Ossie Davis saves this movie.
Davis plays a school janitor who may or may not be a long vanished Negro League pitching great. He is somehow coerced into coaching a youth baseball team that starts with three (!) kids, one of whom is obsessed with the notion that "Mack Henry" is in fact the legendary (and fictional) "Buck McHenry." As one may expect in a low-budget TV film based on a children's book, the acting is, aside from Davis and his wife Ruby Dee, pretty poor. In particular, the adult male characters seem to have been cut from the same piece of cardboard.
Ossie Davis' presence, though, overwhelms everything else. He fills the screen, quite literally, since director Charles Burnett wisely shoots him in closeup as much as possible, knowing full well Davis is the best asset he has.
Yes, the plot is thin, predictable, preachy, and treacly, but Davis makes this history lesson on Negro League baseball watchable and even enjoyable. Recommended for kids of all ages and baseball fans.
P.S. Hall of Famer and Negro League veteran Ernie Banks gives a dignified and , well, earnest performance.