by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
I have a complicated relationship with baseball. After one year of Little League, I figured out I needed something a little more active. That’s also code for, maybe I just wasn’t that good at it. I’m a Chicago Cubs fan, so up until 2016, we may have been the most miserable fan base in all of sports. I cried when they won the World Series, but I also cried every time they were eliminated from the playoffs because I was dumb enough to have hope that they’d break through. I generally enjoy baseball movies, but they’re not my favorite type of sports movie. Don’t get me wrong, though — that doesn’t mean there aren’t amazing baseball movies. I love The Sandlot, The Natural, Field Of Dreams, Bull Durham, Major League (I might be the only person I know who actually likes the second one as well), and Moneyball. After thinking about it for a while, I came to the conclusion that my favorite baseball movie is A League of Their Own.
With the recent trend of movies becoming television shows, Amazon took a chance to make this into a series.
A League of Their Own, created by Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson, revolves around the 1943 Rockford Peaches of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The team consists of great players Carson Shaw (Jacobson), Greta Gill (D’Arcy Carden), Jo De Luca (Melanie Field), and other players who made the World Series for the League. The series chronicles the highs and lows of the team’s season. A League of Their Own is eight episodes and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
I was extremely nervous about this series when it was announced. How do the creators take a beloved movie like this and make this into a television show worth watching? Do they remake the movie into a television series, or do they expand the universe somehow and make a standalone story? There is a lot to consider for this. So how did Amazon do?
A League of Their Own, the television series, does some amazing work. I applaud the series for their commitment to diversity and telling stories for marginalized groups during this time period. Specifically, I’m glad to see more LGBTQIA+ and African American storylines that make sense from a story standpoint, but also have stakes in the series. Representation matters, and kudos to Amazon for telling this story. Overall, A League of Their Own does a masterful job of showcasing the struggles women had to endure during this time period. This doesn’t just focus on the struggles that women in the league had to endure as athletes; it also deals with the struggles of just being a woman during the 1940s. It hits hard emotionally during a few episodes, but there’s a clear message about what women had to endure during this time period.
In particular, I really like Max’s (Chanté Adams) story this season. She is a local Rockford resident with dreams of playing professional baseball. She’s African American, so her opportunities are sparse. Adams is such a welcome change of pace to the series. She is charismatic, vulnerable, and driven with her performance as Max. The movie doesn’t address African American women in the league except for one scene, so for the series to address it was a welcome sight. Although the entire series is a story about underdogs, Max’s storyline hits harder since she has so much stacked against her that she can’t control.
Along with Max, there are a lot of LGBTQIA+ storylines in the season. Lots of characters are closeted, and we see the struggles a lot of them have staying true to themselves. The series addresses LGBTQIA+ issues in the 1940s in a lot of different ways. Some storylines make sense, some are devastating, and some didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Regardless, the inclusion of these issues within this story is great.
From a performance standpoint, I’m a huge fan of Greta’s character and Carden’s performance. She brings equal parts heart and charisma to the role. Greta, as a character, is arrogant and cocky. Her progression throughout the season as a baseball player AND a teammate is strong. Props to Carden for her portrayal and how well she interacts with the rest of the cast.
The baseball is so much fun to watch. In a way, it does take a backseat at times. Although I was a little concerned about this at first, baseball comes to the forefront in the best ways. It helps refocus the story when there’s trouble with the players’ personal lives. There was a lot of talk of great strategy (mainly involving night games), as well as seeing what the Rockford Peaches do when they face adversity.
One of the main concerns I had for this series was how much it would overlap with the movie. A League of Their Own has some iconic lines and moments, but I was wondering if any of these moments would make it into the series. There are a lot of Easter eggs for those who are paying attention or are fans of the movie. I like the way they subtly incorporate these moments that feel more like an homage than a remake. Fans of the movie will see the parallel of the story in the movie to the story of a lot of the characters in the series. Some Easter eggs are awkwardly placed, and one in particular got on my nerves because it felt forced.
I have to give props to the creators for the final episode. The final episode is so good, chalked with emotional stakes of the World Series, relationships in the balance, and an uncertain future of what’s to come. The final game of the World Series is a perfect metaphor for the women in the league. I really like how it turned out because it had stakes and some very heartfelt moments that will probably be in my favorite moments of 2022 for television series.
There are some issues with the series, but not enough for it to make a dent in how I felt about the season. I thought the first few episodes were really rushed. We didn’t really have any context as to why we should be rooting for any of these players. In fact, after two and a half episodes, I didn’t really like the series. They ended up winning me over by the end, though. One aspect of the movie that I thought was lacking in the series is how coaching and the relationship of the male coach with the players made an impact. Most of the men in this series aren’t stand up individuals, so it’s literally all the women having little to no support. One character in particular, played by Nick Offerman, is a little wasted in terms of their role in the story. I also wasn’t on board with Carson as the pseudo-main character of the series. She’s a great character, but she was also a little dry. I’m not sure if that’s a performance issue or a character one, though.
A League of Their Own is a worthy spinoff and reimagining of the movie. The show’s commitment to diverse topics, the performances, and story make for a great summer show about baseball. At first, I wasn’t onboard, but the Peaches won me over in the end. I’m hoping Amazon gives this a second season so they can continue to tell a compelling story. This is a recommendation on my end for fans of the movie, fans of baseball, and anyone looking for a great and emotional story with an all-star cast of great players.
Score: 8/10
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