Baseball Prospectus got the ball rolling over the weekend with
an extensive blog item detailing the many glimpses of action we see and play-by-play we hear in the film -- the foul ball Ferris catches was hit by the Braves' Claudell Washington -- and determines the game was June 5, 1985. (Here's
the scene in question.)
But not so fast. Al Yellon of
SB Nation Chicago, like Principal Ed Rooney, didn't trust that date any further than he could throw it. Yellon points out that shooting for the film didn't begin until September of that year, so Ferris, Sloane and Cameron, could not have been at Wrigley Field on that day in between trips to the Art Institute, the Sears Tower, the Merc and impersonating Abe "The Sausage King of Chicago" Froman at the fictional Chez Quis.
On Tuesday, Yellon and Baseball Prospectus received an email from Ken Collins, the second assistant director on the film, who says he's "pretty sure" the game was Sept. 24, 1985 against the Montreal Expos.
Baseball Prospectus's Larry Granillo, while acknowledging the veracity of Collins' Expos claim, is sticking by his story in
a follow-up post:
"In the context of the film, the June 5 game is the game that Ferris Bueller, the character, is attending. Lee Smith is pitching to Claudell Washington while Leon Durham tries to hold on Paul Zuvella at first, and it's Claudell Washington who smacks a foul ball into the left field corner."
