Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 2014 film "Million Dollar Arm," grading its tools on the 20-80 scouting scale. They introduce the film (1:38), providing background on the director, writer, and some of the cast (2:32). After a description of the 20-80 scouting grades for those unfamiliar (5:00), they launch into Amount of Baseball (6:11), both providing player comps for the amount of baseball in this film (no spoilers here!). Baseball Accuracy (9:42) touches on being able to tell the velocity of a pitch by the sound of it hitting something, differences in cricket bowling vs. baseball pitching, the athletic backgrounds of Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, Rinku's delivery as depicted, with references to Marcus Stroman, Jason Vargas, and Roy Oswalt. Storytelling (33:49) examines some real life differences in JB Bernstein's life and whose idea the "Million Dollar Arm" program actually was. Stay tuned for what the "JB" in JB Bernstein stands for! They also discuss the party scene, the visit to the villages, the Lame Romantic Subplot, "Class A Jerks," Scotch faux pas, capitalism cake, and the importance of representation. A sub-section on India Accuracy (54:25) does not include grades. The musical Score (1:02:45) may or may not have made one of these scouts get up and dance. Acting (1:08:52) looks at the performances of Lake Bell, Jon Hamm, Alan Arkin, Bill Paxton, Aasif Mandvi, Allyn Rachel, Pitobash Tripathy, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, and Darshan Jariwala. Delightfulness of Catcher (1:12:44) and Delightfulness of Announcer (1:13:44) follow, rounded out by Lack of Misogyny (1:15:33). No spoilers on the following segments: Yes or No (1:19:10), Six Degrees of Baseball (1:23:02) Favorite Moment (1:24:53), Least Favorite Moment (1:27:12), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (1:28:01) including references to Josh Bell, Didi, Ji-Man Choi, Cole Hamels, Curt Schilling, plus baseball luminaries and nemeses, Dreamiest Player (1:32:08) with a bonus Baseball Accuracy fact that makes "Pride of the Yankees" into a verb, Favorite Performance (1:34:50), Review Thank You (1:37:07) and Next Week (1:37:40).

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 1976 classic "The Bad News Bears," grading its tools on the 20-80 scouting scale. They introduce the film (2:03), summarizing its premise (3:23), and providing background on the director, writer, and some of the cast (5:00). After a description of the 20-80 scouting grades for those unfamiliar (11:00), they launch into Amount of Baseball (12:18), also discussing shooting conditions and set practices, the difficulty of filming exteriors, and Ian Kinsler having 55 WAR. Baseball Accuracy (17:25) touches on rules kids would be confused about, ad-libs in the film, the 2018 Phillies defense, pitching low and outside, some Catfish Hunter history and the implications of this comparison, Vince Velasquez, and the Ellen Adair Breakdown of Amanda's purported curveball vs. curveballs in MLB. Storytelling (33:49) includes discussion of the film's depiction of childhood, generational differences, and the appropriateness of Denny's as a sponsor to the Yankees team. Pizza Hut and Book It also fondly remembered. The racism and intolerance depicted are discussed at length, along with the different kinds of beer, Kelly Leake's hustling, Coach Buttermaker's journey, montages, surprises, contradictions, and the ending of the movie. The musical Score (1:09:40) is debated, before Acting (1:13:18) looks at the performances of Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Joyce Van Patten, Vic Morrow, and other child actors. Delightfulness of Catcher (1:18:42) and Delightfulness of Announcer (1:20:35) follow. Ellen has many conflicts grading Lack of Misogyny (1:21:36), with a brief diversion into an interesting fact about the Mexican characters on the team. No spoilers on the following segments: Two Surprise Questions (1:25:41), Yes or No (1:28:38), Six Degrees of Baseball (1:34:21) Favorite Moment (1:35:36) with a small shout-out to Maria Aitken, Least Favorite Moment (1:37:51), Scene We Would Have Liked to See (1:39:47), Dreamiest Player (1:41:53), Favorite Performance (1:45:02), Review Thank You (1:45:02) and Next Week (1:45:04).

Ellen Adair and Eric Gilde discuss the 1993 film, "Rookie of the Year," in which young Henry Rowengartner's broken arm heals in such a way that he can now throw a blazing fastball. Ellen lists all of the reasons why the Chicago Cubs clearly have no other relief pitchers, while Eric comes up with either the best or worst little league team name. Scoring this film on the 20-80 scouting scale includes discussion of Daniel Stern's extra-zany performance, Scott White's nickname for the Mets slugger, and wondering what's up with that boat. Also, we learn the name of Eric's fictional scouting director!