Remembering Random Twins: exclusive interview with Tony Todd (aka Mickey Scales)

[William Malone]

Image courtesy of © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Tony Todd had a baseball background, not an acting background, when he was cast in Little Big League. He stumbled by the casting call by chance.

I was born and raised in Santa Monica. Highly touted career in baseball and football at the high schools. Recruited by like every school in the nation as a running back; USC, UCLA, Notre Dame, everyone. And then my senior year, just a big tragedy happened. Broke my ankle the second game of the season. It all came to a halt. I had smaller schools who were interested.

Fast forward, I end up going to a smaller university. Getting hurt again. So, I came home and was working for the City of Santa Monica. And it's so ironic that one day I was driving past a park named Marine Park in Santa Monica. There are about 200 guys on the baseball field.

My buddy pulls over. I get out of the car and go over to find out what's going on. They said they were casting a movie. I was like "Oh man, what kind of movie?" "Oh, it's a baseball movie." So, I go home and put on my college baseball uniform.

Filmmakers were initially hesitant to let Todd tryout at the casting call.

They asked me what I was doing there. I said, "you said you're casting a movie" and I asked if I could get a shot. They said, "we can't do it." So, as I was walking away, I believe it was the writer, or the director asked me if I could play. And I said, "by the looks of things, I'm probably better than everyone you guys got out there." They told me they had been hearing that all day.

They had an L-screen set up. They were giving everyone ten pitches, but they gave me five. I hit the first four over the fence, and on the last one they told me to sprint to first base. And back in the day, I could really go. I could really run. So, I didn't stop at first. I ran all the way home, and did a little pop-up slide. They were like "Oh my goodness! Can you come into casting tomorrow?"

Todd didn't leave the best first impression when running lines with the casting director.

The casting director gives me some sides. She reads her part; I read my part. And I've never done this before. I'm reading stuff between the lines. No eye contact with her, nothing. Bottom line, I had no idea what I was doing. She says I might as well take it home and go over it.

I take it home and reach out to a friend for help to go over the sides with me. My friend tells me "Tony, if you can't play this role, you should never try to act again in your life. This role is meant for you. You're the rookie on the team. Your name is Mickey Scales. It's just perfect for you." So, we go over it about five or six times. Just gave me a few directions and I went back [to casting] the next day.

He was much better when returning a day later, landing the part of Mickey Scales.

It was 100% better. She calls in the producer Steve Nicolaides. Read for him, and he loved it. And the next day, I go in front of the suits. That's what they call them, everyone at Castle Rock and all the big-time people. They loved it. I had about six pages, and they told me I could stop reading when I got to page three. I thought I did something wrong, but they asked if I had ever been to Minnesota. I said "no, but I know Kirby Puckett plays there." And that's how I got the part of Mickey Scales in Little Big League.

             

Little Big League is notable for featuring several Major League superstars, including Ken Griffey Jr and Randy Johnson.

Griffey came to Minnesota, and we would hang out. I'm still friends with Tim Raines. To see Randy [Johnson] throw 100 miles per hour in person was incredible. Sandy Alomar, and all the other guys. We got to hang out with them very often.

The cast and crew of Little Big League got to film in several different American League cities.

Every field you see in the movie, we went there. Which was unbelievable. We were going on the weekends, staying five or six days. We'd film, and then come back to Minnesota. It's like you're on a trip with your buddies in college, and you're going to play another team. And we were doing this in the big leagues, so it felt like we were big leaguers. That was really, really cool.

Mickey Scales hits a clutch home run in the final game of the movie. Todd wants everyone to know that it was all him, not Hollywood.

C'mon, man. Don't do me like that. You gotta understand, I did go to college on a football and baseball scholarship. That's the reason why I got the job. [The home run] happened on the second take. Not the first take, but it happened on the second take and went over the fence.

You gotta understand, everything we did in that movie we actually did it. The scene where [former MLB shortstop and Little Big League actor] Kevin Elster and I turn two, they ask us to actually do it. And Kevin Elster asks me how I would like to do it. That's the reason why they hired us. They hired us as athletes first. Athletes before actors. If you could not play baseball, you would not be in that movie. And I'm glad that they did that, because I feel that this movie, by far against any other baseball movie, had the best athletes in it. 

Elster was the only active Major League player in Little Big League who did not play himself. He is most notable for playing in 88 consecutive games at shortstop without committing an error in 1989. This was a Major League record at the time, and is still the National League record.

[Kevin Elster] was still active, but he was injured. Originally, Mickey Scales was the shortstop. But once Kevin Elster comes along, he's obviously going to play the shortstop. That moved me to second base.

Despite being an inexperienced actor, Todd was still given the freedom to go off script at times.

In [the math problem] scene, I walk up to the board like "hey what's up, Mac?" He asks me if I can paint a house in blah, blah, blah hours. How long for us to do it together? Originally in the script, I think I said "c'mon coach, I'm the rookie. I shouldn't know this." But then I asked them if I could do a take where I just walk up there like I have no clue and just start chewing the gum. And after I did it and they start clapping, I kinda knew that scene would probably be in the movie. 

 

Mickey Scales was depicted as a struggling rookie in the film, but Todd believes he went onto have a very nice career in the Little Big League universe.

He was just learning the ropes. He really couldn't hit at first. I come through at the end one game and hit a home run. But, and this is just me talking, I think he would've been in the league for a good ten to 12 years. You know, as long as the speed is still there, everything would've worked out. His glove too. I'm the first actor to win a Gold Glove. That's something I'm very proud of. 

Todd has personal connections with several real-life Twins players.

It all started with a good friend of mine, Torii Hunter. I told Torii Hunter right when he was breaking in [with the Twins] that he was going to make over $100 million playing baseball. He's like "yeah, right." Every time we talk about that now, he laughs about it. You can even ask him that. He will back that story up.

Joe Ryan. We would work out together at UCLA in the off-season. So that's how I met him. We went to a few Clipper games together. He's a big car guy. Loves Porsches. So, if you ever run into him, you can ask him about his love for Porsches.

I've known [2025 Twins draft pick] Quentin Young. I watched the kid play this year, his senior year at Oaks Christian High School. Just a really talented young man. Unbelievable. I thought he was going to go higher in the draft. His makeup is great. Just a great person. When I first interviewed him, he was in the ninth grade. I thought he was a senior; he was so big. And just had this raw talent. I think he's going to help [the Twins] tremendously.  

Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow Armstrong is the son of actress Ashley Crow, who played Jenny Heywood in Little Big League.

I've been watching [Pete Crow Armstrong] play since he was in Little League, and I still have video of him playing in high school. He's always played that way. Everything he's doing he was doing the same way in Little League, high school and now. His talent is just unbelievable. I'm so happy for him, because he's such a great guy. He deserves all the attention he's receiving right now. And it comes from his parents. His mom and dad are just great people. I text Ashley [Crow] all the time, and they're so humble about it. If that was my kid, my ringtone would be the call of him hitting a home run or something.

It's kinda cool because as he stays relevant, it helps our movie. MLB Network, they run our movie often. One, it's a good baseball movie. But then, they find out that it's Pete's mom in the movie. I'm pretty sure that helps.

Todd thought the Twins should've capitalized with a 30th anniversary celebration of Little Big League last year.

You would think that the Twins would at least have a 30-year anniversary. They could've done something. At least show the movie at the stadium. You know, maybe after a day game. Invite the fans out to watch the movie. I could've gotten a bunch of the guys to come out. Greet the fans. Everyone was shocked about that. There was not a mention about it.

Giving back to the community has been very important to Todd.

Just the other day, we had a 75 anniversary of our Santa Monica Little League. We raised some money for the kids to go to Cooperstown. I invited John Minch, who played Hodgy [catcher Mark Hodges] in the movie. He came out from Arizona. It was a great event. We had other baseball players there. Kenny Lofton, Cleveland Indians Hall of Famer. We had Tim Leary, Dodgers '88 World Series. He was there; he's from Santa Monica. We had a good time and raised a bunch of money for the kids. That's what it's all about. I just love giving back to kids, because that's what my coaches did for me.

His interest in local youth baseball has allowed Todd to get an early look at many future Major League players.

When I'm not working, I'm usually at a game. Angel game, Dodger game, high school game. Really any game here in the area. I love to watch good talent. There's a lot of great baseball talent here in California. I usually see these kids when they're in junior high school.

We had Lucas Giolito. He was a first-round pick. Dominic Smith from the Mets, he was a first-round pick. Max Fried. You see all these local guys before they become who they are. It's a great thing. Pete Crow-Armstrong. J.P. Crawford. The list goes on and on.

Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith once called Todd "the greatest player ever in celebrity softball."

Playing in those little celebrity softball games. I got a shoutout from Ozzie Smith. The greatest celebrity softball player ever! To have him say that about me. When I play in those games, I just go hard. Can you imagine playing on a field with guys you looked up to? You're gonna try to impress them, right? I'm gonna show 'em what I got. 

 

 

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[Wedman13]

I can tell you 1st hand Tony is a great guy.  Super down to earth.  Not all the actors and pro athletes were like that. (But most)

And his descriptions, especially those of traveling to other cities is spot on.  Really fun times.

[William Malone]

3 hours ago, Wedman13 said:

I can tell you 1st hand Tony is a great guy.  Super down to earth.  Not all the actors and pro athletes were like that. (But most)

And his descriptions, especially those of traveling to other cities is spot on.  Really fun times.

It was a really fun interview! Loved getting to talk with him. 

[Wedman13]

2 hours ago, William Malone said:

It was a really fun interview! Loved getting to talk with him. 

His story about how he got casted is 💯 true.  He drove by, saw something goin on and decided to give it a go.

the amount of actual MLB players was staggering, Johnson, Griffey (who I was scared shitless pitching to), Ivan Rodriguez, Dean Palmer and I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch.  Leon Durham was a really cool guy, and twins players including Kirby were around all the time.

filmed for about 60 days, mainly at the dome but also Fenway and Comiskey (or whatever it's called now).  A very surreal experience for the local non-famous guys.  Everything from food to hotels, chartered planes was 1st class.  The wrap party at Mississippi Live was epic.

https://www.borizsportsjersey.com/baseball-4/bill-wedman-13-minnesota-home-pinstriped-baseball-jersey-little-big-league-2

 

 

[Doctor Wu]

I have to admit that I never saw the film, but after reading this very interesting article, I WANT to see it. Good fun piece!