Twitter is a lot of things. But it's best use is an inspiration receptacle. See exhibit A, from my feed:
Was the film "Major League" the root cause of the deification of closers? I say yes.
11:05 a.m. July 26
Nearly a month ago I wrote that. Now, notebooks are for dorks, so pre-Twitter that thought would have been awash in a sea of daily errands, song lyrics, Team Fortress 2 strategies, and movie quotes.
Now, that thought is a full post. That's Twitter for us non-celebrity writers.]
Major League is not a particularly great film. It's funny enough, especially among typical sappy sports affairs. But it is a movie I have probably seen at least twenty times. Probably much, much more, but I need to maintain some veneer of coolness.
For the uninitiated: Major League follows the story of a shitty Cleveland Indians baseball club. There is a wild and varied cast of characters who represent all manner of MLB stereotypes. From the Dark Continent-hailing Sorano to the fast-talking, base-stealing Willie Mays Hayes to the crotchety, mustachioed manager -- they're all here. There's a bitchy owner, who wants the team to lose so they can relocate and make more money. But it was really to make her seem more bitchy.
But guess what!? ::SPOILER ALERT:: Against all odds, they win the pennant in a dramatic and satisfying fashion! There were bunts. Strikeouts. Hugs. It was glorious.
Everyone who saw Major League remembers one thing more than anything else. Wild Thing.
It really doesn't lose that much in Spanish.
Charlie Sheen played Rick Vaughn, the team's hot-tempered, mohawk sporting closer. He entered the game to a cover of The Troggs' "Wild Thing" (due to his penchant for outside pitches and outrageous hair).
If any of this sounds familiar, it should. While Major League came out in 1989, it changed the course of baseball forever. In positive and negative ways. All because of one little song.
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When I say the name Mariano Rivera, a few phrases should pop into your head. Dominant. Yankees. Cutter. Even G.O.A.T. If "Enter Sandman" does not come to mind, you don't follow baseball closely enough.
Or Trevor Hoffman. Changeup. Padres. All-time saves leader. "Hells Bells."
Did you know nearly every closer in baseball (at least those who are worth a damn) have some sort of supposed-to-be-intimidating entrance theme?
And it all started with Hoffman and Rivera (or the P.A. guys) -- some ten years after the film -- emulating Sheen and Major League. Now, the relationship between closer and entrance theme has reached wrestling status, becoming a mini-theme song to the narrative film that is The Closer.
As cool as that is -- a movie affecting real life! -- there is a bigger issue at work here. Major League -- in all it's closer-as-God postulating -- single-handedly elevated the closer to the ridiculous heights the position has reached.
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I am no film scholar, but I can tell Sheen is the main character of Major League. He has sex with a woman. Punches out a guy. Does a lot of silly things. Main character stuff.
It stands to reason -- he was/is a big actor. But what is interesting is his position in the film. He's a relief pitcher, which is by far the most boring position in baseball (with the exception, maybe, of second base). He's not the big hitter. Or the tough-as-nails catcher. Not even the flashy center fielder. He's the closer.
I can't imagine many Average Joes knew what the hell a closer was in 1989. I suppose images of Eckersley-to-Gibson still resonated, but Eck was probably the most iconic modern closer. The non-baseball fan populous wasn't inundated with ESPN and highlights of 9th inning strikeouts with fistpumps yet.
But if you watch that above clip -- the way the stands are bumping, everyone ecstatic that Vaughn is entering the game, the music blaring so loudly -- it might as well be in 2009, in Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium or Dodger Stadium. Rick Vaughn was the best, most exciting, most entertaining part of that film and that fictional Indians team.
Just like Eric Gagne was in 2002.
"Steroids? Fuck yeah!"The similarities between the fictional Vaughn and the real-life Gagne are startling. The Dodgers closer chose a ridiculous goatee/rec spec look, compared to the equally ridiculous mohawk/horn-rimmed glasses. They were both clearly dominant pitchers, Gagne recording 84 straight saves spanning two seasons, while Vaughn struck out that mean-looking Yankee who spit a lot.
But the similarities between Vaughn and Gagne's entrances is what gets me. Gagne had his own graphics featuring "Game Over" and a silly pixelated avatar of the Canadian closer. Fans began wearing the goggles and the goatee during games, just in the off-chance he'd come in and close. The man was a superstar. A real-life Vaughn some twenty years later.
The cult of Gagne -- all "Welcome to the Jungle" and Game Over -- would not have existed without the precident set by Major League. Concious or not, the fingerprints of Rick Vaughn's entrance theme, the fans going bananas over one of the most overrated position in sports, the costume-y getup, can still be seen today.
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Today, nearly every closer looks like a descendant of Vaughn. Boston's Jon Papelbon sported a mohawk for a time, even mentioning the film's icon. The closer position is home to some of the most flamboyant, borderline crazy players in all of baseball. Just look at Francisco Rodriguez (whose celebrations push the limits of good sportsmanship), Brian Wilson (in all his tattooed glory), or Fernando Rodney (who just threw a ball into the press box after nailing down a particularly tough save). Even if your team stinks, at least you have that ninth inning song, that cartoon character coming in at the end of the game, to cheer for.
In the seminal book Moneyball, Oakland GM Billy Beane admits he would pump up the value of his closers by making sure they recorded saves, despite thinking the stat was pointless. For the amount of "work" they do, the closer is probably the highest paid position in baseball. Somewhere in the long history of baseball it became necessary to have that end of the game guy. Someone to nail down those close games.
That moment may not have been when Major League hit theatres, but how else can you explain the unbelieveable similarities between and Vaughn and nearly every closer in baseball since?
Closers are rock stars and it's beacuse of Major League.
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