MR. BASEBALL (1992)
Since I wrote about one of the worst “playing baseball in Japan '' movies, I figured I should introduce you to one of the best. MR. BASEBALL (1992) directed by Fred Schlepisi, starring Tom Selleck, Dennis Haysbert, and the legendary Japanese actor Ken Takakura, is a truly under-appreciated baseball film. While it doesn't strike any new or remarkable ground in the world of filmmaking, it has much more cultural value than initially meets the eye. On the surface, MR. BASEBALL is a run of the mill, romantic comedy, set in the world of baseball with the novelty of Japan. To the casual viewer, it has a few good laughs, is well-paced, and has just enough heart to make it a feel good film that would please a mainstream audience whether they enjoy baseball or not. For baseball fans, especially those across the Pacific, it is a tribute to a beautiful sport that fosters a sense of diplomacy, passion, and common ground. It would be easy to say that MR. BASEBALL has some “white savior” problems and never think about it again, because at the end of the day, Jack Elliot does help lead the team to victory. This would be a mistake.
On closer review, this film illustrates the cultural nuances and complexities between Japan and the United States without punching down on either. It is a magnificent display of meaningful cultural exchange presented through a lens of sports and executed in a way that doesn't feel like a lecture. My favorite cultural and historical movies are the ones where you are learning correct history without even realizing it. They normalize cultural differences instead of objectifying them. For a baseball lover, MR. BASEBALL is a solid flick worth your Sunday afternoon. For a Japanese American, fourth generation baseball fan that grew up near the baseball city of St. Louis, this movie feels like it was made for me. Everyone knows FIELD OF DREAMS (1989) is the movie exploring the timeless dream state between sports and reality. I wish everyone knew MR. BASEBALL is a film about how sports, specifically baseball, is a language that we share across borders and culture.
In MR. BASEBALL, Tom Selleck plays an aging major leaguer who under protest is sent to play in Japan to finish out his contract. The usual culture clash antics ensue as the audience watches Jack learn how to navigate being out of his league both professionally and geographically. Along the way, he has to relearn how to be a team player and overall a decent human being. It would have been so easy to write this film in a way that the Japanese people and culture was a prop for Jack's story. Instead, we get a touching exchange about how everyone has something of value to teach one another, while laughing at how much it sucks to be a fish out of water.
I appreciate that while some obvious cultural cues around saving face, leaning into tradition, and protecting the hierarchy are certainly addressed, all of the characters feel like real people just trying to do what they think is right. Most importantly, they are all given the opportunity to show compassion, growth, and a desire to coexist peacefully. This movie doesn't really have any unlikable characters save for Jack himself, who's meant to start as a sleaze so the plot has somewhere to go.
There are decisions made in this movie that floor me for their authenticity and nuance.
Most notably, how Yoji, Jack's translator, played by Toshi Shioya, keeps changing what Jack says in the translation process to save face and not upset the status quo. If you've ever been an English speaker in Japan speaking through others, you know that this is a phenomenon that happens quite often.
Japanese speakers will often speak for you in a way they want you to instead of what you intended. It is understandable given Japan's intense cultural fixation on politeness and formality but can be supremely maddening for the foreigner knowing that they cannot be 100% sure their words and true intentions are coming across.
The climax of the film happens under the tradition of “Bureiko” where co-workers and supervisors can get drunk together and share feelings normally considered inappropriate without fear of repercussion. This is part of the “Nomikai” or “Nomunication” tradition, (nomu being the Japanese verb “to drink.”) where you go out and socialize with your coworkers, clubs, or colleagues in a drinking setting. You don't have to be a drinker, and it is taboo for anyone to pressure you to do so, but there is a very high social pressure to attend. It reinforces the idea of your coworkers or clubmates as a second family. Think of it as if Happy Hour with your work mates was mandatory and billed as a team building exercise.
There is also a really neat insight into the fandom of Japanese baseball. Noodles replace the hot dog as the traditional ballpark staple. Fans are synchronized in their chants and dress, and the whole event feels like attending a Homecoming game. And, while different from the fandom at American baseball stadiums, you can still feel the love and passion for the game. Sports, like art, is a language of the human spirit.
The sincerity of the cultural learning exchanges is shown best through the baseball itself and the chemistry between teammates. Jack and his Japanese teammates start as enemies. When Jack makes a genuine effort to change his ways and desires to be part of the team, they too become open to learning from him. The most obvious is the setting the shoe on fire prank. More subtle, but far more meaningful is the way the team begins to show solidarity by adopting each other's practices. For the first half of the movie, Jack is prominently wearing his New York Yankees gear during practices and underneath his Chunichi Dragons uniform. Later in the film, we see him dressing like the other players in nondescript clothing. By this point, you can see the team has accepted him and adopted some of his passion for having fun by growing out similarly styled mustaches even though it is against regulation.
When it comes to actual baseball, there's a lot of meat for fans to satisfactorily chew on. The baseball is good, and what's more, audiences get to see how your culture affects how the game is played. Culture influences all of our decisions whether we realize it or not. For Japanese baseball, the traditional state of play leans toward playing it safe. American baseball during this time period took more risks.
MR. BASEBALL has so much to offer in showing us how people communicate and create bonds through sports. It gets so much right. I'm always impressed by how it still holds up. The film has plenty of other treasures to offer the viewer.
There is a case to be made for Dennis Haysbert (Hammer) and Art LaFleur (Skip), who play baseball players in other movies, that this is a connected baseball movie universe of sorts. There are memorable lines so silly you can't help but adore them. Naturally, there's a decent amount of Japan's landscape as eye candy, and the opening scene of the movie feels very reminiscent of Tony Scott's THE FAN even though MR. BASEBALL preceded it by four years.
September is the last month of the regular baseball season. If you haven't seen this movie, now is the time. It is currently streaming on Prime and for rent on most other streaming services. You may have been wondering where the history is in all this because I traditionally pick more period specific subjects. I chose this to remind you that history isn't just what's behind us. We are living it right now. It's in our politics and disasters, but it also lives through our music, art, social structures, and in our sports. This makes MR. BASEBALL a pretty legit secondary source with substantial credibility about international baseball, and that's something not even MAJOR LEAGUE of the other big baseball movies can say. Go watch MR. BASEBALL. Trust me when I tell you it's a “big hit” that will leave you with a “happy body.”
