Clark is dripping sweat and spits in slow motion. The batter spits, too, except he’s clearly chewing tobacco. Gross. He also has quite the impressive mustache.
J.P. comes over to Roger in the dugout, thinking, hoping,
that there’s an angel with Clark. Roger looks like he’s about to puke because
he knows that’s not true. No angels are coming to the rescue this time. Foul
ball, 0-1 count. Down in the dirt, 1-1.
His pitch count is what now?!
And then, this from Wally in the radio booth as Clark shakes out his pitching
arm:
“His arm has to be tired. He’s thrown 156 pitches.”
I’m sorry. What? 156 pitches? Even when I first started
watching this as a kid before I knew my baseball, that seemed like a lot. Once
I knew that 100 pitches was the general ballpark for a solid outing, this stat
is downright comical.
2-1, pitch No. 157. Way inside, 3-1. Knox nods to the
bullpen-phone guy in the dugout and asks Roger if there are any angels. Next
pitch is a deep, deep fly ball, but it barely lands foul in the seats. Well, it
comes down to a full count. Cue Ranch to give us a rapid-fire scenario: Full count,
two outs, Angels lead by a run, “and for Mel Clark, this is the pressure
cooker.” Oh. I’m sure he hasn’t been under any pressure already.
Finally, it looks like a good pitching decision… or does
it?
And now Knox tells Roger he’s going to pull Clark. Are you freakin’
kidding me? Now? You sit around all game, let him get into jam after jam out
there, let him thrown nearly 160 pitches, hit a batter to load the bases, but
it’s finally that full count that gets you to make the move? Sure, skip. You do
you.
So, even though no guys in sparkling pajamas are coming to
help out tonight, we’re going to get one final moment of movie magic. Roger
tells Knox that all Clark has to do is believe, and then they put their heads
together to come up with a plan.
I’ve never seen a pitching coach in this movie, and that
would have been a good time for a visit. But Knox heads out of the dugout to
presumably relieve Clark.
“All I can say is, it’s about time.” I’m with ya, Ranch.
Though he seems really gleeful about it.
Everybody make that angel signal
Clark tells Knox that he has nothing left. Knox says he has one strike left,
and Clark is almost begging to be taken out with his body language. But wait!
Roger steps out of the dugout and makes the angel signal with his arms. Knox
tells Clark he has an angel with him. As the inspirational soundtrack rolls,
J.P. and the rest of the Angels in the dugout join them in the signal. Then the
fans in the stands all start doing it, like it’s the wave or something. I hate
the wave, by the way.
In the owners’ box, Murphy gives the signal, too. He looks back
at his family so they join in as well. Plenty of them are wearing cowboy garb, of
course. We get it already. In the radio booth, Wally has that idiotic grin on
his face as he and the producer give the signal. Ranch, obviously, sits there
doing nothing.
This is a really long mound visit, and I’m sure the umpire
would have been out there by now if this wasn’t a movie. Knox leaves Clark in
after all that, again mentioning the “championship.” The angel signals turn to
cheers.
Ranch can’t hide his displeasure for leaving Clark in. “This
is not smart baseball. This is ridiculous.” That gets Murphy to switch his
radio dial to the off position.
It all comes down to this
We have dramatic music and slow motion for this pitch on the full count.
Silence at the delivery. The batter connects with a loud crack of the bat. Eyes
grow wide in the Angels dugout. Clark leaps to his left to grab the ball. He
catches it in his glove as he falls to the ground. It almost bounces out before
he secures it with his right hand.
Play that happy soundtrack! The Angels celebrate on the field
at the end of the game, and Roger and J.P. get on the field, too. Clark and
Knox have a delirious hug in the middle of the scrum, where Clark says he
believes in angels, but Knox says “you did yourself.”
Knox and the lads get lifted up on shoulders. It’s pure jubilation. Although I don’t see any personnel on the field handing out hats and t-shirts with the division-champion logos on them. Too bad.
In the radio booth, throwing professionalism out the window,
Wally and the producer celebrate while Ranch yanks his headphones off saying “I
can’t believe it!” in disgust. Murphy promptly enters and fires him. I can’t
say I dislike the move. But can you really blame the guy for calling out Knox
for leaving Clark in the game?
“You can’t fire me! I got a contract! I’m Ranch Wilder!”
Then Wally gets his revenge after taking a beating all
season from his co-host. “Easy Ranch. Less is more.”
A happy ending in multiple ways
The celebration continues and ends as the boys run back home to celebrate with
Maggie. She says she heard. I hope she would have made an exception and
actually watched the game. Then there are a couple of lines very obviously dubbed
in, one of Roger saying “the Angels won the pennant” and Maggie saying “it’s
great!” and “well done!” like they had something to do with it, while hugging
and kissing the boys. That cheese factor is astronomical again.
Maggie then informs Roger that his social worker called
about finding him a permanent home. Roger, the poor kid, is still hung up on
his dad and thinks it’s about him. J.P. runs off to cry about his best friend
leaving. Knox is there to talk it over with Roger. Because again, Knox takes
the boys home. I guess he didn’t have any media obligations or bubbly to drink
with the team after winning such a big game.
Then, we get one more special moment in this movie. Knox
reveals that he was the one that called about wanting to take Roger in
and “try to be a dad.”
“I want you to come and live at my house.”
Roger rushes to hug him, immediately excited at the idea.
But upon hearing J.P. enter the room, still upset, Roger backs off and says he
can’t leave J.P. Knox says he could never leave J.P. “He’s coming, too!” J.P.
overhears, and then it’s group-hug central.
Well, maybe he should have mentioned something to J.P.’s
social worker as well. Maggie tells them that it’s OK to leave her behind, too.
“There are plenty of little angels looking for a home.” Aww, how sweet. The
trio rejoices at the prospect of being a family, and J.P. is excited about
having a daddy.
Then, J.P. looks out the window and sees the boss angel give
a final cap tip. “I knew it could happen!” For some reason, J.P. can now see
the angels, too. I’m cool with it.
As the parting shot, Al the angel turns into the graphics of
an angel again and flies away, telling the camera “we’re always watching” as he
flies into the starry night sky. The credits start to roll as a few bright
stars form a baseball diamond in the sky while an instrumental version of “Take
Me Out to the Ballgame” plays.
There you have it. More details than you ever wanted to know about Angels in the Outfield. This was another fun series to put together. Thanks for reading any part of it.
Angels in the Outfield commentary, part 2: 'Boy, they're bad'
Angels in the Outfield commentary, part 3: 'You don't even *lose* as a team!'
Angels in the Outfield commentary, part 4: 'God, if there is a God...'
Angels in the Outfield commentary, part 5: 'I love it when they come from above like that'
Angels in the Outfield commentary, part 6: 'There were *angels* in the outfield!'
Angels in the Outfield commentary, part 7: 'Let's keep the profanity down'
Angels in the Outfield commentary, part 8: 'This is not baseball'
Angels in the Outfield commentary, part 9: 'If the angel pitches with him...'
Angels in the Outfield commentary, part 10: 'Take me out to the ball game'
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