‘A League of Their Own’ – ‘Batter Up’ – Review

There’s no better place to be right now for audiences looking for the best in original content than Prime Video. In 2022 they’ve been racking up the hits with the likes of Reacher, The Boys, The Terminal List and Paper Girls. Now a brand new series arrives on the streamer in A League of Their Own, which adapts the cult-classic film for streaming and brings a brand new approach to the story that will pull audiences in.

In 1943, Carson Shaw travels to Chicago to try out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. There, she meets other women who also dream of playing pro baseball and makes connections that open up her world. Rockford local Max Chapman also comes to the tryouts but is turned away. With the support of her best friend Clance, she must forge a new path to pursue her dream.

Developed for television by Will Graham & Abbi Jacobson, A League of Their Own is a very impressive debut and whether you’re a long-time fan of the original film or are brand new to the narrative you’ll be swept up into its story quickly. Along with being one of its creators, Abbi Jacobson, the star of the hit series Broad City, stars as the series’ central character Carson Shaw. Carson is a wannabe baseball star who gets her chance to make her dreams come true in 1943 with the onset of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Right from the start, Jacobson hooks you in with her performance as Carson, and she’s very much a Dorothy Gale type of character who finds herself in the Oz of Chicago. And all bets are off in Episode One ‘Batter Up’.

‘Batter Up’ works as an episode in establishing the characters, tone and setting of this new series and audiences will be in awe of what they witness. No expense has been spared in re-creating the world of 1940s Chicago and the production design, art design, costuming, hair and make-up and ambience of the series setting are perfect. A League of Their Own is a beautiful piece of television to look upon, and the level of detail in re-creating the world of the Rockford Peaches pulls you deeper into the story that is being told. Watching this first episode I felt that it very much had an energy and style similar to the screwball comedies of the era, and I’m sure that Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire would very much approve of the series as a whole. A League of Their Own is that perfect transformative type of series that pulls you into its narrative and the ambience on screen certainly helps.

Along with meeting Abbi Jacobson’s central character Carson Shaw, we also meet other characters who will become central to the series including the fiery and flighty Greta Gill (D’Arcy Carden), spunky, blonde bombshell Maybelle Fox (Molly Ephraim), gutsy pitcher Lupe (Roberta Colindrez) hard-edged Canadian catcher Jess (Kelly McCormack) and Greta’s best friend and big-hit slugger Jo Deluca (Melanie Field). Another key character to enter the series is star African American player Maxine “Max” Chapman (Chanté Adams), who due to the era and its deep segregation and open racism faces challenges in her dreams to become a baseball star. And right off the bat she’s a character you can’t look away from. Each of these women makes an impression in ‘Batter Up’ and we’re only at the start of their journeys in the series.

‘Batter Up’ is an important episode as it sets up the tone of the series and introduces its themes. Set amid World War II this is a society with an absence of men due to the burgeoning war efforts and the rise of female independence and the initial wave of a growing class of feminists is present in the first episode. Boundaries are being broken down and the old rules don’t apply. While our characters have to abide by a certain set of rules and the whims of those in charge, a revolution is on the horizon and as the Peaches are ready to take to the field anything is possible.

A League of Their Own is being set up to be a lot of fun and when the Peaches take to the field you feel the power, speed and adrenaline of baseball at full speed. I was hooked from beginning to end with ‘Batter Up’ and I feel like it’s only going to get cooler as we move forward in this story.

A League of Their Own is currently streaming on Prime Video.

Image: Prime Video