History Film / MajorLeague

** Harris warming up with Jobu right alongside him.

* CerebusSyndrome: The first film plays the climactic game as straight as can be with minimal attempts at humor.

** He also takes a dummy's head off with a pitch.

* NotThisOneThatOne: Played straight in the first movie, when the team is about to board the plane after the Cleveland Indians' RichBitch owner seeks to make them finish dead last.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: In the first movie, the team was literally built to lose. Dang, huh?

* TalentDouble: Mostly averted. Virtually all the baseball scenes were done by the cast themselves; for instance, that really is Snipes making the sensational home-run-robbing catch during the finale. Anything they couldn't do well, the crew just filmed around it (with Snipes, he couldn't throw well nor run fast, so Hayes isn't seen throwing a ball and is why his running is usually in slow motion). The baseball sequences were actually shot with the actors playing ball trying to match the outcome needed to depict on film. The actors were enthusiastic about doing it, since they had to train and practice like real players, as well as living out playing major league ball in front of 25,000 people. The notable exception is Tom Berenger; former Dodger Steve Yeager (who also plays the Indians third-base coach Temple) does most of Jake Taylor's catching action. Charlie Sheen was a pitcher in high school, so he already had excellent pitching form, though speedwise he was of course nowhere close to Vaughn's high 90's.

* FatherToHisMen: Lou proves to be a solid coach - demanding when needed, but willing to defend his players when it becomes known the bitch owner is screwing the team.
** He should be solid. It's mentioned by Phelps that he'd been coach of the Toledo Mud Hens for ''thirty years''! For comparison, as of this writing (June 2020), not a single MLB manager has been been with the same team for even 10 years (the longest tenure being that of Bob Melvin, with the Oakland Athletics since June 2011) and only three have been MLB managers longer than 30 years, whether with one team or not (Connie Mack with the Pittsburgh Pirates for three seasons and the then-Philadelphia Athletics for ''50 seasons'' [he also owned the A's]; John [=McGraw=] for 34 seasons, 31 of them with the then-New York Giants; and Tony La Russa, with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland A's, and St. Louis Cardinals for a total of 33 seasons). The only reason he hadn't managed in the big leagues before was because he didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of overpaid prima donnas and overbearing owners.

* OneLineNameOneLiner: After manager Lou Brown sees his RagtagBunchOfMisfits arrive at spring training and is amused:

'''Lou''': Me. ''(collapses)''

The success spawned a LighterAndSofter sequel in 1994, ''Major League II'', which brought back the cast sans now-a-superstar Snipes, with Creator/OmarEpps replacing him in the role. Several new characters -- naive farmboy Rube Baker, Japanese import Taka Tanaka, and teammate-turned-rival Jack Parkman -- entered the fold, while the plot deals with the team letting the success of the previous year go to their heads and having to find their way back to their winning ways once more and take care of unfinished business.

* CallingYourShots: Hayes does this twice in a row in the second film, each time flying out to the warning track in left field.
--> '''[[DeadpanSnarker Harry Doyle]]:''' Of course he could be pointing at the left fielder.

** Subverted in the second movie. Willie Mays Hays, having shot a feature film with Jesse Ventura in the offseason, decides to call his shot in his very first at bat of the season...but only has warning track power. And then, just to hit home how inflated his ego was, he tries it again (and fails again) in his second at bat of the season.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: in the opening scene Phelps hands out the list of spring training invitees. One of the board members points out that one of them is dead. Phelps tells him to just cross the name off. The point being missed? She's sabotaging the team and not even trying to hide it.

** The scene where Taylor tells Dorn to "step into one" is an aversion, even though there's a rule that the batter must make every attempt to avoid getting hit, and the ump can decide not to award the runner first base if this happens. This rule is so rarely enforced, though, that Taylor's strategy was a viable one.

** In ''Back to the Minors'', the AAA Buzz play at a tiny field and barebones clubhouse akin to a low class-A team (indeed, the film was shot at Charleston's College Park, home of the then-class-A River Dogs). In real life, AAA stadiums and teams are often crown jewels for cities who in most cases do not have pro teams of their own, and sport fields and facilities not too far off in quality from their big-league counterpart (after all, organizations want their up-and-coming players to be in the best shape when called up). This is the 10,000-seat stadium the Twins' AAA affiliate from 2003-2020, the Rochester Red Wings, actually [[http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/9/4/162273794/cuts/FF_dwunaet2_ic3cjbnn.jpg play in]] compared to where the Buzz [[http://ballparkreviews.com/charlsc/college2.jpg played]].

The success led to spawned a LighterAndSofter sequel in 1994, ''Major League II'', which brought back the cast sans now-a-superstar Snipes, with Creator/OmarEpps replacing him in the role. Several new characters -- naive farmboy Rube Baker, Japanese import Taka Tanaka, and teammate-turned-rival Jack Parkman -- entered the fold, while the plot deals with the team letting the success of the previous year go to their heads and having to find their way back to their winning ways once more and take care of unfinished business.

In this case, they're the Cleveland Indians, a baseball team that hadn't made a playoff appearance in over 30 years and was arguably the most moribund franchise in the majors (which at the time was TruthInTelevision). No one in Cleveland even knows who's on the team, which is a calculated move by Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), the [[RichBitch new team owner]]. It's all part of her ploy to get the franchise to fail so badly (and draw so little attendance) that she can void her contracts and move the team to greener pastures in Florida. To this end, she assembles the sorriest bunch of ballplayers she can find. Aging vets Jake Taylor (Creator/TomBerenger), Roger Dorn (Creator/CorbinBernsen), and Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross) are joined by several off-the-street rookies like the brash and fast Willie Mays Hayes (Creator/WesleySnipes), hot-headed and wild flamethrower Rick Vaughn (Creator/CharlieSheen), and the voodoo-practicing slugger Pedro Cerrano (Creator/DennisHaysbert). Under the gruff but caring guidance of new manager Lou Brown (James Gammon), the team spends the season navigating personal issues, in-house rivalries, and glaring holes in their game to outperform expectations. And when the team finds out about Rachel Phelps's scheme, they can think of no better way to upset it than to do the unthinkable and win it all...

In this case, they're the Cleveland Indians, a baseball team that hadn't made a playoff appearance in over 30 years and was arguably the most moribund franchise in the majors (which at the time was TruthInTelevision). No one in Cleveland even knows who's on the team, which is a calculated move by Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), the [[RichBitch new team owner]]. It's all part of her ploy to get the franchise to fail so badly (and draw so little attendance) that she can void her contracts and move the team to greener pastures in Florida. To this end, she assembles the sorriest bunch of ballplayers she can find. Aging vets Jake Taylor (Creator/TomBerenger), Roger Dorn (Creator/CorbinBernsen), and Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross) are joined by several off-the-street rookies like the brash and fast Willie Mays Hayes (Creator/WesleySnipes), hot-headed and wild flamethrower Rick Vaughn (Creator/CharlieSheen), and the voodoo-practicing slugger Pedro Cerrano (Creator/DennisHaysbert). Under the gruff but caring guidance of new manager Lou Brown (James Gammon), the team spends the season navigating personal issues, in-house rivalries, and glaring holes in their game to outperform expectations. And when the team finds out Rachel Phelps's scheme, they can think of no better way to upset it than to do the unthinkable and win it all...

In this case, they're the Cleveland Indians, a baseball team that hadn't made a playoff appearance in over 30 years and was arguably the most moribund franchise in the majors (which at the time was TruthInTelevision). No one in Cleveland even knows who's on the team, which is a calculated move by Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), the [[RichBitch new team owner]]. It's all part of her ploy to get the franchise to fail so badly (and draw so little attendance) that she can void her contracts and move the team to greener pastures in Florida. To this end, she assembles the sorriest bunch of ballplayers she can find. Aging vets Jake Taylor (Creator/TomBerenger), Roger Dorn (Creator/CorbinBernsen), and Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross) are joined by several off-the-street rookies like the brash and fast Willie Mays Hayes (Creator/WesleySnipes), hot-headed and wild flamethrower Rick Vaughn (Creator/CharlieSheen), and the voodoo-practicing slugger Pedro Cerrano (Creator/DennisHaysbert). Under the gruff but caring guidance under new manager Lou Brown (James Gammon), the team spends the season navigating personal issues, in-house rivalries, and glaring holes in their game to outperform expectations. And when the team finds out Rachel Phelps's scheme, they can think of no better way to upset it than to do the unthinkable and win it all...

->'''Jake''': Win the whole...fucking...thing.

In this case, they're the Cleveland Indians, a baseball team that hasn't made a playoff appearance in over 30 years. No one in Cleveland even knows who's on the team, which is a calculated move by Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), the [[RichBitch new team owner]]. It's all part of her ploy to get the franchise to fail so badly (and draw so little attendance) that she can void her contracts and move the team to Florida. To this end, she assembles the sorriest bunch of ballplayers she can find. (If that sounds unrealistic, keep in mind, this was before either the Miami Marlins or Tampa Bay Rays existed, and seven years before the Cleveland ''Browns'' moved to Baltimore.)

The characters include:

* Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Creator/CharlieSheen), a recently released felon with a blazing fastball and control issues (both with his pitching and his temper);
* Jake Taylor (Creator/TomBerenger), a catcher a decade past his prime and who never got over the one he let get away (Creator/ReneRusso);
* Roger Dorn (Creator/CorbinBernsen), a third baseman who is the epitome of the prima donna, more concerned with his endorsements and contract stipulations than his field play.
* Willie Mays Hayes (Creator/WesleySnipes), a leadoff man with Rickey Henderson-like speed on the basepaths who meekly pops out whenever he's at bat (thanks to his delusions of being a power hitter).
* Pedro Cerrano (Creator/DennisHaysbert), a voodoo-practicing power hitter who can't hit a curveball.
* Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross), a somewhat preachy veteran pitcher with a worn-out arm who has resorted to loading baseballs with Vaseline and, occasionally, his own snot.
* Lou Brown (James Gammon), a tire salesman (and career minor league manager) who's tapped to be the manager who presides over the madhouse.

Throughout the movie, all of the new Indians' various quirks are revealed. Dorn's rookie pranks on Vaughn earn him more than a few fights, and Vaughn later sleeps with Dorn's wife (though he didn't know who she was at the time); Taylor fights to get his ex back from her new socialite boyfriend; Cerrano prays to Jobu many times, but doesn't get any closer to hitting a curveball; Harris gets a painful karmic comeuppance for his spiritual bad-mouthing, and Lou tries to get Hayes to hit like a leadoff man rather than a cleanup hitter.

Eventually, the owner's scheme is revealed to the team, and they go from worst to first (well, tied for first) with visual aid help from her... showgirl days. They're forced into a one-game playoff with the Yankees for the American League East title, and the ending is one of the more inventive DownToTheLastPlay endings in sports movie history.

The film spawned a sequel in 1994, changing leadoff men (Hayes [[TheOtherDarrin is now played]] by Creator/OmarEpps) and leading men (Berenger for Sheen). Here, Vaughn has let the fame of the previous year go to his head, mostly seeking lucrative endorsement deals. This is elaborated by having to choose between two LoveInterests, publicist Rebecca Flannery (Alison Doody), and philanthropist Nikki Reese (Michelle Burke). One wants to build his image, the other to keep him down-to-earth.

The other team members have their own subplots.
* Taylor is cut from the team but is retained as one of Lou's assistant managers. He's replaced by new rookie Rube (a country boy who can't throw the ball back to the pitcher) and big off-season acquisition Jack Parkman (a no-nonsense guy who is pretty much the epitome of "clubhouse cancer", but is a very good hitter).
* Dorn retires and buys the team, but has to sell it back to the RichBitch after financial troubles force him to trade Parkman.
* Cerrano, having converted to Buddhism, is now a happy guy who's lost his edge until he's challenged by Japanese acquisition Taka Tanaka.
* Hayes, like Vaughn, lets the previous year go to his head and shoots a movie with Wrestling/JesseVentura in the off-season. This causes him to lose his edge on the basepaths.

Another worst-to-first comeback ensues, though under the guidance of Taylor after Lou has a heart attack; the DownToTheLastPlay ending in this one is a lot less inventive than the first. The sequel coincided with the real-life Tribe's 1990s resurgence (where they went to World Series in 1995 and 1997; in the 1997 Series they lost to the Florida Marlins, in what some would call [[{{Irony}} ironic]]).

In 1998, another sequel, ''Major League: Back to the Minors'', came out, which focused on a minor league team (The Salt Lake Buzz) with a new manager (played by Creator/ScottBakula) and a pretty much all new cast of characters. The only carryovers from the original movies are Dorn (who now owns the Minnesota Twins, who the Buzz are the AAA farm team), Cerrano, Tanaka, Baker (who are players on the team), and Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker, the announcer). This one focuses mostly on Bakula's manager, especially with his teaching methods with a hot batting prospect and a pitching prospect who has a blazing fastball but no other pitches, and his battles with the manager of the Twins (played by Creator/TedMcGinley, signifying the moment the series was JumpingTheShark).

A [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/charlie-sheen-play-mentor-role-160412 fourth movie]] is reportedly in the works.

** Averted in a similar setting in the second movie. Taylor brings out Vaughn a batter early so he wouldn't have to face Parkman, but Vaughn insisted on walking the guy to get to him... leaving the announce crew confused.
--> '''Doyle''': Obviously, Taylor's thinking... ([[{{Beat}} long pause]]) ...I don't know ''what'' the hell he's thinking!

* OhCrap: Rick's reaction in the first film to finding out his latest lay is [[spoiler:Dorn's wife.]]
** In the climax of the the first film, the Yankees third baseman [[spoiler:when he realizes that Taylor had bunted.]] He shouts "Shit!" before making a charge at the grounder.

* OverlyNarrowSuperlative: In the intro to the second film, Vaughn is described as setting a record for strike-outs in one season by an ex-con.
* ParodyCommercial: American Express in the first movie ("Don't steal home without it!") and Right Guard in the second ("Anything less would be uncivilized... upside down!")

!!This film series provides examples of:
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: In ''Back to the Minors'', the Buzz's second baseman and shortstop are (and played by) identical twins, whom Gus Cantrell labels "Juan One" and "Juan Two" to tell them apart.
-->'''Gus''': There seems to be a mistake on the lineup card, you have a Juan Lopez at second and a Juan Lopez at short.
-->'''Doc Wingate''': That's no mistake; Juan!
-->'''Juan #1''': Hello, Coach!
-->''[Juan #2 pops in frame behind Juan #1]''
-->'''Juan #2''': Buenos dias!

** In ''Back to the Minors'', the AAA Buzz play at a tiny field and barebones clubhouse akin to a low class-A team (indeed, the film was shot at Charleston's College Park, home of the then-class-A River Dogs). In real life, AAA stadiums and teams are often crown jewels for cities who in most cases do not have pro teams of their own, and sport fields and facilities not too far off in quality from their big-league counterpart (after all, organizations want their up-and-coming players to be in the best shape when called up). This is the 10,000-seat stadium the Twins' AAA affiliate from 2003-2020, the Rochester Red Wings, actually [[http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/9/4/162273794/cuts/FF_dwunaet2_ic3cjbnn.jpg play in]] compared to where the Buzz [[http://ballparkreviews.com/charlsc/college2.jpg played]].
** In the second movie, Cerrano kills a bird with a swing; he goes into the outfield to mourn the bird and has to be tagged out. In Major League Baseball rules, he's out once he abandons his effort to run to the next base.

* BigBadEnsemble: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Rachel Phelps]] and the [[OpposingSportsTeam New York Yankees]] in the first film.

* BrutalHonesty: When Gus starts giving Pops a "best for the team" speech when moving him from the outfield to first base, Pops ''asks'' for brutal honesty.
--> '''Gus''': You're too old, you're too fat, you're too slow. Straight enough?
--> '''Pops''': Yeah, yeah, that'll do it.

** Hayes does this twice in a row in the second film, each time flying out to the warning track in left field.
--> '''[[DeadpanSnarker Harry Doyle]]:''' Of course he could be pointing at the left fielder.

* UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}}: Chosen due to the Indians' mediocrity at the time.

* CrazyEnoughToWork: Taylor signaling to Brown for what amounts to a squeeze play with Hayes on ''second''. Brown notes that it's "a hell of an idea" and relays it to Coach Temple and Hayes. TruthInTelevision, it's been pulled off before, as seen [[http://m.mlb.com/video/v23645367/toroak-gose-scores-davis-from-second-with-sac-bunt here]]. Taylor's is more impressive, as it's with two outs in the inning, so he has to beat out the throw for Hayes to have a chance to score.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Downtown Anderson in ''Back to the Minors'' is a gifted hitter, but is exclusively a dead-pull hitter -- primarily hitting balls to the same side of the field that he bats from -- which makes it extremely difficult to do any damage to balls thrown on the opposite side of the plate. When Gus warns Anderson he's not major-league ready because of this, Anderson scoffs at the notion, but is immediately overmatched by major league pitching exploiting this weakness. Once demoted back to the minors, a humbled Anderson tells Gus he's ready to be coached up and is soon hitting the ball to all fields with authority as a complete hitter.

* DeadpanSnarker:
** Pretty much ''every line'' of Harry Doyle's broadcasts.
** Gus Cantrell in the third film.
*** While watching his aging outfielder try to track down a fly ball.
--->'''Bench coach''': Got a late jump on it.
--->'''Gus''': Not only that, he ran too long in the same spot.
*** Then when he gives Pops a "gift" to signal a change in position.
--->'''Pops''': This is a first baseman's glove.
--->'''Gus''': Yeah, that's what the guy at the sporting goods place said.
*** Also, Haywood of the Yankees, who has some snarky exchanges with Hayes and Taylor.
* DemotedToExtra: Lynn Wells, Jake Taylor's LoveInterest in the first movie, gets one scene in the sequel and is never even mentioned again. The same can be said for Taylor himself, who is the main character of first movie, has a much smaller role in the second, and doesn't appear at all in the third.

* DisproportionateRetribution: In the third movie, when Anderson hits a game-winning home run instead of laying down a bunt as he was told, he's benched for a 3-game series.

* EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped: With Taka several times in the third movie. (It also translates Cantrell's English to Japanese.)

** Similarly, Gus Cantrell, though he can be harsh at times (and, in fact, for the first half of the movie, the hot hitting prospect hates how he's so hard on him), gets the best out of every one of his players.

* ForeignCussword: When Rachel Phelps buys back the team in the sequel and taunts her way through the locker, Tanaka is able to toss some vicious insults at Phelps in his native Japanese. Since he does it with a polite smile and bow, Phelps thinks he's complimenting her.
** Similarly, the Asian groundskeepers in the first movie. "They're shitty" indeed.

* FunWithSubtitles: With Taka in the third movie.
* GilliganCut:
-->'''Reporter''': Hey Rick! Is it true you're moving to the bullpen?
-->'''Vaughn''': Of course not! Where do you guys get this stuff?
** Cut to Vaughn sitting in the bullpen.

* [[GoshDangItToHeck Gul Dernit to Heck!]]: Rube expresses his frustration with every minced oath in the book. You can tell [[LetsGetDangerous he's getting serious]] when he starts using real cuss words.

* HollywoodHeartAttack: Averted with Lou's. One, he doesn't actually die from it; two, no one actually knows he's having one because he's in the middle of chewing out his players at the time. He also doesn't do any of the "stereotypical" heart attack mannerisms, like clutching his chest.
--> '''Lou''': Taylor, it's not your job to make excuses. ''That's all you guys do good! It's either a '''leg''' thing, or a '''spiritual''' thing, or a '''psychological''' thing, or a '''heart attack'''''!\\
'''Jake''': Who used heart attack?\\
'''Lou''': Me. ''(collapses)''

* ICouldaBeenAContender: Pops in the third movie is a career minor leaguer whose closest sniff of the bigs was a cancelled callup.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: In the second movie Bob Uecker (Harry Doyle) starts opening day drinking Avian water, but switches to beer when the Indians lose, piling up empty bottles and moving on to hard liquor as the season progresses and things get worse and worse. Eventually, he passes out wearing a wifebeater, leaving the announcing to his hapless partner Monty. Fortunately, he improves when the team does.
** In the first film, after Vaughn strikes out Haywood to escape a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, Doyle asks, "Can you believe this, Monty?!", to which Monty simply reaches for Doyle's alcohol.
* IReadItForTheArticles: Rube actually does read ''Playboy'' for the articles... which Taylor uses to help him overcome his throwing problems. When those problems suddenly return at the end of the movie, Taylor gives him a Frederick's of Hollywood catalog.
* ImportantHaircut: In the second movie, Vaughn adopts a "corporate" image thanks to his new girlfriend and publicist, Rebecca Flannery. This includes him wearing suits and doing a commercial for Right Guard Sport Stick at a country club. He also gets rid of his trademark haircut from the first film. This new persona lasts until the final scene, where we see him now sporting his infamous hairdo once again, thereby shedding his "corporate" image and returning to his "Wild Thing" persona.
** Everything Vaughn does in that scene shows that "Wild Thing" has returned. Just before he comes out, Vaughn, off screen, finally tells off the obnoxious Indians fan who had been pestering him and insulting him throughout the film. The fan sees that "Wild Thing" has returned before we do and immediately shuts his mouth. Afterwards, he comes out of the bullpen wearing his leather vest from the original. Once people notice that "Wild Thing" has returned, the song "Wild Thing" is played over the stadium's P.A. system as Vaughn walks to the mound, recreating a scene from the first film. Vaughn then pitches while wearing his skull and crossbones glasses that he hadn't worn in the second film up to that point. All of this leads to him showing that he's gotten his intensity back and now remembers how to throw a fastball after apparently having forgotten how to do so.
*** [[spoiler:Then, after the Indians win the pennant, he dumps Rebecca after telling her that she's much too good for him and gets back together with his ex-girlfriend, Nikki, the woman who helped him bring back "Wild Thing".]]
* IronicEcho: In the first film, Vaughn's first major-league inning, he throws 12 straight balls. In the second film, his first inning Vaughn strikes out the side on nine straight strikes. Of course, things quickly go downhill from there.
** Second movie, before Cerrano's last at-bat:
--->'''Cerrano''': Parkman, my good friend. How you doin'?\\
'''Parkman''': Look at the scoreboard, Buddha, I'm doin' fine.
*** After Cerrano hits a homer to give the Tribe the lead:
--->'''Cerrano''' ''(each syllable PunctuatedForEmphasis with a stomp towards and on home plate)'': Look at the scoreboard now, grasshopper!
* KickedUpstairs: In the sequel, Jake gets cut after they bring in All-Star Jack Parkman and rookie Rube Baker. Lou softens it by hiring Jake to be one of his assistant coaches, telling him he's the smartest player he's ever managed and he'll make a great coach.
* LanguageBarrier: Tanaka hits this a few times. Perfect example is his confrontation with Cerrano in the second film:
-->'''Tanaka:''' You know... you have no... (''[[{{beat}} pauses]], grabs his translation dictionary, frantically looking through'') you have no... (''finds something, throws the book down'') MARBLES!\\
'''Cerrano:''' Marbles?\\
'''Tanaka:''' MARBLES! YOU HAVE NO MARBLES!\\
'''Cerrano:''' Marbles? (''{{beat}}, then [[EurekaMoment he realizes something]], and [[LateToThePunchline his stupefied look changes to anger]]'') ''Huevos?''
** [[DontExplainTheJoke The words for "marbles" in Spanish can also be used for "balls" in any context]]. But the common slang word for testicles in Spanish is usually the word for eggs. Hence, the word Cerrano used for his realization.

* LighterAndSofter: The PG-rated ''Major League 2'' was this to the R-rated original, which featured much more adult content and was significantly darker in tone.

** Hayes himself does this in the second movie: after hitting a high pop fly, he runs the bases, gets behind the 2nd baseman, then yells "I GOT IT!", causing him to drop the ball. [[note]] This is a big "bush league" no-no in real-life baseball and is a certain way to get a fastball at your head next time up, not to mention losing the respect of your peers.[[/note]]
* LosingTheTeamSpirit: The second movie opens like this, with members of the team either getting a swelled head from their success (Hayes, Vaughn), losing their competitive fire (Cerrano), realizing their age is catching up with them (Taylor) or retiring (Dorn).
* {{Malaproper}}: With Taka's first scene in ''Back to the Minors'':
-->'''Taka''': Family bicker. Customers complain. Everyone blames Taka. Have no... peace of brain!
-->'''Gus''': 'Peace of mind'.
-->'''Taka''': Same thing. *in Japanese* Is a duck's ass water-tight?
** In fact, in his challenge to Cerrano in the 2nd movie, he has to consult a Japanese-to-English dictionary in the midst of his rage to find the words, and the best he can come up with is "You have no marbles!"

* PersonalArcade: In the second movie, one of Rick Vaughn's new possessions is a ''Pinball/JudgeDredd'' pinball machine for his apartment.
* PoorPredictableRock: Hog Ellis in the third movie is a pitcher who can throw a dizzying fastball and that's it. He learns a decent curveball in in the last third or so of the movie, but that's still a very limited repertoire for a star pitcher (which is, of course, why he's still in the minors in the first place.)

** The third film is a rare example of making both the heroes and their opposition (the Twins) a ragtag bunch of hapless players. The reason Dorn sets up the exhibition game between them, besides money, is because he thinks the AAA club could actually beat his awful big-league team.

* RotatingProtagonist: In the first movie, the closest thing the film got to a protagonist was Berenger's Jake Taylor. In the second movie, he's KickedUpstairs to bench coach (and eventually interim manager), while the protagonist becomes Sheen's Rick Vaughn. The third movie, only tangentially related to the first two, focuses on Scott Bakula's manager character, Gus Cantrell.
* RousingSpeech: Lampshaded in the second movie, when Brown (in the hospital pending heart surgery) tells Taylor (who will be managing the team in the decisive playoff game that night) not to do it; Taylor does it anyway, complete with a thick layer of {{Narm}}. Subverted in the third movie, when Cantrell says how he hates the Rousing Speech, but it's "in my contract"... then tells his team to "win this one... for me."
** In the first two movies, Lou gives a couple of them: the "winning streak" speech, and the one he gives when he finds out about the SpringtimeForHitler plot (complete with showgirl visual aid).
** Inverted with Rachel Phelps in the 2nd movie: After they win the first three games of the series, she gives a RousingSpeech designed to make them choke... and they lose the next three games.

* SchmuckBait: Cerrano's last at bat in the 2nd movie. Parkman just called a fastball that Pedro missed by a mile.
-->'''Cerrano''': That last pitch, man... that was beautiful.
** Parkman calls the same pitch... and Cerrano crushes it.
-->'''Cerrano''': YEAH! Not as beautiful as that, though!
** Hayes also does this to Parkman. Right before drawing a walk, he tells him he'll be around to score, and that he's not going to slide. Parkman, a large catcher, is amused at the leadoff man. Sure enough, a hit brings Hayes around to home, Parkman prepares for a collision... and Hayes jumps ''over'' Parkman to score.
-->'''Hayes''': [[ExactWords I told you I wasn't gonna slide]]!
* SequelReset[=/=]SequelEscalation: They celebrated like they'd won the World Series in the first movie, only to lose the ALCS after (though it's kind of justified, as the Indians hadn't gotten even that far in ''years'').

* StatusQuoIsGod: With regards to the players in the sequel. Any player who tries to add a new dynamic to his game or life is punished for it, and the message is that these guys need to play to their strengths and leave their other ambitions behind. Hayes needs to ditch the film career and the attempt to add power to his game, while Vaughn needs to ditch his off-speed stuff and stop trying to flee his Wild Thing persona.
* StrictlyFormula: The movie could not be more clichéd (misfit team pulls together to win, with players like the catcher with bad knees, the slugger who can't connect, a runner who can't get on base, a pitcher with no control, etc.). It gets away with this by doing the old (ancient!) formula ''really well'', which sometimes counts for more than being original. Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad indeed.

* TalentDouble: Mostly averted. Virtually all the baseball scenes in the first film were done by the cast themselves; for instance, that really is Snipes making the sensational home-run-robbing catch during the finale. Anything they couldn't do well, the crew just filmed around it (with Snipes, he couldn't throw well nor run fast, so Hayes isn't seen throwing a ball and is why his running is usually in slow motion). The baseball sequences were actually shot with the actors playing ball trying to match the outcome needed to depict on film. The actors were enthusiastic about doing it, since they had to train and practice like real players, as well as living out playing major league ball in front of 25,000 people. The notable exception is Tom Berenger; former Dodger Steve Yeager (who also plays the Indians third-base coach Temple) does most of Jake Taylor's catching action. Charlie Sheen was a pitcher in high school, so he already had excellent pitching form, though speedwise he was of course nowhere close to Vaughn's high 90's.

** Not so averted in the third movie. Almost every pitched and hit ball is easily recognizable as CGI.
* TemptingFate
** In the first movie, [[TheFundamentalist Harris]] steals "Jobu's" rum and snarls a curse at him. He is promptly hit on the head by a flying bat.
** In the third movie, when Gus Cantrell asks God for a good player or just strike him dead right there, he's knocked unconscious by a line drive. Of course, he wakes up to Cerrano's smiling face in the dugout.

** This is, of course, TruthInTelevision for die-hard Cleveland Indians fans (as well as Atlanta Braves fans, Washington Redskins fans, and Florida State Seminoles fans.)

* YouAreInCommandNow: In the sequel, after Lou suffers a heart attack, Jake takes over as interim manager.

----

** Harris warming up [[spoiler:with Jobu right alongside him.]]

** In ''Back to the Minors'', the AAA Buzz play at a tiny field and barebones clubhouse akin to a low class-A team (indeed, the film was shot at Charleston's College Park, home of the then-class-A River Dogs). In real life, AAA stadiums and teams are often crown jewels for cities who in most cases do not have pro teams of their own, and sport fields and facilities not too far off in quality from their big-league counterpart (after all, organizations want their up-and-coming players to be in the best shape when called up). This is the 10,000-seat stadium the Twins' AAA affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings, actually [[http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/9/4/162273794/cuts/FF_dwunaet2_ic3cjbnn.jpg play in]] compared to where the Buzz [[http://ballparkreviews.com/charlsc/college2.jpg played]].

* ChewOutFakeOut: Dorn storms up to Vaughn on the mound before the latter is set to face Haywood in a big spot the 9th, after [[spoiler: Vaughn unwittingly slept with Dorn's wife earlier]]:

* {{Bowdlerise}}: Sits with ''Die Hard 2'' and ''The Big Lebowski'' as maybe the funniest dubbed-over-cussing TV edits in existance (for example, Dorn's IHaveJustOneThingToSay speech below replaces "motherfucker" with "guy" in a completely different inflection, sort of like what you got from the announcers in the early [[VideoGame/MaddenNFL Madden]] Playstation games).

->"''In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the attendance you haven't, the Indians have managed to win a few here and there, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar."''
-->--'''Harry Doyle''' as the Cleveland Indians begin their rise, ''Major League''

->"''Hello, Tribe fans, welcome to Major League Baseball... sort of.''"
-->--'''Harry Doyle''', [[AlcoholHic drunkenly]], when the Cleveland Indians are back int he cellar, ''Major League II''

->"''They suck.''"
-->--'''Harry Doyle''', unintentionally saying what we all thought about ''Major League: Back to the Minors''

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/majorleague1989.jpg]]

* YourCheatingHeart: One of the reasons Lynn left Jake before the events of the first film.
** Dorn is caught in the background of a news broadcast taking a girl up to his hotel room. His wife is watching the news at the time and retaliates by sleeping with Vaughn.

* FocusGroupEnding: The first movie's original ending (restored as a deleted scene in the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD) had Brown called into Phelps' office, where she reveals her RichBitch attitude and methods were all an act to motivate the players and cover for the team being bankrupt. The test audiences hated it, so the ending was reshot to preserve her antagonist personality.

** When Taylor takes him out to dinner, he chooses a place that requires ties. So he wears a tie... over his usual outfit. Vaughn's first line in the restaurant? "[[Film/WallStreet I feel like a banker]]."

* YourCheatingHeart: Hoo boy.
** Jake admits he had an affair in the past while still with Lynn.
** Lynn later sleeps with Jake [[spoiler: while still with her fiancee]].
** Dorn sleeps with a woman at a victory party, which is picked up on by his wife who is watching the celebration at home. [[spoiler: She sleeps with Vaughn as payback]].