Time in the Minors (2010)

Director
Tony Okun

Main cast
Tony Schrager; John Drennen

Genres
Documentary

Description
Every year in June, nearly 2,000 athletes out of high school and college are chosen from an amateur baseball draft to play in the minor leagues. This inspiring documentary follows the lives of two young players on their arduous journey to launch Major League Baseball careers. As one faces his final year to tryout, another player wrestles with the pressure of keeping his million-dollar first-round draft contract intact. This thrilling and emotional journey illuminates the power determination can have on whether dreams are achieved or lost.


Similar movies

Actor Dustin Hoffman narrates this decade-spanning documentary that highlights the contributions of Jewish Americans to the most American sport of them all: baseball. Highlights include a rare interview with legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax.
The absurd true story of the legal battle over the "Million-Dollar Baseball." Barry Bonds' record setting 73rd home run ball sparks a melee in the stands at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco. One guy caught the ball, another guy ended up with it. Who is the rightful owner? The lawyers can't agree; the fans can't agree; even the wisened professors of property law can't agree. This is a story documenting the hilarious lengths to which someone will go for a baseball, and the few fans that will put their lives on hold for years, staking everything on one judge's decision.
A look back at the history of major league baseball in Houston, starting with its humble beginnings at Colt .45 stadium, to the massive grandeur of the Astrodome and the birth of the Astros. Enjoy many of the great moments in Houston's baseball history including Ken Johnson's no-hitter, which he lost, Don Wilson's spectacular performances on the mound, and Nolan Ryan's triumph in overtaking Walter Johnson's strikeout record, just to name a few. Relive the story of the Astros as told by the stars who experienced it: like Rusty Staub, Joe Morgan and Mike Scott. From an expansion team in 1962 to today's National League Western Division Champions, "A Silver Odyssey" captures a quarter-century of history, humor and excitement.
Baseball, Dennis & the French tells the true story of Paul Croshaw, longtime liberal activist and connoisseur of French films, who amazed his family, friends and himself by becoming a churchgoing, conservative Christian after years of listening to nationally syndicated radio host Dennis Prager. - Written by B. Deters
Jack Elliot, a one-time MVP for the New York Yankees is now on the down side of his baseball career. With a falling batting average, does he have one good year left and can the manager of the Chunichi Dragons, a Japanese Central baseball league find it in him?
Small-town sisters Dottie and Kit join an all-female baseball league formed after World War II brings pro baseball to a standstill. When their team hits the road with its drunken coach, the siblings find troubles and triumphs on and off the field.
An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league in this magical sports fantasy. With the aid of a bat cut from a lightning struck tree, Hobbs lives the fame he should have had earlier when, as a rising pitcher, he is inexplicably shot by a young woman.
Scotty Smalls moves to a new neighborhood with his mom and stepdad, and wants to learn to play baseball. The neighborhood baseball guru Rodriquez takes Smalls under his wing. They fall into adventures involving baseball, treehouse sleep-ins, the desirous lifeguard at the local pool, the snooty rival ball team, and the travelling fair.
"42" is the powerful story of Jackie Robinson, the legendary baseball player who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier when he joined the roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The film follows the innovative Dodger's general manager Branch Rickey, the MLB executive who first signed Robinson to the minors and then helped to bring him up to the show.
The story of the life and career of the famed baseball player, Lou Gehrig.
True story of Kent Stock, who in the early 90's, gives up a job and ditches his wedding plans to take over as head coach as the Norway High School baseball team. Kent must win over his players and convince them and himself that he can fill their former coach's shoes and that they can go out winners. In the summer of 1991 Norway High's baseball tradition ended on a triumphant but sombre note.
Veteran catcher Crash Davis is brought to the minor league Durham Bulls to help their up and coming pitching prospect, "Nuke" Laloosh. Their relationship gets off to a rocky start and is further complicated when baseball groupie Annie Savoy sets her sights on the two men.
Slowed by age and failing eyesight, crack baseball scout Gus Lobel takes his grown daughter along as he checks out the final prospect of his career. Along the way, the two renew their bond, and she catches the eye of a young player-turned-scout.
Aging baseball star who goes by the nickname, Mr. 3000, finds out many years after retirement that he didn't quite reach 3,000 hits. Now at age 47 he's back to try and reach that goal.
A scientist discovers a formula that makes a baseball which is repelled by wood. He promptly sets out to exploit his discovery.
Director Robert Mulligan's 1957 biographical drama stars Anthony Perkins as Jimmy Piersall, the baseball player whose career was interrupted by his battle with mental illness. The cast also includes Karl Malden, Norma Moore, Adam Williams and Perry Wilson.
The actual members of the Hong Kong Baseball Team all prove themselves to be natural actors by playing themselves in this fictional youth drama set in 2004. In a city where baseball culture is non-existent, these baseball players are a minority by choice. The experience teaches them to be free-thinkers in dealing with love, friendship and their own sexuality. It also enables them to find the will to live in the face of death and the strength to conquer losing in a spectatorless sport.
12-year-old Henry Rowengartner, whose late father was a minor league baseball player, grew up dreaming of playing baseball, despite his physical shortcomings. After Henry's arm is broken while trying to catch a baseball at school, the tendon in that arm heals too tightly, allowing Henry to throw pitches that are as fast as 103 mph. Henry is spotted at nearby Wrigley Field by Larry "Fish" Fisher, the general manager of the struggling Chicago Cubs, after Henry throws an opponent's home-run ball all the way from the outfield bleachers back to the catcher, and it seems that Henry may be the pitcher that team owner Bob Carson has been praying for.
Ray Kinsella is an Iowa farmer who hears a mysterious voice telling him to turn his cornfield into a baseball diamond. He does, but the voice's directions don't stop -- even after the spirits of deceased ballplayers turn up to play.
In a last-ditch effort to save his career, sports agent JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) dreams up a wild game plan to find Major League Baseball’s next great pitcher from a pool of cricket players in India. He soon discovers two young men who can throw a fastball but know nothing about the game of baseball. Or America. It’s an incredible and touching journey that will change them all — especially JB, who learns valuable lessons about teamwork, commitment and family.
The story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball team on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.
Jim Morris never made it out of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Now a married-with-children high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, Jim's team makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try out with a major-league organization. The bet proves incentive enough for the team, and they go from worst to first, making it to state for the first time in the history of the school. Jim, forced to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the try-out field--until he gets onto the mound, where he confounds the scouts (and himself) by clocking successive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim's still got a lot of pitches to throw before he makes it to The Show, but with his big-league dreams revived, there's no telling where he could go.
A baseball legend almost finished with his distinguished career at the age of forty has one last chance to prove who he is, what he is capable of, and win the heart of the woman he has loved for the past four years.
The Wolves baseball team gets steamed when they find they've been inherited by one K.C. Higgins, a suspected "fathead" who intends to take an active interest in running the team. But K.C. turns outs to be a beautiful woman who really knows her baseball. Second baseman Dennis Ryan promptly falls in love. But his playboy roommate Eddie O'Brien has his own notions about how to treat the new lady owner and some unsavory gamblers have their own ideas about how to handle Eddie.
A coming-of-age romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Local boy Ryan Dunne (Freddie Prinze Jr.), now a pitcher for Boston College, meets Tenley Parrish (Jessica Biel), the daughter of a wealthy couple who summer on the Cape. Ryan and Tenley fall in love, much to the chagrin of their families, while Ryan clings to one last hope of being discovered and signed to a pro baseball contract.
The baseball player (William Bendix) goes from wayward youth to Boston Red Sox pitcher to New York Yankees home-run hero.
Joe Mazzello, best known for his acting roles in Jurassic Park, HBO's The Pacific, The Social Network, etc, wrote and made his directorial debut with this story based on his brother's experience as a collegiate baseball star who was skipped over in the Major League Baseball draft. Story centers around an intramural baseball game with his misfit teammates that becomes incredibly important to him as he tries to come to grips with his dashed dream.
Morris Buttermaker is a burned-out minor league baseball player who loves to drink and can't keep his hands to himself. His long-suffering lawyer arranges for him to manage a local Little League team, and Buttermaker soon finds himself the head of a rag-tag group of misfit players. Through unconventional team-building exercises and his offbeat coaching style, Buttermaker helps his hapless Bears prepare to meet their rivals, the Yankees.
Biography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century. Traces his career in the negro leagues and the major leagues
The great Chicago White Sox team of 1919 is the saddest team to ever win a pennent. The team is bitter at their penny pincher owner, Charles Comiskey, and at their own teammates. Gamblers take advantage of this opportunity to offer some players $ to throw the series (Most of the players didn't get as much as promised.) But Buck Weaver and the great Shoeless Joe Jackson turn back at the last minute to try and play their best. The Sox actually almost come back from a 3-1 deficit. 2 years later, the truth breaks out and the Sox are sued on multiple accounts. They are found innocent by the jury but baseball commissioner Landis has other plans. The eight players are suspended for life, and Buck Weaver, for the rest of his life, tries to clear his name.
Film adaptation of the George Abbott Broadway musical about a Washington Senators fan who makes a pact with the Devil to help his baseball team win the league pennant.
Baseball prodigy Jubeh Yakyu is the most feared and dangerous juvenile delinquent in all of Japan. After accidentally causing the death of his father with a super-powered, deadly fireball pitch, Jubeh swore off baseball and became a criminal and now, at 17, has been sent to the Pterodactyl Juvenile Reformatory for hardened criminals. Headmistress Ishihara, the granddaughter of a World War II Nazi collaborator, runs the institution with an iron fist and the enthusiastic help of her sadistic assistant, Ilsa. After arriving at the hellhole, Jubeh soon learns from governor Mifune that his long-lost, younger brother Musashi had also done time there after a murder spree, but had since died mysteriously…
Battlefield Baseball is a tough game--it doesn't end until all the members on the opposing team are dead. In this game the Gedo High team is composed of blue-faced zombies, and their opponents on the Seido High team know they don't have a chance at beating them unless they can bring back a star pitcher who has a lethal pitch called the Super Tornado, but who has hung up his cleats and has no desire to return to the game.
Kim Sang-nam (Jeong Jae-yeong), a hot-tempered former professional baseball player, is sent to the countryside to coach a team of hearing-impaired players in order to avoid media coverage of his recent involvement in an assault case. At first, Kim has a difficult time imagining how he can teach baseball to a group of boys who can't hear, but as he spends time with them he starts to believe that they can play the game. Motivated, Kim decides to help them prepare for the nationals. But things don't go the way Kim plans and their difficulties communicating with one another exacerbates the situation
A 15-year-old circus ringmaster Wei-wei is left all alone with gorilla Ling-ling after grandfather passes away. Thanks to her grandfather's love for baseball, Ling-ling was trained to play baseball and has developed remarkable hitting skills. The materialistic sports agent Sung Chung-Su hears of this remarkable gorilla, and signs Ling-ling to play in the professional South Korean baseball league. Dreaming of success, World's first gorilla pinch hitter and his 15-year old trainer begin on their run in the Korean Baseball League.
Al Stump is a famous sports-writer chosen by Ty Cobb to co-write his official, authorized 'autobiography' before his death. Cobb, widely feared and despised, feels misunderstood and wants to set the record straight about 'the greatest ball-player ever,' in his words.
A Taiwanese high school baseball team travels to Japan in 1931 to compete in a national tournament.
When Rachel Phelps inherits the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband, she's determined to move the team to a warmer climate -- but only a losing season will make that possible, which should be easy given the misfits she's hired. Rachel is sure her dream will come true, but she underestimates their will to succeed!
Josh is off to his first year of college and buddy has stayed behind with joshs little sister andrea and the rest of the family. Adrea attempting to fit in with her jr. High classmates decides to join the baseball team and along the way discovers that buddy is a talented baseball player.
A successful professional baseball player gets his ego in check via an unreality check when he travels back in time to his boyhood sandlot ball-playing days.
The Chairman of the Minnesota Twins passes away and in his will, leaves his grandson, Billy Heywood, ownership of the team. Billy appoints himself the new manager. But will the proud, arrogant arrogant players of the team, be willing to take orders and tactics from a 12 year old boy?
While Jane Holman (Mastrantonio) is driving with her two sons, she accidentally runs into a drifter, Jack McCloud (Swayze), who breaks his leg. Being responsible, Jane invites Jack, and his dog, to stay at her home until his leg has healed. Jack struggles to adapt their lifestyle, and finds himself loved by the family. He starts teaching baseball to Tom, who misses his father, who was lost in the Korean war. Jack and Tom develop a strong bond of friendship. Meanwhile, Gunny believes that there is more to Jack and Betty Jane than meets the eye... We learn that Jack, is Jack McCloud, a Star White Socks baseball player in 1941, who dropped out of the league, after his first season, and; "was never heard from again" ... A wonderful story. We witness magic between a boy's imagination, and Jack's dog, and are never sure if we are witnessing imagination or magic by the dog. A story of friendship, family, and learning that life isn't always as cut and dried as we often believe.
The story of a New York pro baseball team and two of its players. Henry Wiggen is the star pitcher and Bruce Pearson is the normal, everyday catcher who is far from the star player on the team and friend to all of his teammates. During the off-season, Bruce learns that he is terminally ill, and Henry, his only true friend, is determined to be the one person there for him during his last season with the club. Throughout the course of the season, Henry and his teammates attempt to deal with Bruce's impending illness, all the while attempting to make his last year a memorable one.
Larry Burrows is unhappy and feels powerless over his life. He believes his entire life could have turned out differently had he not missed that shot in a baseball game when was a kid. One night he meets this mysterious man, who could change his fate by offering him that alternative life he always dreamed of. But as Burrows embarks on this journey of self discovery he realises that even this new life has its problems and drawbacks..
Director Jang Jin's first romantic comedy presents a rare love story between a once famous baseball player and his ardent lover. Dong Chiseong (played by Jeong Jaeyeong), a star baseball pitcher in high school and college, hurts his shoulder, and is replaced as an outfielder. What is worse, he experiences a constant nose-bleeding and hears from the doctor that he has only three months to live due to a malignant tumor in his lung. Deeply depressed, he goes to a bar to drink away his sorrows until he falls asleep. A pretty bartender Han Iyeon (Lee Nayeong), finds him passed out and picks him up and carries him home.
When his star recruit botches a Major League Baseball debut, humiliated talent scout Al Percolo (Albert Brooks) gets banished to rural Mexico, where he finds a potential gold mine in the arm of young phenom Steve Nebraska (Brendan Fraser). Soon, the Bronx Bombers put a $55 million contract on the table -- provided a psychiatrist (Dianne Wiest) can affirm Nebraska's mental stability. Watch for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner's cameo.
In rural Connecticut, baseball players Ben and Mickey are trying to survive a zombie plague. They are forced to form a battery: a catcher and a pitcher who work together to outwit the batter, the one who hits the ball. And the batter in this case just happens to be a zombie. Tough Ben and gentle Mickey frequently disagree on the best way to go about the situation. Then they suddenly hear a human voice through their walkie-talkies. Is salvation nearby, like Mickey thinks, or is Ben’s suspicion justified?
A trio of guys try and make up for missed opportunities in childhood by forming a three-player baseball team to compete against standard little league squads.
Fact-based story of a young boy who lost his right arm in a childhood accident, but went on to fulfill his dreams of playing major-league baseball. The story of Pete Gray.
Roger is a foster child whose irresponsible father promises to get his act together when Roger's favourite baseball team, the California Angels, wins the pennant. The problem is that the Angels are in last place, so Roger prays for help to turn the team around. Sure enough, his prayers are answered in the form of angel Al.
Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money and a pro baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons. When the team protests, publicist Eric Yeager convinces them Rhubarb is good luck. But Eric's fiacee Polly seems to be allergic to cats, and the team's success may mean new hazards for Rhubarb.
Biography about the late Pittsburgh Pirates hall of famer.
Ex-baseball player Bill Johnson (William Bendix'), failing at many jobs when his ball-playing days are over, reluctantly takes the advice of his father-in-law, Jonah Evans (Ray Collins), a retired umpire, and enters an umpire-training school. Assigned to the Texas League, he does fine until the championship play-offs when a riot develops over one of his calls. The involved player is knocked unconscious in the proceedings and cannot verify that Bill made the correct call. Despite lynch mob plans to at least tar-and-feather him, Bill's family - his daughters Lucy (Gloria Henry and Susan (Connie Marshall ) and his wife Betty (Una Merkel) - help Bill reach the ballpark safely the next day through a series of hair-raising encounters.
Major League Baseball scout must find promising young player to save his job and his team.
Coop's an ex-ballplayer is now a peanut vendor, who takes too much of an interest in the game. But he's passed on his craze for baseball to his son, Christie. When his dad gets fired, Chris makes friends with the former team owner's niece (and her boyfriend Pete), and not only gets his dad's job back, but a batboy position for himself. With his dad's help, Christie begins to make a few suggestions here and there. And as a publicity stunt, the team makes him their youngest manager on record. But when Chris gets sick, Coop has to come to the rescue.
Jack Cooper (Matt LeBlanc) could be a world-class baseball pitcher if he didn't keep buckling under the pressure. He tries to keep his spirits up after he's traded to a minor league team but loses all hope when he discovers that Ed, one of his teammates, is a chimp. Ed used to be the team mascot, but was promoted to third base when the owners realized he had a talent for baseball. As Jack struggles to get used to his new surroundings, Ed helps him regain his confidence on and off the field.
Two losers from Milwaukee, Coop & Remer, invent a new game playing basketball, using baseball rules. When the game becomes a huge success, they, along with a billionaire's help, form the Professional Baseketball League where everyone gets the same pay and no team can change cities. Theirs is the only team standing in the way of major rule changes that the owner of a rival team wants to institute.
Based on the award-winning novel by Rusty Whitener, Season of Miracles follows the Robins, an underdog Little League team through their 1974 season with newcomer and autistic baseball savant, Rafer. Team leader Zack takes Rafer under his wing despite taunting from their rivals, the Hawks.
Poor health and alcoholism force Grover Cleveland Alexander out of baseball, but through his wife's faithful efforts, he gets a chance for a comeback and redemption.
After her husband runs off with his secretary, Terry Wolfmeyer is left to fend for herself -- and her four daughters. As she hits rock bottom, Terry finds a friend and drinking buddy in next-door neighbor Denny, a former baseball player. As the two grow closer, and her daughters increasingly rely on Denny, Terry starts to have reservations about where their relationship is headed.

© Valossa 2015–2024