''The Last Home Run'' is a 1996 film directed by

Bob Gosse Bob Gosse (born January 9, 1963) is an American film producer, film director and actor. Background Gosse was born on Long Island, New York. Gosse attended SUNY Purchase where he would meet and collaborate with artists such as Hal Hartley, Nic ...

. It tells the story of Jonathan Lyle, an elderly man in a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

(played by

Seymour Cassel Seymour Joseph Cassel (January 22, 1935 – April 7, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies and television shows, and had a career that spanned over 50 years. Cassel first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering in ...

) who is transformed by a mystic, for five days, into a 12-year-old boy (played by

Thomas Guiry Thomas John Guiry (born October 12, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for his lead performance as Scott Smalls in the cult coming-of-age film ''The Sandlot,'' which he held at the age of 12, and his role in NBC crime drama ''The Black D ...

) playing

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Jordi Vilasuso Jordi Alejandro Vilasuso (; born June 15, 1981 in Miami, Florida) is a Cuban-American actor best known for originating the role of Tony Santos on the CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1 ...

and Vinnette Justine Carroll (in her last film appearance), and included cameos by former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

players

Gary Carter Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball catcher whose 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. Nicknamed "the Kid" for his y ...

and

Dave Winfield David Mark Winfield (born October 3, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He is the special assistant to the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Over his 22-year career, he playe ...

. It was based on a story by Roger Flax who wrote the screenplay along with Ed Apfel. The

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

was produced in 1995, and was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

on March 23, 1996. The movie marked the only film appearance by the real Marley, the Labrador Retriever that was the central character of the best-selling 2005 book ''

Marley & Me ''Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog'' is an autobiographical book by journalist John Grogan, published in 2005, about the 13 years he and his family spent with their yellow Labrador Retriever, Marley. The dog is poorly be ...

'' and the 2008 film of the same name. Author

John Grogan John Joseph Grogan ( ; born March 20, 1957) is an American journalist and non-fiction writer. His memoir ''Marley & Me'' (2005), was a very best selling book, about his family's dog, Marley, in real life. Early life Grogan was born to a Catholi ...

devoted Chapter 16, "The Audition", to the dog's escapades during filming at a

Lake Worth, Florida Lake Worth Beach, previously named Lake Worth, is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, located about north of Miami. The city's name is derived from the body of water along its eastern border known as the Lake Worth ...

, hotel parking lot. Marley got a screen credit "Marley the Dog...As Himself" for his two minutes of screen time.Grogan, John (2005). - ''Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog''. - New York:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

. - pp.149-161. -

References

1996 films 1990s sports drama films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Bob Gosse Films about dogs Films set in Florida American baseball films American sports drama films 1996 drama films 1990s American films {{1990s-drama-film-stub