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The Baseball Bug
(1911) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: John W. Noble [the would-be baseball star], Florence La Badie [his wife], Big Chief Bender [himself], Jack Coombs [himself], Cy Morgan [himself], Rube Oldring [himself]
Thanhouser Company production; distributed by Motion Picture Distributing & Sales Company. / Released 24 November 1911. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The film features members of the Philadelphia Athletics baseball club.
Comedy.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? A little frog who splashes into a tiny puddle sometimes thinks he has created a commotion in the Atlantic Ocean. A young clerk in a small town was like the little frog, and local triumphs on an amateur baseball team convinced him that he was really a wonderful player, and far superior to the men in the big leagues. Glory came to him, that is to say, his name was a household word in the small village where he lived, but he got no money for it. More than that, he neglected his regular work in a store, and was in danger of being discharged. For he thought baseball, drank baseball and dreamed baseball. He was a nuisance to his friends and a trial to his family, and his wife worried greatly as to what the future would bring. The wife had a distant cousin, Big Chief Bender, the noted twirler of the world champions, the Philadelphia Athletics, and she decided to confide her troubles to him. She figured that a man who could pitch three out of the six past seasons’ games against the Giants, win two of them and list the third by a fluke, must be resourceful enough to help her. She judged correctly, and her appeal was not in vain. To the conceited counter jumper came a letter purporting to be signed by Connie Mack, explaining that his fame had reached Philadelphia and that Bender, Coombs (the pitcher who beat Mathewson), Morgan, the wonderful spit ball expert, and “Rube” Oldring (the heavy-hitting outfielder who broke up a World’s Series game with a home run) were coming to the country to learn from the village champion how to play baseball. By this time the little frog had swollen to such a size that he really believed that the plea for help was genuine. So he gladly welcomed the seasoned champions of the world and they studied baseball together. There was only one lesson. Then the little frog went sadly home. He burned up his uniform, his bat and the baseballs he had. He returned to his regular work behind the counter and the wife finds that he is cured of his infatuation.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Fantasies - Sports: Baseball
Listing updated: 11 December 2024.
References: Edelman-Baseball pp. 31, 195 : Website-IMDb.
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