For the second sequel to 1989's Major League, Back To The Minors is more than just an unappealing subtitle; it's also a refreshingly honest assessment of the sort of massive scaling back that has affected the Major League franchise. Not unlike a struggling minor-league ballclub throwing in the towel early in the pennant run and resigning itself to sub-mediocrity, the filmmakers behind Back To The Minors have bid a hasty departure to the franchise's most recognizable cast members (Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Rene Russo, Wesley Snipes), switched team affiliations (from the Indians to the Twins), and otherwise given fair notice that, while not exactly giving up, they will from here on in be content just going through the motions. The film's plot concerns a washed-up minor-league ball player (Scott Bakula) who is dragged out of retirement to coach a ragtag group of minor-league misfits by the smooth-talking general manager of the aforementioned Twins franchise (Corbin Bernsen, one of the few remaining holdovers from the first two films). To strengthen the lax connection between Back To The Minors and its predecessors, Bakula, a newcomer to the series, sets about recruiting many of the lesser-paid cast members of the first two films—including such fan favorites as the voodoo guy, the dumb catcher, and, of course, the wacky Asian man, who is introduced in a scene featuring vaguely oriental music, a gong, and the song "Turning Japanese." Lo and behold, this ragtag group of misfits is, with the help of several scenes set to the strains of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Taking Care Of Business," starting to look like a real ball club. And while the first two Major League films were practically defined by their unambitious, easy-going adherence to time-tested formulas, Back To The Minors moves forward with such lethargic, zombie-like predictability that it can't help but make its mild predecessors seem like Bergman-esque treatises on the suffering of existence by comparison. Christ, even Bob Uecker looks embarrassed to be in it.