Remade with gary coleman.
Lauren chapin's brother, Billy
Bisons.
This review is for the original version of "The Kid from Left Field", not the remake with Gary Coleman from 1979.
The story is about a VERY precocious kid, Christy Cooper (Billy Chapin*) is a fanatic about baseball. Much of this is because his father, Larry (Dan Dailey) used to be a major leaguer and the pair talk almost non-stop about baseball. Eventually, Christy gets a job as a batboy for the local team, the Bisons, who are one of the worst teams in the majors. However, batboy Christy offers suggestions to some of the players...and soon these suggestions are paying off. Word spread amongst the players that Christy can help and soon he's secretly coaching the team. But the actual manager of the team learns what is happening and instead of acting like a grown up and letting the kid help, he tosses him off the team. Then, however, the team returns to its losing ways and the players all go to the manager to ask something crazy....for Christy to actually be the coach! What's next? See it and find out.
While the story is ridiculous, it is fun and a nice family picture...one today's kids might also like. But, fortunately, it's not schmaltzy and it's a film any age can enjoy. A cute little fantasy baseball movie.
*Billy is the brother of Lauren, who used to be a regular on "Father Knows Best". Unlike his sister, Billy worked mostly in movies.