"A League of Their Own" Series - Skip or Stream?
Amazon Prime’s A League of Their Own is the best example of what a remake can be. The series begins with Carson Shaw (Abbi Jacobson, who also co-created, executive produced, and wrote for the show) chasing after a train to Chicago. Her destination is more than just a trip to a new city, it’s the tryouts for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). When she arrives in Chicago, Carson meets Jo (Melanie Field) and Greta (D’Arcy Carden), also en route to the tryouts. Unbeknownst to them, they are a day away from becoming some of the founding members of the Rockford Peaches.
Many viewers will come to the series familiar with Penny Marshall’s spectacular 1992 film of the same name, and they’ll recognize the uniforms of the Rockford Peaches, the beauty lessons the women must take, and the now-famous line, “There’s no crying in baseball!” Fortunately, the series presents all these plot points from the film without a wink to the audience. They don’t care if you remember Tom Hanks’ delivery of the “no crying” line or the words to the All-American Fight Song, because they’re presenting it all as brand new, with updated context and meaning. Jacobson and her co-creator, Will Graham, have maintained the essence and warmth of Penny Marshall’s film, but have expanded it to something entirely different.
One of the most exciting additions to the cast is the character of Max (Chanté Adams), a Black woman who dreams of pitching. She also attends tryouts for the AAGPBL, but is told the league will not be integrated. In Marshall’s film, there’s a moment when an unnamed Black woman throws a foul ball to Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) and the speed at which she throws it takes Dottie by surprise. It was Marshall’s way of referencing the women who never got a chance to play in the AAGPBL because of the color of their skin. It’s clear that Max is Jacobson and Graham’s way of honoring Marshall’s efforts, and of using the extra time they have in a series to tell the story of a Black woman in 1943 who wants a chance to play baseball.
Credit: Anne Marie Fox
Max’s character doesn’t disappear after the first episode. She and her best friend, Clance (Gbemisola Ikumel), continue to fight for her chance on the pitcher’s mound. Her path crosses with Carson during the tryouts, and the two form a friendship that threads their storylines together through the rest of the season. In many ways, they understand each other intimately. They’re two queer women who love baseball, but aren’t able to express either of those loves in a meaningful way in public. Carson understands that even though they share the same desires, she is afforded a multitude of privileges Max doesn’t dare dream about.
At its core, A League of Their Own (2022) is about women wanting. It addresses the simplistic feeling of desire at a time when decisions for women were made for them without much concern for their emotions. At one point, Carson holds up an envelope of money that she can’t deposit because her husband (Patrick J. Adams) is away at war and she’s not able to open her own bank account. Jess (Kelly McCormack), another Peaches team member, is fined throughout the series for wearing pants in public. Each of the characters is desperate for something, and it’s the time period that’s holding them back from getting it ‒ from openly loving another woman to playing baseball to being taken seriously. They’re not asking for the world, they’re simply asking for a chance to be themselves. And in a sense, isn’t that the world? Not in the same widespread grandness, but in the size of its importance for each of these individual women.
Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video
It’s rare for a series to have so many LGBT characters who make up a multitude of different sexualities and gender identities, and there are pure moments of queer joy. Carson’s face lighting up as she describes how freeing it is to love Greta, Max putting on a tailored suit for the first time, and the exuberance of a hidden gay bar run by Vi (Rosie O’Donnell). To see Uncle Bert (Lea Robinson), a trans man, so proud of the life he’s made and the woman he loves. To hear Carson and Max describe how loving women is worth the confusion and the hell it took to get them there. Max waking up in clothes that make her feel confident for the first time in her life, a lipstick stain on her cheek and a wide grin spreading across her face as she remembers the party and the pretty girl she kissed. These are all simple actions, but the emotional, physical, and mental effort these characters had to expend to get to these scenes is extraordinary.
There’s a warmth that washes over the series, even when times get tough for the Peaches, both on and off the field. Perhaps that’s what makes A League of Their Own (2022) such a successful retelling. The series isn’t trying to be the original film. There are moments when Jacobson, in her backward hat and catcher’s gear, could resemble Davis. A few other members of the Peaches seem to have been cast based on their reminiscent looks, but no actor is attempting to replicate a past performance. The series keeps the same concept and doubles down on the sincerity, but expands its reach far beyond what the movie could have done.
Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video
This show is also about time, about making baseball last as long as possible. It’s the women’s chance to do something different, something they love. At first they write themselves off, because everyone has told them they’re silly girls with silly dreams who can never play baseball like the men. The entire AAGPBL is a joke…until it’s not. Until these women choose to make it matter and throw themselves fully into the experience. To make friends, fall in love, and experience a world they didn’t know they could have for as long as the season lasts. Even if there is another season (both for the Peaches and for the show itself), there will always be something special about this first team.
Skip or Stream?
Play ball! Stream the series on Friday, August 12 on Prime Video.
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