Synopsis: A compedy that sheds light on a little-known chapter of American sports history, its story is of a struggling team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The league was formed when the recruiting of soldiers during World War II resulted in a shortage of men's baseball teams. The AAGPBL continued after the war (until 1954), and this film depicts the league in full swing, beginning when a savvy baseball scout finds a pair of promising new players in small-town Oregonian sisters Dottie and Kit Hinson. The sisters are signed to play for the Rockford Peaches near Chicago, whose new manager, Jimmy Dugan, is a former home-run king who wrecked his career with alcoholism. They're all a bunch of underdogs, but nevertheless establish a colorful team of players, all with the same passion and love for the game. But times change, and the professional girl ballplayers find themselves changing as well.

Cast:
Tom Hanks .... Jimmy Dugan
Geena Davis .... Dottie Hinson
Madonna .... Mae Mordabito (center field)
Lori Petty .... Kit Keller
Jon Lovitz .... Ernie Capadino
David Strathairn .... Ira Lowenstein
Garry Marshall .... Walter Harvey
Bill Pullman .... Bob Hinson
Megan Cavanagh .... Marla Hooch (2nd base)
Rosie O'Donnell .... Doris Murphy (3rd base)
Tracy Reiner .... Betty "Spaghetti" Horn (left field)
Bitty Schram .... Evelyn Gardner (right field)
Don Davis .... Charlie Collins (Racine coach)
Renιe Coleman .... Alice Gaspers (left field/center field)
Ann Cusack .... Shirley Baker (left field)

Favorite Quotes:
• Ira Lowenstein: "Until you did that, I couldn't tell if you were...drunk or dead."
Jimmy Dugan: "It was made very clear to me what I'm supposed to do here. I smile, wave my little hat... I did that, so when do I get paid?"
Ira Lowenstein: "Now, Jimmy, you have some pretty good ballplayers here. You ought to give them a little bit of your--"
Jimmy Dugan: "Ballplayers! I don't have ballplayers, I've got girls! Girls are what you sleep with after the game, not what you coach during the game!" [spits, & his saliva lands on Lowenstein's shoe]
Ira Lowenstein: "If we paid you a little bit more, Jimmy, do you think you could be just a little more disgusting?"
Jimmy Dugan: "Well, I could certainly use the money."

• "By the way, I loved you in The Wizard of Oz." - Jimmy Dugan

• "There's no crying in baseball!" - Jimmy Dugan

• "This is what it's going to be like in the factories, too, I suppose, isn't it? 'The men are back, Rosie, turn in your rivets.' We told them it was their patriotic duty to get out of the kitchen and go to work; and now, when the men come back, we'll send them back to the kitchen." - Ira Lowenstein

Notes:
• A League of Their Own marked the second baseball movie David was in (the first being Eight Men Out.)
• The elder Dottie and Kit in the film were played by Lynn Cartwright and Kathleen Butler, but their voices were actually dubbed by the younger actresses Geena Davis and Lori Petty.
• Tom Hanks' character, Jimmy Dugan, is loosely based on real-life baseball slugger Jimmie Foxx.
• Madonna co-wrote the theme song for the film "This Used To Be My Playground", and she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for it.
• After they bring out the Peaches for their first game, and announce all of them, they run out on the field. In the background, you can see Rosie O'Donnell trip over a wire and fall down.

Critical Praise & Commentary:
• "On the supporting side of things, David Strathairn does a fine job of being the league's biggest supporter and Garry Marshall gives another splendid side performance as Walter Harvey." -Zach B., DVD Launch Reviews

• "And the supporting cast is tremendous: Rosie O'Donnell when she was funny, an endearing Madonna before she went really crazy. Then there's Jon Lovitz's brash humor, Bill Pullman and David Strathairn's quiet solemnity, and David L. Lander's play by play." -Pete Croatto, FilmCritic.Com

Related Links:
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (off site)