Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (also known as Air Bud 4) is a 2002 sports comedy film directed by Robert Vince. It is the fourth film in the Air Bud series and the final one to feature any cast members from the original film.

Plot

Josh Framm is off to his first year of college and Buddy has stayed behind with Josh's little sister, Andrea, and the rest of the family. Jackie and Patrick have recently welcomed Josh and Andrea's half-brother Noah. Andrea, attempting to fit in with her junior high classmates, decides to join the baseball team. Buddy also has gained the uncanny ability to play baseball. Just as the season is settling in, a terrible discovery is made — many local athletically talented dogs have mysteriously started disappearing with the help of the dognappers' little helper, Rocky Raccoon. It turns out the dognappers were researchers who were dognapping them because they thought they had a special gene that would enable them to play sports. Buddy must find them and make it to the major leagues as he goes to bat for the Anaheim Angels.

Cast

Release

Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch was released directly to DVD and VHS on June 18, 2002 by Walt Disney Home Entertainment. It was reissued by Disney on DVD on June 16, 2008 in a double-pack alongside Air Bud: Spikes Back. Mill Creek Entertainment reissued the film on January 14, 2020 on a 2-disc boxset, also containing other Air Bud films owned by Air Bud Entertainment. All five Air Bud films, including Seventh Inning Fetch, arrived on Disney+ on October 1, 2023.

Reception

Common Sense Media praised the dogs as being "terrific", but complained that "the writing is weak, the plot is transparent, the characters are clichés, and the situations are ridiculous". Video Business said the film "is a lively outing filled with easily understood characters, colorful sets and costumes and a plot with very few complications". The Video Librarian said the film was "the runt of the litter" and was basically "ham-handed slapstick ... and all the bases are covered in this lightweight comedy, but in such formulaic fashion that we cannot recommend it". Film critic Scott Hettrick of The Los Angeles Times said the film "is a relatively weak installment, even within the confines of this lightweight live-action family series".