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Morris Buttermaker, a minor-league baseball player turned swimming pool cleaner, arrives at a suburban ballpark and fortifies a can of beer with whiskey for a meeting with City Councilman Bob Whitewood and his son, Toby. Whitewood, having won a class-action suit against the North Valley League, has organized the Bears, a team of League rejects, and he is discreetly paying Buttermaker to be their manager. Miss Cleveland, the League's manager, openly expresses her disapproval of Whitewood's lawsuit and the Bears themselves. When Buttermaker meets the team, he is not encouraged: Rudi Stein is a pitcher who can neither pitch nor catch; Mike Engelberg is a compulsive eater with a caustic personality; Timmy Lupus is withdrawn and has a chronic runny nose; Tanner Boyle is undersized, bigoted and belligerent; Miguel and Jose Agilar speak no English; Regi Tower, Jimmy Feldman, Ahmad Abdul Rahim and Toby Whitewood are enthusiastic but untalented; and Ogilvie is an asthmatic with an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball statistics. At the end of the first practice, Buttermaker finds himself with the worst team in the League and a broken windshield from an errant baseball. Several days later, he gives the team uniforms with the name of their sponsor, “Chico's Bail Bonds,” emblazoned on the back. Every other team in the League sports uniforms with corporate sponsors, such as Pizza Hut and Denny's. During the Bears' final practice, Buttermaker passes out drunk, and the boys express little hope for a good season. The next day, as the teams assemble for the season opening, a boy on a motorcycle rides onto the field, angering Cleveland and Yankees coach Roy Turner. The game begins after the boy is removed. Once the Yankees are winning 26-0, Buttermaker decides to forfeit the game. The boys are humiliated, and Ahmad strips down to his underwear and hides in a tree. The following Monday, Whitewood tells Buttermaker to disband the team. Instead, he visits Amanda Whurlizer, an excellent pitcher who is the daughter of an former girl friend. Buttermaker asks Amanda to join the Bears, but she angrily refuses and tells him to leave. When Toby arrives at the park, he informs Buttermaker that the boys have voted to disband the team. They were taunted all day at school, and Tanner got into a fight with the entire seventh grade. Butter maker refuses to let them quit and sends them out to the field to practice. Turner, who has been watching the Bears, admonishes Buttermaker for not disbanding the team, and Buttermaker informs him that they intend to win the pennant. The Bears lose their second game to the Athletics, 18-0. Buttermaker will not allow the boys to feel bad about their performance and takes them all out for hot dogs. He again tries to coerce Amanda to join the team, this time by offering ballet lessons in exchange, and she accepts. By the next game with Amanda pitching, the Bears have improved dramatically, but still lose to the Mets 2-0. Kelly Leek, the boy on the motorcycle, again visits the field. He's known as a great athlete and, despite his reputation as a delinquent, Buttermaker and Amanda want him on the team. She attempts to recruit Kelly by beating him at air hockey at a local arcade, but she loses and has to go on a date with him. At the park, when Lupus is bullied by Yankees pitcher Joey Turner, Tanner surprises himself by defending his teammate, demonstrating some remorse for the way he himself has abused Lupus in the past. Kelly makes another appearance at the Bears' practice and, after being told by Turner that he has no place on the League, he offers to join the Bears. With both Amanda and Kelly playing, the Bears win their first game, but they still have weaknesses. In spite of this, they qualify for the championship playoffs. Buttermaker, having endured Roy Turner's taunts all season, is anxious to win, and instructs Kelly to intercept any ball he can, which only isolates Kelly from the other team members. The day before the final game, Amanda offers to reunite her mother and Buttermaker. When he declines, she suggests a series of father-daughter activities. His polite refusals turn impolite, and Amanda quietly leaves with tears streaming down her face. The next day, the Yankees and the Bears play for the championship. Roy Turner gathers his team and explains that if they lose this game, it will be a burden they will be forced to live with all their lives. Buttermaker is equally obsessed with winning, which the Bears find disturbing. As the game gets underway, both managers berate their players whenever they commit an error. The tension increases when Amanda is knocked down by a runner and falls on her elbow, resulting in a fistfight among the players. They resume the game, but the two managers argue bitterly over the incident. The Yankees have the lead and Buttermaker berates his players even more harshly; they stare back at him with a look of betrayal. He relents and tells them to just do the best they can. Engelberg is at bat and Joey Turner is pitching for the Yankees. The two trade insults and Joey pitches the ball directly at Engelberg's head. Roy is enraged and slaps his son. Joey's next pitch to Engelberg results in a hit, but when Joey catches the ball, he refuses to throw it. The Bears score and Joey leaves with his mother. When Amanda can no longer pitch, Buttermaker takes her out of the game, replacing her with Rudi, and sends Lupus and Ogilvie out onto the field, ignoring protests from Councilman Whitewood and the boys themselves. The Bears play an inspired game but lose by a single home run. Buttermaker passes out cans of beer to all of his players. Cleveland presents trophies to both teams, and the Yankees give the Bears an insincere apology for underestimating them. Tanner tells them to stick their first-place trophy and their apology up their collective anuses. Lupus throws the Bears' trophy at the Yankees' spokesman and declares, "Just wait 'til next year!"