Major League (movie)

In this movie, players on the Cleveland Indians learn of their owner's plans to move the team to Florida if attendance doesn't pick up. The owner is sort of a female George Steinbrenner, but unlike Steinbrenner, she makes no effort to improve her team. Indeed, she deliberately sets out to create the worst major-league team possible, hoping that the Indians' lack of success will translate to rock-bottom attendance, triggering a contract clause that would allow her to break her lease at Cleveland Stadium. The team is populated by a motley mix of has-beens, raw rookies, and seemingly fatally flawed talents.

Eventually, the Indians spoil their owner's plans by winning games and taking their division. The most memorable moment in the film is when Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Sheen), a relief pitcher who wears black horn-rimmed glasses, enters the game to the tune of a reworked version of the Troggs' Wild Thing, which the crowd sings along to.

This film apparently helped the real Cleveland Indians, too, although not as much as a change in ownership and a new ballpark (Jacobs Field). From 1995 to 1999, they won five division titles and two American League pennants. The Indians won another division title in 2001.

Despite the fact that the featured team was the Cleveland Indians, the major-league game action in the movie was shot at Milwaukee County Stadium.

The movie spawned two sequels: Major League II in 1994, and Major League: Back to the Minors in 1998.