked his dad when they will be a family again, to which his father replied sarcastically, "I'd say when the Angels win the pennant." Taking his father's words to heart, Roger prays for God to help the hapless, last-place Angels win. After he prays, a star unseen by Roger twinkles in the sky. Then, in a game attended by Roger and his foster brother JP, Roger sees a group of angels led by boss angel Al (Lloyd) helping the team. Although Roger can see the angels quite clearly, everyone else can only explain the seemingly impossible acts as freak occurrences. Roger's unique ability to see which players are receiving help from angels leads the Angel's skeptical manager, George Knox (Creator/DannyGlover) to keep Roger around as a good luck charm/consultant. Due to the much needed help, the Angels start to win games and make a surprising second-half surge to the top of their division, led by the angel-aided resurgence of washed-up pitcher Mel Clark (Tony Danza).

* TooDumbToLive: Ranch for slandering the Angels and George Knox after the entire stadium stands in support of Mel in the final play of the game; the fact that he did this ''live on air'' got him the boot almost immediately after the game.

* CrisisOfFaith: Roger suffers one after his dad gives up custody even after the Angels start winning. The kicking line comes the night after the court hearing (Roger is sullenly throwing a baseball into his glove over and over):

-->'''Roger''': [[MoodWhiplash That's just the moon, JP. No God up there.]] (''Roger's throw misses his glove and the ball rolls away from the porch.'')

** Roger's dad in the remake. The LowerClassLout lies his butt off about wanting to be a family again and hands Roger off to the state without even the smallest amount of warning, seemingly never having loving him to begin with.