Stealing Home

Stealing Home is a 1988 American coming of age romantic drama film written and directed by Steven Kampmann and William Porter (billed as Will Aldis). The film stars Mark Harmon, Blair Brown, Jonathan Silverman, Harold Ramis, William McNamara, and Jodie Foster. The movie focuses on a failed baseball player, Billy Wyatt, who discovers that his childhood sweetheart, Katie Chandler, has died by suicide. Billy must confront the past via reminiscence and nostalgia, while also dealing with grief, as he embarks on a journey to fulfill one of Katie's last wishes; that he spread her ashes. Stealing Home was released theatrically on August 26, 1988 by Warner Bros. Upon release the film was a critical and commercial failure, although David Foster's musical score garnered universal praise. Since its release, with television reruns, and DVD releases, the film has attained cult classic status, praised by audiences for its melancholic and nostalgic themes, performances, and musical score. Plot In the present, Billy Wyatt is a washed-up baseball player in his thirties, living in a hotel with a cocktail waitress. One afternoon, he receives a phone call from his mother, Ginny, informing him that his childhood babysitter and friend, Katie Chandler, has committed suicide. She also tells him that Katie left a will specifying that Billy is responsible for her ashes, claiming Billy was "the only one who would know what to do with them." Saddened and confused, Billy promises to come home that night. Flashbacks to the 1960s show Billy and Katie's relationship. Katie was a slightly older girl who babysat Billy for the Wyatts, who were best friends with the Chandlers. Katie mentors Billy, giving him advice on girls and dating. As a birthday gift, she gives him a baseball pendant on a necklace to always remind him that he’s a ball player.