Jake Taylor
Played By: Tom Berenger
The team's aging catcher who see his opportunity with the Indians as his last chance at stardom. He also tries to win back his old girlfriend, Lynn.
- The Alcoholic: He's hungover at the start of the first film when he gets the call inviting him to play for the Indians, and judging by his bedroom, this is a pretty common state for him, perhaps a case of Drowning My Sorrows due to the fact that the end of his baseball career is rapidly approaching. He stays away from overindulging when he makes the team, however; he occasionally shares one or two drinks with friends but is never seen drunk.
- Calling Your Shots: Invoked, lampshaded and then subverted. Early in the first film when he first gets to the Indians' stadium, Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) steps up to the plate and imagines successfully calling a home run. Near the end of the movie he pulls out this Chekhov's Gun during the Big Game, apparently emulating the famous occasion where Babe Ruth did this. Then he bunts, and the Yankees are completely unprepared for it.Harry Doyle: What's this? Taylor is pointing to the bleachers! He's calling his shot! Nobody's done this since Babe Ruth in the '32 World Series!
- Dented Iron: Due to his age. His arm strength has faded and his knees are shot, but he still has the drive and determination to want to succeed at the highest level of his sport, and his experience and cleverness help him pull off unlikely victories in dire circumstances.
- Foreshadowing: Inside the empty stadium, Taylor imagines himself calling his shot a la Babe Ruth and hitting a home run. He tries this ploy in the climactic game, although he subverts it by making the shot call a fakeout - he's tricking the fielders into backing up slightly in preparation for a big hit, and are unprepared when he bunts.
- Glory Days: He's a former All-Star whose skills have deteriorated thanks to age and chronic knee injuries. He has some trouble letting go of his past glories, and is painfully aware that the opportunity to play in the majors again in the first film is almost certainly his last chance to do so.
- Guile Hero: No longer the athletic talent that he once was, Taylor now uses his experience and cleverness to navigate around issues, using tactics like distracting batters from the other team. It also helps him keep the team from falling apart due to internal divisions.
- The Leader: Acts as a (perhaps unofficial) team captain, mentoring younger players, smoothing over rivalries and divisions, and doing his best to juggle the different egos and outlooks of all the different players.
- The Mentor: To Hayes and especially Vaughn. And somewhat reluctantly, to Rube, his replacement as catcher in the second film.
- Motor Mouth: Jake is this behind the plate to get in the heads of the hitters. Truth in Television as baseball's slow pace allows for a lot of chatter amongst players.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The normally level-headed team leader threatens to castrate Dorn if he ever lacks for hustle again. Dorn's prima-donna antics pretty much stop after that.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: When he calls out Dorn for deliberately tanking a play.Jake Taylor: Ya know Dorn, I liked you so much better when you were just a ballplayer. You were really great, once. If you wanna be an interior decorator now, that's none of my business. But some of us still need this team. Now you listen to me! This is my last shot at a winner, and for some of the younger guys, it could be their only shot! I don't know what happened to you, but if you ever, ever tank another play like you did today, I'm gonna cut your nuts off and stuff 'em down your fuckin' throat!
- Take a Third Option: When Lou reveals the Springtime for Hitler scheme to the team, he lets them know that if they didn't finish last to the point where Phelps could move them, she would dump the whole team and try it again. Jake prefers a third option since they'll be out of jobs soon: "Win the whole fucking thing." The team agrees.
- You Are in Command Now: In Major League II, Jake becomes the acting manager when Lou has a heart attack.
Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn
Played By: Charlie Sheen
A hot-headed pitcher fresh out of jail who has control issues with both his pitching and his temper. This earns him the nickname "Wild Thing".
- Blind Without 'Em: Not truly blind, but Lou eventually realizes the problem with Rick's control: he needs glasses.
- Check, Please!: This is his reaction when a beautiful woman (who is actually the wife of his teammate Roger Dorn), comes up to him in a bar and openly spells out that she wants to have sex with him.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After learning Lou is selecting Harris to start the do-or-die game with the Yankees.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Dorn, even after Vaughn unknowingly sleeps with his wife.
- Groin Attack: When Vaughn hits a cardboard pitching dummy during spring training. The dummy collapses in pain. He also takes a dummy's head off with a pitch.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Vaughn has a temper and a tendency to explode at the nearest target when it's set off, which is something Dorn gleefully exploits for rookie hazing and various pranks.
- Nerd Glasses: He was fitted with them in the first movie.
- Off with His Head!!: That plywood cutout of a batter vs. Vaughn's wild fastball. Vaughn's fastball won.
- Oh, Crap!: Rick's reaction in the first film to finding out his latest lay is Dorn's wife.
- Skeleton Motif: Has a skull and crossbones on the nosepiece of the Nerd Glasses that he wears while pitching.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps:
- During spring training...Lou Brown: (to Vaughn) They tell us you're a pitcher; you're sure not much of a dresser. We wear caps and sleeves at this level, son! Understood?
- During the American Express ad in the film, he's wearing a Tux with the sleeves torn off.
- 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? "I feel like a banker."
- During spring training...
- Trade Your Passion for Glory: In the second film he's ironically become very much like his rival and apparent polar opposite Roger Dorn. Vaughn has become obsessed with his image and money, while also being scared of cutting his career short by hurting his arm, not unlike how Dorn was lazy on defense to avoid getting injured. And worst of all, he's become a corporate sellout, attempting (badly) to do work on pitching products and making commercials. Naturally all of this makes him a much less effective pitcher, as his drive is gone and he only rarely uses his famous fastball.
Roger Dorn
Played By: Corbin Bernsen
The team's star third baseman. While he still has talent, he's a prima donna who's primarily focused on making money through his investments and redecorating his house. As far as his play goes, his main goal is to retire without any injuries and to torment the rookies.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: An athletic version. He has the talent with an ego to match.
- Bad "Bad Acting": In the American Express commercial. He reads his lines with weird emphasis, then snaps his fingers a second too late. Ironically, he'd previously expressed an interest in going into acting upon retirement.
- A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted: His fate in the second movie. All the money he'd been saving and investing over the course of his career is blown when he overspends to buy the Indians from Rachel Phelps and then brings in expensive, big name players like Parkman. It might have worked out for Dorn if the team had immediately continued their winning ways from the previous season... but team dysfunction and various players losing their edge or selling out meant the team did not start well and quickly drifted into last place. He's then forced to sell the team back to Phelps just to avoid losing everything.
- I Have Just One Thing to Say: "Strike this motherfucker out!"
- Jerkass: In addition to his prima donna ways, he needlessly antagonizes Vaughn and cheats on his wife.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Once Taylor convinces him to snap out of it, he starts putting the team ahead of himself, even after Vaughn unknowingly sleeps with his wife.
- My Fist Forgives You: Dorn to Vaughn during the celebration at the end of the first movie. He then helps him up and they hug it out to end their feud.
- Precision F-Strike: Dorn approaches Vaughn on the mound when he comes in to pitch to Haywood in the final game, and Vaughn is expecting to get his ass kicked for sleeping with Dorn’s wife. Instead, we get this gem:Dorn: Let’s cut through the crap, Vaughn. I’ve only got one thing to say to you...STRIKE THIS MOTHERFUCKER OUT!!!
- The Prima Donna: Dorn is an all-star player who knows that he's the player with the biggest name on the team and thus is certain that he's completely untouchable. He spends much of the movie treating the sport like a joke; he argues with his manager that his contract means he doesn't have to do any exercise he doesn't want to, he hazes and torments the rookies both during training camp and the regular season, and he deliberately blows a play that could have resulted in them losing a game. Taylor roughly snaps him out of the worst of it with his "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Dorn, and the knowledge that even he's expendable in Rachel Phelps's plan gets Dorn to fully commit to playing his best.
Lynn Weslin
Played By: Rene Russo
A librarian and Taylor's former girlfriend who has become engaged to a well-to-do man.
- Demoted to Extra: She only appears in one scene in the second film where she and Jake discuss whether he should take Lou's assistant coach job offer.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: A quiet argument between Jake and Lynn in the library about an affair he had while they were dating escalates to where she screams, "WHAT A BUNCH OF BULLSHIT, I HAVE A MUCH BETTER BODY THAN SHE DOES!", causing the library patrons to take notice at the pair. Both are pretty sheepish about it, with Jake shrugging, "She's right."
- The Heart: Becomes this more and more as the film goes on as the Indians start winning again and Taylor starts winning her back. She's definitely this by the end.
- Hot Librarian: It's Rene Russo playing a librarian, so this is a given.
- Nerd Glasses: As part of her day job.
- Old Flame: To Taylor. It's rekindled at the end of the film.
Willie Mays Hayes
Played By: Wesley Snipes (first film) Omar Epps (second film)
An outfielder and the team's leadoff man. He just showed up at camp, apparently not even on Phelps' list, and managed to impress Coach Brown with his speed and determination. He sure as heck can run like (Bob) Hayes, but despite his assertions he sure as heck can't hit like (Willie) Mays.
- Badass Boast: Hayes tells Haywood that he bought 100 pairs of batting gloves for the season, "one for every base I'm gonna steal." He promptly gets picked off, but during the Indians' late-season Miracle Rally, he's seen nailing more and more pairs of battling gloves to his wall.Hayes: Excuse me while I take my first steps towards the Hall of Fame!
Haywood: My ass.- And then there's this gem in the final game:
Heywood: Going somewhere meat?
Hayes: 'Bout 90 feet. And then he does, despite everyone in the stadium knowing he's about to attempt a steal. - Lightning Bruiser: Likes to imagine himself as a baseball version of this, imagining that he can hit home runs and run around the bases too fast to catch. In the first film Brown gets him to stop trying to get big hits and focus on just getting on base and using the speed he legitimately has to create opportunities. In the second film he spent the offseason attempting to bulk up and build up his power hitting, but he doesn't quite have the strength to hit homers, with a lot of his attempts falling just short and turning into long outs. Once again he has to face reality and focus on his strengths instead of trying to be something he's not.
- Miles Gloriosus: At first. He talks a big game right away, predicting all the feats he's going to accomplish, but he keeps falling a little short. As he gets experience and keeps trying however, he starts (mostly) living up to his own hype.
- Motor Mouth: He's excitable and can talk almost as fast as he runs.
- Mysterious Past: It's never stated where Hayes came from or how he showed up to the Indians' spring training. Touched on by Doyle, who tries to find notes about Hayes' background when talking about him, only to give up and remark that "we don't know where Hayes played last season, but I'm sure he did great."
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's almost certainly inspired by baseball hall of of fame outfielder Rickey Henderson
, who by the end of his long and illustrious career would hold numerous records, including for most stolen bases. Henderson could also hit with significant power, as he would just shy of 300 home runs in his career, something that Hayes desperately wants to do but can't match. Also, much like Hayes, Henderson was known for having a brash, entertaining, and flat out weird personality. - Refuge in Audacity: Pretty much hustles his way onto the team before earning his spot outright.
Eddie Harris
Played By: Chelcie Ross
A veteran starting pitcher for the team who doctors the ball with various materials, such as his own snot, due to his advanced age and worn out arm.
- Dented Iron: An old pitcher whose arm is worn out from his years in baseball and has to rely on illegally doctoring the baseball.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Cerrano. The two start off with big differences over their religions and Harris can't resist the opportunity to tweak Cerrano. Harris gradually tones this down and becomes more accepting of Cerrano's eccentricities.
- The Fundamentalist: The team's resident devout Christian.
- Hypocritical Humor: When Cerrano interrupts Harris' locker room prayer, Harris yells out in frustration, "Jesus Christ, Cerrano!" Harris is also reading a Hustler magazine on the airplane while mocking Cerrano's self-crossing during the turbulent flight.Harris: Sure, now you come around! He's not fooled! [goes back to Hustler]
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The old pitcher who uses an assortment of hidden greases and gels (and occasionally his own snot) to load the ball, is clearly based on famed spitballer Gaylord Perry.
- Tempting Fate: In the first movie, Harris steals "Jobu's" rum and snarls a curse at him. He is promptly hit on the head by a flying bat.
Pedro Cerrano
Played By: Dennis Haysbert
A power hitting outfielder, this Cuban immigrant and voodoo practitioner consistently hammers fastballs but completely whiffs on curveballs.
- The Big Guy: The biggest guy on the team and its premier power hitter, who is given multiple shots shirtless and working out to show how ridiculously strong he is.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Harris. Harris begins the film by constantly messing with Cerrano and disrespecting his beliefs, but the two eventually become friends despite their differences.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: When Cerrano puts on a light show during his first batting practice, Lou is flummoxed how he fell into their laps.Lou: Jesus, this guy hits a ton, how come nobody else picked up on him?Temple: Ok, Eddie, that's enough fastballs, throw him some breaking balls.(Harris throws him a curveball that Cerrano whiffs by a good foot and a half)Lou: Oh...
- Good Is Impotent: In the second film he has embraced a Hollywood version of Buddhism to the extent that he now seems more like a blissed out hippie. This robs him of a lot of his competitive drive and ability, making him a much less talented player.
- Scary Black Man: Very much played with. On the one hand he's a huge, dark skinned, very muscular guy who shaves his own head with an enormous knife and follows voodoo, complete with rituals involving large snakes. On the other hand he's a friendly and jovial guy who (mostly) laughs off jabs at himself and his religion and seems like he's a good friend and great company. Pretty much everyone (besides Harris) decides not to mess with him just due to his size and general weirdness.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: After relying on his god all his life to bring him luck, Pedro finally decides, at his last at bat, he has to do it on his own. And he does.
Lou Brown
Played By: James Gammon
The team manager, he has spent his entire career managing in the minor leagues and has never before coached at the major league level.
- Cool Old Guy: He certainly knows how to have fun when his team is winning, and to give humorous yet effective discipline when they're not. He pulls this Ragtag Bunch of Misfits into a badass ball team. He's a tough disciplinarian but clearly loves the colorful and crazed players he's got.
- Deadpan Snarker: When you've seen it all, and can tell what kind of team the Indians are, you're bound to be.
- Father to His Men: 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.
- Gut Feeling: Lou summons Vaughn to face Haywood in the ninth inning, in a tie game with runners on. Taylor questions it (Haywood had homered in the two previous times he faced Vaughn), but Lou coolly says, "I got a hunch he's due." Ricky proves him right.
- Heroic RRoD: In Major League II, Lou tries to rally the team and simultaneously give them a "Reason You Suck" Speech, trying anything to lift the increasingly apathetic team out of mediocrity. As he throws himself more and more into it, yelling and raging at the group, he abruptly realizes that he's suffering from a heart attack, and it takes him out of action for the remainder of the season.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He calls out his team when they make lame excuses for their poor performance.Lou Brown: (after Rachel Phelps leaves the Indians' locker room) Come on, you're not going to let her get you down, are you? You guys won last year just to spite her. Maybe she's what we need!
Jake Taylor: Ah, Skip, they were a different team last year.
Lou Brown: Taylor! It's not your job to make excuses! THAT'S ALL YOU GUYS DO GOOD!!! (to Hayes) IT'S EITHER A LEG THING!! (to Cerrano) OR A SPIRITUAL THING!! (to Vaughn) OR A PSYCHOLOGICAL THING!! OR A HEART ATTACK!!!
Jake Taylor: Who used "heart attack"?
Lou Brown: Me. (collapses)
Pepper Leach
Played By: Andy Romano
Lou's snarky assistant manager and 1st base coach.
- Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much his entire character.
- Pintsized Powerhouse: While not a very large man, he nonetheless literally picks up and carries Vaughn away and off the field on Opening Day when Vaughn is arguing with the umpire after being thrown out.
- Satellite Character: Exists to interact with Lou and share some one-liners.
Harry Doyle
Played By: Bob Uecker
The team's play-by-play announcer who's more colorful than the team itself.
- The Alcoholic: Drinks whiskey throughout his broadcasts. In fact, based on the way he slurps loudly a drink mid-sentence, he barely hides the fact he is drinking on the job.
- Character Catchphrase: "Juuuuuuust a bit outside," is often treated as though it was his catchphrase, even though it's only said once.
- Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much every line of his broadcasts.
- Greek Chorus: All too fittingly.
- Large-Ham Announcer: Harry Doyle combines elements of both this and Cuckoolander Commentator.
- Promotional Consideration: Parodied when Doyle can't find who the sponsors are for the post-game show. "Christ, I can't find it. To hell with it!"
- Understatement: The aforementioned "Juuuuuuuuuuust a bit outside..." when in actuality the pitches were so far away from the strike zone that poor Jake was diving after every one, bad knees and all.
- Unreliable Narrator: To punch up the radio calls for the tepid Indians games, Doyle tends to comedically embellish the action, such as reporting Hayes's check-swing dribbler as a scorching grounder that the second baseman had to knock down.Haywood: You really knocked the crap out of that one.
- During Vaughn's streak of 12 consecutive balls: "How can these guys lay off pitches that close?"
- His description of opposing players is equally as colorful. His description of the Yankee's closer:
Doyle: The Duke leads the league in saves, strikeouts per inning, and hit batsmen. This guy threw at his own kid during a father-son game.- And of their power hitter:
Doyle: Here comes Clu Haywood, who leads the league in most offensive categories, including nose hair. When this guy sneezes, he looks like a party favor.
Charlie Donovan
Played By: Charles Cyphers
The team's former manager who was promoted to general manager to make room for Lou Brown.
- Blowing a Raspberry: Phelps gets a huge one from him when she tells him to sit down instead of cheering when Cerrano hits the tying home run in the final game.
- Kicked Upstairs: By Rachel Phelps. It doesn't necessarily work.
- Minion with an F in Evil: He goes with Phelps's plan reluctantly. By mid-season his conscience wins out and he tells Lou what's going on.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's aghast at Phelps's plan and lets Lou in on the plot.
Rachel Phelps
Played By: Margaret Whitton
The Indians owner and former showgirl who takes over for her late husband. She hates Cleveland and plans to move the team to Miami by having the team perform so poorly that attendance drops low enough to break the city's lease.
- 0% Approval Rating: Especially once the team discovers her scheme.
- Big Bad: Of the first film.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Establishes herself as this in record time.
- Can't Take Criticism: Her response to an article questioning whether or not she is a capable owner is throwing the article in the trash. Said questioning is quickly justified, of course.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Sabotages the team anyway she can.
- Eating the Eye Candy: On some occasions when she's interacting with the team in the locker room, she is not shy about eying up some of the more impressively built guys, such as Cerrano.
- Evil Diva: A former showgirl and turned into a greedy, unfeeling .
- Evil Plan: Knock attendance down to the point that she can break the lease to the stadium and move the Indians to Miami.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Well, more like Face of an Angel, Mind of an Evil Boss.
- Gold Digger: Implied to have been one for the previous team owner.
- Greed: The main reason for her plan to move the team to Miami.
- Ice Queen: Is dismissive of just about everybody.
- Lack of Empathy:
- Her response when she finds out one of the players on her invitation list is dead? "Cross him off, then."
- She also shows no qualms or sympathy about shorting the players on medical equipment or treatment, mocking the complaints about this by saying the players have to get tougher and asking if they're a bunch of pansies.
- Les Collaborateurs: In a business sense. She's actively working with Miami to work on undermining the Cleveland team so they can move to Miami.
- Rich Bitch: With fur coat and small dog to boot.
- Springtime for Hitler: Her scheme to relocate the Indians to Miami in the first movie is based on deliberately putting together a terrible team that will utterly fail. She hopes that the team will perform so badly it'll cause attendance to drop to the point where she can get out of the contract with the city and move the team. Naturally the team turns out to be better than expected, and even worse for her, when the players learn about her plan, they decide to win big just to spite her. The miracle rally the team has late in the season makes them very popular with the local fans, who begin attending games in record numbers, wrecking her scheme entirely.
Clu Haywood
Played By: Pete Vuckovich
The resident power hitter of the New York Yankees who antagonizes the Indians.
- Always Someone Better: To Vaughn until the ending.
- Arch-Enemy: To the rest of the Indians, but especially Vaughn.
- Look Behind You: Haywood gets Hayes picked off of first by telling him his shoe's untied.
- Stout Strength: He's a big guy with a gut who crushes the baseball whenever he comes up to bat.
Jack Parkman
Played By: David Keith
An arrogant star catcher that joins the team in the second film. However he despises the motley team and refuses to make any attempts to bond with his new teammates. He gets traded from the Indians to the White Sox before long, and this causes him to become a nemesis to the Indians for the rest of the season.
- Actually Pretty Funny: He's amused when the considerably smaller Willie implies that he's going to attempt to tackle Parkman when heading for home. He did not expect that when Willie said "I won't be sliding", that Willie was going to jump over Parkman entirely.
- Arch-Enemy: After being traded from the Indians he picks up the role Heywood had in the first film, as a power hitting star player on the Opposing Sports Team who destroys Vaughn's pitching.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He's the most talented player on the Indians, and he knows it.
- Deadpan Snarker: While his sense of humor is cutting and mean, there's no doubt that he's quick to think of put downs and responses.Parkman: [After Vaughn throws a pitch during practice] What do you call that garbage?
Vaughn: It's my eliminator. I've got another pitch. You get a piece of it, I'll let you name it.
Parkman: [Hits the ball out of the park] I'd, uh, call it the masturbator. - Evil Counterpart: He's essentially like an even worse version of Roger Dorn in the first movie. Both Dorn and Parkman are arrogant star players that act like a dick. The differences are that Dorn can actually be fairly gracious to old teammates and friends, while Parkman is a jerk to everyone around. Also Dorn was coasting on his past performance and had at least something like a point for doing so, as he tells Jake he wants to preserve his body and health, while Parkman does it just to be a jerk and he's that high on his own ego.
- Jerkass: Parkman is unrelentingly rude and nasty to everyone on the Indians, viewing them all as overhyped losers.Jake: Say Parkman, I just want to say that even though we're competing for the same position, I'm glad they signed you. You're a good ball player.
Parkman: Cut the crap, Taylor. I don't like you and you don't like me. Just don't blame your bum knees when I take your job. - Mighty Glacier: He's a power hitter packed with muscle. When running over Rube (who is not a little guy himself), at home plate, Parkman compares himself to a train. He won't be setting any speed records, however.
- Perma-Stubble: Parkman always looks like it's been somewhere in the range of three days to a week since his last shave.
