In ‘The Naked Gun,’ the baseball announcers were in on the joke

What is the all-time best baseball movie?

For some, it’s Bull Durham. For others, it’s A League of Their Own. Perhaps you love Moneyball, Field of Dreams, or The Sandlot. However, when it comes to the funniest baseball scene in cinematic history, there is no argument.

The undisputed heavyweight champion is the finale of The Naked Gun. The 1988 comedy classic has re-entered the pop culture discourse with the release of a new version of The Naked Gun in theaters on August 1. There are high hopes for the reboot, but it will likely never top the baseball finale of the original.

The number of jokes stuffed into the 22-minute sequence is staggering. It’s a work of art by screenwriters David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and Pat Proft. What made it so hilarious is how adeptly it spoofed everything silly about the sport. As funny as it was, the all-star crew of announcers featured in the film played it mostly straight, and it worked marvelously.

Ever watch a sports broadcast and think to yourself that there are way too many people on set? Well, The Naked Gun was decades ahead of its time. It lampooned baseball broadcasters with a seven-person booth that included Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg, Jim Palmer, Mel Allen, Tim McCarver, Dick Vitale, and Dr. Joyce Brothers. This joke came out of left field (pardon the pun) and still gets one of the biggest laughs during a hysterical scene. While five of them had baseball experience, Vitale remains the face of college basketball, and Brothers was a renowned psychologist.

The movie could have easily shoehorned in jokes for the broadcasters. Instead, they treat it like a regular game. Only a few of them speak, and they have limited screentime. Gowdy handles most of the play-by-play and says nothing funny. The biggest laugh comes when Allen delivers his signature call, “How about that!” when the JumboTron shows a blooper reel that includes an outfielder being decapitated by a baseball. Allen smiles while Enberg is aghast in horror. 

In hindsight, The Naked Gun has a few noteworthy omissions or missed opportunities. The baseball game was a matchup of the Mariners vs. the Angels, but most of the exterior shots were of Dodger Stadium. You would think the legendary Vin Scully would have had a cameo.

Well, Scully was supposed to be in The Naked Gun.

According to a 2018 report by Jason Foster of The Sporting News, David Zucker said: “We wanted to use Vin Scully as an announcer, and Vin Scully wanted to do it because he loved ‘Airplane!’ But they wouldn’t let him do that,” David Zucker said. “I’m sure nowadays it would probably be fine. But (the Dodgers) were skeptical about being identified with this.”

The article mentions that a Dodgers spokesperson could not recall Scully being denied permission to be in the film.

The other thing that stands out is that Dick Vitale, one of the loudest and most loquacious broadcasters of all time, doesn’t have a single line. Perhaps they cut due to time, although the film is a brisk 85 minutes. According to multiple reports, Vitale was unexpectedly silent on the set.

In a 2018 Los Angeles Times story, Vitale said: “I was in awe next to all of these Hall of Famers.”

Jim Palmer said he was shocked to see that Vitale on the set was very different than the Vitale we see on TV.

“That’s when I realized that Dick Vitale doesn’t scream and yell (all the time),” Palmer said, according to The Sporting News. “You could hardly hear him. He was so quiet.”

Will The Naked Gun reboot also have a funny sports scene with broadcasters? If so, would the booth include Joe Davis, Joe Buck, Dan Shulman, John Smoltz, Keith Hernandez, Doris Burke, and Dr. Phil? Maybe you have a different 7-person crew in mind.

Whatever lineup you choose, it will be nearly impossible to beat Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg, Jim Palmer, Mel Allen, Tim McCarver, Dick Vitale, and Dr. Joyce Brothers.