True to the movie?

[nmgirl98]

Obviously, since "League of their Own", interest in the AAGPBL grew. There are many, like me, who wanted to learn a lot about the league...hence my "Don't Hang Me" thread which got the ball rolling.

I've been looking through the links that have been left in this forum and they've been great. My question now is: How true was the movie to the actual events? I know that some names were changed...but whatelse, if anything, was changed and ventured away from the actual events?

Good to see the posts in here!

[Vidor]

Obviously, since "League of their Own", interest in the AAGPBL grew. There are many, like me, who wanted to learn a lot about the league...hence my "Don't Hang Me" thread which got the ball rolling.

I've been looking through the links that have been left in this forum and they've been great. My question now is: How true was the movie to the actual events? I know that some names were changed...but whatelse, if anything, was changed and ventured away from the actual events?

Good to see the posts in here!

All the characters were fictional, of course. But as far as the game goes, one thing the movie changes (as I posted in another thread) was that the girls of the AAGPBL never played regulation baseball. When they began play, they pitched underhand, using a larger ball, and ran basepaths that were 65' long. They gradually moved to regulation baseball rules in many respects, but when the league folded after the 1954 season the bases were still only 85' apart.

List of AAGPBL rules here:

http://www.aagpbl.org/league/rules.cfm

[poor_rockies_fan]

One of my favorite examples of how they changed fact into fiction was with Jimmy Dugan, played by Hanks. His real-life counterpart was the hall of famer Jimmy Foxx, who did actually manage in the league. It was fun to compare his actual stats with those given in the movie.

I also purchased the screenplay off of ebay. It was an early draft, but I can tell it's authentic based upon the deleted scenes now provided on DVD. It was amazing how much the story changed before it hit the screen. Most notably, the reconciliation scene at the end of the game where Dottie and Kit meet near the locker rooms, that wasn't in the original draft.

[shoeless1920]

Towards the end of the movie, after the 7th game of the championship had ended, Tom Hanks and Geena Davis were talking outside the ballpark and Hanks mentioned that he'd been offered a managing job in Wichita. Geena Davis seemed impressed and said "Not bad, Triple-A" except that Minor League Baseball did not have a Class AAA level until 1946 (the movie takes place in 1943) and Wichita didn't even have a Class AAA team until well into the 1950's. Seems like there was no reason to vary from the historical facts at that part of the movie but the producers felt the need to do so anyway.

[Captain Cold Nose]

One of my favorite examples of how they changed fact into fiction was with Jimmy Dugan, played by Hanks. His real-life counterpart was the hall of famer Jimmy Foxx, who did actually manage in the league. It was fun to compare his actual stats with those given in the movie.

I also purchased the screenplay off of ebay. It was an early draft, but I can tell it's authentic based upon the deleted scenes now provided on DVD. It was amazing how much the story changed before it hit the screen. Most notably, the reconciliation scene at the end of the game where Dottie and Kit meet near the locker rooms, that wasn't in the original draft.

Any signatures on the screenplay?

While the players were fictional, a lot of them, just like Jimmy Dugan being based on Double X, were based on actual players.

[Mattingly]

Towards the end of the movie, after the 7th game of the championship had ended, Tom Hanks and Geena Davis were talking outside the ballpark and Hanks mentioned that he'd been offered a managing job in Wichita. Geena Davis seemed impressed and said "Not bad, Triple-A" except that Minor League Baseball did not have a Class AAA level until 1946 (the movie takes place in 1943) and Wichita didn't even have a Class AAA team until well into the 1950's. Seems like there was no reason to vary from the historical facts at that part of the movie but the producers felt the need to do so anyway.

Either that or perhaps they just didn't have a fact checker who could verify this. I'm presuming the latter.

[moviegeekjan]

Seems like there was no reason to vary from the historical facts at that part of the movie but the producers felt the need to do so anyway.

Not likely that the error was intentional "for artistic reasons" in this case. It's likely that the ending was revised on the set, so it's much more likely that this is a matter of not checking out the facts in their usual manner.

[Bill Burgess]

"All the characters were fictional, of course."


Were some of the characters composites? Geena Davis' character, "Dotty", did have a character named Dorothy in the real league. I think she was a first basemen who hit a lot of homers, but I could be wrong.

Anyone clarify for me?

Bill Burgess

[tmorss9]

Geena Davis' charachter was based on Dottie Kamensky, who I believe was also a catcher.

[Stephen1164]

The Geena Davis' charachter was actually based on a couple different girls from the league. I know Dorthy was a 1stbasemen, not sure how many times she may have been a catcher.

[carol sheldon]

Truths

Male managers did not go in the locker room and Jimmie Foxx was not a drunk and he a complete gentleman with the women!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SoxSon]

Male managers did not go in the locker room and Jimmie Foxx was not a drunk and he a complete gentleman with the women!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't speak on his interactions with women, but I thought Foxx was well-known for his drinking?

[SoxSon]

Here's an interesting article discussing some of the finer points of the film:
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020511.html

[redbuck]

It's pretty cool now because you can still go to the ballparks where they filmed the movie. The Peaches' ballpark is somewhere in Georgia I think. But the Racine team's park is in Evansville, Indiana and all the logos and signs used in the movie are still there. If you're on a trip through southern Indiana, it's worth a stop.

[2 4 1]

"All the characters were fictional, of course."


Were some of the characters composites? Geena Davis' character, "Dotty", did have a character named Dorothy in the real league. I think she was a first basemen who hit a lot of homers, but I could be wrong.

Anyone clarify for me?

Bill Burgess

ALL of the characters are composites. There are MANY Dorothy/Dotties in the League.