''The Kid from Left Field'' is a 1979 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. Coleman was the highest-paid child actor on television throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. He was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid S ...

and

Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer, known for his role as Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-off, ''Benson'', as well as for voici ...

. Coleman's first film, it is a remake of the 1953 film of the same name.

Plot

Jackie Robinson "J.R." Cooper is a kid who loves baseball, and also the son of a former major leaguer now down on his luck (and now a vendor working the stands at games). J.R. parlays his baseball knowledge into becoming manager of the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

and leading them to the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

.(1 October 1979)
Picks and Pans Review: The Kid from Left Field
''People''

Primary Cast

- Jackie Robinson "J.R." Cooper *

- Larry Cooper * Gary Collins - Pete Sloane *

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...

- Fred Walker *

Tricia O'Neil Tricia O'Neil (born Patty O'Neil) is an American actress. Early life Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, she is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. O'Neil. The family lived in El Paso, Texas, from 1952 to 1959 and in 1963. O'Neil attended elementary ...

- Marion Fowler *

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond, clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. He was a Hollywood heartthrob of t ...

- Bill Lorant

Production

Filming Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of Film, motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (o ...

took place at

San Diego Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the West Coast of the United States, west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 199 ...

.(1983-12-01). ''Spotlight on filming in SD County''. ''

Daily Times-Advocate The ''Daily Times-Advocate'', also called the ''Escondido Times-Advocate'', was a daily newspaper published in Escondido, California. It was founded in 1909 and ceased publication as a separate title in 1995. History ''The Daily Times-Advocate'' ...

'', 52, 56-57.

Reception

A vehicle for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

to try to enhance Coleman's growing stardom from the sitcom ''

Diff'rent Strokes ''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, r ...

'', the television movie first aired on Sunday, September 30, 1979. It was the 15th highest-rated prime time show of the week, with a

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

of 21.4.Brown, Les. (3 October 1979)
NBC a Close 2d to ABC in TV Ratings
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Critics, however, did not love the film, which was plainly directed at younger viewers.

Tom Shales Thomas William Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American writer and retired critic of television programming and operations. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which Shales received the Pulitzer Pr ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' wrote "there is no point in listing the credits ... because no credit is due."Pearlman, Jeff (11 June 2010)
Remembering Gary Coleman as The Kid From Left Field
''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''Shales, Tom (29 September 1979)
James Earl Jones, Sizzling in 'Paris'
''

'' After Coleman died in 2010 and

Jeff Pearlman Jeff Pearlman (born 1972) is an American sports writer. He has written nine books that have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list: four about football, three on baseball and two about basketball. He was the author of the infamous 1999 Jo ...

wrote a tribute to the film in ''

'', director Adell Aldrich commented "we weren't trying to win awards, but we did want to make something people would enjoy."

Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor and director. He was best known for his TV role as doctor Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade''. Ear ...

had originally been picked to direct, but quit after two days because he didn't want to work with children.Erickson, Hal
The Baseball Filmography, 1915 through 2001, 2d ed.
pp. 257-59 (2010) NBC held a special preview of the film after a

game on September 21, 1979.(20 September 1979)
Crowd at Ball Game to See Preview of a TV Movie
''

'' Oddly enough, the day after the film first aired on television, the Padres hired their announcer

Jerry Coleman Gerald Francis Coleman (September 14, 1924 – January 5, 2014) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman for the New York Yankees and manager of the San Diego Padres for one year. Coleman was named the rookie of the year in 1949 by Ass ...

(who also appeared in the film as the team's announcer) as their new manager.(2 October 1979)
Jerry Coleman to Manage Padres
''Lewiston Sun'' (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

) This led to some jokes that the team had meant to hire Gary Coleman.Kenney, Kirk & Randy Jones
100 Things Padres Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die
p. 295 (2016)Strasberg, Andy
San Diego Baseball Fantography
p. 48 (2014)

Award

At a dinner ceremony, Sunday evening, December 7, 1980,

, on behalf of the film, accepted the

Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

for "Best Children's Special or Episode in a Series," at the 13th NAACP Image Awards at the

Hollywood Palladium The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an dance floor including a mezzanine and a floor level with room for up to 4,000 ...

Home media

The film was released on VHS by

Vestron Video Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market. The name is now used for a collecto ...

in 1984. It has not been released on DVD.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kid from Left Field, The 1979 television films 1979 films 1979 comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s sports comedy films Remakes of American films American baseball films American comedy television films American sports comedy films Comedy film remakes Films scored by David Michael Frank Films set in San Diego Films with screenplays by Jack Sher NBC network original films San Diego Padres Sports television films Television remakes of films 1970s American films Films shot in San Diego