Major League: Back to the Minors

The first Major League covered the bases with Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes and Rene Russo. This error-prone sequel's roster includes Scott Bakula, Corbin Bernsen and Ted McGinely...not exactly an all-star line-up. Bakula, careerwise in a bit of a slump since his Quantum Leap heyday, stars as Gus, a minor league pitcher who is tapped by Bernsen (one of three veterans of the original film) to manage a Triple A franchise (the Minnesota Twins this time around). You can pencil in the rest: a team of misfits (a former ballet dancer, a Kramer-like hipster doofus, a pitcher whose supposed fastball doesn't register on the radar gun, the hotshot hitter, an aging black outfielder actually named Pops) who are inspired to stop worrying, love the game and defeat the "big team" led by cocky owner McGinely (of Married With Children fame). Dennis Haysbert as the voodoo-practicing Pedro Cerrano, Takaaki Ishibashi as the incomprehensible Taka Tanaka and Bob Uecker in the announcer booth offer scant relief. The Major League franchise has some cachet with fans, but you would do well to balk at this. Not recommended. (K. Lee Benson)