10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About 'Bull Durham'

9. Russell's Crash was supposed to mentor Charlie Sheen as "Nuke" LaLoosh, but Sheen had to drop out because he was already committed to another baseball movie ("Eight Men Out"). Ironically, Sheen would later play another cartoonish pitcher with a rocket arm in "Major League."

8. During the famous batting cage "date" between Crash and Susan Sarandon's Annie Savoy, Shelton had to get creative because-despite the fact that's she's giving Crash hitting pointers in the scene-Sarandon was terrible. The balls she's hitting are actually tennis balls lobbed at her from about 8 feet away, made to sound like baseballs thanks to some post-shooting sound effects.

Costner, however, really could hit (and switch hit - if you pay attention, Crash hits righty and lefty throughout the movie, all done for real by Costner) and actually won the part after impressing Shelton at batting cages prior to being cast.

7. Remember that approximately 3.5 second-long bit when Tim Robbins' Nuke LaLoosh is dancing in the bar with a floor full of girls? Not only were his moves choreographed, they were choreographed by a young up-and-comer named Paula Abdul.

6. Shelton had to fight the studio to cast Tim Robbins, because, as Shelton himself points out "Tim Robbins had one credit to his name when I hired him: 'Howard the Duck'" and because the studio brass thought audiences would balk at the notion of someone as classy as Sarandon having anything to do with a guy like Robbins.

Hilariously, Sarandon and Robbins became a real couple during this movie, and would later name Shelton the godfather of their first child as thanks for giving Robbins a career and a lovely lady.

5. Because he was shooting on a shoestring budget, Shelton had his costume department get everyone's clothes from Goodwill and Salvation Army stores. And the iconic green bomber jacket Crash Davis wears in the movie (and on the poster) was Shelton's own. He still owns it, and claims to be wearing it while recording the director's commentary for the film's DVD release.

4. The movie was actually shot in North Carolina...but Shelton had to shoot this summer-set movie in the middle of fall. In several scenes, you can see the breath of actors in t-shirts and shorts because it was so cold. And if you look behind Costner during his batting cage scene with Sarandon you can see trees in full autumn color.

3. One of the Durham Bulls players - a dark-haired kid who accompanies Crash and a few others to their "rain out" game - is the late Danny Gans, who would go on to become an "Entertainer of the Year" winner in Las Vegas with his singing and comedy impression act. Like Kurt Russell, Gans was a minor league prospect (for the Dodgers) before a serious Achilles tendon injury forced him to take Career Path B ("Wynn Hotel headliner").

2. There really was a Crash Davis. The guy who inspired Shelton (because he thought it was a great name) was a minor league ballplayer in the 30s and 40s who did, indeed, once suit up for the Durham Bulls. And, like Costner's version, he enjoyed a brief "cup of coffee" call up to the majors with the Philadelphia Athletics. Davis passed away in 2001 at the age of 82.