Bleacher Bums

The Chicago Bruins baseball team is facing their hated St. Louis rivals, but the real drama is in the stands, where a die-hard group of fans (compassionate gambler Peter Reigert, hen-pecked hothead Wayne Knight, blind Matt Craven, jerk Brad Garrett, aspiring actress Sarain Boylan, and geek Hal Sparks) make outrageous bets and reveal their true colors between the balls and strikes. Any resemblance between the Bruins and the Chicago Cubs is not a coincidence. Bleacher Bums originated as a play (cowritten by Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz) that paid affectionate homage to the perennial losers and the fans who stand by them. The use of glaringly fictitious team names is bush league (and makes a climactic reference to Ernie Banks incomprehensible). But teams that break their fans' hearts is not a Chicago phenomenon. This will be a hit with any long-suffering sports fan whose rallying cry is, "Just wait 'til tomorrow/next week/next year or--in the Cubs' case--next century." -- Donald Liebenson  more