The Santana Clause

The Santana Clause-- Baseball star Carlos Santana makes his big screen debut with this light, family-friendly holiday comedy. Carlos (playing himself) is distressed to learn that his team, the Indians, were told by their crazy, cruel stepfather/owner, Paul Dolan (played by Judge Reinhold) that there is no Casey Blake. When the sullen Indians visit Carlos on Christmas Eve, a noise on the roof brings them outside. Carlos startles the intruders, who tumble from the roof. When they removes the prowlers' ski-masks, Carlos and the Indians find that the men from the roof are Casey Blake (who, in a terrific cameo, dies in the fall) and guitar-playing superstar Carlos Santana (we smell Golden Glove for Lou Diamond Phillips in this heartwarming role), who, to avoid confusion, everyone calls "Rob Thomas." "Rob Tomas" takes the opportunity to tell baseball-playing Carlos Santana that, as a result of a legal technicality in the trade that brought Carlos to Cleveland, the young, slugging-catcher must become Casey Blake upon the third basemen's death. This technicality is known, of course, as "the Santana Clause" and has gone into effect.  As the next year passes, "Rob Thomas" tutors Carlos Santana as he grows a beard, loses his range, and struggles with men in scoring position. Santana also meets two hilarious elves named Bernard (a delightfully cranky Dennis Kucinich) and Herman (the late Harvey Pekar's last film role) --  they're the ones who really run Cleveland -- who help him memorize all of Eric Wedge's (portrayed to perfection by Wilford Brimley) favorite foods in a great musical number. However, evil Paul Dolan becomes concerned about Carlos Santana's growing stardom, as well as his insistence that he's Casey Blake, and he forces him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, leading to a dramatic conclusion.