The Comrades of Summer

A disgraced manager of the Seattle Mariners baseball team, Sparky Smith (Joe Mantegna), finds work in Russia running their Olympic team after the fall of the Soviet Union. Dealing with culture shock and the harsh reality that the team is far from being a great one, Sparky somehow manages to get the players into fighting shape while also settling into his new life abroad. But is his team of rugged misfits good enough to take on the Mariners in an exhibition game?

Contents

• The comrades of summer movie review
• Plot
• Cast
• Similar Movies
• Production
• References

The Comrades of Summer is a made-for-TV movie from 1992 featuring Joe Mantegna. It was directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, written by Robert Rodat and aired on HBO on July 11, 1992.

To teach a team of Russian wanna-be baseball players the finer points of the all-American game is no easy task, but for a grudgingly resentful, recently fired baseball manager from the States, the task is formidable. In fact, there are many times when he considers chucking the whole thing and going back home and forgetting baseball entirely. But he perseveres... to the point where he finally believes that his players may be good enough to represent the Soviet Union in the upcoming Olympics in America. However, performing in this Country under such pressures not only shows these Russian players something about themselves, it also makes their American manager aware of something rather special about himself, as well.