Young screenwriters grab a pencil and a notepad, because David S. Ward’s Major League will take you to school.

 

This is, without a doubt, the quintessential sports comedy of the last 50 years.

 

It tells the story of the lowly Cleveland Indians who are left for dead by their owner, Rachel Phelps, who would love nothing more than to see them fail so she can re-locate the team from baseball Siberia in Cleveland to the much warmer and bigger Miami.

 

However, the team isn’t about to roll over. You better believe the Indians are ready to do everything in their power to keep Phelps from getting what she wants.

 

Charlie Sheen is barely old enough to legally purchase alcohol when he stars as “Wild Thing” Rick Vaughn in the 1989 classic, yet he turns in the performance of his career. Sheen plays the badass relief pitcher with 15 karat gold for an arm, but no control, and he nails it to say the very least.

 

As great as Sheen was in this movie, it is clearly Wesley Snipes in the role of Willie Mays Hayes that steals the show, and believe me, that’s saying something.

 

Hayes is the talented, cocky, speedy and hilarious Centerfielder for the Indians, and he is the one guy who sticks in my mind the most.

 

His basket catches and brash attitude finds it’s way into your heart, and is every bit as unforgettable as his real-life counterpart Willie Mays.

 

In addition to these two, Bob Uecker and Dennis Haysbert (Pedro Cerrano in the movie) turn in performances worth noting.

 

Overall, this is more than just a movie offering cheap laughs, it’s a great turnaround story of a baseball team, and anything funny is just the icing on the cake.

 

I give this movie 10 out of 10, and you can consider that a conservative rating.