Author John Irving doubted his novel, "A Prayer for Owen Meany", could ever be turned into a film, and sold the screen rights on the condition it not be released under the same name as his book. Irving himself provided the name Simon Birch for the producers to use in place of Owen Meany.
The baseball uniforms the boys wore were the same uniforms worn by the rival team in The Sandlot. The team was called the Tigers.
Partially filmed in Lunenburg Nova Scotia. Some of the filming took place in the St. John's Lunenburg Anglican Church which burned down on Halloween Night in 2001.
Ian Michael Smith's only film appearance.
John Irving: the writer makes an uncredited appearance as Mr. Prescott, the butcher, seen sweeping the sidewalk in front of his shop during the scene when Simon and Joe are sitting on the local pharmacy steps eating ice cream and pondering who Joe's father might be.