Teen baseball drama catches a retro feel
"Clubhouse" is set in the present tense, but it smacks of the 1950s. It has a strong nostalgic vibe to it, even when the soundtrack bursts into contemporary pop. It has a sepia soul.
The CBS baseball drama, which premieres tomorrow night at 8 on Channel 4, is a "family show" in the old-fashioned sense of the phrase. It takes a Hallmark-like approach to a 16-year-old boy's coming of age, with none of the teen clique battles and sexy designer regalia that are so common on the WB. The mythic aura of the baseball stadium casts its wistful glow over this show, as a bat boy for a fictional New York baseball team learns a few life lessons.
And the bat boy, Pete Young (Jeremy Sumpter), is the sort of kid who watches TV only to catch the games. There's
something pre-MTV about him. He's not precocious and sly, and he even has a lisp that the series doesn't play for humor. "Clubhouse" isn't built on today's trademark irony so much as on innocence and hope, as Pete fulfills his dream of working for the New York Empires. He's an interesting contrast to the libidinized teen boys ABC is introducing early next month on "Life As We Know It." With an absent father, Pete's more interested in finding male role models than models. And he does find role models with the team, some of them lousy but most of them good. On "Clubhouse," you'll have no trouble recognizing who is which. Dean Cain plays a brotherly third baseman who helps Pete out of trouble in the premiere. And Christopher Lloyd is the gruff but paternal equipment manager who says things like, "There's no time to be sorry here, just useful." Pete has a loving mother at home, played by Mare Winningham with a continual worrywart expression on her face, but he's tired of forsaking his own needs to take care of her. When she's upset after finding out he has secretly become a bat boy, he says to her, "Dad would have understood."
"Clubhouse" deserves props for bucking the trend of youth TV drama. In its own retro way, it has charm. Also, Sumpter is a great find, the rare young actor who projects genuine modesty. He's able to convey Pete's mature side, as he takes on adult responsibilities at home and with the team, and yet he makes Pete's childlike yearning palpable. I may not keep up with the wholesome series, which moves to its regular Tuesday time slot this week, but I'm glad it's there for those who have a sweet tooth.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. 
