The Great American Pastime

This comedic look at Little League baseball and its effects on both youngsters and adults predates THE BAD NEWS BEARS by nearly 20 years. Bruce Hallerton (Tom Ewell), a young attorney, agrees to manage a baseball team to get closer to his son, but soon this endeavor turns into a nightmare, as parents begin pressuring him to give their kids the top spots on the team. When a sexy young widow (Ann Miller) comes on to Bruce to make sure her boy is allowed to pitch, the coach's jealous wife (Anne Francis), who hates baseball, learns how to keep score in order to keep an eye on her husband. Ewell steals the show as the somewhat bumbling coach who tries hard to keep every...