# Rookie of the Year (film)
*Rookie of the Year* is a 1993 American family sports comedy directed by [Daniel Stern](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-stern-actor), in which a 12-year-old Chicago boy, Henry Rowengartner, gains a 100-mile-per-hour fastball after a broken arm heals and is signed by the [Chicago Cubs](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-cubs). It was Stern's feature film directorial debut, written by Sam Harper and produced by Robert Harper for Twentieth Century Fox.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59646-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | July 7, 1993, rated PG, 103 minutes, Twentieth Century Fox[2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/rookie-of-the-year) |
| Director | Daniel Stern, his feature film directorial debut, on a $10–14 million budget[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59646-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR) |
| Premise | After a cast is removed from his broken arm, 12-year-old Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas) can throw a 100-mile-an-hour fastball, and the last-place Cubs want him as their new pitcher[3](https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-0dec6c67-2ffc-4a44-b2d8-6d2db8ac97f1?msockid=0056e638a7ef63680f26f077a60762cb) |
| Lead cast | Thomas Ian Nicholas, Gary Busey as aging pitching ace Chet Steadman, Albert Hall, Amy Morton, Dan Hedaya, Eddie Bracken[3](https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-0dec6c67-2ffc-4a44-b2d8-6d2db8ac97f1?msockid=0056e638a7ef63680f26f077a60762cb) |
| Filming | Twenty days of location shooting at Chicago's Wrigley Field; cameos from Pedro Guerrero, Bobby Bonilla, and Barry Bonds[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59646-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR) |
| Opening | $1.7 million on premiere night, with expansion to 1,460 theaters planned[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59646-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR) |
| Reception | 43% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 21 reviews; Metascore 53 on Metacritic[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rookie_of_the_year) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rookie-of-the-year/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Henry Rowengartner is a clumsy 12-year-old Little League player who loves baseball but cannot play it. He breaks his arm during a game, and when the cast comes off, his healed arm lets him throw a baseball at up to 100 miles an hour (103 mph in some accounts). After he throws an opponent's home-run ball from the [Wrigley Field](https://www.edgepedia.org/wrigley-field) bleachers all the way back to the catcher, the struggling Cubs sign him to help lift the team from last place. An aging pitching ace, Chet Steadman ([Gary Busey](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-busey)), mentors him, while his mother's boyfriend tries to sell his contract to a rival team.[3](https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-0dec6c67-2ffc-4a44-b2d8-6d2db8ac97f1?msockid=0056e638a7ef63680f26f077a60762cb) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rookie_of_the_year) • [6](https://www.ratingraph.com/movies/rookie-of-the-year-ratings-56553/)
## Production
The story was first developed by Sam Harper and producer Robert Harper for Featherstone Productions under the former title *King of the Hill*, and was later sold to Twentieth Century Fox. According to reports, Fox's production president, Roger Birnbaum, had been looking for a directing vehicle for Daniel Stern and considered Rookie of the Year well suited to the task. A July 1992 report announced the $10–14 million project, with principal photography set to begin in Chicago in late September 1992.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59646-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR)
Filmmakers spent twenty days on location at Wrigley Field, and several professional baseball players appeared in cameos, including Pedro Guerrero, Bobby Bonilla, and [Barry Bonds](https://www.edgepedia.org/barry-bonds). Some scenes were shot during real games with large crowds, which Roger Ebert credited with giving the film an authenticity that other baseball films lacked.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59646-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR) • [7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rookie-of-the-year-1993) [Bill Conti](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-conti) composed the score, and Jack N. Green was the cinematographer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59646-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR) • [2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/rookie-of-the-year)
The film premiered on July 7, 1993, two days earlier than the announced July 9 opening, earning $1.7 million on its first night before expanding to 1,460 theaters.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59646-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR) The surprise success of the film, described in a 1995 interview as the hit family movie of 1993, led Fox to give Stern a three-picture deal.[8](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950801/08010025.htm)
## Reception
Critics received the film as a modest children's fantasy. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 43% Tomatometer from 21 reviews, with a critics' consensus that it "gets some laughs from its novel premise, but a high strikeout rate on jokes and sentimental fouls keeps this comedy firmly in the minor leagues."[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rookie_of_the_year) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 53, based on 15 critic reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rookie-of-the-year/)
Roger Ebert, the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic and 1975 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) winner for criticism, gave the film three of four stars, calling it "pure wish-fulfillment" and recommending it for children while noting it was not a great movie.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rookie-of-the-year-1993) The New York Times' Stephen Holden praised [Thomas Ian Nicholas](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-ian-nicholas)'s central performance as cocky without seeming obnoxious, while judging the film to have "about as much substance as cotton candy."[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rookie-of-the-year/) Common Sense Media highlighted the film's positive messages about family and friends, noting that Henry chooses the people he loves over the glamour of professional sports.[9](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/rookie-of-the-year)
## The medical premise
The film's central device does not hold up to medical scrutiny. Dr. Julia Warden, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, reviewed the premise for [Sportsnet](https://www.edgepedia.org/sportsnet) and concluded that a healed fracture could not increase fastball velocity. She called the movie's diagnosis, "radial fractures on his ulna," confusing because of its incorrect use of anatomical terms, noted that a four-month cast was far too long, and explained that tendons do not act like springs: muscles produce force, so tight tendons would more likely restrict range of motion than speed up a throw. In her assessment, the character should have been worse at baseball after the injury, though she allowed the premise was "near-impossible" rather than impossible and called it a good kids' movie.[10](https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/lights-camera-sports-dubious-science-rookie-year/)
## Place in 1990s baseball films
*Rookie of the Year* was part of a cluster of baseball films aimed at youth and family audiences released between 1993 and 1994, alongside *The Sandlot*, *Little Big League*, and *Angels in the Outfield*. Commentators have credited these films with shaping the imagination of young baseball fans of the early 1990s.[11](https://ussporthistory.com/2015/09/03/white-boys-baseball-and-the-cultural-myths-of-home-and-family-they-sustain/?_wpnonce=dbbf947d77&like_comment=2636) • [12](https://legendsondeck.com/baseball-on-the-big-screen-the-summers-of-1993-and-1994/) In 2018, around the film's 25th anniversary, MLB.com reported that a remake was officially in the works.[13](https://www.mlb.com/cut4/a-rookie-of-the-year-remake-is-in-the-works-c297576594) The film has remained available to family audiences, streaming on Disney+ in the United States.[14](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/rookie-of-the-year)
## References
1. [Rookie of the Year (1993), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59646-ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR)
2. [Rookie of the Year, American Film Institute](https://watch.afi.com/movie/rookie-of-the-year)
3. [Rookie of the Year, Disney+](https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-0dec6c67-2ffc-4a44-b2d8-6d2db8ac97f1?msockid=0056e638a7ef63680f26f077a60762cb)
4. [Rookie of the Year, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rookie_of_the_year)
5. [Rookie of the Year, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rookie-of-the-year/)
6. [Rookie of the Year (1993) ratings, Rating Graph](https://www.ratingraph.com/movies/rookie-of-the-year-ratings-56553/)
7. [Rookie of the Year movie review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (1993)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rookie-of-the-year-1993)
8. [Daniel Stern interview, The Virginian-Pilot (1995)](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950801/08010025.htm)
9. [Rookie of the Year Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/rookie-of-the-year)
10. [Lights, Camera, Sports: The dubious science of Rookie of the Year, Sportsnet](https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/lights-camera-sports-dubious-science-rookie-year/)
11. [Small Ball: (White) Boys, Baseball and the Cultural Myths they Sustain, Sport in American History](https://ussporthistory.com/2015/09/03/white-boys-baseball-and-the-cultural-myths-of-home-and-family-they-sustain/?_wpnonce=dbbf947d77&like_comment=2636)
12. [Baseball on the Big Screen: The Summers of 1993 and 1994, Legends On Deck](https://legendsondeck.com/baseball-on-the-big-screen-the-summers-of-1993-and-1994/)
13. [A remake of 'Rookie of the Year' is officially in the works, MLB.com](https://www.mlb.com/cut4/a-rookie-of-the-year-remake-is-in-the-works-c297576594)
14. [Rookie of the Year streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/rookie-of-the-year)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Baseball and related bat sports › Baseball in culture and related bat-and-ball games › Baseball in film and television*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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