A League of Their Own/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Billing Displacement: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna are listed as the three main actors in promotional material, and home video, despite the fact that the characters Dottie and Kit are clearly the main stars, and Lori Petty has a much larger role than Madonna (Although Madonna also contributed the movie's theme, "This Used to Be My Playground").
  • Executive Meddling: The producers wanted Jimmy and Dottie to hook up in the end. They also pushed for Dottie to save Jimmy from his drinking. The director responded with a single scene on the bus where Jimmy ends the conversation saying it was "time for a drink." Dottie takes his flask and hands him a soda.
  • Hey It's That Girl: Téa Leoni in a bit part as the first baseman (basewoman?) of the Racine Belles. She's the girl who scores the tying run on Kit's hit in game 7.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Bob is President Whitmore. He wants to nuke the bastard aliens!
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Its |Sheriff Woody!
    • And Terk.
  • Playing Against Type: Tom Hanks to some extent. Jimmy Dugan eventually proves to have a heart of gold, but he's arguably the sleaziest character Hanks has ever played.

(Jimmy has just signed a baseball for a little boy)
Little Boy: [reading] Avoid the clap, Jimmy Dugan.
Jimmy Dugan: Hey, that's good advice!

  • Real Life Relative: Penny's brother Garry Marshall as Walter Harvey, and daughter Tracy Reiner as Betty "Spaghetti" Horn.
  • Recycled: the Series: Had a six episode run in 1993 as a half hour Sitcom.
  • Throw It In: During his scene on the farm, Lovitz kept getting interrupted by the cows' mooing, prompting him to ad-lib, "Will you shut up?!"
  • What Could Have Been: In the original cut, there was a subplot where Marla Hooch got married right after the Western Union scene. She tells the girls she's pregnant, but asks them not to tell the coaches who would kick her off her team, and the girls make a promise not to slide into second when she's playing. Then in a game, Dottie's so distracted she doesn't realize Marla's playing second, and slides hard enough into her stomach to cause her to go to the hospital. The scene where Dottie is weeping was originally supposed to be her guilt over what happened with Marla, rather than a direct segue from Betty's tragedy.
    • And she's distracted because of another dropped subplot--growing romantic tension with Jimmy. They've shared a kiss and have been arguing about it, which is why Dottie is oblivious to the warnings about Marla. Her tears are guilt over injuring Marla and her slight infidelity.
  • Written-In Infirmity: A consequence of Method Acting: None of the actresses wanted a stunt double, so they did many of the stunts themselves. Their injuries were written into the film. So when you see Rosie O'Donnell wearing a knee-brace, or Renee Coleman sporting a bloody bruise the size of a frying pan on her leg, that's because they really hurt themselves (the bruises the size of frying pans, along with open, seeping wounds, were Truth in Television; one player would recount years later how she had to sit in the dugout between innings on what was essentially a hemorrhoid doughnut for an entire game because the team's chaperone didn't want her to get blood all over her uniform).
    • In the scene where Dottie catches a fast-pitch from Doris bare-handed, one of the real players from the league (and a consultant) claims this was a tennis ball with a baseball skin covering it, to help avoid hurting the actresses unnecessarily.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/A_League_of_Their_Own/Trivia?oldid=1854874"