Get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the popular baseball movie, Major League.
Even Harry Doyle would agree there's more than juuuust a bit inside Jonathan Knight's new book, The Making of Major League ($15.95, Gray and Co.). Out this month, it's full of behind-the-scenes photos and storyboards with interviews from most of the stars of the 1989 cult classic, including creator David Ward, Tom Berenger and Wesley Snipes. As a kid, Knight loved the comedy about the misfit Cleveland Indians. "I would come home from school every day and pop it in," he says. We strike out three of our favorite set secrets.
Big Shots Most of the film uses Milwaukee's County Stadium as a stand-in for Cleveland. But a helicopter crew flew to Municipal Stadium for an overhead shot during a real-life Indians game. To get packed stands, they chose the 1988 Marathon Oil night when the company gave away 40,000 tickets. The Tribe took an extended break between innings to capture fan footage that establishes the start of an on-screen game.
Wild Card Charlie Sheen, who played pitcher Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn and wrote the book's foreword, keeps the ballcap he wore and the baseball he threw during the big strikeout scene. It's perched on a wine bottle in a special case in his house, along with a Ty Cobb baseball card and a bottle of Tabasco sauce. "Because he was throwing heat," says Knight.
Haysbert's Homer In the movie's final game, Pedro Cerrano, played by Dennis Haysbert, slams a two-run home run. Haysbert, who played baseball in high school, actually crushed the ball 370 feet out of County Stadium. "It was the first time he'd ever cleared a fence," Knight says.
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