To scrape up some extra cash, the semi-inebriated, cigar-smoking, former minor-league pitcher and now professional exterminator, Morris Buttermaker, agrees to coach the inept little-league baseball team of young misfits, the Bears. Against the backdrop of a tough championship and an intense rivalry with the impeccable Yankees, Coach Buttermaker goes as far as to recruit Amanda Whurlitzer, the twelve-year-old daughter of one of his ex-girlfriends and star pitcher, and the troubled bike-riding baseball hitter, Kelly Leak. Under those circumstances, do Morris' uncoordinated boys have what it takes to start winning? Did the maladroit Bears bite off more than they could chew?—Nick Riganas