The Rockford Peaches together again? Well, some would call that a home run.
The stars of the 1992 film “A League of Their Own,” including Geena Davis, Lori Petty and Rosie O’Donnell, had a mini reunion at Chicago’s Donald Stephens Convention Center for the Chicago Sports Spectacular on Sunday.
The trio spent the day signing memorabilia and snapping photos with fans of the movie.
The beloved Penny Marshall-directed sports comedy followed the true story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Davis, 68, and Petty, 61, played sisters Dottie Hinson and Kit Keller, respectively, in the project while O’Donnell, 62, starred in a supporting role as third basewoman Doris Murphy.
Also at the event were: Bitty Schram (right fielder Evelyn Gardner), Megan Cavanagh (second basewoman Marla Hooch), Tracy Reiner (left fielder Betty “Spaghetti” Horn), Anne Ramsay (first basewoman Helen Haley), Freddie Simpson (shortstop Ellen Sue Gotlander), Patti Pelton (second basewoman Marbleann Wilkinson), Connie Pounds-Taylor (outfielder Connie Calhoun) and Kelli Simpkins (outfielder Beverly Dixon).
Missing from the day? Tom Hanks, who starred as the Peaches coach and down-on-his-luck former Cubs player Jimmy Dugan, and Madonna, who was taxi dancer-turned-center fielder “All the Way” Mae Mordabito.
Ellie Weingardt, who appeared as the charm school instructor, posed alongside the cast as well.
O’Donnell shared a snap of the crew via Instagram on Monday with herself, Davis and Petty smiling in the center of the group.
“The rockford peaches 2024 #leagueoftheirown,” the actress captioned the picture, alongside a peach emoji.
One user wrote in the comments, “I’m not crying – you’re crying! Wait – there’s no crying in baseball!” A second chimed in: “That’s so great! This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Our family knew all the best lines. So good to see you all together.”
A third moviegoer gushed: “Now I am sitting at my desk and work with big ol’ tears in my eyes.”
In 2022, an adaptation of the film of the same name, premiered in the form of a Prime Video comedy-drama. Abbi Jacobson’s “A League of Their Own” version, however, was canceled after one season due to the length of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
After months of negotiations, the series received an order for an abbreviated four-episode second and final season. but ended up being axed entirely.
That same year, the original cast celebrated the project’s 30th anniversary, with Davis reflecting on her work.
“Every one of them would ask, ‘Is this a feminist movie?’,” Davis recalled to Vogue of how journalists treated the movie. “Kind of an, ‘Ooh, I’m actually saying the word feminist, this is so risqué to ask this.’ And I would say, ‘Yeah, yeah. Obviously.’ And they’d be like: ‘What? It’s okay to print that?’”
The other question every one of them asked: ‘So… a lot of women on the set, must be a lot of cat fighting?’, with that gleeful demeanor,” the star admitted. “I would say: ‘No, no. There’s none. We’re a team, we support each other.’”
One thing can’t be argued: “A League of Their Own” made history.
“[It was] a phenomenon,” Davis said. “I don’t think there’d been a movie with that many female characters — especially being athletic and successful. So it did strike me as very strange,” said Davis, who was offered the part of Dottie after playing ball in a miniskirt and high heels at director Penny Marshall’s home.
“Actually, Susan Sarandon pointed that out to me, when we did ‘Thelma & Louise,’ that it was very unusual for there to be a movie where the women aren’t against each other.”
But the “Thelma & Louise” alum was still disheartened by the way some critics viewed women in film.
“It was very interesting to learn that… having a successful movie with women in it didn’t change any opinion about women’s movies in Hollywood,” Davis added. “They were still all of the mind that women will watch movies about men, but men won’t watch movies about women.”
article credit
