The Perfect Game facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Game |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | William Dear |
| Produced by | David Salzberg Mark W Koch Christian Tureaud Jason French |
| Written by | W. William Winokur |
| Starring | Clifton Collins Jr. Cheech Marin Moises Arias Jake T. Austin Ryan Ochoa Carlos Padilla Jansen Panettiere Carlos Gómez Emilie de Ravin |
| Music by | Bill Conti |
| Cinematography | Bryan F. Greenberg |
| Editing by | Chris Conlee |
| Studio | IndustryWorks Pictures HighRoad Entertainment Prelude Pictures Lone Runner Entertainment Independent Producers Alliance |
| Distributed by | Image Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | March 21, 2009 (Guadalajara) April 16, 2010 (US) |
| Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Money made | $3,878,993 |
The Perfect Game is a 2009 American movie about baseball. It tells the true story of a group of young baseball players from Monterrey, Mexico. These boys made history in the 1957 Little League World Series. They were the first team from outside the United States to win the championship. Their pitcher, Ángel Macías, even threw a "perfect game" in the final match. This means no player from the other team reached base during the entire game. It was an amazing achievement!
Contents
The Story of the Team
The movie begins with César Faz (Clifton Collins Jr.), a man who used to work for a big baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals. He moves to Monterrey, Mexico. There, he sees local children playing baseball with their priest, Padre Esteban (Cheech Marin).
Forming the Team
César meets Ángel Macías (Jake T. Austin), a talented young pitcher. César brags about his own baseball skills and how he coached the Cardinals. Ángel convinces César to help create and coach Monterrey's very first Little League team. With César's coaching and Padre Esteban's support, the boys practice hard. They become a strong team ready for big competitions.
Facing Challenges
When the team travels to the United States, they face many difficulties. They have trouble with the language and other challenges. Even though they are seen as the underdogs, the team starts winning many games. People begin to love their story. They make friends with a sports reporter named Frankie (Emilie de Ravin) and a kind groundskeeper named Cool Papa Bell (Louis Gossett Jr.). These new friends help the boys reach the final game.
The Big Game
In the championship game of the Little League World Series, the Monterrey team plays against a strong team from West La Mesa, California. Monterrey wins the game 4–0! One of their players, Enrique Suárez (Jansen Panettiere), hits a "grand slam" home run. This means he hit a home run when all three bases were full of his teammates. The most amazing part is that Ángel Macías pitches a "perfect game." This incredible feat has not happened again in the Little League World Series championship since then.
Meet the Cast
Here are some of the actors who brought this inspiring story to life:
- Clifton Collins Jr. as César Faz
- Cheech Marin as Padre Esteban
- Moisés Arias as Mario Ontiveros
- Jake T. Austin as Ángel Macías
- Ryan Ochoa as Norberto Villarreal
- Carlos Padilla as Baltazar Charles
- Jansen Panettiere as Enrique Suárez
- Emilie de Ravin as Frankie
- Louis Gossett Jr. as Cool Papa Bell
The True Story Behind the Film
The movie The Perfect Game is based on a real-life event. It tells the story of a group of boys from Monterrey, Mexico. They were the first team from outside the U.S. to win the Little League World Series in 1957.
The "Little Giants"
Their team was called "Industriales de Monterrey." People nicknamed them "Los pequeños gigantes," which means "The little giants." Before going to the United States, this team played two seasons in their local Little League. They were the second team from outside the U.S. and Canada to join the regional tournaments. These tournaments decided which teams would go to the Little League World Series. This big event happens every August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Their Amazing Journey
The Industriales team won all their qualifying tournaments. Many people were surprised by how well they played. They became the first Mexican team to reach the Little League World Series. In the finals, they beat the team from La Mesa, California, with a score of 4–0. Ángel Macías, the pitcher from Monterrey, threw the first and only "perfect game" in the championship's history. The Industriales de Monterrey team was so good that year, they even won again the next year in the 1958 Little League World Series!
How Monterrey Was Shown
The movie shows Monterrey as a small village with dirt streets. However, in real life, Monterrey was already a large industrial city in 1957. It was a major center for business and research in Mexico. The movie also showed the border between Mexico and Texas as a simple dirt road. In reality, it was a bridge crossing over the Rio Grande. Special computer effects were used to make the movie look like the 1950s.
See also
In Spanish: El juego perfecto para niños
