Only in Cleveland … One of the great joys of watching sports is that there’s always a chance you will see something you’ve never seen before. Sometimes, it’s dramatic. No-hitters. Last-second Hail Mary touchdowns. And sometimes, it’s just hilarious …
Perryton is about as far away from pro sports as a town in Texas can be. The only high school had an enrollment of 450 students. None of them, including a future American League Rookie of the Year, played baseball for the school, because the school had no baseball team. “They had football and basketball in the fall and winter, and in the spring, they had track and golf,” Hargrove said. “I was on the golf team because I hated to run.”
At the dawn of the 1990s, whenever the Indians did anything of note, local and national reporters couldn’t resist drawing parallels with Major League. In 1990, to promote the first full Indians season since the release of the film, the team introduced a new marketing slogan, which would be printed on pocket schedules and incorporated into a radio jingle: “A Major League Good Time” …
Considering what it would ultimately lead to, it was a decidedly undramatic moment. But, as mundane as it was, the salvation of a despondent baseball franchise began with the ringing of an office telephone …
“Out of all the movies I’ve ever done,” says Rene Russo, who catapulted from Major League into a fantastic Hollywood career, “that’s the one that more people come up to me to talk about. It really is a cult classic. Not even cult, really. Everybody just loves that film.” The movie has become part of baseball’s life cycle. As the snow begins to melt in late March, fans gather in rec rooms and basements and replay the movie in a cherished ritual that indicates a new baseball season is about to begin.
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