MovieChat Forums > Major League (1989) Discussion > Who played the Yankees' pitcher 'The Duk...

Who played the Yankees' pitcher 'The Duke'?

posted 12 years ago by markdavis1115
5 replies | jump to latest

I have the "Wild Thing" edition of the DVD, and in their commentary, the writer/director and producer say the guy was a former player that Pete Vukovich, the former pitcher who played Clu Haywood, recommended to them - partly because he lived in the Milwaukee area where much of the game action was filmed. However, they never mentioned his name, and it's not listed in the credits. The only character named Duke was the Indians third base coach Duke Temple, played by former Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager, who was the technical adviser on the film as well. Does anyone know the name of the guy who played "The Duke", who Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker) describes as being so nasty that he allegedly threw at his own kid during a father-son game?

[–] dodgersb4girls 12 years ago

This confused me too. Duke was played by former Milwaukee pitcher Willie Mueller. The end credits are actually wrong. They say Duke was played by Steve Yeager but Steve was a technical advisor for the film and also played the Indians third base coach (Coach Lou Brown calls him "Tim" when relaying the bunt sign in the playoff game)

[–] profundity 12 years ago

In a fairly recent S.I. article most of the cast is interviewed and it was stated that Yeager also played all the scenes at catcher for Tom Beringer when the mask is down.

[–] robertbass3-135-563757 10 years ago

He did not say "Tim", he said "Temp"

[–] bigcat20 9 years ago

All I know is he leads the league in nose hair and threw at his own kid in a father son game.

[–] robstenzel3 7 years ago

What's your source that 'The Duke' (his full name on the scoreboard when he entered the game was Duke Simpson) was played by former Milwaukee Brewer Willie Mueller?

The credits at the end of the movie had a list of about 40 names split into three columns to show actors that portrayed Indians, Yankees and Spring Training players. Under the Yankee column, former Milwaukee Brewer Pitcher Jerry Augustine is listed as well as former Milwaukee Brewer Pitcher Willie Mueller.

If you compare the actor that portrayed the Duke to Jerry Augustine's 1977 Topps Baseball card and Willie Mueller's 1980 Topps Baseball card, it would seem that Jerry Augustine looks more like the actor that played the Duke in Major League.