Of Vera-Ellen's 14 films released between 1945 and 1957, this was her only movie not to showcase her dancing and also not to receive a contemporary New York Times review. Moreover, this picture was her second and last to be shot in black and white. Her previous monochromatic appearance was in The Marx Brothers frolic Love Happy (1949), a semi-musical. And, it was also her last film at MGM.
Even though this story is fictional, Edward G. Robinson's character, Hans Lobert, was an actual baseball player. He played for five Major League Baseball teams (Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and the New York Giants) over a span of fourteen seasons (1903, 1905-1917) and managed the Philadelphia Phillies. Lobert was immortalized in the 1966 Lawrence Ritter book "The Glory of Their Times". After baseball, he spent the rest of his life in baseball in various capacities and help prepare many minor league players for the majors. In this film, set at the Giants training camp in Florida, Lobert was the Technical Adviser and had two uncredited cameos.
A lobby card featuring this movie can be seen in a movie theater entrance in A Passage for Trumpet (1960).
There are no black players trying out in this 1953 movie, in reality the first black players (Hank Thompson and Monte Irvin) signed with the Giants in July of 1949 and both played for seven seasons.