History Film / DeathOnTheDiamond

* DeadpanSnarker: Larry. When another player points out that Dunk (the catcher) led the team in hitting last year, Larry says "Oh yeah? Look where he led them to!"

''Death on the Diamond'' is a baseball-themed 1934 mystery film directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Robert Young.

[[caption-width-right:321:Dunk eats a poisoned hot dog.]]

* ArtisticLicenseSports:
** The Cardinals win their Opening Day game 4-2 on a two-run hit in the bottom of the ninth. The only problem is that a baseball game immediately ends when the home team takes the lead in the bottom of the ninth or extra innings, so since the hit wasn't a home run, the game should have ended 3-2 when the first run crossed the plate.
** Expensive free agents like Larry Kelly were not a thing in baseball at this time, due to the reserve clause, and would not be a thing for another 40 years. One might HandWave this by saying that Larry was pitching for some other baseball organization, like the Pacific Coast League.

* HisNameIs: Dunk, who has been poisoned, is asked who called Higgins to the phone. He starts to raise a trembling finger, only to collapse to the ground in death.
* ImpairmentShot: A blurry shot from the POV of poor unfortunate Dunk, looking at his teammates as he's dying from eating poisoned mustard.

* ManlyTears: "Crawfish", the umpire, breaks down and sobs when his friend Dunk dies.
* RunningGag: Dunk's inordinate fondness for hot dogs. When he has a hot dog knocked out of his hand, he pulls another one out from inside his suit.

* WeInterruptThisProgram: A radio announcer says "Pardon me folks for interrupting this broadcast," as he takes the microphone from a singer to to deliver the latest report of a Cardinal being murdered. This may be the TropeMaker.

The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cardinals St. Louis Cardinals]] arrive for spring training. The team did not do very well the previous year, so owner/manager Pop Clark, determined to turn things around, went out and signed star pitcher Larry Kelly (Young). Cocky young Larry immediately falls for Pop's pretty daughter Frances (Madge Evans), who is the team secretary. Pop doesn't have time to worry about that, though: he mortgaged his interest in the team to buy Larry, and if the Cardinals don't win the pennant, Pop loses control of the team to the man who loaned him the money, Harry Ainsley. There's also a gangster, Joe [=McEvoy=], who accepted a lot of bets on the Cardinals and stands to lose a million dollars if St. Louis wins the pennant.

[[caption-width-right:321:Dunk eats a poisoned hot dog]]

''Death on the Diamond'' is a 1934 mystery film directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Robert Young.

The St. Louis Cardinals ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cardinals a real Major League Baseball team]]) arrive for spring training. The Cardinals did not do very well the previous year, so owner/manager Pop Clark, determined to turn things around, went out and signed star pitcher Larry Kelly (Young). Cocky young Larry immediately falls for Pop's pretty daughter Frances (Madge Evans), who is the team secretary. Pop doesn't have time to worry about that, though: he mortgaged his interest in the team to buy Larry, and if the Cardinals don't win the pennant, Pop loses control of the team to the man who loaned him the money, Harry Ainsley. There's also a gangster, Joe [=McEvoy=], who accepted a lot of bets on the Cardinals and stands to lose a million dollars if St. Louis wins the pennant.

Some scenes were shot in the actual St. Louis Cardinals stadium, Sportsman's Park. A pre-stardom Ward Bond appears briefly as a cop, a pre-stardom Creator/MickeyRooney appears briefly as the bat boy, and a pre-stardom Walter Brennan appears even more briefly as a hot dog vendor.

''Death on the Diamond'' is a 1934 film directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Robert Young.

* ArtisticLicenseSports: The Cardinals win their Opening Day game 4-2 on a two-run hit in the bottom of the ninth. The only problem is that a baseball game immediately ends when the home team takes the lead in the bottom of the ninth or extra innings, so since the hit wasn't a home run, the game should have ended 3-2 when the first run crossed the plate.

The Cardinals surprise everyone by rocketing to the top of the standings. Someone out there is determined to stop the Cardinals from winning, however, so they result to murder. As the season heads for the home stretch the Cardinals players have to concentrate on winning the pennant and staying alive.

* HisNameIs: Dunk, who is dying, is asked who called Higgins to the phone. He starts to raise a trembling finger, only to collapse to the ground in death.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: When Larry, on the mound, sees Patterson sticking the bomb in the sleeve of his jacket, he turns and throws a perfect fastball to nail Patterson in the head. This may seem improbable, but Larry ''is'' a major-league pitcher.

* SeriousBusiness: Well, sure, baseball is important. But a baseball team probably wouldn't keep playing out the schedule while the players were being murdered. In one scene a Cardinals player is shot and killed by a sniper when running from third base from home, ''and they keep playing the game''.

The St. Louis Cardinals ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cardinals a real Major League Baseball team]]) arrive for spring training. The Cardinals did not do very well the previous year, so owner/manager Pop Clark, determined to turn things around, went out and signed star pitcher Larry Kelly (Young). Cocky young Larry immediately falls for Pop's pretty daughter Frances (Madge Evans), who is the team secretary. Pop doesn't have time to worry about that, though: he mortgaged his interest in the team to buy Larry, and if the Cardinals don't win the pennant, Pop loses control of the team to the man who loaned him the money, Harry Ainsley. There's also a gangster, Joe [=McEvoy=], who accepted a lot of bets on the Cardinals and stands to lose a million dollars if St. Louis wins the pennant.

The Cardinals surprise everyone by rocketing to the top of the standings. Someone out there is determined to stop the Cardinals from winning, however, so they result to murder. As the season heads for the home stretch the Cardinals players have to concentrate on winning the pennant and staying alive.

Some scenes were shot in the actual St. Louis Cardinals stadium, Sportsman's Park. A pre-stardom Ward Bond appears briefly as a cop and a pre-stardom Walter Brennan appears even more briefly as a hot dog vendor.

* ArtisticLicenseSports: The Cardinals win their Opening Day game 4-2 on a two-run hit in the bottom of the ninth. The only problem is that a baseball game immediately ends when the home team takes the lead in the bottom of the ninth or extra innings, so since the hit wasn't a home run, the game should have ended 3-2 when the first run crossed the plate.
* BigGame: The season finale with the pennant on the line. Larry starts out pretty shaky, because he's pretty sure there's someone in the stadium who is out to kill him.
* DeadpanSnarker: Larry. When another player points out that Dunk (the catcher) led the team in hitting last year, Larry says "Oh yeah? Look where he led them to!"

* GilliganCut: A fan at the final ballgame says "Everything ought to be all right; they've got all these cops." Cut to a cop in a stadium tunnel, lying on the ground either unconscious or dead.

* HisNameIs: Dunk, who is dying, is asked who called Higgins to the phone. He starts to raise a trembling finger, only to collapse to the ground in death.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: When Larry, on the mound, sees Patterson sticking the bomb in the sleeve of his jacket, he turns and throws a perfect fastball to nail Patterson in the head. This may seem improbable, but Larry ''is'' a major-league pitcher.
* LaughingMad: The killer is none of the more likely suspects, but Patterson the groundskeeper, a former major-league player who played for Pop. He blames Pop for the failure of his baseball career and thinks he could manage the team better than Pop. His villain rant ends with him screaming "I planned it! I planned it all!", then laughing maniacally.

* RunningGag: Dunk's inordinate fondness for hot dogs. When he has a hot dog knocked out of his hand, he pulls another one out from inside his suit.

* SeriousBusiness: Well, sure, baseball is important. But a baseball team probably wouldn't keep playing out the schedule while the players were being murdered. In one scene a Cardinals player is shot and killed by a sniper when running from third base from home, ''and they keep playing the game''.

* WeInterruptThisProgram: A radio announcer says "Pardon me folks for interrupting this broadcast," as he takes the microphone from a singer to to deliver the latest report of a Cardinal being murdered. This may be the TropeMaker.