ROOKIE OF THE WEIRD

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (1993)
dir: Daniel Stern

ROOKIE OF THE WEIRD
Cracked #286, December 1993
w: Andy Simmons
a: Walter Brogan

Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is a twelve year old kid in little league who isn't very good at baseball. He has a supportive mother Mary (Amy Morton) who has a boyfriend Jack (Bruce Altman). Henry slips on a baseball during a little league game and breaks his arm for the summer.

When he's in a cast, Henry's arm is stuck in the “heil” position, a joke that wouldn't have been seen as loaded in 1993

When Henry has his cast removed, his tendons turn to have been wound a little too tight, giving him faster reflexes. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs manager (Dan Hedaya) is looking for something that will save his job and bring more people to games. Henry and his friends attend a game and when the ball gets in the bleachers and he throws it back, it's discovered his newly-healed arm is a superior pitching arm.

Henry is immediately recruited into the Cubs and taken under the wing of his idol, aging pitcher Chet Steadman (Gary Busey), and goofy team manager Phil Brickma (Daniel Stern).

There are all sorts of subplots not covered here like Henry and his friends George and Clark discovering girls, the boyfreind turning evil, Henry fixing his mother up with Chet, etc.

Steadman is being brought back in even though he knows he's aging. There's a sportscaster (John Candy) giving a play-by-play for all the games. Henry falls ago, losing his super-arm, and finishes most of the game by outsmarting pitchers. He wins the last inning all on his own, then he's done.