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Batter up: Madonna’s guts, Rosie’s secret & more fascinating facts about ‘A League Of Their Own’

By Barry Levitt
Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

“There’s no crying in baseball!” Tom Hanks shouts to the all-women Rockford Peaches baseball team in director Penny Marshall’s legendary A League Of Their Own. That’s one of the most popular lines from the film—and from movie history in general!—but the rest of the 1992 sports movie is just as quotable, funny, emotional, and all-around delightful, too.

Based on the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), the movie takes place during World War II, following an underdog baseball team with an alcoholic manager (Tom Hanks) set on making them into champions—though even he struggles to believe women can make great athletes. Don’t worry, they’ll prove him wrong and win the nation’s heart in the process

Featuring an iconic cast including Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Rosie O’Donnell, and Madonna—the Queen of Pop herself—few films have made a cultural impact quite like A League Of Their Own. Not to mention, few have been responsible for as many sapphic awakenings, making the movie an unofficial queer classic (which for the record, was recently remade into an excellent, queer-inclusive Amazon Prime Video series).

With baseball season in full swing, there’s no better time to revisit this cinematic staple, so read on below for 20 fascinating facts about A League Of Their Own.

1. Penny Marshall was inspired by a 1987 TV documentary.

Penny Marshall & Lori Petty at an ‘A League Of Their Own’ Screening | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Marshall watched the 27-minute-long 1987 documentary called A League Of Their Own, where she discovered the all-women baseball league for the first time.

2. The Rockford Peaches were really a baseball team.

The Rockford Peaches of the AAGPBL circa 1944 | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Not only are the beloved Rockford Peaches a real team from the AAGPBL, but they were one of just two teams that played through the entire 12-year history of the league.

3. Demi Moore was supposed to have the lead role.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Moore was Marshall’s top pick to play the lead role of Dorothy “Dottie” Hinson, but she was pregnant at the time filming was supposed to start, so the role went to Geena Davis.

4. Geena Davis had an unconventional audition.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

All she had to do was throw a baseball to Penny Marshall in the director’s backyard, and the role was hers.

5. Lori Petty’s audition process was much more involved

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Petty, who played pitcher Kit Keller, auditioned eight times for her part. “Every woman in Hollywood was reading for this movie,” she told The Ringer.

6. Tom Hanks wasn’t supposed to play Jimmy Dugan.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Though Hanks made the role legendary, the role of manager Jimmy Dugan was originally intended for Jim Belushi.

7. Geena Davis did her famous split catch herself.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

That’s right, the beyond-iconic moment where Geena’s Dottie catches a foul ball with a well-timed acrobatic split didn’t require a stunt person!

8. She did, however, need help getting back up.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

“The thing I did not do was get up from it… I was stuck there and had to be helped up,” Davis told USA Today.

9. Madonna was anything but a diva on set.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

According to Davis, Madonna was game for anything and a total trooper, willing to do everything for the role of “All The Way” Mae Mordabito—including diving headfirst into bases.

10. Everyone was amazed by Madonna’s presence.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Having a global sensation like Madonna on set was wild. Even Marshall struggled to say her name—and she was director! She had a solution, calling her “Mo.” Rosie O’Donnell seemed to be the only person un-phased by Madonna’s presence, and the two became fast friends on set.

11. Debra Winger quit when Madonna was cast.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Oscar-nominated actress Debra Winger was supposed to play Dottie (Geena Davis), but she left the film when Madonna was cast, saying Marshall was making “an Elvis film.”

12. The baseballs were made of an unexpected material.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Sponge-filled balls were used in place of real baseballs—not because the ladies couldn’t handle real ones, but because they would be hit in the direction of the camera crew.

13. An injury stopped the original Kit from playing.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Moira Kelly was originally slated to star as Kit (Lori Petty), but Kelly was injured in another sports film, breaking her foot filming ice-skating drama The Cutting Edge.

14. It’s considered the most successful baseball movie ever.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Despite being America’s pastime, no baseball film has made over $100 million—except A League Of Their Own, which earned $107 million at the box office. 

15. Hanks enjoyed entertaining the extras between takes.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

While he played a pretty irascible character, Hanks was his charming self when the cameras weren’t rolling. He’d put on little puppet shows for the extras while filming in Evansville, Iowa.

16. The gameplay—and bruises—were real.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Though the balls were made of sponge to protect the crew, but all the gameplay was entirely real. So much so that the famous gigantic bruise on Alice (Renee Coleman) wasn’t makeup, but a very real, very painful bruise.

17. Despite no explicitly queer content, it’s a queer cult classic.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Though the 2022 television reimagining is full of glorious queerness, the 1992 film doesn’t even hint at sexual relationships between women. Still, the film is rightfully beloved by the LGBTQ+ community as a glowing story of powerful women working together to achieve their dreams—something extremely rare on screen in the 1990s.

18. Many of the actual league’s players came out late in life.

Maybelle Blair | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Maybelle Blair came out at age 95 during a press conference for the 2022 series A League Of Their Own. Players Dottie Kamenshek (who inspired the film’s Dottie) and Margaret Wenzell’s relationship was a secret until they married late in life.

19. There’s a reason the film wasn’t more queer.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

“Nobody was out!… It was a different time,” Rosie O’Donnell said in an interview with Seth Meyers. That included O’Donnell herself, who came out in 2002.

20. The film received awards attention.

Image Credit: ‘A League Of Their Own,’ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

A League Of Their Own was nominated for two Golden Globes: Best Actress for Geena Davis, and Best Original Song for Madonna’s “This Used To Be My Playground.”

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2 Comments*

  • Major

    A League of Their Own was a great movie. We all saw our community there and loved it.

  • davida

    One note. #15 – It was filmed in Evansville, Indiana. I, along with most of the community, were extras for the scenes that entire summer! Hollywood icons filming in Evansville, Indiana (and surrounding towns) for the whole summer. It was a dream!

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