Major League Back To The Minors (1998)
Gus Cantrell is a major league pitcher in the twilight of his career. He contacted by Roger Dorn, General Manager of the Minnesota Twins, and offered the role of managing the Buzz, the Twins' AAA team. Cantrell accepts but regrets it almost immediately. The Buzz is a dysfunctional no-hoper team, with an odd assortment of characters. However, Cantrell quickly sets about forging them into a winning team.
"They're Just Nine Players Short of a Dream Team"
Harry Doyle: Wingate is what you'd call a finesse pitcher. Relies on control, accuracy, not speed. They time this kid's fastball with an hourglass!
Charleston Naval Base, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
(several interior sets)
Charleston, South Carolina, USA
College Park, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
(Little Field ballpark)
Collins Park - 4155 Fellowship Road, North Charleston, South Carolina, USA
(baseball field)
Francis Marion Hotel - 387 King Street, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Grand Hotel Minneapolis - 615 2nd Avenue S., Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
(exterior)
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome - 501 Chicago Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
(Baseball Games)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Mirmow Field - 200 Whaley Street, Orangeburg, South Carolina, USA
(baseball park)
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, USA
Remley's Point, College of Charleston - 66 George Street, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
(baseball field exteriors)
Summerville High School - 1101 Boone Hill Road, Summerville, South Carolina, USA
(baseball field)
Roger Dorn (Bernsen), Pedro Cerrano (Haysbert), Duke Temple (Yeager) and Harry Doyle (Uecker) are the only characters to appear in all three films in the Major League series.
In Roger Dorn's Minnesota Twins owner suite, a number 4 Lou Collins jersey hangs in a case, a reference to Timothy Busfield's character in Little Big League (1994).
The "South Carolina Buzz" were actually the Salt Lake Buzz - which was the Pacific Coast League farm team of the Minnesota Twins. Formerly the Portland Beavers, the franchise moved to Utah in 1994 and had 7 straight winning seasons. In 2001, the team became part of the Anaheim Angels organization under the name Salt Lake Stingers. Both team were named in honor of the Salt Lake Bees, who originally played in SLC on and off from 1915 to 1970. Since 2006, the team is once again called the Salt Lake Bees.
Shot in early October in Charleston, South Carolina, 1997, during an unseasonably cool fall. All of the night scenes were made to look as though the games were being played during hot mid-summer nights, when in actuality, temperatures dipped into the 30's.
During a Milwaukee Brewers broadcast, Bob Uecker once talked about this film to his partner in the booth and asked him if he'd seen it. When the partner said he hadn't, Uecker told him "Well don't. That movie was so bad that it opened in airplanes the week we finished it."
Continuity
When "Downtown" Anderson is shown batting for the Minnesota Twins and he strikes out, he is wearing number 14. But when he returns to the dugout and is chastised by Carlos Liston, Anderson is wearing number 16.
At the beginning of the scene when Gus and Maggie are watching Downtown, Maggie is on Gus' right side, but the next time we see them, Maggie is on Gus' left side.
Scoreboard inconsistencies during the final game at Buzz Stadium.
During the final game against the twins at buzz stadium the score board says the buzz got 2 runs in the 7th inning then 1 run in the 8th inning and it should be 4-3 yet they are only credited with 2 runs making the score 4-2 yet when number 40 hits and the player from 3rd scores they are not credited with the run but are finally credited with the run from the 8th inning so now the score is 4-3 even though with the player scoring from 3rd it should be 4-4.
Factual errors
The Minnesota Twins AAA affiliate at the time was the Salt Lake Buzz.
Revealing mistakes
There are two obvious instances of blue screen use. One is when Taka Tanaka is making a relay throw home during the game in Minnesota. Another is when a Buzz player is sliding home beneath an opposing catcher. It's an obvious lift of a similar scene in one of the prior Major League movies in which the catcher appears to be added into the shot.
When "Downtown" Anderson leaves Gus' office after being benched for 3 games, you can see the wall flex when he slams the door on his way out.
At 37:02 after Dorn gets off of the phone with Gus there is a shot of the seats and in the middle row there is a person wearing a yellow shirt and ten minutes later at 47:01 when the buzz are in the stadium they show fans getting to their seats and they use the same scene as before. Note the person in the yellow shirt in the middle of the screen.
When Gus is reading The Sporting News magazine, he is reading a article titled "Buzz Fly Into Third Place"", but if you pause it and zoom in on the article, it has nothing to do with the Buzz. Also, the surrounding columns have multiple placements of the same paragraphs all over the page.
A batter lays down a bunt and Gus (the catcher) is shown stepping forward and picking up the ball. The ball is stationary and sitting just a few feet in front of home plate, which is inconsistent with the speed of the ball that was hit. Obviously, a second baseball has been placed on the ground (initially out of the camera's view) for Gus to field.
Plot holes
Under Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement with its players union, no Twins player could be forced to participate in a mid-season exhibition game against a non-Major League team.
Character error
When the Buzz are playing the Twins in Minnesota, Hog strikes out the hitter looking, not swinging as announcer, Harry Doyle states.