Baseball stories have been told and retold over the years, and Hollywood certainly has enjoyed telling them. I thought I might as well give you my 2 cents on my favourite baseball movies.
My top ten list in reverse order.
# 10 - The Rookie , with Dennis Quaid, playing the role of real life Tampa Devil Rays reliever, Jimmy Morris who was an Army brat , always on the move, always hoping he would get a chance to settle down and play little league. Disney can be credited for giving us a look at the real life
challenge of just trying out, and riding the buses, only to see your dream come true and pitch in the Show.
# 9 - Little Big League , a fantasy tale of the grandson the owner of the Minnesota Twins, played by Jason Robards. Billy Heywood inherits the team , fires the foul mouth manager, and takes the job of managing the Twins, telling them they should be ashamed of their lax attitude, that they have the greatest jobs in the world. The team responds, bonds on the road and suddenly they get close to winning it all, but lose on the last day of the season to Randy Johnson and Griffey, Jr. Youth is served, and the nice message is that you can enjoy your work and it's not about the money. Of course it's idyllic, many movies are, but there are some fun moments, water balloon pranks, on the mound confrontations and a child coming of age.
# 8 - Bingo Long and his Traveling All Stars
Black baseball players barnstorm through the mid west and the south trying to prove to themselves they are good enough to play in the white man's league, and struggling indifference, bigotry and had a great cast of Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor and James Earl Jones.
Colorful, funny , and gives you an inside as to how these players felt being on the outside of establishment.
# 7 - Eight Men Out - the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, and the 8 players who conspired to throw the World Series, mostly because of how poorly they were treated and paid by Charles Comiskey. As a movie it glistens with great performances and great visuals of train travel, straw hats, sportswriters and the seedy side of gambling and game fixing. Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, David Straithern, are just some of this great ensemble cast. Whether you agree with their actions or find them despicable, you are drawn into their struggles wit morality. Some found it easy to take the money, but some struggled with it, like Joe Jackson, and 3rd baseman Buck Weaver, who claimed he never took a dime, but was aware of what was happening. A great story, and well acted.
# 6 - The Natural, and this is not your typical baseball movie, but one can argue it has some of the best photography, is superbly acted by Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Robert Duvall and Wilfred Brimley. It's a story of fate drawing Roy Hobbs to his destiny, his brush with stardom, cut down by a chance meeting with a mysterious women, years go by and he returns to the game he loves and must prove he can be the best. The film is a study of man's weaknesses, and the struggle always between good and evil. There are great baseball scenes, the ball being hit so hard the cover came off, and his heroic final battle against a young pitcher ( who we are lead to believe is a likeness of himself many year ago) and hitting and destroying the bank of lights, the sparks showering down as he circles the bases. Good has triumphed over evil in the end.
# 5 - A League of their Own, this is a predominantly a movie with women, and it is such a wonderful example of how during the 2nd world war when women were trying to keep family together, keep the factories working, and in this instance , keep the moral of a nation.
The story revolves around 2 sisters , one who desperately wants to play the game, the other sister has the better talent, but has to be dragged into going to tryout. Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Rosie O'Donnell and Madonna are just some of the actors in this interesting inside into the ranks of professional baseball. Thanks to Penny Marshall for delivering a memorable film about women in the 40's who gave the nation 3 years of their lives playing a man;s game, and playing it well.
# 4 - Pride of the Yankees - The story of Lou Gehrig rise to stardom to play for the New York Yankees is a personified Hollywood biopic. Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright play the lead roles, and Babe Ruth actually plays himself as the larger than life icon.
What can one say about this movie, it has some of the most moving scenes, culminated with Cooper reenacting the speech he gave when he was forced to retire from his fight against ALS.
Cooper is very true to the role of the shy and unassuming reluctant hero, and tackled the real life issues of dying in a dignified way. A classic in my book.
# 3 - For the Love of the Game - I personally could care less about the love affair Kevin Costner has from beginning to end, it's the game he pitches in Yankee Stadium, his last game, his game for the ages. It's as if he is holding back time, he wants to go out with his best effort, and uses every ounce of his baseball acumen to defeat the New York Yankees on the last day of the season.
Costner's character is well defined as a self centered athlete who gradually realize there is more to life than the game he has grown up with. John C. Reilly plays his catcher and confidant who tries to coax one more fine effort from his old friend.
The backdrop of a Yankees - Tigers game is narrated at the end by legendary broadcaster Vin Scully, and Scully weaves his own baseball lexicon to describe this aging star and his narrative of how Costner emotions and his talent are mixed together to pitch this perfect game.
There is one scene when he seems to have lost his focus, the crowd noise, which he normally is able to tune out, and Reilly comes out, and Costner susuddenly looks at the scoreboard and sees all the zeros and says to Reilly " Anybody been on base yet ? " To which Reilly tells him "No, nobody " and Costner asks if he's ever seen anything like this before, and of course Reilly is struck with the fact that his battery mate has no idea of what he was trying to accomplish.
As Scully says, tonight, in the cathedral called Yankee Stadium is owned by a Chapel, Costner plays the role of Billy Chapel. A fine display of individual effort by athlete, in a team setting.
# 2 - Bull Durham - Well, another look at the minors and the lives of those characters who make playing in the bushes so interesting. So many people have told me it's their favourite baseball movie because the roles played by Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and Kevin Costner mesh together so well. Baseball takes a bit of a backseat but is the driving force between the 2 men, one the teacher, the other the pupil. One is destined to go tot he Show, the other, the vet has been there, is there to make this brash talented pitcher more than just a flamethrower.
The chemistry between Sarandon and Kevin Costner is real.
Durham Bulls, a Triple AAA franchise fraught with problems, bad promotions, but who cares, it's a great baseball movie, and life lessons abound.
# 1 - Okay, here we are at Numero Uno, my favourite, well, it wasn't too hard to pick this one, it is Field of Dreams.
I could write reams about why I picked this one over all the others, but simply put, it's family, and giving yourself closure.
Ray decides to build a baseball field to bring back Shoeless Joe Jackson back to life, but really it's about him finding a way to resolve past differences with his father, who manages to come back as a young catcher, and have that fateful "game of catch" with his son.
It's just a wonderful "feel good " movie, with baseball woven into the fabric of this story, and the efforts of James Earl Jones, and Burt Lancaster as Doc Graham, "Moonlight Graham", who gets his own personal fantasy realized. Ray Liotta, an unknown at the time portrays Joe Jackson, a player who felt he lost his chance to play unjustly. I love this movie, and have watched it multiple times, as a rite of spring and renewal. Thanks for reading my top 10 list.
Enjoy !!
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