Character Development 101: Baseball Movie Edition

Baseball season is in full swing, and to celebrate, we’ve decided to take a closer look at some of the greatest baseball-movie characters of all time - from trailblazer Dottie Hinson to Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn - the baseball-movie universe is chock full of characters who inspire us, make us laugh, cry, and cheer from our seats. We’ve put together an all-star lineup that embodies not only the spirit of the game, but the spirit of great character writing - so screenwriters, take note, if you want to improve your swing this season.

1. Jack Elliot, Mr. Baseball (1992)

One way to test your characters’ strengths and weaknesses is to take them out of their comfort zones and place them in situations that force them to grow. Aging Yankee slugger Jack Elliot (Tom Selleck) finds out he’s been traded to Japan’s Nagoya Chunichi Dragons. Despite the huge chip on his shoulder, Jack must learn to adapt to the culture and earn the respect of his teammates. Fellow American ballplayer, Max Dubois (Dennis Haysbert), tries to help, but Jack’s stubbornness and arrogance get in the way. It’s not until Jack develops a relationship with Hiroko (Aya Takanashi), the coach’s daughter, that he begins to see the error of his ways.

Best Line: “Big hit, happy body!”

2. Billy Chapel, For The Love of the Game (1999)

The key to writing great characters is understanding your characters' emotional psychology and developing backstories that dig deep into their identities. At number two, Kevin Costner (a prolific baseball-movie actor) joins our lineup as Billy Chapel, the 40-year-old starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, pitching the last game of his career against the Yanks. Through a series of flashbacks, interspersed with key moments of the game (which is called by real-life Dodger announcer Vin Scully), we’re given an unobstructed view into Billy’s emotional headspace. We learn about his rocky relationship with Jane, his history with some of the batters he’s pitching against, and glimpses into his childhood. Billy also has one of the coolest Jedi mind tricks of any movie pitcher, in which he can block out the noise of the stadium by whispering the words “clear the mechanism” to himself on the mound. The context of the game is also used to bring us closer to Billy's character. The Tigers have been in last place all season, so the game revolves completely around Billy’s performance and how well he pitches - and whether he can pitch a perfect game. As an added bonus, J.K. Simmons plays a spot-on Jim Leyland-type.

Best Line: "The cathedral that is Yankee Stadium belongs to a Chapel!"

3. “Crash” Davis, Bull Durham (1988)

Compared to Costner’s Billy Chapel, “Crash” Davis is an underdog - a minor league catcher who spent 21 glorious days in the Majors, and is now given the task of coaching and wrangling in young and wild rookie pitcher “Nuke” LaRoosh (Tim Robbins). Nuke plays the perfect foil to Crash’s unsung hero. A catcher on the way out, Crash believes there’s something he can still teach this wide-eyed hooligan. But his teachings are complicated by the fact that they are both in love with Annie (Susan Sarandon), a baseball groupie-guru who believes she has the power to fix ballplayers. We feel for Crash because he’s made all the right moves, still cares about the game, but hasn’t had the success he deserves. At the end, he has at least one sweet victory, breaking the minor league home-run record, which provides enough satisfaction for him to finally retire as a ballplayer and become a single-A manager.

Best Line: “I believe in the Church of Baseball. I've tried all the major religions and most of the minor ones. And the only church that truly feeds the soul, day-in day-out, is the Church of Baseball.”

4.     Dottie Hinson, A League of Their Own (1992)

Next at bat is Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) of the Rockford Peaches. She and her younger sister Kit (Lori Petty) travel all the way to Chicago to try out for the first All-American Girls Baseball League. Dottie’s character reveals a tug-of-war between the expectations placed on her by society (to have children and become a housewife) and her own dreams and desires (to continue playing professional ball). Dottie and Kit bump heads on the field, and emotions spike when Dottie convinces coach Dugan (Tom Hanks) to relieve Kit from the mound after showing signs of fatigue. Rumor has it that in the original screenplay, there was more of a will-they-won’t-they storyline between Dottie and Dugan, which is vaguely noticeable in the way the last few scenes are acted. Dottie’s a good example of a character whose actions are ultimately defined by external forces and social context.

Best Line: “There’s no crying in baseball!”

5. Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez, The Sandlot (1993)

Let’s face it, we all look up to characters who take risks and face their fears. These types of characters - the ones who aren't afraid to steal home - tend to live on in our minds FOR-EV-ER… When they’re not swooning over Wendy Peffercorn at the local pool, Benny Rodriguez and his motley crew of friends are playing ball in a dusty sandlot. Woe to those who hit one over the fence, because on the other side lives a vicious hound (or so they imagine), nicknamed “The Beast”. One day, Smalls hits his first homer with a ball he stole from his step dad that happens to be signed by the Great Bambino himself. After a series of failed experiments to get the ball back, Benny musters up the courage to hop over the fence after being visited in a dream by Babe Ruth. He laces up his P.F. Flyers and challenges The Beast to an epic footrace across town.

Best Line: “You’re killin’ me, Smalls!”

6. Jackie Robinson, 42 (2013)

One of the biggest challenges screenwriters face is writing about history and dramatizing people and events from the past in ways that draw out specific themes, but don't betray the facts. The film, 42, follows Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) in his first season as a Brooklyn Dodger - the year Robinson broke the color line for Major League Baseball. The film captures the grisly racial climate of 1947 as well as the pressures Robinson faced as an athlete. Screenwriter Brian Helgeland zeros in on Robinson’s frustrations and isolation from the team, and Boseman plays Robinson with a stoic demeanor that shows reflections of both inner toughness and vulnerability. The decision to focus so tightly on the year 1947, instead of spanning across multiple years of Robinson’s career, is an interesting choice. It doesn’t skip back and forth between the good times and the bad; it’s an unrelenting emotional journey.  

Best Line: “We had a victory over fascism in Germany. It's time, time we had a victory over racism at home.”

7. The Cast of Major League, Major League (1989)

Writing and imagining an ensemble group of characters is no easy feat, which is why we’ve included the entire cast of Major League, from ex-convict Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) who has on-and-off-the-field control issues, to Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes), probably the best named, but the worst hitter, to Voodoo-practicing second baseman, Pedro Ceranno (Dennis Haysbert), and cocky, lovestruck catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger). This ragtag team of players is purposefully assembled by the team's new owner to lose the season so she can move the franchise to Miami. Predictably, the team rises to the occasion in a raucous, spirited manner…. and hilarity (that stands the test of time) ensues.

Best Line: “JUST a bit outside.”

8. Miguel “Azúcar” Santos, Sugar (2009)

Baseball movies tend to fall into two categories: zany comedies or inspirational dramas. They often shy away from too much adversity. The reality of the game, however, begs for a deeper character study, and the story of Miguel “Azúcar” (“Sugar”) Santos, played by newcomer Algenis Perez Soto, is one of those stories. Sugar’s journey is not so much about the game, but about learning who he is in a system that has always dictated he should be a ballplayer. Sugar steers clear of the clichés about victory and defeat, and prefers to contemplate what lies between. He’s a young, Dominican pitcher who lives and breathes baseball at the “baseball academy”. In his English classes, he learns words such as “Got it!” and “Line drive”. You begin to realize just how important baseball is to his future and lifting his family out of poverty. After a brief stint in Arizona, Miguel finds himself in Iowa, living with an elderly couple and still hoping to break through the minor leagues.

Best Line: “Life gives you lots of opportunities. Baseball only gives you one."

9. Henry Rowengartner, Rookie of the Year (1993)

For most pre-teen girls of the early 90s, Rookie of the Year was a seminal baseball movie.12-year-old dreamboat, Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas), miraculously gains the ability to throw a 103-mile fastball when the tendons in his right arm heal too tightly after a little league injury. He eventually gets noticed by the Cubs general manager and is scouted for the team. A big part of this story is about Rowengartner learning the competitive nature of the adult world and the harsh realities of professional sports. He also gets the chance to work with one of his all-time heroes, Chet "Rocket" Steadman (Gary Busey), who teaches him the finer points of the game. Rowengartner is faced with the reality that his gift won't last forever, but showing that he's wise beyond his years, realizes it's more important to enjoy his time as a kid.

Best Lines:  Larry Fisher: "Hey, kid! How'd you like to play for the Chicago Cubs?"

                   Henry Rowengartner: "Great! But I gotta ask my mom first."

And there’s our lineup! We hope you’ve learned some fun tips for character writing, while humoring our enthusiasm for baseball season. If you want to to add to this discussion, please feel free to leave a comment below!