Yesterday’s death of James Gammon, best known — to me, at least — as Lou Brown, the crusty manager of the Indians in the 1989 film Major League, made me think first of the funny lines he had, from “You may run like Hayes, but you hit like shit,” to “Get in front of the damn ball, don’t give me this “olé” bullshit.”
Old Lou (turns out he wasn’t so old after all, as Gammon was just 49 when the movie was released) was just what you would want in a manager. Firm and direct, demanding the best from his players. And clearly not taking any bullshit. But compassionate as well, as we saw when he had to explain to Ricky Vaughn why he was being passed over for the final start of the season.
So Brown was a great movie manager. But was he the best? Here are some of my favorites, and my pick for the one I’d want to manage my fictional team.
Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), A League of Their Own
Dugan clearly had no interest in the position coaching “a bunch of girls” but gradually grew into the job. Of course, he delivered maybe the most famous managerial line in movie history, asserting that their is “no crying in baseball…” But as an ex-Big Leaguer, when motivated, he knew his stuff and helped lead the Rockford Peaches to the championship game.
Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau), The Bad News Bears
Also a reluctant skipper forced into a situation he neither wanted nor was ready for, Buttermaker was worn down by his troops and, in the end, did the right thing. His biggest strategical decision — having Kelly Leak catch everything he could — turned out to be a morale-killing disaster, but he later redeemed himself in the eyes of the team and his pitcher-daughter.
Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley), The Natural
Pop wanted to manage his team, moribund as it was, he just didn’t want his new, old right fielder. Another in the line of cranky movie skippers, he was a less prominent but still important character in the movie.
Uchiyama (Ken Takakura), Mr. Baseball
I’ve always thought that Mr. Baseball is very underrated as a baseball movie. Maybe people are scared off by the Japanese theme, but Tom Selleck can really swing the bat, and Uchiyama as both his hold-the-line, hold-your-tongue manager and father of Jack Elliot’s love interest sets a great tone of conflict that drives the film. Uchiyama is so set in his ways and dedicated to the old ways, but they eventually find common ground.
Dutch Schnell (Vincent Gardenia), Bang the Drum Slowly
This is such a hauntingly sad movie and so focused on the Henry Wiggen-Bruce Pearson relationship that the Dutch Schnell character’s drive to find answers, to meddle even, goes overlooked. But Gardenia nails it, and injects much-needed humor into the proceedings.
Len Sickles (William Frawley), Rhubarb
William Frawley played in a few baseball films of the 1940s and early ’50s, before his more popular role as Fred Mertz in “I Love Lucy.” He was well-suited for all of them, and in a farce of a movie gets to play the straight guy again, not unlike Fred and his other baseball roles.
Those are my favorites. As to the one I’d want to lead my team, I think I’d go with Brown, especially If my squad had a cast of characters as disparate as his rags-to-riches Tribe.
I’d hope he’d turn and say, “My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team.”