The Ten Best Baseball Movies Ever
May 6th, 2008 by Bruce Edwards
What makes my list? An appreciation for baseball’s persuasive and pervasive metaphors for life under the sun, a certain sentimentality and wit that recalls innocence and honor, and, plain and simple, a good movie-movie that celebrates family life and dad-son relationships without being too melodramatic.
Dad and son, time travel, Mets 69 miracle World Series, Jim Caviezel, Dennis Quaid. How baseball permeates the soul and saves everyone.
Gary Cooper at his self-effacing best as the original “Iron Man”: Lou Gehrig.
Robert DeNiro as a heroic catcher who doesn’t know he is dying, a great movie about everything including baseball.
Has to be here, if only for the comeback moment
5. It Happens Every Spring
Ray Milland is a college professor who invents a tonic that when applied to wood deflects baseballs.
Captures an era while offhandedly dramatizing the power of baseball as metaphor for so many things
The subplots in the book and movie leave me cold, but getting to play catch with your dad one more time–that’s the most poignant moment.
The 1951 version only–supernatural help for the Pirates and the great Paul Douglas
Texas, dad and son, recovery of lost aspirations: Dennis Quaid (again)
Cat inherits baseball team in Brooklyn, Ray Milland (again)
Runners-up (good movies but baseball tends to be the backdrop to tell another story rather than the central thematic core): Damn Yankees, A League of Their Own, Fear Strikes Out, The Stratton Story, American Pastime.
Missing anything? No, if you’re looking in my list for Bull Durham–I despise the movie, because it abuses baseball to give a star turn to Susan Sarandon’s lust; her “church of baseball speech” undermines the very thing it was ostensibly written to elevate: true love for baseball. And you won’t find these friviolities, entertaining though they may be: For the Love of the Game, Bad News Bears, Mr. Baseball, Mr. 3000, Major League, Fever Pitch.
Note: this is a crossover post from Beisbol.
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3 Responses to “The Ten Best Baseball Movies Ever”
Not sure if I have even seen enough movies involving baseball to make a list of ten… but here goes:
6)Major League 2: Back to the Minors – I think this is the only Major League movie I ever saw
5)The Natural – saw this as a little kid and it bored the heck out of me.
4)Field of Dreams – still really darn good.
3)The Babe – I always liked this movie.
2)Frequency – have to agree, here. It’s a pretty sweet movie.
1)The Sandlot – classic.
The Final Season looked like a pretty good movie, I mean, Powers Boothe and Sean Astin coaching baseaball? I’m intrigued.
Final Season is on my list to see, can’t find it at spectrum and u can only buy not rent for AppleTV –I suspect it will nudge out something else. It’s been a while since I saw The Sandlot, I will have to see it again!
Yeah, Sandlot should be up there. I agree with all your omissions – with the exception of Major League. Yes it’s crude, over the top, and obviously a parody of life on a losing baseball team, but it does capture the good/bad/ugly of pro baseball.
I’m glad Frequency is on here, I really liked that movie.
Would anyone consider putting some of the ESPN movies in here? The Billy Martin mini-series was tastefully done I thought.