I'm Still Not Over... The ending of 'A League of Their Own'

If you ever played softball as a young girl, then 1992’s A League of Their Own was required viewing. Starring Geena Davis, Lori Petty, and Tom Hanks, the film follows the All American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II. Most of the movie is great, save for the ending, when Dottie (Davis) and the Rockford Peaches lose to Kit (Petty) and the Racine Belles. And although I’ve seen it countless times, Kit’s triumph at the end really annoys me.

From the start, it’s clear Kit lives in her older sister Dottie’s shadow. After Kit strikes out in their softball game, Dottie gets the hit to win the game. And Kit, instead of being a team player, whines about it all the way home, while also soliloquizing on how their parents prefer Dottie to her: “This is our daughter Dottie, this is our other daughter, Dottie’s sister.”

When a scout for the AAGPBL, played by Jon Lovitz, comes calling for Dottie, though, Dottie insists that he bring Kit along, too. If it weren’t for Dottie, Kit wouldn’t have had a chance to try out. Both sisters make the Rockford Peaches — Dottie as the catcher, Kit as a pitcher. But Kit’s antagonistic attitude toward her sister starts weighing on Dottie and the whole team. Dottie asks the head of the league for a trade — and because she’s the best player and star — she gets it, with a catch. They actually trade Kit away to Racine, causing more of a rift between the two.

In the World Series, it comes down to the last game. Dottie, who had initially left the team before the playoffs because her husband came home from the war, returns to play. With the score tied, Kit barrels through the stop sign at third, and Dottie has the ball in her glove at home. Kit runs into her sister, and Dottie drops the ball. Kit scores, and the Racine Belles win the game. Uggh.

The whole movie sets up Dottie as the superior player, and Kit as the one who wants it more. Fine. But Kit is an annoying, whiny brat who can’t accept that her sister is better than she is at baseball. And to reward her at the end with the World Series title really sucks. I usually end up watching the film and shutting it off after Dottie returns. I can’t stand watching Kit win.

Does anyone else feel the way I do?