VEB Film Club: Angels in the Outfield – Which Version Hits a Home Run for Your Heart? – Page 2

“Gabe,” you must be asking: “why are you writing this and why right now?” Excellent question. To be perfectly honest, I would have preferred to save this idea for a later time, but I didn’t actually think of the idea until after I had already watched the original Angels in the Outfield. I watched it mostly because I was curious – by IMDB ratings and the few reviews it has, it suggested it was worth watching. I had seen the remake, but not in at last 20 years. I kind of assumed it would be the same movie, and it wasn’t at all. So I instantly wanted to compare it to the remake, which of course demanded I watch the remake as well. If I waited for a more appropriate time for this post, well I would have to rewatch the original. I liked the original more than I expected, but to use a term from The Ringer – it’s not really a Rewatchable type of movie. So it had to be posted while it was fresh in my mind. Hence the weird timing.

The original (Spoilers if you want to watch it)

The original movie is actually about the Pittsburgh Pirates, because the Angels didn’t actually exist yet. At least not in the majors, pretty sure there was a minor league team named the Angels. The Pirates at the time hadn’t had a winning record since 1948, and the next season they would win 42 games. They wouldn’t have a winning record until the 1958 season. So they picked a perennial loser team to magically turn around.