''The Kid from Left Field'' is a 1979 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

starring

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor, known as a high-profile child star of the late 1970s and 1980s. Born in Zion, Illinois, Coleman grew up with his adopted parents, and a kidney disease; due to the co ...

and

Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer. He played Fishbone on television series " Good Times", Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-o ...

. Coleman's first film, it is a remake of the 1953 film of the same name.

Plot

Jackie Robinson "J.R." Cooper is a kid who loves baseball, and also the son of a former major leaguer now down on his luck (and now a vendor working the stands at games). J.R. parlays his baseball knowledge into becoming manager of the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

and leading them to the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

.(1 October 1979)
Picks and Pans Review: The Kid from Left Field
''People''

Cast

- Jackie Robinson "J.R." Cooper *

- Larry Cooper * Gary Collins - Pete Sloane *

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the American Bro ...

- Fred Walker * Tricia O'Neil - Marion Fowler *

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond hair and clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. During the 1950s and 1960s ...

- Bill Lorant

Production

Filming Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sensor or light-s ...

took place at

San Diego Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California, United States. Opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium; it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium for sportswriter Jack Murphy (sportswriter), Jack Murphy from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 t ...

Production

The television film was made by NBC to enhance Coleman's name recognition and boost his commercial valuePearlman, Jeff (11 June 2010)
Remembering Gary Coleman as The Kid From Left Field
''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor, director, and singer. He was best known for his TV role as Dr. Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade' ...

had originally been picked to direct, but quit after two days because he didn't want to work with children. Director Adell Aldrich said "I was a mother, and that's part of the reason they hired me. Gary was brilliant. Just a natural actor who could memorize his lines after one reading. But his people -- his parents and his representatives -- didn't care how long the kid worked or what he was doing. So it was my job to direct, but also to make sure he was OK. I hugged him every day and let him know I was there for him." On the project se commented "we weren't trying to win awards, but we did want to make something people would enjoy."

Release

NBC held a special preview of the film after a

game on September 21, 1979.(20 September 1979)
Crowd at Ball Game to See Preview of a TV Movie
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Oddly enough, the day after the film first aired on television, the Padres hired their announcer

Jerry Coleman Gerald Francis Coleman (September 14, 1924 – January 5, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman for the New York Yankees and manager of the San Diego Padres for one year. Coleman was named the rookie of the year in 19 ...

(who also appeared in the film as the team's announcer) as their new manager.(2 October 1979)
Jerry Coleman to Manage Padres
''Lewiston Sun'' (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

) This led to some jokes that the team had meant to hire Gary Coleman.Kenney, Kirk & Randy Jones
100 Things Padres Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die
p. 295 (2016)Strasberg, Andy
San Diego Baseball Fantography
p. 48 (2014) The television movie first aired on Sunday, September 30, 1979.Erickson, Hal
The Baseball Filmography, 1915 through 2001, 2d ed.
pp. 257-59 (2010)

Reception

Ratings

It was the 15th highest-rated prime time show of the week, with a

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the #Nielsen TV ...

of 21.4.Brown, Les. (3 October 1979)
NBC a Close 2d to ABC in TV Ratings
''

Critical reception

Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' liked it, while finding it highly sentimental, he praised the actors and said that Guillaume and Coleman gave winning performances. He also praised director Aldrich as capable of making good films regardless of style and showed range from her previous output which was a darker film, while this one was positive and up lifting.

Tom Shales Thomas William Shales (November 3, 1944 – January 13, 2024) was an American writer and television critic. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1 ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' did not like it and wrote "Instead of constructing a vehicle designed to display the amazing talents of this youngster while he's at his winning, naturalistic peak, everyone involved elected to make do with a slovenly and underwritten bore."Shales, Tom (29 September 1979)
James Earl Jones, Sizzling in 'Paris'
''

Accolades

At a dinner ceremony, Sunday evening, December 7, 1980,

, on behalf of the film, accepted the

Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

for "Best Children's Special or Episode in a Series," at the 13th NAACP Image Awards at the

Hollywood Palladium The Hollywood Palladium is a theater (building), theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and ...

Home media

The film was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

Vestron Video Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market. The name is now used for a collecto ...

in 1984.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kid from Left Field (1979 film), The 1979 television films 1979 films 1979 comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s sports comedy films Remakes of American films American baseball films American comedy television films American sports comedy films Comedy film remakes Films scored by David Michael Frank Films set in San Diego Films with screenplays by Jack Sher NBC original films San Diego Padres Sports television films Television remakes of films 1970s American films Films shot in San Diego English-language sports comedy films

Plot

Cast

Production

Production

Release

Reception

Ratings

Critical reception

Accolades

Home media

See also

References

External links