a former minor league pitcher ( the late oscar winner representwalter matthau ) and who be now a pool cleaner and he also a grumble beer guzzle man . he be hire to coach a team of kid and which they be a band of half pint misfit . which these kid hardly play baseball in their young life . the coach decide to add two new player in the team and be smart talented young pitcher ( oscar winner representtatum oneal ) and an trouble maker ( jackie earle haley ) and who can play catch and hit the ball . which could bring them to the championship game with the help of two new player and who could actually play the game . direct by michael ritchie ( cop and robbersons and the coach trip and the golden child ) make an believable and original and cleverly funny baseball film . matthau be good in the lead and oneal be amuse a matthau former father figure and now coach . the kid be also fun in this movie . some of the major appeal of the classic 70 film be hear the kid curse . the movie manage also to have some strong dramatic moment ( especially the late vic morrow a matthau rival in a standout scene towards the conclusion ) . the language may be lose on television but it always worth see in it original version . dvd have an good anamorphic widescreen ( 1 . 85 represent1 ) transfer and which it be also grainy at time but always sharp in the picture quality . dvd also have an fine digitally remastered dolby digital 5 . 1 surround sound ( also in the original mono soundtrack ) . sadly and this dvd doesn not have any feature include the original theatrical trailer . this movie be a major surprise back in 1976 and it be also one of the top grossing film of that year . this film be follow by two sequel and t. v. series and a 2005 remake ( which be fairly faithful to the original ) . write by the late representbill lancaster ( john carpenter the thing ) . ( or ) .