All true, he just exudes villainy.
Except, really, what did Roy Turner actually do to deserve it?
He kind of puts down Buttermaker and Bears early on. But Turner is basically correct, the Bears aren't up to league standards and they are only there because of a lawsuit.
He gets on Kelly Leake pretty hard, but remember, Leake is a smartass 12-yr old who thinks he looks cool with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He continually mouths off to the adults and starts all the trouble when he disrupts the opening day ceremonies tearing up the field with his motorcycle.
In the first game against the Bears, Turner had a decent argument about letting the team finish the game instead of quitting. It wasn't his fault that Buttermaker had failed to prepare his team.
His player spikes Amanda in the chest, but Turner didn't order that, nor did he tell his kid to throw a beanball at Engelbert. His worst infraction might have been the intentional walk to Leake with the bases empty, arguably a good baseball move but pretty unsportsmanlike in a kids game.
Of course, he slaps Joey after Joey tries to bean Engelbert, but you already hated Turner completely by then, the slap just confirmed what you thought, didn't it?
The truth of Turner is he's hated because he's that guy, and there's one in almost every league, who wins every year. He loves winning, witness the jacket he wears on opening day, and he's going to make sure, one way or another, his team is on top at the end of every season. And when he does, year after year, it gets under people's skin. Maybe he bends the rules, or maybe he just tries harder than the rest, or maybe he gets the best players because if you want your kid on a championship team, he better be good enough to play for Turner.
Whatever, the truth is, we all hate a winner like Turner, mostly because, at the end of the season, his team is one standing there with the big trophy. And to be totally honest, we'd all give our left nut to trade places with him. But we can't, so we just decide that Mr. Turner is a jerk and a cheater and he treats his players lousy and we'd never act like that. Which is a fine thing to tell yourself and your kids as you congratulate yourself on another fourth-place finish.
"You didn't come into this life just to sit around on a dugout bench, did ya?"
reply
share
timmaninaz
9 years ago
It also seemed that Morrow's character had no job or anything else to do with his time. It seems that the baseball team was the only thing he cared about. Must be nice not having to work to pay your bills...
reply
share
snelling
8 years ago
I have seen this a number of times, but I don't remember Turner not having a job. Please explain why you think this?
"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley
reply
share
timmaninaz
8 years ago
If memory serves, I don’t the film even mentions whether he has a job or not. However, every time we see him, it’s at the little league fields. That’s why it seems to me that he appears to spend most of his time caught up in little league matters.
As I said, his character reminds of me some people I encountered when my own sons played little league. I saw a few guys just like Morrow’s character. They get involved in the community to make themselves feel important. Never mind the fact they have no career or any employment that one would consider gainful.
One in particular stands out in my mind. He was a little league coach, coach of his daughter’s softball team and also involved with the boy scouts. Man, did he ever think he was important!
I got the opportunity to talk to him once so I asked him what he did for a living. He said “self- employed”. I think that speaks for itself!
reply
share