Morris Buttermaker (Billy Bob Thornton) is a burned-out minor league baseball player who loves to drink and can't keep his hands to himself. His long-suffering lawyer (Marcia Gay Harden) arranges for him to manage a local Little League team, and Buttermaker soon finds himself the head of a rag-tag group of misfit players. Through unconventional team-building exercises and his offbeat coaching style, Buttermaker helps his hapless Bears prepare to meet their rivals, the Yankees.