There are tons of great baseball movies. They fall into so many categories: drama, comedy, rom-com, coming of age, etc. Sometimes baseball is the backdrop, and in other movies baseball is the focus. Instead of a top five, I decided to go with a top ten. And naturally, here are a few honorable mentions…
Fever Pitch
The Jimmy Fallon/Drew Barrymore romantic-comedy. She meets the perfect guy or so he seems. Then comes baseball season and she realizes he is a crazy Red Sox fan. I love the fact that the movie filmed the ending during the 2004 World Series.
Mr.Baseball
Tom Selleck gets traded to Japan and we get the typical fish out of water jokes. One of the things I loved about the movie is that it was my first experience with Japanese baseball and just the difference in how they approach the game.
Major League II
Is it a good movie? Not particularly, but it has similar jokes to the first one and that is all you really need.
Trouble With the Curve
This is a very Clint Eastwood movie (yeah, he did not write or direct, but it just has the Eastwood feel. I enjoy his movies for the most part and this movie would have been higher on my list if it wasn’t just so predictable. What saves it is the excellent performances from Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake (remember, I have a constant battle with my enjoyment of Timberlake).
And now onto the list!
10. 42
The Jackie Robinson story. Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford are fantastic in this movie about the man who would break the color barrier in baseball. The movie does not shy away from showing us the ugliness of the period.
9. Summer Catch
Okay, go ahead and make fun of me, but I love this movie. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jessica Biel are great together in this one. Some of the baseball stuff is a little off, like the fact that Ryan Dunne never gets a chance to pitch because of the other great pitcher (Cape Cod League teams play 44 games, so yeah, Ryan would have pitched a few times). Aside from that, the movie is a rom-com with a baseball setting. And it ends with Ken Griffey Jr. crushing a home run.
8. Bull Durham
Some of you will probably have this one higher. This was probably one of the first baseball movies I can remember watching and I can say that it still holds up well after all these years. So many great quotes from this movie and it actually has some interesting baseball stuff, particularly about the minor leagues.
7. The Natural
“Knock the cover off the ball.” The story of a kid with a ridiculous amount of talent, who ends up having his career sidetracked for sixteen years. When I was young, I never caught the part where the reporter is telling the Whammer (Babe Ruth knock off) about a football player being murdered. It all makes sense, the girl was killing famous sports stars. Crazy. And really dark. Anyways, this movie really shows off that old-time baseball and has Robert Redford at his best.
6. The Sandlot
C’mon, would any list be complete without this movie? “You’re killin’ me Smalls!” This movie is one of those quintessential coming of age stories that should probably be required for all youngsters.
5. Moneyball
I liked the movie the first time I saw it, but I was annoyed that the movie missed the point of the book. Or at least it missed out on what the A’s actually did that was so revolutionary. It was not that they used OBP to find talent. It was that they found a market inefficiency and they exploited it. But, after watching it a few more times, I was able to get past that and see it as just a fantastic movie. One of my favorite scenes is Brad Pitt explaining to Chris Pratt how they are going to have him play first base and how easy it is.
4. A Field of Dreams
Can you imagine pitching this movie? A movie about a guy who builds a baseball field because he hears voices, then goes on a weird quest, which ends up allowing players to come from heaven and play baseball. But in reality, the whole thing was just a way for a father and son to reconnect over a game of catch. Yeah, it sounds bonkers. And yet…it is a great movie. It is worth watching just for the James Earl Jones speech about baseball.
3. Major League
This is easily my most quotable baseball movie. “Just a bit outside.” “Yo bartender, Jobu needs a refill!” “Nice throw dickhead” “one goddamn hit? Oh don’t worry, no one’s listening anyway” “Give him the heater!” “Strike this motherfucker out!” I also love the Jake Taylor conversations with opposing players. I love when you find out that actual catchers are like that. I think my favorite is when Haywood asks what he is doing back in the league and Taylor is like “couldn’t cut it in the Mexican League.” My favorite scene is when Jake shows up to the dinner party and the old lady says she didn’t realize Cleveland still had a team and he is like “Yup, we’ve got uniforms and everything, it’s really great!”
2. A League of Their Own
Even though there are some questionable managerial decisions, it is still one of my all-time favorites. Whether it be the the first few scenes with Jon Lovitz or the world’s longest piss scene, or some tremendous quotes “there is no crying in baseball” probably being the greatest baseball quote of all-time. Not only does it do a great job focusing on the professional women’s league, but it really makes you feel for the characters. We have the sibling rivalry between Dottie and Kit. There is the idea of having to return to what they were doing before baseball (and before the war)…for some of them it is not a desirable outcome. And there is the great scene where Betty receives the dreaded telegram and Jimmy has to rip it from the delivery guy because he does not have the name. A movie that has so many funny scenes, it also can hit you with a hardcore emotional one. Damn you Tom Hanks for being so perfect.
1. 61*
I know this will probably cause some angry comments, but hey, it’s my list. I LOVE this movie. Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane are fantastic as Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Billy Crystal does an amazing job of making us feel like we are in Roger’s shoes. Whether it be the scene where he is losing his hair over the stress or the scene where he puts an X on the kid’s ball as a joke and the dad screams at him. Or the part where a guy throws a chair at him from the outfield seats. I just enjoy seeing baseball history and some of the darker aspects of it. Also, seeing players drinking and smoking in the locker room always makes me laugh.
