Rookie of the Year the Musical: The Time A Beloved Baseball Movie Was Turned Into a Stage Musical
What do you do when one of your favorite childhood movies suddenly becomes your obsession again?
If you're me, you spend a few months writing an entire musical based on it.
Today, for the first time in years, I'm sharing the complete recording of Rookie of the Year the Musical, a fan-made stage adaptation of the 1993 baseball classic. The recording itself isn't perfect. It was originally streamed on Facebook in 2017 and captured by a single camera from the back of the room. The video quality is low, the audio isn't always ideal, and it definitely doesn't capture what it felt like to be there in person.
But the show itself remains one of my favorite creative projects I've ever worked on.
Why Rookie of the Year?
I loved Rookie of the Year as a kid.
Like many baseball fans of my generation, it was one of those movies that lived permanently in the VHS rotation. The premise was ridiculous in the best possible way. A kid breaks his arm, the tendons heal incorrectly, and suddenly he can throw a baseball over 100 miles per hour. Before long, Henry Rowengartner is pitching for the Chicago Cubs.
It's a fantasy, but it's presented with such sincerity that you completely buy into it.
What makes the film work isn't just the concept. It's the execution.
The performances are fantastic across the board. Thomas Ian Nicholas is incredibly likable as Henry. Gary Busey steals scenes as grizzled veteran pitcher Chet Steadman. Daniel Stern delivers one of the funniest performances in the movie as pitching coach Phil Brickma, while also directing the film itself.
Then there's the music.
One of the most overlooked aspects of Rookie of the Year is its original score. The music helps create a world that feels grounded and believable while still allowing the audience to embrace the movie's larger-than-life premise. It gives the film an emotional core that elevates it beyond a simple kids sports comedy.
I've always felt Rookie of the Year is an underrated classic.
The original show poster for Rookie of the Year: the Musical
The Cubs Changed Everything
In 2016, the Chicago Cubs finally won the World Series.
Like many Cubs fans, I found myself revisiting old memories and old pieces of Cubs culture during that historic season. That included rewatching Rookie of the Year for the first time in years.
I expected a nostalgic trip.
Instead, I fell in love with the movie all over again.
The characters were still great. The comedy still worked. The emotional moments still landed. The baseball scenes still felt exciting. By the time the credits rolled, I had an idea that probably should have stayed inside my head.
What if Rookie of the Year was a musical?
Writing Rookie of the Year the Musical
Most people watch a movie and think, "That was fun."
I watched Rookie of the Year and somehow convinced myself that the logical next step was writing songs for Chet Steadman and Phil Brickma.
Once the idea appeared, I couldn't stop thinking about it.
The story already had everything a musical needs:
A young dreamer with an impossible goal
A larger-than-life sports world
Comedy
Heart
Memorable supporting characters
High emotional stakes
A built-in underdog story
The challenge was figuring out how to translate baseball to the stage while keeping the spirit of the movie intact.
The writing process moved surprisingly quickly. What started as a fun experiment became a real production, and before long we were rehearsing and preparing for performances. It only took about 15 to 20 rewatches of Rookie of the Year to get it all down too.
By September 2017, Rookie of the Year the Musical was on stage.
The Cast and Creative Team
The production featured an incredible cast of performers who embraced the absurdity of the concept while treating the material with complete sincerity.
Henry Rowengartner - Laura Marsh
Mary Rowengartner - Erin Long
Chet Steadman - Robert Bacon
Phil Brickma - Collin Dahlgren
Sal Martinella - Mo Phillips-Spotts
Cliff Murdoch - Rob Grabowski
Billy Frick - Marybeth Kram
Jack Bradfield - Marty Roche
George - David Schwartzbaum
Clark - Mike Gospel
Stan Okie - Caroline Nash
Understudy - Frankie Weschler
Creative Team
Writer - Robert Bacon
Director - Alan Cosby
Musical Director - Matt Herzau
Choreographer - Laura Marsh
Seeing It Again After All These Years
Watching the recording now is a strange experience.
As a creator, you always see the things you wish you could improve. You remember moments that worked better in the room than they do on video. You remember jokes that got bigger laughs than the recording captures. You remember the energy of the audience.
But you also remember why you made the thing in the first place.
The show is funny.
The cast is committed.
The songs still make me laugh.
Most importantly, it captures the genuine affection we all had for the original movie.
This wasn't created as a parody. It was created because we genuinely loved Rookie of the Year and wanted to celebrate it in the weirdest way possible.
Watch Rookie of the Year the Musical
If you're a fan of Rookie of the Year, baseball movies, sports musicals, Chicago Cubs history, or simply strange passion projects, I hope you'll check out the full show.
The recording may not be perfect, but the heart behind it absolutely is.
Sometimes the best creative projects aren't the biggest or most polished. They're the ones that exist because a group of people thought an idea would be fun and decided to make it happen.
That's exactly what Rookie of the Year the Musical was.
And nearly a decade later, I'm still glad we did.
Watch the full production above and let me know what you think.
