Warren chose to go back to the minor leagues given the public's disenchantment with the salary squabbles and prima donna attitudes of so many major league players. "It's hard to care about the tribulations of millionaires," remarks Warren. "So I came up with this group of eccentric, misfit minor league players who are underdogs that people can root for. These characters have humor and heart and an endless passion and love for the game. What's endearing about these guys is they really are trying."

The Buzz players are composites of players that Warren knew as a young ball player. "Baseball is in my blood," says Warren. "I was a pitcher in high school and at Ohio University. In the summers I played semi-pro ball. But much like the character of Doc in the movie, I couldn't throw a fast ball to save my life."

Scott Bakula found the Gus Cantrell character particularly appealing. "Gus has a wonderful arc with real emotions," comments Bakula. "Men and women my age who have been doing something for a long time can relate to this guy. He's looking at a dead end and is afraid to look at the future. Gus just wants to keep getting on the same horse every day and riding it and getting off, ignoring the inevitability of what's going to happen. Certainly it's true in the athletic world. He is offered the option of managing instead of playing, which he very hesitantly accepts.

Returning for his third stint in the "Major League" franchise is Corbin Bernsen as Roger Dorn. This time Dorn is the owner of the Minnesota Twins and its Triple-A team, the Buzz. "I think in sports movies you know the underdog has a good chance of winning in the end," comments Bernsen. "I was really delighted to get this script because it's a different thing. It's not about the major leagues, and it's not about guys working their way up through a season and overcoming huge obstacles to win. It's actually more character-driven. It's not about the final fight; it's about the road there and all the turns on the way.

"Roger Dorn has changed since he's become a team owner," continues Bernsen. "He's still smooth and slick, but now he's cut his hair and thinks he looks a little like Cal Ripkin. He lives and breathes the Twins. They are rich guys who have forgotten what it's like to be a team and play baseball. When he hires Gus, Roger infuses the Buzz and the Twins with what they both need: his minor league boys learn from the major league team and the major league guys learn about heart and soul from the Buzz."

Another veteran of the "Major League" series is Dennis Haysbert. He reprises the role of Pedro Cerrano, the Cuban outfielder who is constantly seeking spirituality. Pedro has gone from voodooism, to Buddhism and now to Christianity.

"With Pedro I have a reputation to uphold," says Haysbert. "I owe it to him. I like the fact that I've been able to develop this character through three movies. And with the 'Major League' movies, you know you'll always come out and have a good time."

Also returning is Japanese superstar Takaaki Ishibashi, who made his American motion picture debut as Taka in "Major League II." Now "retired," Gus and Pedro lure Taka back to baseball from his unhappy proprietorship of a small theme park called "Taka's Putt Putt World." "He has become a very successful businessman," says Ishibashi. "He has money and everything, but he's missing something in his life. His inner voice tells him he must find his 'joy of life.' So when his old buddies from his baseball era come back and ask him to join their team, he gladly goes with them." An unusual alliance is formed between Pedro Cerrano and the Japanese outfielder Taka Tanaka in "Major League: Back to the Minors."

Cheering and encouraging her boyfriend Gus and his team is Maggie Reynolds (Daggett). Maggie has the wisdom to gently guide Gus toward his second chance career. "She is very supportive and the wisest in the group," says Daggett of Maggie. "I guess you could call her the old soul of the film. She is very much one of the boys and very comfortable with herself. Her confidence balances Gus's uncertainty."

They were then turned over to baseball consultant Steve Yeager, the former Los Angeles Dodger catcher and MVP Award-winner in the 1981 World Series. (Yeager appeared as coach Duke Temple in both prior "Major League" films.) With Yeager and the cast assembled in Charleston, South Carolina, "spring training" began in earnest.

Yeager went to work, telling Warren he'd "turn these actors into jocks. I think baseball players and a lot of sports athletes and personalities kind of act as they play. They do perform. They play for the crowd; the actors act for the audience. It's very similar. They took what I passed on to them and applied their own personalities to the characters."

The fierce competition of the pre-production scrimmages brought the actors together as a team. They threw, they ran, they fielded ground balls, they batted, working four or five hours a day, rain or shine, for over two weeks. The practices continued throughout the filming as well. Warren felt that it was important to balance authenticity with the comedic hijinks on the diamond.

In addition to the actors, over 100 professional ball players from throughout the United States were cast in an open call as ball playing extras for the eight minor league teams and the Minnesota Twins. The players came from Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A teams such as the Hickory Crawdads, Charleston River Dogs, St. Petersburg Devil Rays, Oklahoma City Red Hawks and Birmingham Barons. The production used the real names and uniforms of all the minor league teams seen in the film: Buzz, Rock Cats, River Dogs, Crawdads, Boll Weevils, Miracle and Renegades.