MAN FROM LEFT FIELD (CBS-TVM 10/15/93)

When a group of wisecracking, baseball-obsessed teenage boys lose their coach, they feared disqualification from the upcoming Little League championships. Their unlikely salvation appears in the person of Jack (Burt Reynolds), a homeless and apparently mute drifter who wanders in, literally, from left field. At first Jack serves more as mascot than coach and the boys furnished him with table scraps and candy. But when he observes them in action on the diamond, Jack gradually regained some of his faculties and it becomes evident that he suffers from amnesia, not an inability to speak or think. Fortuitously, one of the subjects he knows the most about is baseball. And as Jack's self-esteem is restored, his innate sense of discipline and teamwork rubs off on his charges. He learns from them, too, especially when one of the boys brings his divorced mother (Reba McEntire) to practice—an episode that helps Jack understand love and family and confront the darkest aspects of his past. Burt Reynolds directs and stars in this touching and funny celebration of love, loyalty, parenthood, camaraderie, and not least, the value of a good knuckle ball. Music written and performed by Bobby Goldsboro. (97 min, Menu with chapter settings)