Little Big League

It’s Mighty Monday, and Ryan is here to dive into one of his favorite movies ever: Little Big League.

When his grandfather dies, 12-year-old Billy Heywood inherits the Minnesota Twins baseball team — and decides to manage them himself. Navigating locker room politics, skeptical players, and the pressures of big league life, Billy tries to prove that heart (and kid logic) might just beat experience.

June 29, 1994 | Theatrical Release

Luke Edwards as Billy HeywoodTimothy Busfield as Lou CollinsJohn Ashton as Mac MacnallyAshley Crow as Jenny HeywoodKevin Dunn as Arthur GoslinJason Robards as Thomas HeywoodDirected by Andrew Scheinman

It’s little league baseball time, folks, and little Billy Haywood is a bit of a baseball genius. He knows all the rules and even helps the ump with a call. Unfortunately, he’s not very good at actually playing baseball himself. Billy’s grandpa, Thomas, comes to watch him play, and he just seems like a normal grandpa—until we find out he’s filthy rich and owns the Minnesota Twins.

Billy goes to a Twins game with Grandpa, and it’s clear all the players know and love him. Grandpa convinces Billy’s mom to let him come back on Tuesday night to see Roger Clemens pitch. But when Billy gets home to get ready, he finds out Grandpa has passed away—and left the team to him.

Billy takes this responsibility seriously. When he decides he doesn’t like how the manager is running things, he fires him. After a brief search, Billy appoints himself as manager. The players are skeptical, but Billy promises that if he doesn’t get the last-place Twins moving up the standings in a few weeks, he’ll resign.

Things start rocky, but after Billy implores the team to just have fun and fall in love with baseball again, they begin to win. Meanwhile, Billy’s life outside baseball starts to shift. His buddies notice he’s always busy, he has to bench one of his favorite players, and things get complicated when his mom starts dating one of his players—Lou. To make matters worse, Billy curses out an ump in front of his mom.

When his mom decides to go out with Lou for her birthday, Billy spite-benches him, which leads to a losing skid. Eventually, Billy admits he’s not having fun anymore and tells his mom he’s tired of being a grown-up. He apologizes to the team and reinstates Lou.

The Twins bounce back, and after winning their last games, they face Seattle in a one-game playoff. Down to their final out, Lou steps up to the plate. Before batting, he tells Billy he asked his mom to marry him, and she said, “Ask Billy.” Billy tells him he can marry her whether he hits a homer or not.

Lou faces Randy Johnson and smacks a long fly ball to center—it looks like a home run, but Ken Griffey Jr. robs it. Season over.

Billy tells the players he’s officially stepping down as manager. They push back, but he insists he’ll still be around as owner. The movie ends with Billy being told no one has left the stadium—they’re all cheering for him. He goes out for the curtain call.

Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtube

Interested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.