Sheen was a great choice as a pitcher. (Getty Images)

On occasion during slow periods in the baseball offseason (hello Thanksgiving weekend!), we'll break down a baseball movie here on Eye on Baseball. Specifically, we'll zero in on the baseball scenes in particular, not worrying about comedy, romance or any of the other ancillary matters. We'll attempt to analyze what was realistic or unrealistic regarding the baseball.

Here on Black Friday, we're going to start off the series with a look at one of our favorites: Major League.

If you haven't seen this movie, please stop reading and find a way to see it. There will be spoilers here and I'm not going to apologize for "ruining" a movie that was released in 1989. And, the movie is awesome.

Synopsis, via IMDB.com: "The new owner of the Cleveland Indians puts together a purposely horrible team so they'll lose and she can move the team. But when the plot is uncovered, they start winning just to spite her."

Good baseball storyline: Prior to each season, predictions are made by pretty much every media outlet. Teams generally publicly say they don't pay attention to the predictions. Yet when a team unexpectedly contends, we get to hear all those "no one thought we could do it" quotes. So they do look. That's why I love that manager Lou Brown uses the fact that everyone picked the Indians to finish last as a point of motivation. Also, how can you not love a scene in which the word "shitburger" is used?

Questionable baseball storyline: On opening day, after Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn coughs up a grand slam to the Yankees and then hits the next batter in the middle of the back with the first pitch, he was properly ejected. The Yankees dugout was obviously angry and yelling things while Vaughn and the batter exchanged words. But wouldn't the benches have cleared?

Bad baseball storyline: We'll ignore the roster construction because that's essentially the beauty of the movie. But how about this one: Third baseman Roger Dorn allows a ball to get by him in the top of the ninth with a one-run lead simply because he doesn't like the pitcher (Vaughn). That's absurd, though it does lead to an incredible tongue-lashing of Dorn by venerable catcher Jake Taylor.

Good casting: Charlie Sheen as Vaughn. He's athletic and appears to have a solid throwing arm. I doubt Sheen can hit triple digits on the radar gun, but his arm action is good enough to be at least mildly believable in the movie. Compare Sheen's throwing motion to the embarrassing effort given by, say, Freddie Prinze Jr. in that abortion of a movie called Summer Catch.

Bad casting: There actually weren't any egregious choices here, but I'll go with Wesley Snipes as Willie "Mays" Hayes. Remember, we're only talking about this movie from the aspect of playing baseball. Snipes is a great athlete (running, jumping, etc.), but his swing is pretty bad. Note specifically his infield single in the bottom of the ninth in the one-game playoff.

Good baseball play: Hayes stealing second in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied in the one-game playoff. Feels like a no-brainer, sure, but it was the correct move.

Bad baseball play: Cuban slugger Pedro Cerrano hadn't touched a ball all night in the one-game playoff and then, on an 0-2 count, he's given a belt-high fastball (or straight change, with the pitch in slow-motion all we can tell is that it wasn't a breaking ball) right down the middle of the plate -- which he not surprisingly launches into the stratosphere for a game-tying two-run homer. We all know that Cerrano can't hit the curve, too, and the pitcher had been touted as a master of breaking balls.

Reality as good as fiction? It's obviously not exact by any stretch of the imagination, but aren't there several elements here that resemble the 2012 Oakland A's? The A's toppled the mighty Rangers on the last day of the season (instead of a one-game playoff over the mighty Yankees), were picked to finish last by pretty much everyone, have an owner who desperately wants to leave his current stadium, made the playoffs on the strength of a second-half surge and more.

How about a Cuban-import outfielder who slugs home runs but has a penchant for striking out a bit? Check. A center fielder who steals bases? Check. Though Vaughn was mostly a starter in the movie, when he entered as a reliever in the one-game playoff to the tune of "Wild Thing," did the crowd frenzy at all remind you of the Balfour Rage?

The A's as a whole had a bit of a rag-tag feeling this season, considering they traded Trevor Cahill, Andrew Bailey and Gio Gonzalez last offseason. Also, can't you just picture Bob Melvin saying something back in late May like Lou Brown did about his Indians when they were 60-61: "The veterans are playing back to form and the rookies are developing faster than I thought ... there's two or three potential All-Stars in there. I think we're a contender right now."

Though the circumstances in baseball will never, ever allow for a story like the Indians had in the fictional Major League, I can't think of a group in recent memory that came as close as the 2012 A's.

Real-life comparisons

Jake Taylor: He feels a lot like Jason Varitek to me for some reason, and maybe it's just because they said "he was an All-Star in Boston" at the start. But Varitek never went away and came back strong. Maybe Russell Martin falling out of favor in Los Angeles and then getting his power back for the Yankees? A.J. Pierzynski coming through with a huge, unexpected power season for the White Sox in 2012 could work. Taylor doesn't seem nearly as hated, but he does talk trash from behind the plate to opposing hitters.

Willie "Mays" Hayes: We have to forget about Hayes showing up for camp uninvited. If so, doesn't Michael Bourn work quite well?

Roger Dorn: Troy Glaus? Casey Blake? It's actually pretty tough to find an overpriced veteran third baseman who still hits the ball well but can't field. Don't say A-Rod, please. Dorn couldn't have ever put up all-time great numbers.

Pedro Cerrano: Yoenis Cespedes is a good fit here.

Ed Harris: "Crafty veteran" pitcher who survives on junk, control and guile? Jamie Moyer!

Rick Vaughn: We'll leave him as a closer and stick with Grant Balfour, simply for the Balfour Rage entrance. I'm open to suggestions here, though. Maybe Fernando Rodney with how he managed to solve everything in 2012?

Lou Brown: I love Jim Leyland for Brown, despite the vast difference in managerial background (Brown coming from the Toledo Mudhens to be a first-year manager while Leyland has managed 21 years in the bigs).

Harry Doyle: Bob Uecker. I only mentioned the Tribe's outstanding play-by-play announcer because discussing this movie without mentioning Uecker's performance would be sacrilege.

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