A former minor-league pitcher (The late Oscar-Winner:Walter Matthau), who is now a pool cleaner and he's also a grumbling beer-guzzling man. He's been hired to coach a team of kids, which they are a band of half-pint misfits. Which these kids hardly played baseball in their young lives. The coach decides to add two new players in the team, am smart talented young pitcher (Oscar-Winner:Tatum O'Neal) and an trouble-maker (Jackie Earle Haley), who can play catch and hit the ball. Which could bring them to the championship game with the help of two new players, who could actually play the game.<br /><br />Directed by Michael Ritchie (Cops and Robbersons, The Coach Trip, The Golden Child) made an believable, original, cleverly funny baseball film. Matthau is good in the lead, O'Neal is amusing as Matthau's former father figure and now coach. The Kids are also fun in this movie. Some of the major appeal of the classic 70's film was hearing the kids cursing. The movie manages also to have some strong dramatic moments (especially the late Vic Morrow as Matthau's rival in a standout scene towards the conclusion). The language may be lost on television but it's always worth seeing in it's original version.<br /><br />DVD has an good anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer, which it is also grainy at times but always sharp in the picture quality. DVD also has an fine digitally remastered-Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (Also in the original Mono soundtrack). Sadly, this DVD doesn't have any features including the original theatrical trailer. This movie was a major surprise back in 1976 and it was also one of the top grossing films of that year. This film is followed by two sequels, t.v. series and a 2005 remake (Which is fairly faithful to the original). Written by the late:Bill Lancaster (John Carpenter's The Thing). (****/*****).