- Jon Lovitz had a more substantial role, but it was cut.
- Debra Winger was originally going to appear in the film, but backed out when Madonna was signed. Winger also had suffered a back injury that forced her off the film.
- Tom Hanks gained 30 pounds in preparation for his role. He attributed the weight he gained to a nearby Dairy Queen.
- The more mature Dottie and Kit are played by Lynn Cartwright and Kathleen Butler, but their voices are dubbed by Geena Davis and Lori Petty.
- The characters at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and seen playing as the credits roll, are real original players from the league portrayed in the film.
- All of the injuries and bruises in the film were real injuries that the actors received during filming.
- The Peaches played at Beyer Stadium in Rockford, Illinois. No place in Rockford could be used for filming because of Beyer Stadium's state of disrepair. It was eventually condemned; all that remains is the original archway and a sign about the Peaches.
- Tom Hanks' character, Jimmy Dugan, is loosely based on real-life baseball slugger Hack Wilson.
- Director 'Marshall, Penny' cast her daughter Tracy Reiner as Betty Spaghetti and her brother Garry Marshall as Walter Harvey.
- Singer k.d. lang was supposed to be in the film, but backed out due to her recording schedule.
- To lighten the mood on the set in between takes, Geena Davis suggested that the cast perform songs from "Jesus Christ Superstar". Tom Hanks was assigned the role of Caiaphas.
- Ellie Cornell had originally landed a role in the film but had to back out after learning she was pregnant.
- Actresses auditioning for the film had to prove they could play baseball. All the actresses cast in the film apart, except Davis, did their own baseball stunts. None of the performers wanted stunt doubles.
- All scenes on the train and at the railroad depot were filmed at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. The passenger train in the film is part of the its collection.
- Madonna's stand-in was Melissa Totten, who has performed as a Madonna impersonator in the Las Vegas stage show Legends In Concert for many years.
- Moira Kelly was originally signed on to play the role of Kit, but she hurt her ankle while filming The Cutting Edge (1992) .
- Madonna co-wrote the theme song for the film "This Used To Be My Playground" for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
- Kelly Candaele was one of the writers for this movie. His mother played in the league portrayed in the movie. Also, Kelly's brother, Casey, was a major league infielder from 1986 through 1997. His best season was 1991 (right before the movie was released) when he collected 121 hits and 50 RBI for the Houston Astros as their usual starting second baseman.
- David L. Lander, who has an uncredited role as a game announcer, is a real-life baseball fanatic who later became a scout for the Anaheim Angels. He is also a veteran of director 'Penny Marshall''s "Laverne & Shirley" (1976) series.
- Harvey's house in Illinois is an actual house that was originally owned by Robert R. McCormick, a colonel in the Big Red One, the first Infantry, in WWII. He was also the owner and publisher of the Chicago Tribune for decades. His home is now a museum along with a museum dedicated to the Big Red One.
- Geena Davis joined the production as a late replacement for Debra Winger, days before filming was due to start. Davis's character was supposed to be one of the greatest female baseball players in America, and the cast had been doing baseball training for months. Within weeks, Davis had mastered the game, and was regularly beating all her co-stars.
- When announcing the game the Peaches announcer (David L. Lander) uses the phrase "Oh Doctor!" during an exciting play. This phrase was made popular by 1940s and 50s Brooklyn Dodgers announcer Red Barber.
- The red-orange house used as the team hotel (for the scene where Dottie leaves the team) is located in Henderson, Kentucky. It was on sale for $60,000 when it was used for filming.
- For the famous split catch, Geena Davis had to have a stunt double slide into the split. Although Davis could do the splits, as shown, she couldn't slide into it.
- When the Rockford-Racine World Series game was filmed, it was over 100 degrees outside.
- During filming of the World Series games, stars took turns entertaining the unpaid extras. Tom Hanks did puppet shows over the dugout, Rosie O'Donnell did stand-up comedy; and various actors pretended to be Madonna and sang her songs after the singer balked at performing for the fans.
- Geena Davis auditioned in Penny Marshall's backyard.
- The "strawberry" bruise Renée Coleman received on her thigh while sliding into a base remained for over a year.
- Lori Petty was, in reality, a faster runner than Geena Davis, and had to run slower while appearing she was running at full speed.
- The bar scene, where the girls sneak away for a night on the town, was originally going to be filmed at The Hornet's Nest, a bar/restaurant in Evansville, IN. The owners of the Hornet's Nest did spontaneous renovations in preparation for filming. The producers decided the changes didn't fit with the setting they were going for, and found a new location.
- The Rockford Peaches home games were filmed in Huntingburg, Indiana. The stadium was completely renovated, and named League Stadium after the movie crews left. In the movie, a barn in the background. The barn was two-sided, and covered a water slide.
- The movie's line "There is no crying in baseball." was voted as the #54 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
- The Racine Belles home games were filmed at Bosse Field in Evansville, Indiana. They retrofitted the entire stadium to look as it did in that era. "Support the Racine Belles" signs are still on display. The stadium is now used by the Evansville Otters, a Frontier League baseball team, and the ball girls wear the Belles uniforms.
- Although she is left-handed, Bitty Schram throws and bats right-handed in the film.
- According to a handwritten letter she wrote to photographer Steven Meisel, Madonna was miserable. "I cannot suffer any more than I have in the past month, learning how to play baseball with a bunch of girls (yuk) in Chicago (double yuk). I have a tan, I'm dirty all day, and I hardly ever wear make up. Penny Marshall, Lavern (sic), Geena Davis is a Barbie Doll, and when God decided where the beautiful men were going to live in the world, he did not choose Chicago. I have made a few friends but they are athletes, not actresses. They have nothing on the house of extravaganza. I wish I could come to N.Y."
- The storyline was inspired by the career of baseball legend Dottie Collins. During WWII, Collins played for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and pitched 17 shutouts during her six-year career.
- New York state trooper David Harding played one of Kit's adult sons in the Hall of Fame scene. Within months of the shooting, he was indicted for falsifying evidence in several cases, including a 1989 multiple murder in Ithaca.
- In the film, the AAGPBL's 1943 World Series is between the Racine Belles and the Rockford Peaches. The Belles actually played the Kenosha Comets in the '43 World Series.
- As the Peaches leave the locker room for the first game of the World Series, Jimmy says to the replacement catcher, "You're killing me, Alice, you're killing me." Hanks is paraphrasing one of the most famous sports quotes, "They're killing me, Whitey, they're killing me," said by Buffalo Bills coach Lou Saban to an assistant. (Saban actually said, "They're killing me out there, Whitey," but the quote is frequently repeated with "out there" omitted.)
- Brooke Shields was offered the lead female role, but after the writer's strike in 1988, Shields was written out, to be replaced by Debra Winger. However, Winger also backed out, and the part then went to Geena Davis.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: The scene where Betty Spaghetti learns her husband died took three days to film.
Related Links