Hollywood met Indianapolis for one of the very few times in 1987, when much of the baseball movie "Eight Men Out" was filmed here. The city was chosen in part because old Bush Stadium, home to the local minor-league baseball team, had a vintage appeal.

The film memorialized the 1919 World Series, in which several Chicago White Sox players were accused of taking money to lose on purpose to the Cincinnati Reds.

Besides Bush Stadium, top Indianapolis locales included the U.S. Courthouse and the Indiana Medical History Museum on the grounds of Central State Hospital, which still was operating then. Local residents were extras in crowd scenes.

Here are nine other facts about "Eight Men Out":

9: Steps to the Indiana Statehouse were used for some of the exterior shots just before the courthouse scene.

8: About those tears on the face of the kid who tells Shoeless Joe Jackson to "say it ain't so"? According to local extra John Cinnamon, who is visible in the scene, they were real tears -- the kid was freezing to death on a cold late October afternoon and complained about it to an assistant director.

7: A portrait of President Kennedy in the judge's chambers behind the main courtroom used in the movie had to be removed because it was visible through a glass door from the courtroom.

6: The old Bush Stadium was the venue for both White Sox and Reds games in the movie.

5: The library at the Indiana Medical History Museum, itself a former medical research facility, was used as a lawyer's office for some scenes.

4: The Columbia Club and Athenaeum lobbies were used for some scenes.

3: John Mahoney (Frasier's dad on TV), a fine dramatic actor, has a leading role as the White Sox manager.

2: Jeff Santo, son of Chicago Cubs legendary third baseman Ron Santo, coached Charlie Sheen during the movie, according to local resident Pete Cava, who played the role of the St. Louis Browns manager.

1: Reviewer Rita Rose raved about the movie: "Will score a home run with Hoosier audiences," she wrote in The Star. But David Mannweiler of the Indianapolis News wrote, "Black Sox movie guilty of confusion" because it was hard to follow.

'Eight Men Out' events

What: Festival celebrating Indianapolis' involvement with the production of "Eight Men Out," released in 1988.

When: Begins at 10.a.m. Saturday; day and evening programs scheduled.

Where: Main location is the Indiana Medical History Museum, 3045 W. Vermont St., on the grounds of the old Central State Hospital.

Activities: Vintage baseball games all day long (free). Film Location Bus Tour ($12) begins at 10 a.m. Guest speaker Geri Strecker speaks about Negro Chicago baseball team at 1.p.m. (free). Reid Duffy hosts a "recognition ceremony" at 2 p.m. (free). Gene Carney, author of "Burying the Black Sox," speaks at 6:30 p.m. ($5). Encore screening of "Eight Men Out" at sundown provided by Indy Parks Movies in the Park (free).

Information: (317) 635-7329

- By Abe Aamidor