Surprisingly touching

Do kids dream of being baseball managers? Being players are a given, but “Little Big League” takes it one step further and, if nothing else, it brings a whole new meaning to the term Fantasy Baseball. This was 1994’s “Kid enters the Majors” movie and it’s surprisingly more pleasant and even serious minded than I really thought it would be.


It centers around 12 year old Billy Heywood (Luke Edwards), and the movie does something very right early on in establishing a near perfect relationship between he and his Grandpa (Jason Robards), who happens to be the Minnesota Twins owner. See, Billy is not much of a player but his baseball trivia knowledge is unmatched and he’s watched the game so often that he seems to know what the team should do more than they do.


He got a lot of this from granddad, the only man in his life and the one who inflamed his passion for baseball. Movie’s usually kill such inspirations early and this one is no exception, yet when Grandpa does go, he winds up leaving the team to the kid in his will. The will reading is a moment that surprised me. A lesser movie might have treated it as a detour to something cool and fun. But this one remembers the moment it’s in and remains somber and touching.


Not that the film isn’t fun. It is. I particularly liked Billy and his friends, who talk like kids talk, getting into conversations that don’t really mean all that much like whether or not Batman would order fast food. They quote things they see on TV and give council to each other that a 12 year old would give. “I mean if you’re rich, you don’t have to be smart. That’s the beauty of this country” is a line I liked a lot.


But as Billy becomes owner, he eventually decides he also needs to become manager to help the team and that is something the movie treats with surprising depth. It becomes a film about confidence, confidence in standing up for yourself, in making hard decisions, in separating friend from employee. In-game scenarios and problem players present like a series of tests that need to be handled.


Where the film really gets you is that Billy continues to keep his grandfather in his heart, dedicating the season and his performance to the man. Luke Edwards understands the kid, he’s sincere, kind, and generous with his players. The movie could have turned him into a brat that gets corrupted by money, fame, and other coolness but it thankfully spares us all that. The movie focuses on the fun of baseball, but also respects the profession.


Instead Billy works to gain the respect of his players and show them he knows way more than his years might indicate. This includes some funny scenes of gruff players who treat him like a gnat, and others who can’t take him seriously because he can’t even get into an R-rated movie yet. This coincides with equally funny pitfalls like hanging out with the players and realizing hotel televisions have Skine-max movies.


The movie has decent baseball action showcasing the kid really does have some cleverness up his pinstripe sleeves but it’s equally as good when it comes to dealing with emotional maturity. As his baseball star grows, the people in his old life begin to fall into the background. Friends, family, ect all take a backseat to the stressors of Big League managing and surprisingly, the movie is very smart about teaching a lesson in that.


I’m not saying “LBL” isn’t a formula movie. There are the usual cliches of silly adults, a romance between a player (Timothy Busfield) and Billy’s widow mother (Ashley Crow), too many meaningless montages, and the usual big game ending. It goes too long for the predictability of what it is but what’s nice about it is that there are some nuances and it is very sweet natured as a whole, even touching.