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Blessing gives his characters a pungent flavor. Old John Law (Ray Fry), a legendary pitcher who is being honored, is a laconic curmudgeon who seems to hate baseball now and to have loathed the fans in his days of glory. Add on: the whisky-swigging, pot-bellied manager (Frederic Major), the clubhouse clown (William McNulty), the Hispanic outsider Jesus Luna (Dierk Toporzysek) and the multi millionaire superstar (Mel Johnson).
Blessing's creative gem is the new owner, Mr. Thompson (Michael Kevin), who flies his own Learjet. Thompson is a cross between the Yankees' George Steinbrenner arid a computerized barracuda. He tells the warriors" and players he that "you wants "a can't be franchise perfect of without a perfect attitude." All the actors at Louisville are very nearly perfect, and this year they had to be. — — By T.E. Kalem