Q&A

Q: I put on a baseball movie the other day, but it wasn't what I was looking for. It was called "The Rookie" and I was hoping it was a '90s Disney movie about a teenager who breaks his arm and becomes a superstar pitcher. Instead, it was about a middle-ag

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

The kid you were looking for wasn't just any old rookie, he was "Rookie of the Year" (1993).

You're certainly not the only one to be disappointed by expecting one and getting the other. They are, as you say, very different movies, despite both being made by Disney. And they were only released nine years apart (Dennis Quaid's "The Rookie" was released in 2002).

"Rookie of the Year" is a light, kid-centric fantasy film, while "The Rookie" is going for something more realistic (though the idea of a middle-age man making the majors in today's big-money era isn't much less fantastic).

Of course, you can't really lose by watching either film if you're a baseball fan. Sports news website BleacherReport.com included both of them on its list of the 25 greatest baseball movies — "The Rookie" at No. 16 and "Rookie of the Year" just a few places lower at 24.

For the record, "Field of Dreams" (1989) came first.

 

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