Carmen is f'n hilarious
mr smooth jumpin over the fence with the open gate 2 1/2 inches away.. f yeah!!
shareI found him and his New Yawk drawl very annoying and fake.
shareWe all agree pretty much his acting was bad but I thought he was one of the FEW that could actually play ball in the first three movies. The scene where Mike tells him to pitch like Carmen Ranzani he actually has a nice compact delivery although sidearm you could tell he was at least able.
share"Catfish Hunter!" That's why I didn't mind the sequel as much because they brought in Carmen (ever wonder exactly how he and Kelly met?) and Mike Leak as a similar, yet very different version of Morris Buttermaker.
shareI found him and his New Yawk drawl very annoying and fake.
At this point, I'm not sure you know what a New Yawk city drawl actually sounds like. I mean, the Baio clan (which includes Scott Baio from Happy Days fame) all migrated from NY city to LA in order to pursue a career in TV and cinema. And, from my experience, all their New Yawk drawls sound real legitimate too me. Why do you think differently? share
And it was a movie, so they had to amp it up a little to emphasise the difference between the East Coast - West Coast deal. I'm just outside of Boston and our accent gets murdered the most. Watch The Brinks Job if you want an example.
shareOh, yeah, absolutely agree daverindone with both points. And, while Jimmy Baio may have been only 15 years old at the time he appeared in "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training", however, he was already a well experienced young actor who had co-starred in 12 episodes of the short lived comedy "Joe and Sons", that also co-starred the likes of Jerry Stiller.(Ben Stiller's dad)
So, Jimmy Baio was very advanced in comedy acting for his age, and obviously knew how to play a slightly over the top, stereo typical kid from New York with terrific comedic affect. And, I thought he nailed the part of Carmen Ronzonni perfectly, and played the character just slightly more exaggerated than he normally would be in order to, emphasize the difference between the hustle, shuck-and-jive east coast persona, when compared to the far more laid back but, direct and straight forward approach of the west coast personalities.
As-far-as the Boston accent usually getting murdered by actors trying to imitate a Boston accent. Hadn't seen the 'Brinks Job' but, couldn't agree more. The Boston accent gets murdered far more often than the New York accent, even by some really great actors, like Martin Sheen and Leonardo DiCaprio in 'The Departed'.
While Matt Damon's and Mark Wahlberg's Boston accents in 'The Departed' were both top notch. But, why shouldn't they be? After all, Matt Damon's and Mark Wahlberg's are both from Boston Massachusetts so it's not like it was that much of a stretch for them to play two guys with Boston accents. Where as, Martin Sheen's Boston accent was so bad that it was really distracting, and kept taking me out of the movie every time Martin Sheen would say stuff. Leonardo's wasn't much better either.
And it wasn't like he was being portrayed as a heel-ish type, too. You had him being one of the few people to go head-to-head with Tanner and walk away relatively unscathed (taking on someone who once fought an entire grade level), only to make peace by buying a stack of Playboys. Another favorite part of mine is when Coach Leak flatly tells him to knock off all the poser crap and just throw naturally. I basically said the same thing to my son during tryouts. "Just go in and swing."
One thing I've always wondered was exactly how and when did Kelly and Carmen meet? If they had Craigslist in 1977, I imagine the ad would have been something like Pitcher Needed for Youth League, must be willing to travel with little supervision.
I think there was a scene in The Departed that had a character mention that people in Massachusetts have two accents: one for work and the other for when they're picking someone up. I've worked in and around Boston for 30 years and you can always spot someone trying to milk it for some tourist. Johnny Depp may pull it off in Black Mass, but he's a pro. People dumped on Fred Gwynn's upstate Maine drawl in Pet Semetary, but I can tell you it was spot on.
One thing I've always wondered was exactly how and when did Kelly and Carmen meet?
LOL!!! Yeah, if they had Graig's list back in '77, it would really help explain how, total west coast Kelly Leak ever met, total east coast Carmen Ronzonni. And, they meet-up without any of the other Bears knowing who Carmen was, and that Carmine was actually full of garbage about his great pitching abilities.
But, I do have a fan theory on how it was possible for this to happen. See if you agree or disagree.
This theory is mostly based on my experience of living in Scottsdale, Az. for almost 20 years from 1974-1990. Then later from 1994-1997. I've lived in Dallas, Tx for almost 20 years since. But, while living in Arizona, the local economy would often get a big boost during the winter from the huge amount of "Snow Birds" migrating from the North and North East portion of the country. Most of whom had second homes in Arizona and would stay in Maricopa County (Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale, Tempe, Sun Valley) the entire winter, then leave when the first northern spring arrives.
Believe it or not, Maricopa County in the winter time saw more people from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts than, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts did. I mean, they were every where during the winter, and much like Miami, Florida, Maricopa County also has a rather large east coast retirement community as well, located mostly in Sun Valley.
Therefore, I believe that Carmen Ronzonni's family were a tribe of Snow Birds who migrated to LA, who may have just moved or retired there. After Carmen's family gets settled into their new west coast suburban dwellings, Kelly and Carmen run into each other some place outside of the separate schools they're attending.(the mall, the park for instance)
Kelly mentions to Carmen that he's a fairly good baseball player, and Carmen being the new kid in town who wants to run with the cool west coast crowd, tells Kelly that he's a very good baseball pitcher. Kelly has his doubts about how good Carmen actually is but, is willing to buy Carmen's baseball schtick, if for no other reason than for its entertainment value.
However, before Kelley has the opportunity to determine for himself how good or bad of a pitcher Carmen actually is, a situation comes up with the Bears and they need a new pitcher as-well-as a new coach for the championship game in Houston. So, Kelly vouches for Carmen as the Bears new pitcher and gets his divorced father as the Bears coach in Houston.
How's that for a fan theory? share
That's actually quite solid! My mother tried to retire out to AZ back in 2000 and lasted all of four months. You could tell the first time she sounded depressed over missing a typical Nor'Easter. I can easily picture Carmen sort of hanging back, alone, in a 70's video arcade while Kelly took on person after person (kids and adults alike) in Air Hockey. He finally steps up and loses, but it's not a total massacre. They play again and it's closer this time. Fate lends a hand, Carmen comments on the Harley parked outside, Kelly mentions it's his and the pair end up talking baseball. As a 70's kid, that's pretty much how I spent most summers.
My other theory was that Kelly always seemed like the guy who knows a guy. Sort of like The Fonz or Ty Webb, he was a character whose outreach was almost mythical.