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Baseball Movies

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 09:39 AM

In celebration of opening day, and with the new Jackie Robinson movie opening next week, i thought it was time for our periodic review of top baseball movies. I'm including only theatrically released feature films (no tv/cable/video, no shorts, no docs), so here's my top “Baker’s Dozen”: 1. Bull Durham 2. Field of dreams 3. The Natural 4. The Bad News Bears (1976) 5. Moneyball 6. Bang the Drum Slowly 7. The Rookie 8. The Sandlot 9. Major league 10. Eight Men Out 11. Fever Pitch 12. A League of their Own 13. Pride of the Yankees

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 09:55 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Fever Pitch seemed pretty disposable. Top Portrayals of Babe Ruth: [list=1][*]Babe Ruth: The Pride of the Yankees[/*:m] [*]Joe Don Baker: The Natural (billed as "The Whammer")[/*:m] [*]Wiliam Bendix: The Babe Ruth Story[/*:m] [*]John Goodman: The Babe[/*:m] [*]Art LaFleur: The Sandlot[/*:m][/list:o]

TransMonk Apr 01 2013 10:00 AM Re: Baseball Movies

LITTLE BIG LEAGUE (1994) features Dave Magadan, Carlos Baerga and Sandy Alomar Jr., but I would not consider it a top 13 baseball movie.

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 10:06 AM Re: Baseball Movies

it is a fun movie, though, and reminiscent of a old Dan Dailey baseball movie, THE KID FROM LEFT FIELD

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 10:08 AM Re: Baseball Movies

If there's anything I'm less inclined to be charitable toward than Billy Crystal, director, it's Billy Crystal, director and Yankee fan. But *61 got it done, and I'd put it ahead of Fever Pitch and A League of Their Own, unless we're not counting movies that didn't get a theatrical release. (Ranking should be settled by votes, I think.)

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 10:10 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Fever Pitch seemed pretty disposable. Top Portrayals of Babe Ruth: [list=1][*]Babe Ruth: The Pride of the Yankees[/*:m] [*]Joe Don Baker: The Natural (billed as "The Whammer")[/*:m] [*]Wiliam Bendix: The Babe Ruth Story[/*:m] [*]John Goodman: The Babe[/*:m] [*]Art LaFleur: The Sandlot[/*:m][/list:o] Not only is FEVER PITCH a charming romantic comedy, it's the only baseball movie that i can recall which speaks exclusively from the fan's point of view. They have yet to make a good BABE RUTH movie. I had hopes for THE BABE, but it swung and missed.

A Boy Named Seo Apr 01 2013 10:11 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Don't forget the riveting 'Mr. Baseball' starring Tom Selleck's mustache (and co-starring Tom Selleck)! Broken down, old Yankee (ha!) banished to Japan re-discovers his swing as he re-discovers himself... /sniff [youtube]uN_H71V6kZY[/youtube]

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 10:14 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Edgy MD wrote: If there's anything I'm less inclined to be charitable toward than Billy Crystal, director, it's Billy Crystal, director and Yankee fan. But *61 got it done, and I'd put it ahead of Fever Pitch and A League of Their Own, unless we're not counting movies that didn't get a theatrical release. (Ranking should be settled by votes, I think.) that was my criteria (see, "theatrical releases only") but you can include whatever you want, including docs, to put forth your own top list. Obviously, if your counting cable movies, then i'd include not only 61* but also LONG GONE. If you want to set this up as poll, we should come up with 20 movies (and we need to decide if we're including docs and tv movies), then people can vote for their top 3 and we'll see where we end up. So i've put forth 13. If you want to eliminate any of them, and/or add some of your own, go ahead.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 01 2013 10:14 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Vic Sage wrote: Not only is FEVER PITCH a charming romantic comedy, it's the only baseball movie that i can recall which speaks exclusively from the fan's point of view. They have yet to make a good BABE RUTH movie. I had hopes for THE BABE, but it swung and missed. The Babe was weird that the movie spent a lot of time on Ruth as a Red Sox and Ruth as a Brave but scant time with his Yankees career. They also portrayed him as a complete idiot, which I think was unfair.

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 10:17 AM Re: Baseball Movies

1. Bull Durham 2. Field of dreams 3. The Natural 4. The Bad News Bears (1976) 5. Moneyball 6. Bang the Drum Slowly 7. The Rookie 8. The Sandlot 9. Major league 10. Eight Men Out 11. Fever Pitch 12. A League of their Own 13. Pride of the Yankees 14. Bingo Long & his Traveling All-stars 15. Fear Strikes Out 16. Angels in the Outfield (57) 17. Damn Yankees 18. Little Big League 19. Mr. Baseball 20. Mr. 3000 so here's my top 20 -- add or subtract as you will.

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 10:18 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Vic Sage wrote: Not only is FEVER PITCH a charming romantic comedy, it's the only baseball movie that i can recall which speaks exclusively from the fan's point of view. Hey, to each her own, but just remember that this post will be reviewed when your man card is up for renewal.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 01 2013 10:20 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Edgy MD wrote: Vic Sage wrote: Not only is FEVER PITCH a charming romantic comedy, it's the only baseball movie that i can recall which speaks exclusively from the fan's point of view. Hey, to each her own, but just remember that this post will be reviewed when your man card is up for renewal. I got Vic's back. Fever Pitch is no masterpiece, but it was enjoyable fluff.

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 10:25 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Know what else is a good baseball movie, guys? He's Just Not That into You. You should catch it together. /Grabs crotch. /Spits contempuously. /Goes home to lonely apartment and pops open a can of Chef-Boyardee.

seawolf17 Apr 01 2013 10:27 AM Re: Baseball Movies

"Major League 2"? "The Naked Gun"? "For The Love of the Game"? "Baseketball"? Bernie Mac's "Mr. 3000"?

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 10:32 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Know what else is a good baseball movie, guys? He's Just Not That into You. You should catch it together. the best baseball movie ever, by most polls and rankings, is also a romantic comedy. BULL DURHAM is just a much better one, with a lot of great baseball action. But love story aside, FEVER PITCH captures the obsessive nature of fandom, as well as the way it exemplifies a familial legacy and creates a community for fans. BULL DURHAM does so, too, but not many other films do. MAJOR LEAGUE 2 - noted. instead of which one on my list? FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME - ditto? but: NAKED GUN - it has a baseball scene in it, but its not a baseball movie. BASEKETBALL - its about another sport, not baseball. MR. 3000 - is already on the list.

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 10:35 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Naked Gun almost qualifies, as the climax is during a baseball game --- a key defining element of "sports movie" to me is whether the climax takes place on the playing field --- but I'd say no, as the protagonist wasn't a player.

DocTee Apr 01 2013 10:39 AM Re: Baseball Movies

No love for Brewster's Millions?

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 11:05 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Edgy MD wrote: Naked Gun almost qualifies, as the climax is during a baseball game --- a key defining element of "sports movie" to me is whether the climax takes place on the playing field --- but I'd say no, as the protagonist wasn't a player. I think it's even more fundamental than that. A "baseball movies" has to be about BASEBALL, regardless of who its protagonist is or whether it has a climactic game. That's why BREWSTER'S MILLIONS doesn't count, either. The protagonist tries to get rich by spending alot of money in a month in order to inherit alot MORE money under the terms of a will. Here, the protagonist happens to be a ballplayer, but he could have been anything, and its not about baseball per se

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 11:10 AM Re: Baseball Movies

I didn't mean to say a baseball movie has the have a climactic game. I mean to say that a climax taking place within a game is an element of what qualifies a film as a baseball movie --- but not that it's a necessary element.

batmagadanleadoff Apr 01 2013 11:15 AM Re: Baseball Movies

TCM celebrates opening day with the following lineup (lineup, I said!) beginning tonight at 8:00PM LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Lloyd Bacon. Ray Milland, Jean Peters, Paul Douglas, Ed Begley, Ted de Corsia, Ray Collins, Jessie Royce Landis, Alan Hale, Jr., Debra Paget. Clever little comedy of chemistry professor (Milland) accidentally discovering a chemical mixture which causes baseballs to avoid all wooden surfaces, namely baseball bats. He takes leave from academia and embarks on meteoric pitching career. A most enjoyable, unpretentious picture. Story by Shirley W. Smith and Valentine Davies; scripted by Davies. LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Clarence Brown. Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn, Donna Corcoran, Spring Byington, Ellen Corby, Lewis Stone, Bruce Bennett, voice of James Whitmore. Cute comedy-fantasy with Douglas ideally cast as the Pittsburgh Pirates' hot-tempered, foul-mouthed manager, whose hard-luck team goes on a winning streak thanks to some heavenly intervention. Amusing cameos from the worlds of baseball and show business. Remade in 1994. LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Harmon Jones. Dan Dailey, Anne Bancroft, Billy Chapin, Lloyd Bridges, Ray Collins, Richard Egan. Homey little film with Dailey as ex-baseball star turned ballpark vendor who uses his son as cover while trying to turn a losing team around. Remade as 1979 TV movie with Gary Coleman. Opening Day (1938) [9 minute short] City treasurer Robert Benchley attends the opening of a new baseball stadium to throw out the first pitch, but the crowd must endure Benchley's horrible, drawn-out monologue before they can finally start the game. LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Busby Berkeley. Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly, Betty Garrett, Edward Arnold, Jules Munshin, Richard Lane, Tom Dugan. Contrived but colorful turn-of-the-century musical, with Williams taking over Sinatra and Kelly's baseball team. "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg" and Kelly's "The Hat My Father Wore on St. Patrick's Day" are musical highlights.

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 11:18 AM Re: Baseball Movies

all worthy additions to the list.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 01 2013 11:31 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Looking at those posters it appears that women in tight skirts are an important element of baseball movies.

Fman99 Apr 01 2013 11:38 AM Re: Baseball Movies

I've never really been able to stand Bull Durham. I'm not much of a Kevin Costner fan, outside of A Perfect World, and I find the dialogue of this movie to just ring false. I consistently see it at the top of baseball movie lists and I don't get it, sorry. Even in Field of Dreams I spent a lot of time wondering who would have been a better fit for the lead role. That's a movie that I enjoy despite Costner. My faves in no particular order: The Natural The Bad News Bears (1976) Field of Dreams Bang the Drum Slowly The Rookie The Sandlot Major League Eight Men Out A League of their Own Damn Yankees

Mets – Willets Point Apr 01 2013 11:42 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Fman99 wrote: I've never really been able to stand Bull Durham. I'm not much of a Kevin Costner fan, outside of A Perfect World, and I find the dialogue of this movie to just ring false. I consistently see it at the top of baseball movie lists and I don't get it, sorry. I don't mind Costner, but I've never liked Bull Durham either. I don't like Susan Sarandon for one thing, but like you said the dialogue rings false.

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 11:43 AM Re: Baseball Movies

Fman99 wrote: I've never really been able to stand Bull Durham. I'm not much of a Kevin Costner fan, outside of A Perfect World, and I find the dialogue of this movie to just ring false. I consistently see it at the top of baseball movie lists and I don't get it, sorry. Yeah, I'm there also. The funny thing is that what folks credit it with is the exact opposite --- that it's really authentic. It seems so self-consciously authentic to me so as to be the opposite. Our ears are clearly hearing different things.

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 12:06 PM Re: Baseball Movies Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 01 2013 12:15 PM

Yeah, I'm not there. I like Costner (I even like WATERWORLD and THE POSTMAN), and I LOVE Sarandon... just in general (I was 15 when she sang TOUCH ME, TOUCH ME, TOUCH ME, TOUCH ME... I WANNA FEEL DIRTY!... right to me, sitting in the back of the 8th St playhouse. You never get over something like that). So a love story between these 2 actors has got me half-way there, from the get go. Then, throw in some realistic and comic baseball action juxtaposed against intentionally heightened (i.e., unrealistic), poetic dialogue (since the story is narrated and told from the perspective of a poetry teacher and Romantic who sees stadia as cathedrals and baseball as a metaphor), and you have a unique concoction that audiences (and critics) have responded to in the way they have. Crash: "William Blake?" Annie: "William Blake!"

metirish Apr 01 2013 12:11 PM Re: Baseball Movies

Can I just say, this is a great thread, good banter. For me Field of Dreams probably tops my list. When I knew nothing about the game(insert joke) I still got that movie, of course a lot of the movies listed here can say the same, you don't have to know anything about the game to enjoy the, says a lot about how good they are.

metsguyinmichigan Apr 01 2013 12:34 PM Re: Baseball Movies

I liked "Fever Pitch." The scene where he tortures himself by showing a loop of the Mookie/Buckner moment is classic! How about "Cobb?"

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 12:44 PM Re: Baseball Movies

For Mookie-Buckner content, how about Game Six?

batmagadanleadoff Apr 01 2013 02:27 PM Re: Baseball Movies

TCM celebrates opening day with the following lineup (lineup, I said!) beginning tonight at 8:00PM LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Lloyd Bacon. Ray Milland, Jean Peters, Paul Douglas, Ed Begley, Ted de Corsia, Ray Collins, Jessie Royce Landis, Alan Hale, Jr., Debra Paget. Clever little comedy of chemistry professor (Milland) accidentally discovering a chemical mixture which causes baseballs to avoid all wooden surfaces, namely baseball bats. He takes leave from academia and embarks on meteoric pitching career. A most enjoyable, unpretentious picture. Story by Shirley W. Smith and Valentine Davies; scripted by Davies. LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Clarence Brown. Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn, Donna Corcoran, Spring Byington, Ellen Corby, Lewis Stone, Bruce Bennett, voice of James Whitmore. Cute comedy-fantasy with Douglas ideally cast as the Pittsburgh Pirates' hot-tempered, foul-mouthed manager, whose hard-luck team goes on a winning streak thanks to some heavenly intervention. Amusing cameos from the worlds of baseball and show business. Remade in 1994. LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Harmon Jones. Dan Dailey, Anne Bancroft, Billy Chapin, Lloyd Bridges, Ray Collins, Richard Egan. Homey little film with Dailey as ex-baseball star turned ballpark vendor who uses his son as cover while trying to turn a losing team around. Remade as 1979 TV movie with Gary Coleman. Opening Day (1938) [9 minute short] City treasurer Robert Benchley attends the opening of a new baseball stadium to throw out the first pitch, but the crowd must endure Benchley's horrible, drawn-out monologue before they can finally start the game. LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Busby Berkeley. Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly, Betty Garrett, Edward Arnold, Jules Munshin, Richard Lane, Tom Dugan. Contrived but colorful turn-of-the-century musical, with Williams taking over Sinatra and Kelly's baseball team. "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg" and Kelly's "The Hat My Father Wore on St. Patrick's Day" are musical highlights. Left out the early morning showings: LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Lloyd Bacon. Joe E. Brown, Evalyn Knapp, Lillian Bond, Guy Kibbee, Virginia Sale. Amusing Brown romp with Joe dividing his time between fire-fighting and baseball. The first in his baseball trilogy, followed by ELMER THE GREAT and ALIBI IKE. LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW: D: Lloyd Bacon. William Bendix, Una Merkel, Ray Collins, Gloria Henry, William Frawley, Tom D'Andrea, Richard Taylor (Jeff Richards). Lightweight comedy about baseball lover who becomes the sport's most hated man, the umpire. Ends with spectacular slapstick chase. Screenplay by Frank Tashlin.

The Second Spitter Apr 01 2013 02:31 PM Re: Baseball Movies

metsguyinmichigan wrote: I liked "Fever Pitch." The scene where he tortures himself by showing a loop of the Mookie/Buckner moment is classic! Fever Pitch is desecration of sacred and holy text.

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 02:33 PM Re: Baseball Movies

I didn't want to say, but... .

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Apr 01 2013 02:44 PM Re: Baseball Movies

/Nods furiously Nail Bull Durham all you want for being phony. (I disagree HARD, but hell... agree to disagree.) But if you're taking it down on those grounds, don't you DARE put The Natural on the top of your list. Beautiful, empty cliche-as-mythology, rendered all the more meaningless with the "magical" revised ending. Maybe it's growing up popless and without a single non-ninny adult ex-hippie in my life, but Field of Dreams always left me cold. If you don't like the taste of the sap, it's a dull, dull boomer strokeoff. Give me Bad News Bears all day, every day over any of these latter two duckfarts, then Bull Durham, then Moneyball, Eight Men Out, Major League, The Rookie, Bang the Drum Slowly, A League Of Their Own, then a big pile of mostly-nothin'.

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 02:50 PM Re: Baseball Movies

Agreed on Bad News Bears. Number one with bullet, as my sig line might suggest. I don't and wouldn't put The Natural on top, but of course it's less authentically natural. It's presented as mythology. Even the names --- Red, Bump, and Pops --- are archetypal.

metsguyinmichigan Apr 01 2013 02:55 PM Re: Baseball Movies

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: /Nods furiously Nail Bull Durham all you want for being phony. (I disagree HARD, but hell... agree to disagree.) But if you're taking it down on those grounds, don't you DARE put The Natural on the top of your list. Beautiful, empty cliche-as-mythology, rendered all the more meaningless with the "magical" revised ending. Maybe it's growing up popless and without a single non-ninny adult ex-hippie in my life, but Field of Dreams always left me cold. If you don't like the taste of the sap, it's a dull, dull boomer strokeoff. Give me Bad News Bears all day, every day over any of these latter two duckfarts, then Bull Durham, then Moneyball, Eight Men Out, Major League, The Rookie, Bang the Drum Slowly, A League Of Their Own, then a big pile of mostly-nothin'. Booooooo! I love "Field of Dreams." Cinematic perfection! I was able to visit the field in Iowa and even walk around Galena, I'll, where the Chisolm scenes were filmed. Did you know that when they are reading from Doc Graham's obit in the movie -- the hats in the closet, every kid quietly getting glasses -- that's Grahm's real obit? The only thing the movie changed was the year he died. "

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 02:56 PM Re: Baseball Movies

Annie Savoy, Nuke LaLouche, Crash Davis... do these strike as you names right out of kitchen-sink naturalism?

Vic Sage Apr 01 2013 03:10 PM Re: Baseball Movies

The Second Spitter wrote: metsguyinmichigan wrote: I liked "Fever Pitch." The scene where he tortures himself by showing a loop of the Mookie/Buckner moment is classic! Fever Pitch is desecration of sacred and holy text. I'm sure it is; most movies either poorly represent the books they are based on or absolutely betray them. And if you're a fan of a book, it can be galling. But ultimately that is entirely irrelevant as to whether its a good movie or not. THE NATURAL, as was mentioned, totally betrays its source material to give the hero a happy ending. But given the tone, style and nature of the movie, it was appropriate and the movie stands on its own. I love the book, and I love the movie for very different reasons.

metsguyinmichigan Apr 01 2013 03:21 PM Re: Baseball Movies

That's one of the reasons I like "Field of Dreams." It's not only true to the book, I think it streamlines it a bit and actually improves on it. The major concession is swapping out Terrance Mann for J.D. Salinger. Now, that may be because W.P. Kinsella was involved in the script. Kinsella's other baseball book, "The Iowa Baseball Confederacy," isn't as good. I know "The Natural" sold out by having him hit a homer and not striking out," but I sure do like the way that scene was filmed, with the ball breaking the lights and the sparks falling on the field. Wonderful film making. I haven't read the "Fever Pitch" book.

Edgy MD Apr 01 2013 03:31 PM Re: Baseball Movies

Vic Sage wrote: Annie Savoy, Nuke LaLouche, Crash Davis... do these strike as you names right out of kitchen-sink naturalism? I think the writers thought they were, yeah.

Mets – Willets Point Apr 01 2013 05:37 PM Re: Baseball Movies

Fever Pitch is Nick Hornby's collection of autobiographical essays, each centered around a pivotal soccer match, mostly related to his beloved club Arsenal. It is an excellent book but it would be all but impossible to adapt it as a movie as it is mostly Hornby's reflections on fandom and the philosophical meaning in his life. Instead the name was used for a romantic comedy starring one of those charming English guy's named Colin. Fever Pitch the baseball movie is an adaptation of that adaptation for an American audience.

A Boy Named Seo Apr 08 2013 12:07 PM Re: Baseball Movies

The Onion AV Club: "Bull Durham is the Greatest Baseball Movie Ever Made". http://www.avclub.com/articles/why-bull-durham-is-the-greatest-baseball-movie-eve,96143/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=standard-post:headline:default Bull Durham (1988) Bull Durham is the greatest baseball movie because it isn’t really about baseball, even though writer-director Ron Shelton drew on his own experience as a minor-league player and captured the particulars of that world like no filmmaker before or since. Its true subject is passion. Religious and sexual metaphors intertwine to magnificent effect: Susan Sarandon’s Annie Savoy tells us at the outset that she belongs to the Church of Baseball (her house resembles a shrine), then relates her annual tradition of selecting one promising player on the Durham Bulls as her lover for the season. Ostensibly, what follows is a lightly comic romantic triangle involving Annie’s relationships with hotheaded young pitcher Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins, in his breakout role) and his reluctant mentor, aging catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner, in his defining performance). But what really binds these three indelible characters—and what determines which two end up together—is a stubborn, irrational ardor for the circumscribed realm they inhabit. And that’s something you can appreciate even if you have no idea what a ground rule double is. “This is a simple game,” snarls the Bulls’ head coach (the late, lamented Trey Wilson) at one point. “You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball.” Shelton knows better, though, and complications are Bull Durham’s lifeblood, both on and off the field. Shrugging off your catcher’s signal means having him tell the opposing team’s batter what pitch you’re about to throw, out of spite. Racking up all the all-time minor-league record for home runs only underscores the fact that you never made it in “the show.” In many ways, the film achieves the fizzy delirium of classic comedies by the likes of Preston Sturges and Leo McCarey—it’s idiosyncratic, crazily detailed, endlessly quotable, and genuinely interested in even the most marginal members of its insular community. (There are no small parts here.) Underneath the effervescence, though, lurks a poignant recognition that all of this joy and heartbreak revolves around an activity that’s arguably trivial and unquestionably ephemeral. Accepting that paradox, even embracing it, is rather like accepting and embracing life itself. Availability: Bull Durham is available for rental and purchase on DVD and Blu-ray from pretty much everybody. [youtube]DzX_K9pX3X0[/youtube]