Major League Movie

"One of the biggest disappointments of my young life was when the Cleveland Indians lost the World Series to the Giants," said screenwriter David Ward, who was 9 and living in Cleveland when the Indians blew their last chance in 1954. "It taught me that things don't always happen the way you think they should," he said. "It was a real crusher to me." Ward, who won a screenwriting Oscar for "The Sting," has had his own disappointments. He wrote and directed "Cannery Row," starring Nick Nolte and Debra Winger, and wrote the adaptation for Robert Redford's "The Milagro Beanfield War."

"One of the biggest disappointments of my young life was when the Cleveland Indians lost the World Series to the Giants," said screenwriter David Ward, who was 9 and living in Cleveland when the Indians blew their last chance in 1954. "It taught me that things don't always happen the way you think they should," he said. "It was a real crusher to me." Ward, who won a screenwriting Oscar for "The Sting," has had his own disappointments. He wrote and directed "Cannery Row," starring Nick Nolte and Debra Winger, and wrote the adaptation for Robert Redford's "The Milagro Beanfield War."

The joke, such as it was, in the "Major League" movie mini-franchise--that the long-hapless Cleveland Indians actually become contenders--has been decisively outdated since the real Indians have played in two of the past three World Series. Now, in its third installment, the "Major League" series itself is the joke. Even the blatantly contradictory title--"Major League: Back to the Minors"--admits that the series, like the "Police Academy" movies before it ("Mission to Moscow"?

From Rod Beaton of USA Today: "Mike LaValliere has joined the prestigious 1-1 club." Translation: The Pittsburgh catcher now has one home run and one stolen base after getting his first steal Tuesday against St. Louis. LaValliere, 5 feet 10 inches and 200 pounds, hadn't stolen a base since 1982, when he played for Class AA Reading (Pa.) "The pressure's off me now," he said. "I can run at will." Steve Garvey, whose No.

Warning: Copyright threats on DVDs and TV broadcasts may be misstating the law. A high-tech trade group made that charge Wednesday to the Federal Trade Commission, alleging deceptive trade practices for the scary copyright warnings before movies and during sports broadcasts. The Computer and Communications Industry Assn. said it was trying to protect the public's legal rights from overzealous media companies, which in turn said they were simply trying to protect their content.