"A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN"



 

  PEACHES ROSTER




 



 

 


FILMING LOCATIONS

ILLINOIS RAILWAY MUSEUM , UNION ILLINOIS
At the Depot with the Nebraska Zephyr

Known Locations
  • Bosse Field - 1701 N. Main Street, Evansville, Indiana, USA
  • Cooperstown, New York, USA
  • Dedeaux Field - 1021 Childs Way, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Evansville, Indiana, USA
  • Fitzgerald's - 6615 West Roosevelt Road, Berwyn, Illinois, USA  (The Sud's Bucket)
  • Henderson, Kentucky, USA  (uncredited, rooming house)
  • Hornville Tavern - 2607 W. Baseline Road, Evansville, Indiana, USA  (Bucket of Suds)
  • Huntingburg, Indiana, USA
  • Illinois Railway Museum - 7000 Olson Rd., Union, Illinois, USA  (Nebraska Zephyr train scenes)
  • Jay Littleton Ball Park - Fourth Street and Grove Avenue, Ontario, California, USA
  • League Stadium - 1st & Cherry Streets, Huntingburg, Indiana, USA
  • New Harmony, Indiana, USA
  • Union, Illinois, USA  (studio)
  • Cantigny home of Robert McCormick Wheaton, Illinois, USA
    (hiring Dugan scene)
  • Wrigley Field - 1060 W. Addison St., Lake View, Chicago, Illinois, USA

 

FILM TRIVIA

PRINCIPLE CAST:
Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petti, Jon Lovitz, David Strathaim, Garry Marshal, Bill Pullman, and Rosie O'Donnel.

Plot Summary
In Oregon, Dottie Henson and Kit Keller are working on the farm. Sisters that do love each other, except when it comes to baseball. Kit wants to play in the league but is upset to hear that it is Dottie who is chosen to play for the AAPGL. (All American Pro Girls League) Dottie refuses to play unless Kit can come along. AAPGL was only made because of the World War II and all of the man were in the war. Along the way to the stadium they meet Marla Hooch who is a great hitter, but to most people not the prettiest girl. When they are going to try out they meet Doris and Mae because Doris threw a baseball at Dottie who caught it impressing Doris. They girls find out their new manager is Jimmy Dugan. Jimmy Dugan drinks a lot and is the worst manager until Dottie get through to him and he becomes a better person. Miss Cuthbert makes sure the rules are followed, no boys, no drinking or smoking until Mae poisons her meal. The girls go to party and Marla who had been overlooked a lot is noticed by a guy named Nelson. Dottie's husband Bob is in the army and when news comes that a man in the army has been killed it turns out to be Betty Spaghetti. After awhile, Kit feels that once again like at home she is behind Dottie's shadow. Dottie notices it to and asks to be transferred to another team. Of course Mr. Lovitz doesn't want the best player to be transferred so he has Kit transferred to Racine. Kit feels that Dottie did this on purpose. Kit plays for the Racine while Dottie plays for Rockford. In the final scene Dottie is crashed into by Kit and she drops the ball, letting Racine win, making Kit have her own stardom instead of being in Dottie's shadow. The girls have a reunion and they remember the fun they had together. Summary written by SilverMoonSparkling

The Most Famous Quote from the Movie!
Jimmy Dugan: Evelyn, could you come here for a second? Which team do you play for?
Evelyn Gardner: Well, I'm a Peach.
Jimmy Dugan: Well I was just wonderin' why you would throw home when we got a two-run lead. You let the tying run get on second base and we lost the lead because of you. Start using your head. That's the lump that's three feet above your ass.
[Evelyn starts to cry]
Jimmy Dugan: Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!
Doris Murphy: Why don't you give her a break, Jimmy...
Jimmy Dugan: Oh, you zip it, Doris! Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigshit. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry?
Evelyn Gardner: No, no, no.
Jimmy Dugan: Yeah! NO. And do you know why?
Evelyn Gardner: No...
Jimmy Dugan: Because there's no crying in baseball. THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! No crying!

Trivia
Jon Lovitz had a more substantial role, but it was cut.
Debra Winger was originally going to appear in the film, but backed out when Madonna was signed. Winger also had suffered a back injury that forced her off the film.
Tom Hanks gained 30 pounds in preparation for his role. He attributed the weight he gained to a nearby Dairy Queen.
The more mature Dottie and Kit are played by Lynn Cartwright and Kathleen Butler, but their voices are dubbed by Geena Davis and Lori Petty.
The characters at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and seen playing as the credits roll, are real original players from the league portrayed in the film.
All of the injuries and bruises that are seen in the film were real injuries that the actors received during filming.
The Peaches played at Beyer Stadium in Rockford, Illinois. No place in Rockford could actually be used in the movie because of Beyer Stadium's state of disrepair. It was eventually condemned, all that is left of the stadium is the original archway and a sign about the Peaches.
Tom Hanks' character, Jimmy Dugan, is loosely based on real-life baseball slugger Hack Wilson.
Director 'Marshall, Penny' cast her daughter Tracy Reiner as Betty Spaghetti and her brother Garry Marshall as Walter Harvey.
Singer k.d. lang was supposed to be in the film but backed out due to her recording schedule.
To lighten the mood on the set in between takes, Geena Davis suggested that the cast perform songs from "Jesus Christ Superstar". Tom Hanks was assigned the role of Caiaphas.
Ellie Cornell had originally landed a role in the film but had to back out after learning she was pregnant.
Actresses auditioning for the film had to prove they could play baseball as well. All the actresses cast in the film apart from Davis did their own baseball stunts. None of the performers wanted stunt doubles.
All scenes on the train and at the railroad depot were filmed at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. The passenger train seen in the film is part of the museum's collection.
Madonna's stand-in was Melissa Totten, who has performed as a Madonna impersonator in the Las Vegas stage show Legends In Concert for many years.
Moira Kelly was originally signed on to play the role of Kit, but she hurt her ankle while filming The Cutting Edge .
Madonna co-wrote the theme song for the film "This Used To Be My Playground" for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Kelly Candaele was one of the writers for this movie. His mother played in the league portrayed in the movie. Also, Kelly's brother, Casey, was a major league infielder from 1986 through 1997. His best season was 1991 (right before the movie was released) when he collected 121 hits and 50 RBI for the Houston Astros as their usual starting second baseman.
David L. Lander, who has an uncredited role as a game announcer, is a real-life baseball fanatic who later became a scout for the Anaheim Angels. He is also a veteran of director 'Penny Marshall''s Laverne & Shirley series.
Harvey's house in Illinois is an actual house that was originally owned by Robert R. McCormick, a colonel in the Big Red One, the first Infantry, in WWII. He was also the owner and publisher of the Chicago Tribune for decades. His home is now a museum along with a museum dedicated to the Big Red One.
When Geena Davis joined the production as a late replacement for Debra Winger, it was only days before filming was due to start. She was somewhat disadvantaged in that the cast had been baseball training for months beforehand. Davis's character was supposed to be one of the greatest female baseball players in America. Within weeks, however, Davis had mastered the game and was regularly beating all her co-stars.
When announcing the game the Peaches announcer (David L. Lander) uses the phrase "Oh Doctor!" during an exciting play. This phrase was made popular by 1940s and 50s Brooklyn Dodgers announcer Red Barber.
The scene where Betty Spaghetti learns her husband died took three days to film.
The red-orange house that was used as the team hotel (for the scene where Dottie leaves the team) was on sale for $60,000 when it was used for filming. It is located in Henderson, Kentucky.
For the famous split catch, Geena Davis had to have a stunt double slide into the split. Although Davis could do the splits, as shown, she couldn't slide into it.
The Rockford-Racine World Series game was filmed when it was over 100 degrees outside.
During the filming of the World Series games, the stars would take turns entertaining the unpaid extras. Tom Hanks would do puppet shows over the dugout, Rosie O'Donnell did stand-up comedy and various actors pretended to be Madonna and sang her songs after the singer balked at performing for the fans.
Geena Davis auditioned in Penny Marshall's backyard.
The "strawberry" bruise that Renée Coleman received on her thigh while sliding into a base remained on her for over a year.
Lori Petty was, in reality, a faster runner than Geena Davis, and had to run slower while appearing she was running at full speed.
The bar scene where the girls sneak away for a night on the town was originally to be filmed at a local bar/restaurant in Evansville, IN called The Hornet's Nest. However, the owners of the Hornet's Nest decided to undertake spontaneous renovations in preparation for the filming, and the production decided the changes didn't fit with the setting they were going for, and found a new location to film the bar scene.
Rockford Peaches home field in the movie was filmed in Huntingburg, Indiana. The stadium was completely renovated and named League Stadium after the movie crews left. In the movie you can see a barn in the background. The barn was actually only two-sided and covered a water slide.
The movie's line "There is no crying in baseball." was voted as the #54 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
The home games for the Racine Belles were filmed at Bosse Field in Evansville Indiana. They retrofitted the entire stadium to look as it did in that era. The "Support the Racine Belles" signs still are on display today. The stadium is now used by the Evansville Otters, a Frontier League baseball team, and the ball girls wear the Belles uniforms.
Although she is left-handed, Bitty Schram throws and bats right-handed in the film.
Madonna was miserable, based upon a handwritten letter she wrote to photographer Steven Meisel. "I cannot suffer any more than I have in the past month, learning how to play baseball with a bunch of girls (yuk) in Chicago (double yuk). I have a tan, I'm dirty all day, and I hardly ever wear make up. Penny Marshall - Lavern (sic) - Geena Davis is a Barbie Doll, and when God decided where the beautiful men were going to live in the world, he did not choose Chicago. I have made a few friends but they are athletes, not actresses. They have nothing on the house of extravaganza. I wish I could come to N.Y."
The storyline was inspired by the career of baseball legend Dottie Collins who pitched 17 shutouts during her six-year career. During WW2 Collins played for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
In the Hall of Fame scene, New York state trooper David Harding was an extra, playing one of Kit's adult sons. Within months of the shooting, he was indicted for falsifying evidence in several cases, including a 1989 multiple murder in Ithaca.
The film depicts the AAGPBL's 1943 World Series as being between the Racine Belles and the Rockford Peaches. The Belles actually played the Kenosha Comets in the '43 World Series.
As the Peaches leave the locker room for the first game of the World Series, Jimmy says to the replacement catcher, "You're killing me, Alice, you're killing me." Hanks is paraphrasing one of the most famous sports quotes, "They're killing me, Whitey, they're killing me," said by Buffalo Bills coach Lou Saban to an assistant. (Saban actually said, "They're killing me out there, Whitey," but the quote is frequently repeated with "out there" omitted.)
Brooke Shields was offered the lead female role, but after the writer's strike in 1988, Shields was written out, to be replaced by Debra Winger. However, Winger also backed out, and the part then went to Geena Davis.
 
   
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