There are many lessons a practicing Catholic can take away from a sport like baseball.  For example, there is a play in the sport known as a “sacrifice.”  It is intentional, too, where a batter essentially gives up his time at the plate for the greater good.  If successfully done, the hitter is rewarded by not having points deducted from their average.  Speaking of success at the dish, to be considered good, one has to be comfortable with a certain level of struggle.  The best sluggers fail around seventy percent of the time.  Fielding also takes teamwork, with double, or the even more rare triple, play taking many players working in concert.  Finally, there is the communication required of a pitcher and his catcher.  Having a relationship with God requires communication, being a part of a parish means relying on others, and Faith in general takes a constant effort on our part.  Today’s movie, Major League (1989), is a comedy, and being about America’s pastime, one might expect more focus on jokes and less about actual play.  Yet, we can see these principles on display throughout, making it a fairly satisfying viewing experience.

One of the least principled persons around, Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), takes over Cleveland’s Major Leaguebaseball team known as the Indians.  As a brief aside, they changed their name to the Guardians in 2022.  Regardless of how they are known, they have not won anything since their World Series victory in 1948.  Rachel intends to keep it that way, inheriting the club from her deceased husband and intending to move the organization to Miami.  Because they have contractual obligations, they cannot simply relocate, but most have a horrendously bad season with low attendance in order to be released from their legal bindings.  In order to accomplish this, she directs her general manager, Charlie Donovan (Charles Cyphers), to assemble a group of nobodies that have little chance of success.  This means an ensemble cast that will be introduced as needed.  Yet, to give you an example of what is intended, the manager they tab to lead the team is Lou Brown (James Gammon), a local mechanic.  The main player on which the most time is spent is Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), a former All-Star catcher whose worsening knees have sent him and his talents south of the border.  They all assemble in Arizona for Sprint Training, and as they progress through those early months, the main concern among the players is whether they will find the dreaded red slip in their locker.  This means a summons to Lou’s office, and either a demotion to the minor leagues or being cut entirely from the team.  Every star makes it, though hard throwing pitcher Ricky Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), who is also an ex-convict, opens his door to a crimson piece of paper.  Worried that his erratic play, which earns him the nickname “Wild Thing,” has brought him ill fortune, he yells at Lou in anger only to learn that it had been a prank played by the overpaid third baseman, Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen).  This is the beginning of a feud between the two that will last throughout the season.  Still, as official play begins, the Indians get off to a predictably bad start.  For Jake, his performance is not his only concern.  While having dinner with his teammates, he sees his ex-girlfriend, Lynn Weslin (Rene Russo).  He is still interested her, but she is there with her current fiancé, though this does little to deter Jake in showing Lynn that he is reformed.  This includes finally reading Moby Dick, albeit in comic book form, in order to impress the bookish Lynn.  These measures have some effect on her, but it is with the team the biggest turnaround occurs.  With a little over forty games to go, they are not in last place as Rachel hopes, but they do not appear poised to go much further.  This is when Charlie reveals to Lou that Rachel had expected the Indians to fail miserably with the hopes starting over in Florida.  Lou uses this revelation to galvanize the players, and they begin winning in earnest.  It comes down to the final contest of the season against the dreaded New York Yankees, the best in baseball, to see who will win the division.  This means conquering a long-time nemesis, particularly with Ricky and Yankees slugger Haywood (Pete Vuckovich), who had hit a few homeruns off the Wild Thing during the season.  This time around, Ricky strikes out Haywood.  With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, walk-on Willie Mays Hays (Wesley Snipes) uses his impressive speed in order to beat out an infield single.  Willie proceeds to steal second base.  Next up is Jake, who riles the opposing pitcher by pointing to the bleachers as if to signal that is where he is going to hit the baseball.  Instead, he gets down a weak swinging bunt and proceeds to put the last of his strength into his veteran knees to make it safely to first base.  As the infield attempts to make the play, Willie is hustling around third base and scores before he can be tagged out.  This means the Indians have won.  Rachel is mad, but Jake is glad because Lynn is there, having broken off her engagement.  And despite the fact that Ricky had slept with Roger’s wife, with an avenging punch, the two former rivals are hugging each other.

As you can see, playing Major League baseball can bring out the best and worst in people.  The film uses the tension for comedic purposes, and we see this play out in some ways worth noting from a Catholic perspective.  The obvious one would be the Cuban outfielder Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert).  He is portrayed as a practitioner of voodoo, which is considered a religion in the Caribbean, and one with which the Catholic Church has had problems.  Voodoo is also practiced more in Cuba’s neighbor, Haiti, though this is a relatively minor quibble.  There are caveats.  Because it uses practices that are considered witchcraft, the Church has, at times, actively fought against it.  Over the years, however, voodoo has come to incorporate elements of Catholicism, like a veneration of the Virgin Mary.  This does not equate to the Church condoning the practice of voodoo.  What frustrates that position is the way these local customs and practices are a part of the fabric of Haitian society.  The official religion is Catholicism, but many in the country take part in some voodoo rituals.  One can see this attitude in the film when veteran pitcher Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross) opines that Pedro give up his voodoo idol Jobu for an image of Jesus.  Pedro smiles and says that he loves Jesus, which is comforting to hear.  However, it is an incomplete sentiment.  Pedro continues making offerings to Jobu, which is in conflict with Catholic teaching that there are no other gods but God.  That is the first of the Ten Commandments, by the way.  What makes matters worse is that in the last game while Eddie is warming up in the bullpen, he has his own Jobu standing next to him.  In other words, the Christian is sinning.  I applaud that it means that two people have put aside their differences for a higher cause.  I just wish it did not have to involve blasphemy.

This blasphemy is not the only objectionable aspect about Major League.  There is some coarse language, and sexuality is a key part of the story.  At the same time, I was impressed with the level of skill of those doing the baseball playing.  On balance, there are worse films to see, and there are some fun moments.  This one is a toss-up.