Sonho de Campeão

Young Thomas Ian Nicholas gets a once in a lifetime chance to play for the Chicago Cubs and lead them to a pennant in 1993 the year Rookie Of The Year came out. At the time the Cubs had not won a pennant since 1945 and no World Series victory since 1908.

It happens quite by accident because the young man wasn't the most talented of players. An accident where he broke his arm and some ribs had him in a most uncomfortable cast. But it tightened the tendons in his pitching arm. So when at a game at Wrigley Field where Nicholas is sitting in the bleachers and the bleacher bums who occupy it tell him to throw the opposing ball back, Nicholas unlooses a throw that Carl Furillo would have envied, a perfect strike on the fly to home plate.

With nothing else to lose the Cubs sign the 12 year old up. The wartime Cincinnati Reds signed Joe Nuxhall at 15 to their roster. In real life that record still has to be broken.

Tommy John surgery never gave anyone in real life speed like young Nicholas has.

Young Nicholas is surrounded with a good cast of adults such as Amy Morton as his mom, Gary Busey as a washed up pitcher hoping for a comeback, Eddie Bracken as the Cubs eccentric owner and John Candy who is unbilled and was a famous Cubs fan as their play by play announcer.

No story would be complete without villains and two real good ones are here. Dan Hedaya as the Cubs GM and Bruce Altman who specializes in smarmy villains is at his smarmiest as a talent agent. Both are looking to exploit young Nicholas to the max without considering him.

The finale includes a playoff with the Mets and young Nicholas uses some sandlot savvy in the crucial moments.

In 2016 the Cubs finally did it, but this film Rookie Of The Year is still a delightful baseball fantasy.

Nice family movie with pretty good actors overall a good movie to watch with the kids

If you are unwilling to accept the basic premise of the film, that a child who has surgery on a broken arm is suddenly able to throw a pitch over 100 miles per hour, you aren't going to like this movie. I've been a baseball fan for 60 years and I know when a baseball movie is going to present an accurate portrayal of the game. If you read anything about this film and you are a purist, there are probably another ten movie to pick from this day. That said, this is a delightful film with a joyfulness that brings back memories of what it was like to be a mediocre baseball player, still hoping to be a major leaguer someday. The boy in this film is klutzy, so his entrance into a major league game is filled with fear and worry. There are good guys and bad guys, especially the father candidate. At some point, we know that reality will set in and, like "Damn Yankees," someone is going to have to face a real situation. This is just charming and fun. Enjoy it. It was never meant to be a documentary.

For some reason, I get a kick out of movies like "Rookie of the Year." I guess the fact that so many young boys, myself included, fantasize about playing professional sports contributes to the popularity of this genre. I think Daniel Stern did a good job directing this movie because he doesn't ever let it become too kiddy and childish. Sure there are a lot of funny moments, but they can be funny to adults as well as children. The setting of this movie cannot be beat: Wrigley Field. It doesn't get any better than that. "Rookie of the Year" is a fun movie to watch with the family.

This movie asks the question: "What if pro baseball was fun again, like in little league, and not so taken so seriously?" The device of Henry's miraculous arm allows the story to inject a kid's eye view into a somewhat cynical world. Juxtaposing the sleazy Dan Hedaya's attempted $25 million trade of Henry to the Yankees with the Henry and his buddies taking a day trip on a boat, as well as Henry's adolescent antics on the field, director Daniel Stern is trying to get us to look at baseball, and maybe sports, maybe life, like we did when we were ten.

I think Roger Ebert, although I agree with his review, took pretty poor notes while reviewing this film. From his article: "When the cast comes off, his dad takes him to Wrigley Field, and he catches a home run ball while he's out in the bleachers, and then he throws it back - all the way to the catcher behind the plate." Actually, he went with his friends, he doesn't even know his dad. And he didn't catch it, his friends pick it up from nearby, and hand it to him because they're scared to throw it on TV and embarrass themselves. Doesn't he have a fact-checker to proof his reviews?

Second, he writes: "Henry becomes an overnight celebrity, and is signed to the Cubs by the team's genial owner." This ignores the desperation of Dan Hedaya, the would-be owner of the team, who sees the publicity and marketing windfall in having a kid on the team. The sell-out crowd is an important story element, as it reinforces the idea that we are all hungry for baseball to be fun again.

There's are lots of laughs to be had in this film, although Stern seems to want to indulge in over-the-top hysterics from time to time, such as with the character he was playing. Also, the bilious "Jack" who gets Henry's mom to sign a contract without telling her it's a trade to NY, is downright spastic in his final scene. Stern shows a lot of promise as a comedy director if he could tone it down just a touch with the tangential characters. Understatement can be funny, as Busey shows with a few choice glares at the right moments. I loved Stern's allusion to the Wizard of Oz, likening the Emerald City gates to the Wrigley stadium gates, when Henry first arrives to play.

The Cubs haven't won a Series since 1909. "And a little child shall lead them..." Every kid should see this movie.