The Baseball Bunch

Did You Know?

• The series also aired nationally on the basic cable network WTBS and, later, in reruns on ESPN.
• In 2002, television producer Steve Church launched a local St. Louis market version called 'The Cardinals Kids Club' with the St. Louis Cardinals.
• An 8-minute pilot for a new national version for ESPN, starring Harold Reynolds and the Phillie Phanatic, was produced but eventually shelved by ESPN.

Production

The series was produced by Major League Baseball Productions and starred Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. It was envisioned as a fun but informative way for Little League aged children to learn baseball fundamentals. The original pilot was filmed at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles in 1980 and did not originally include the San Diego Chicken (Ted Giannoulas). In a 2007 interview, Giannoulas recounted that producers called him, saying they wanted to reshoot the pilot because it was 'a little dry for kids' and asked him to improvise around the material.

The pilot, starring Bench, Lasorda, and major league guest-star Steve Garvey, aired as a special presentation on August 23, 1980, with some stations airing it the next day. For the first full season, production moved to Tucson, Arizona in February 1981. The location and time of year were chosen for ideal weather (70° temperatures in February) and proximity to major league spring training camps, allowing guest stars to film an episode and then head to camp.

The eight children, boys and girls of varying ages and ethnicities, were chosen for their 'boy/girl-next-door' appeal and to reflect audience diversity, rather than for athletic prowess or singing abilities. Giannoulas noted that the producers sought kids without a polished 'Hollywood' look to seem more real.

Premise

The series starred Johnny Bench as coach to a fictional baseball team of eight little league aged children called 'The Baseball Bunch.' The ninth team member was the San Diego Chicken (played by Ted Giannoulas), who served as a comic foil to Bench as he mentored the children. Each episode had two segments. The first featured a current or former major league player demonstrating a baseball fundamental to the children, such as learning to pitch within a hitter's strike zone, along with the children's humorous attempts to imitate the star.

Guest-stars also steered children away from what not to do, like explaining why a growing child should not throw a curveball. The second segment featured a skit with 'The Dugout Wizard' (played by Tommy Lasorda), a mystical turban-wearing Swami character who taught a second fundamental, such as catching a fly ball. This segment was often accompanied by a music video composed of clips of major league players performing or failing at the act. The series also addressed psychological challenges like performance anxieties and sportsmanship, including a 'little league father' criticizing his son from the sidelines being urged to relax.

Reception

During its run, The Baseball Bunch was well received by children and adults. The series won multiple Emmy Awards for outstanding achievement in special programming, a gold medal from the International Film and Tape Festival in New York, and an award from Action for Children's Television, and received an endorsement from the National Education Association. The series spawned a fan club called The Baseball Bunch 'Fun Club,' which young fans could join for $4.99.

Members received a membership certificate, a T-shirt and wrist-bands, a full-size color poster of 'The Bunch,' and The Baseball Bunch 'Fun Book' containing color photos and biographies, puzzles, sheet music and lyrics for the theme song, and a comic strip called 'The Baseball Bunchies.' In a March 1984 review, Miami Herald sports writer Bob Rubin praised the show as 'a humorous, marvelously creative blend of entertainment and instruction' and noted the eight-kid 'rainbow coalition' representing a typical neighborhood group.

Rubin also praised Giannoulas's contribution, calling the Chicken 'the most gifted physical comic since Curly, Larry and Moe.'

Home video

After the series' original run ended in fall 1985, Scholastic-Lorimar, along with sponsor Kool-Aid, released three one-hour 'Best Of' VHS tapes in April 1986. Each tape was dedicated to a particular aspect of the game: 'Pitching,' 'Hitting,' and 'Fielding,' compiling segments from all five seasons. Hosted by Bench and the three children who appeared on all five seasons—Stacy Blythe as 'Michelle,' Jared Holland as 'Sam,' and Danny Santa Cruz as 'Louie'—the tapes included new 'Drill' segments where Bench recommended basic drills while the three teens demonstrated each exercise. No segments of Lasorda as 'The Dugout Wizard' were included; the tapes focused exclusively on segments with major league guest-stars. The tapes also replaced the show's theme song with an alternate instrumental version.