According to David S. Ward, Wesley Snipes was not very skilled at baseball in real life, never having played much before. Ward said Snipes was so awful at throwing a baseball that they had no scenes of him throwing a ball. Ward, though, did praise Snipes for being able to master hitting pop-ups.
Real-life relief pitcher Mitch Williams (with the Chicago Cubs at the time of the film's release) was inspired to model himself after the Rick Vaughn character. He began to wear the number 99 and had "Wild Thing" played when entering games, shortly earning the nickname "Wild Thing." In addition, the modern-day tradition of relief pitchers, mainly closers, having their own intro songs was largely inspired by this film.
For many of the wide crowd scenes of the climactic playoff game, there were over 20,000 extras in the stands. When the team first ran onto the field with the crowd roaring, Dennis Haysbert admitted to being emotionally overwhelmed by the experience. Former Major Leaguer and technical advisor Steve Yeager noticed Haysbert's reaction and said to him, "That's what it's like 162 times a year."
When director David S. Ward asked Bob Uecker to play Harry Doyle in the film, Ward had chosen Uecker because of his acting work in Miller Lite ads and on the sitcom Mr. Belvedere (1985). Not until Ward met Uecker did he learn that Uecker had been the radio broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers for nearly 20 years.
David S. Ward is actually a life-long Cleveland Indians fan. His inspiration for creating the movie was that he thought it would be the only way he would ever see the Indians actually win anything.