Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook Off (2003)

Eddie Ogden (Taylor Ball) is the Ken Griffey Jr. of the lowly Groundhogs little league team in this DCOM staple, and he’s got the backwards cap and lefty power swing to prove it. Of course, he is constantly derided for his growing interest in cooking by his stereotypically browbeating Disney dad Hank Ogden (Mark L. Taylor) and best friend DB (Reiley McClendon). In fact, during the second of two(!) food fights that occur, DB wrestles Eddie to the ground and yells “I’d rather play ball like a man than cook like a girl.” Sheesh. Eddie does find support from his mom and the home economics teacher Mrs. Hadley (Rose McIver), whose sarcasm and comedic timing rival that of a young Chandler Bing.

The biggest fork in the road moment comes when Eddie must choose between playing in the championship game and competing in the Bobby Flay-hosted cook off. He initially elects baseball but ultimately decides to bolt for the kitchen (with some coaxing from a supportive DB).

Amidst the insanity of the best hitter in the league taking his talents elsewhere, Hannah, the Groundhogs’ gold glove shortstop, is caught in the on-deck circle by her mom who had assumed she was cheerleading the entire time. Rather than ream her out for playing a “boy’s” sport on a “boy’s” team, she accepts Hannah, which causes Eddie’s dad to rethink his, er, bigotry. He intentionally gets himself thrown out of the game for arguing with the umpire and joins his son at the cook off.

Eddie winds up losing, but he wins something a lot more valuable: a dad who can show him how to crack an egg with one hand.

It’s worth noting that Ball knocks it out the park with a confident, charismatic, and surprisingly composed performance for a teenager called on to display a high level of physicality. Ball never became a big acting star because he apparently decided to leave the profession and focus on playing drums for the band Tragic Forms. If you ask me, he pulled a real Eddie Ogden.