The Bush Leaguer

The Bush Leaguer is a lost^[1][2] 1927 American synchronized sound comedy film directed by Howard Bretherton and starring Monte Blue and Leila Hyams. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. The film was produced and distributed by the Warner Bros.^[3]

The Bush Leaguer
Lobby card
Directed by	Howard Bretherton
Written by	Harvey Gates (scenario)
Story by	Charles Gordon Saxton
Starring	Monte Blue Leila Hyams
Cinematography	Norbert Brodine
Production company	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	August 20, 1927 (1927-08-20) (limited release)
Running time	7 reels
Country	United States
Languages	Sound (Synchronized) (English Intertitles)

Theater advertisement for the film

Plot

In a sun-bleached Idaho town, garage owner Thomas Buchanan "Specs" White (Monte Blue) leads a quiet life tuning motors and perfecting a new type of gas pump he believes will revolutionize the filling station industry. When he’s not tinkering with valves and blueprints, Specs takes the mound as the local sandlot baseball team’s ace pitcher—just for the love of the game. Life is simple, until one fateful day a passing Los Angeles automobile and its beautiful driver catch Specs’ eye. She smiles—and that single glance lingers in his heart.

Specs' lucky break comes when “Lefty” Murphy (William Wilson), a scout for a Pacific Coast League club, sees him pitch and offers him a shot with the Los Angeles team. Though he never dreamed of turning pro, the promise of money to finance his invention—and perhaps another look at the mystery woman—lure him westward to the big city.

At spring training, Specs finds the game far more brutal than hometown ball. The team’s wisecracking catcher Skeeter McKinnon (Clyde Cook) delights in mocking him, and even tough but fair manager John Gilroy (William Demarest) begins to suspect that his new pitcher is no more than a bush leaguer. Then fate steps in—Specs finds a photo in an old newspaper of his dream girl, captioned “Alice Hobbs (Leila Hyams), Los Angeles Belle, Returns Home.” Reenergized by hope and infatuation, Specs throws himself into his training with new determination.

The transformation is dramatic. Specs begins to shine, just in time for Gilroy, who’s under pressure from Wallace Ramsey (Richard Tucker), attorney for team owner Alice Hobbs, to deliver a winning season. Specs becomes the unexpected backbone of a pennant-hungry team.

But the pressure of opening day proves too much. The crowd, the noise, the scale—it all unravels Specs. His pitching falters, and Gilroy reluctantly pulls him from the game. Humiliated, Specs walks off the field—only to lock eyes with the woman from his dreams. She is seated in the box seats, and to his shock, she smiles again. Holding up a baseball with her name and phone number scrawled on it, she tosses it toward him. But fate plays another trick—the ball rolls through the dirt and Specs retrieves it to find all that remains legible is “Alice, Main 123.”

Undeterred, Specs calls every number beginning with “Main 123” until he reaches Alice—only to discover that she is not just his dream girl, but the owner of the team. A friendship blossoms, and her faith in him helps guide Los Angeles toward the top of the league. As the final game of the season approaches, Specs' pitching has placed the team in a tie for first place.

Behind the scenes, Ramsey—fearing Specs’ influence and eyeing ownership himself—plots sabotage. He dispatches two crooked promoters, Stetson (Burt Marshall) and Young, to offer Specs and Skeeter a bribe to throw the final game. Skeeter gets into a brawl with Stetson, only to be rescued by Specs. Later, Young approaches Specs alone. Unknown to them, Alice overhears the conversation. When Specs remains silent, she assumes the worst.

Game day arrives and Specs is nowhere to be found. Skeeter, now sidelined with a broken finger, can’t explain the absence. What no one knows is that Specs had been summoned to a last-minute meeting with major financiers interested in backing his gas pump invention. He loses track of time.

Disillusioned, Alice fears she was right to doubt him—until Skeeter tracks Specs down and rushes him to the stadium. It’s the seventh inning. The team is trailing 5 to 3. As he jogs onto the field, the crowd roars. Despite her heartbreak, Alice sends him a kiss from the stands, rekindling his spirit.

Specs pitches magnificently, tying the game by the ninth. Then, with two outs and the bases loaded, he steps up to bat. He slams a scorching line drive into the outfield and charges around the bases. Sliding into home, he scores the winning run. The stadium erupts.

In a jubilant rush, Specs and Alice embrace on the field, surrounded by cheering fans and eager photographers. Before the final snapshot is taken, Skeeter arrives with a private detective (Rodney Hildebrand) in tow. The detective exposes Ramsey’s attempt to sabotage the team and frame Specs—restoring his name and reputation.

With Ramsey out and victory secured, Alice looks to the future—with a new manager in Specs White, a championship ball club, and a man she now knows she can trust with her team... and her heart.

Cast

• Monte Blue as Buchanan "Specs" White
• Clyde Cook as Skeeter McKinnon
• Leila Hyams as Alice Hobbs
• William Demarest as John Gilroy
• Richard Tucker as Wallace Ramsey
• Burt Marshall as Stetson
• Tom Dempsey as The "Parson"
• Wilfred North as Stokes
• William Wilson as William "Lefty" Murphy
• Violet Palmer as Marie, Alice's maid
• Rodney Hildebrand as Detective

See also

• List of baseball films
• List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
• List of early Warner Bros. sound and talking features