Major League is a 1989 American sports comedy film produced by Chris Chesser and Irby Smith, written and directed by David S. Ward, that stars Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, James Gammon, Bob Uecker, Rene Russo, Margaret Whitton, Dennis Haysbert, and Corbin Bernsen.

Former Las Vegas showgirl Rachel Phelps inherits the struggling Cleveland Indians baseball team from her deceased husband.

She starts by hiring Lou Brown, 30-year manager of the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, who runs a tire store in the off season.

Spring training begins in Tucson, Arizona, with Phelps' list of players likely to fail: Jake Taylor, a former all-star catcher with bad knees; third baseman Roger Dorn, a prima donna more concerned with his financial portfolio than playing good baseball; aging starting pitcher Eddie Harris, who has resorted to doctoring the baseball; outfielder Pedro Cerrano, a voodoo-practicing power slugger who has trouble hitting breaking balls; speedy outfielder Willie Mays Hayes, who can steal bases but cannot hit; and rookie pitcher Ricky Vaughn, an ex-con who has a 100-mph fastball but no control, earning him the nickname "Wild Thing."

Early on, the players struggle to come together as a team, with a feud developing between Dorn and Vaughn, but they win some games under Brown and Taylor's leadership.

At this point, Phelps's general manager, Charlie Donovan, tired of her manipulations, reveals her scheme to Brown, who then relays the message to his team.

The game enters the ninth tied at 2, but a fatigued Harris loads the bases with two outs for star hitter Clu Heywood.

An alternate final scene included on the "Wild Thing Edition" DVD shows a different characterization: Brown confronts Phelps over her plan to sabotage the team and resigns.

[4] The film's producers said that while the twist ending worked as a resolution of the plot, they scrapped it because test screening audiences preferred Phelps as a villain.

[8] The film was notable for featuring several actors who would go on to stardom: Snipes and Russo were relative unknowns before the movie was released, while Haysbert remained best known as Pedro Cerrano until he portrayed U.S. President David Palmer on the television series 24 and the spokesperson for Allstate Insurance.

The longshoreman who is occasionally seen commenting and is shown in the final celebration inside a bar is Neil Flynn, who later achieved fame playing the Janitor in Scrubs and then the father Mike in The Middle.

The site's critics' consensus reads, "Major League may be predictable and formulaic, but [is] buoyed by the script's light, silly humor—not to mention the well-built sports action sequences and funny performances.

[citation needed] The character of veteran junk ball pitcher Eddie Harris is based on that of Gaylord Perry and his affinity for throwing baseballs doctored with vaseline, spit, or any other substance known to illegally change the movement of a pitch.

As with Rick Vaughn's character, the Wrigley Field organist played "Wild Thing" as Williams came out of the bullpen; this was changed to the rock recording from the film after he was traded to the Phillies.

[19] In the years since its release Major League has become a beloved film of many professional baseball players and announcers, and is often referenced during game broadcasts.

[20] Additionally, as part of their 2014 "Archives" set, the trading card company Topps celebrated the film's 25th anniversary by creating baseball cards (using the same design as the company's 1989 base set) of Roger Dorn, Jake Taylor, Eddie Harris, Rachel Phelps, Rick Vaughn, and "Jobu".

[21] Harry Doyle's call of a wildly off-target Rick Vaughn pitch that was "JUST a bit outside" is so well-known, film critic Richard Roeper wrote in 2019 that the line was invoked by every sportscaster in the last 30 years.

Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn and Roger Dorn are also parodied, and Arizona head coach Jay Johnson plays the role of Indians manager Lou Brown.

[26] Major League was made into and released as a sports video game, developed by Lenar and published by Irem, exclusively for the Family Computer in Japan in 1989.

A possible third sequel, Major League 3 (which was to ignore Back to the Minors), was reported in 2010 to be in development by original writer and producer David S. Ward.

Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Snipes were reported to return, with the plot revolving around Ricky Vaughn coming out of retirement to work with a young player.