Watch The Bad News Bears

The Bad News Bears was the surprise hit of 1976 (although, with a pair of Academy Award winners in the cast, perhaps it should not have been). Walter Matthau plays Morris Buttermaker, a former minor league pitcher who never realized his Big League dreams and is now drinking his way through life as a pool cleaner in Southern California. A series of unfortunate events lands Buttermaker as coach of the Bears, a Little League team that consists of the worst players available. Buttermaker knows his group has no shot to win, so he recruits a ringer, fellow Oscar winner Tatum O'Neal, who may be a girl but is also one of the best pitchers in the area. Problem is she's also the 12-year-old daughter of one of his ex-girlfriends. The movie takes a series of hilarious turns, including the addition of motorcycle-riding bad boy (and future Oscar nominee) Jackie Earle Haley, who adds just enough attitude to the team that they might have a chance to fulfill their ultimate goal of beating the trash-talking Yankees, the best team in the league.