TELEVISION 'Clubhouse' is out in left field

The show's got star power in its lineup.
By HAL BOEDEKER
ORLANDO SENTINEL
Like many big-league baseball teams, the drama "Clubhouse" assembles a stellar lineup of talent, then strands it under mediocre management. With Mel Gibson and Aaron Spelling among the bosses, the premiere hits too many foul balls to be declared a winner.
Perhaps the CBS series, which previews tonight, will improve its batting with time. Certainly the network deserves credit for scheduling something beyond another crime or medical show, although CBS has new examples of those this fall.
"Clubhouse" is inspired by the adventures of Matt McGough, who was a batboy for the New York Yankees. In another unusual move, CBS is presenting a series about a 16-year-old batboy with a bona fide teen as star.
Jeremy Sumpter, 15, fulfills the boyish requirements effortlessly. The actor, who played Peter Pan in a recent movie, brings to his role the love and awe of a true baseball fan. He's not some twentysomething codger trying to pass for younger. The kid is a natural.
But series creator Daniel Cerone too often drops Sumpter, as Pete Young, in perplexing situations. The show's tone wobbles from realistic drama to heartwarming fantasy.
Keeping it from mom
Pete keeps the news that he's a batboy for the fictional New York Empires from his single mother, Lynne (Mare Winningham). He must look after a player's Ferrari. The police stop the speeding Pete and find steroids, precipitating lies, scandal and a family crisis. Will Pete do the right thing? Will he keep his job?
This field of dreams is situated too far out in left field.
"Clubhouse" violates a valid rule set down by Tom Hanks' character in the film "A League of Their Own": "There's no crying in baseball."
The melodramatic series strives to make viewers well up. Tears should be shed for how the show lets down some first-rate actors, who do everything required of them.
Dean Cain, the former "Superman," portrays the Empires' captain with dashing style and credible athleticism. Christopher Lloyd confers colorful toughness on the team's equipment manager, who warns Pete, "You ain't arrived in this game until you've been booed."
Winningham plays Pete's Staten Island mom with touching concern and excels when lashing out to protect the boy. Kirsten Storms shatters her good-girl image from "Days of Our Lives" to portray Pete's bratty but likable sister.
MVP
The most valuable player on "Clubhouse" has to be Felicia Fasano, who cast the series. Her care is evident down to the smaller roles, with New York stage veterans Marian Seldes as Pete's grandmother and Cherry Jones as his school principal. Fox baseball announcer Joe Buck serves as the voice of the Empires in the pilot, and Jim Nantz of CBS Sports will take over in later episodes.
Director Gavin O'Connor, who oversaw the hockey drama "Miracle," has the right touch for inspiring sports stories. In the pilot, Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles serves as the sumptuous backdrop for this batboy's story.
"Clubhouse" would seem to have everything, except the believable writing to transform the show into a contender. That's enough to make any baseball fan cry.