REVIEW: It’s a new game for ‘League of Their Own’

Instead of focusing solely on the Rockford Peaches, the series takes a more global view. In another part of town, there’s Max Chapman (Chante Adams), who’s just as good as anyone on the team. In 1943, however, it’s unlikely a Black woman would be considered.

While weighing her options (and continuing to practice), Max works at her mother’s beauty shop, examines other career moves and explores her own wants and needs.

On the team, Carson Shaw (Abbi Jacobson) is wondering how she can maintain a relationship back home in Idaho while seeing her baseball dreams play out in Illinois.

There are other characters who resemble the ones in director Penny Marshall’s version (see if you can’t spot the Madonna doppelganger), but this isn’t a carbon copy. Many of the episodes don’t even involve the ballfield. They take place at the rooming house where the players live, at bars they frequent and, in Max’s case, the other world she inhabits. This “League” is like someone took the original concept and found a new playbook. It works, but it’s also more adult than you could imagine. This “League” samples LGBTQ themes and investigates various pairings. It doesn’t cower; it does show us backdoor bars and explains how certain terms became part of the vernacular.

Because there are so many players to consider, they’re often reduced to their personality traits or positions. They all get playing time. Some, however, are more prominent than others.

Carson bonds with Greta (D’Arcy Carden), a tough-talking athlete who isn’t afraid to push when she could just nudge. Carden gets good lines and offers up a swagger that helps set the scene.

Early on, the Peaches are subjected to the laissez-faire coaching techniques of Casey “Dove” Porter (Nick Offerman), a veteran who resents the position he’s in. The candy company that owns the team is insistent and, to make sure there are ogling eyes in the stands, have hired a den mother of sorts to teach them etiquette, poise and discretion.

The “learning by doing” scenes are quite fun but bushels of Peaches stories can’t measure up to the Black experience. There, we get a good sense of the caste system and the struggles required to be a business owner. Max’s mom (beautifully played by Saidah Ekulona) tries to shelter her daughter from the heartbreak, but there’s much she can’t say. Adams is a great tour guide through this world and, easily, the star of a series that has nothing to do with baseball.

If “League” presses too hard, it’s in playing the sexuality card. Several later episodes go all in on the concept and, frankly, it doesn’t need to be another “L Word.” The message is there; sometimes more can resonate without a heavy hand.

Jacobson (who co-created, produces and writes the series) defers in many instances but that could be to give the others more screen time. “League” needs more of her story, particularly since she’s our first point of contact and the least fully formed of the characters.

In time, she’ll find her place; now, she’s just getting her footing.

Besides the iconic line (“there’s no crying in baseball”), this “League” boasts a role for one of the film’s stars, Rosie O’Donnell. She shows up in the second half of the series, but don’t expect to see her on the field. She’s got a new game – one that shows just how far this concept has come.

“A League of Their Own” premieres Aug. 12 on Prime Video.