What are your FAVORITE baseball movies of all time?

[Jobu Voodoo]

Feel free to name just your top favorite or rank a list. My top favorite would have to be Major League, obviously, but I also really liked, "Rookie of the Year", "Angels in the Outfield", and "The Sandlot". I wish they would release another really good baseball movie soon.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

There is a thread on this subject but I would say as of now these are my top 5.

1. Bad News Bears (1976) It was just a raw film and the ending is still a "I cant turn off kinda film." I still wish they won but I love how they drink beer and Tanner tells the Yankees off.
2. 61..The Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris movie made by Billy Crystal. I love some of the scenes which really did a good job of making it real. I dont think a baseball movie has ever picked actors who look the same as players.
3. Major league..I love the ending and it wasn't corny like the sequels.
4. Field Of Dreams...It was just a great story.
5. The Natural...But this is debatable because i loved Bang the Drum Slowly and Eight Men Out too.

I hate to admit it but I did like The League Of Their Own too. I really dont like Bull Durham too much anymore but i'll watch it if it's on.

MoneyBall was a good one too. But like a recent player who should be a top 5 position player, I dont think i'm ready to put this in my top 5 yet.

[KCGHOST]

In no particular order, "Bull Durham", "Major League", "Field of Dreams", and "The Natural".

Amongst the old-time movies I really enjoy "It Happens Every Spring".

[Jobu Voodoo]

Oh yeah, I can't believe I forgot, "Field of Dreams". It is actually a top favorite. However, Major League 2 was pretty good, but the Back to The Minors was just ignorant. As far as there being a post about this on here somewhere else, I just joined this board 3 or 4 days ago, so I'm sure I'm going to make similar or even identical posts. Cut me some slack.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Oh yeah, I can't believe I forgot, "Field of Dreams". It is actually a top favorite. However, Major League 2 was pretty good, but the Back to The Minors was just ignorant. As far as there being a post about this on here somewhere else, I just joined this board 3 or 4 days ago, so I'm sure I'm going to make similar or even identical posts. Cut me some slack.

You can look up the other thread too to see what past members have as their favorites is what I meant.

[MLB4LYF]

Field Of Dreams
The Natural
Cobb
Eight Men Out
Major League
Bad News Bears (Both versions w/ Walter Matheau, and Billy Bob Thornton)

[tcvander]

Field of Dreams
Bull Durham
Sandlot
Inning By Inning: A Portrait of a Coach
Major League

[TheJourneyman]

Big fan of all the "usual" baseball movies like Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, The Natural, etc....

But I also like movies like A Player to Be Named Later, Touching the Game (Alaska and Cape Cod), Time in the Minors, This Old Cub, or Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey

[ol' aches and pains]

*61
Sugar
Bull Durham
The Natural
Pride of the Yankees

[trademark]

In no particular order:
For Love of the Game
Pride of the Yankee's
The Natural
Bull Durham
Home Run Showdown
Bad News Bears - original & remake

[abolishthedh]

Although this topic has had other threads, new information comes to light which makes it worthwhile. The recent issue of Sports Illustrated answers the annual question of Where Are They Now?, and it has an article on Bull Durham, my favorite baseball flick. It turns out that the producers of the movie had trouble rounding up enough extras to serve as fans in the stands, after the minor league season was over in September, 1987. The producers had connections with the band Pink Floyd, on tour up the road in North Carolina at the time. The band asked fans at a concert to party with them after the show, presumably at the minor league park where filming was in progress. Presto! Fans galore.

This was before CGI made it possible to fill the stands without all the real thing. Ahhhh, the movies of old and the old school ways of doing things without technology.

Anyway, my list:

1. Bull Durham
2. Field Of Dreams -- kind of the Forrest Gump of sports movies...... ?
3. Eight Men Out --- David Straithern was terrific as Eddie Cicotte, given that not much is known about Cicotte today
4. The Rookie ---- vastly underappreciated
5. A League Of Their Own --- holds up really well years later

[Steven Gallanter]

Although this topic has had other threads, new information comes to light which makes it worthwhile. The recent issue of Sports Illustrated answers the annual question of Where Are They Now?, and it has an article on Bull Durham, my favorite baseball flick. It turns out that the producers of the movie had trouble rounding up enough extras to serve as fans in the stands, after the minor league season was over in September, 1987. The producers had connections with the band Pink Floyd, on tour up the road in North Carolina at the time. The band asked fans at a concert to party with them after the show, presumably at the minor league park where filming was in progress. Presto! Fans galore.

This was before CGI made it possible to fill the stands without all the real thing. Ahhhh, the movies of old and the old school ways of doing things without technology.

Anyway, my list:

1. Bull Durham
2. Field Of Dreams -- kind of the Forrest Gump of sports movies...... ?
3. Eight Men Out --- David Straithern was terrific as Eddie Cicotte, given that not much is known about Cicotte today
4. The Rookie ---- vastly underappreciated
5. A League Of Their Own --- holds up really well years later

Has anyone here seen IT HAPPENS EVERY APRIL starring Ray Milland? It is very old school but the story about the magic potion that causes a ball to dodge bats is very clever.

[ol' aches and pains]

Has anyone here seen IT HAPPENS EVERY APRIL starring Ray Milland? It is very old school but the story about the magic potion that causes a ball to dodge bats is very clever.

I believe it's titled "It Happens Every Spring". It's worth seeing.

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

In order of favorite to least favorite:
Eight Men Out- Nothing has ever topped this. Always wished Straithern could've portrayed Sandy Koufax.
A League of Their Own- Great acting, dialogue, and use of setting
Moneyball
The Natural
Field of Dreams
Pride of the Yankees
Major League
It Happens Every Spring
Bull Durham- never a huge fan
Bang the Drum Slowly
The Sandlot
For the Love of the Game

[Dude Paskert]

Bang The Drum Slowly and The Sandlot are the only baseball movies I've cared for.
Field Of Dreams struck me as silly, and I was prepared to love Eight Men Out and ended up bored stiff.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Bang The Drum Slowly and The Sandlot are the only baseball movies I've cared for.
Field Of Dreams struck me as silly, and I was prepared to love Eight Men Out and ended up bored stiff.

I'm surprised The Sandlot is so well liked. I just feel for a little league movie The Bad News Bears has that movie beat by a mile. I rewatched The Bad News Bears last year and I was surprised how good that movie actually was. The Sandlot was ok but I don't know how anyone can say it was better than The Bad News Bears.

[Dude Paskert]

I'm surprised The Sandlot is so well liked. I just feel for a little league movie The Bad News Bears has that movie beat by a mile. I rewatched The Bad News Bears last year and I was surprised how good that movie actually was. The Sandlot was ok but I don't know how anyone can say it was better than The Bad News Bears.

I thought the Matthau-O'Neill relationship was well done in BNB (as much as I can't stand her), but the baseball aspects of it didn't do a lot for me. It also just reeked of the '70s and it was depressing, which can be fine in a movie that is emotionally very powerful (thinking like The Pawnbroker or Requiem For A Dream, for example, and also Bang The Drum Slowly), but BNB didn't hit me in that way. It just left me kind of glad that the movie and the '70s were over.
The Sandlot made me want to grab a glove and bat and play some ball. It exists in a fantasy world, but makes it work.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I thought the Matthau-O'Neill relationship was well done in BNB (as much as I can't stand her), but the baseball aspects of it didn't do a lot for me. It also just reeked of the '70s and it was depressing, which can be fine in a movie that is emotionally very powerful (thinking like The Pawnbroker or Requiem For A Dream, for example, and also Bang The Drum Slowly), but BNB didn't hit me in that way. It just left me kind of glad that the movie and the '70s were over.
The Sandlot made me want to grab a glove and bat and play some ball. It exists in a fantasy world, but makes it work.

I respect your opinion but you should re-watch The Bad News Bears. There's so much about that movie that makes it better than The Sandlot.

-Better fat kid.....Engelberg was way cooler than Hamilton Ham Porter
-Kid who sucked.....Timmy Lupus made the best catch in baseball movie history so he edges out Scottie Smalls or the Wheelchair kid.
-Black kid.....Ahmad Abdul Rahim is better. I don't even really remember the black kid in the Sandlot.
-Crazy kid.....No way any kid in The Sandlot beats Tanner Boyle. Michael Squints was ok though in the Sandlot as the crazy kid.
-Best player...I suppose Benny The Jet may have been better but thats only because Kelly Leak annoyed me.
-Adults....The Bad News Bears had better adults too with Morris Buttermaker, The Yankee coach Roy Turner and the park director Cleveland. The Sandlot had the blind guy, the mom and the stepdad.

[Hofpostcardcollector]

A League of their Own.

Marla Hooch is an amazing character. Love her in that movie more then Rosie, Madonna or Geena.

[Andy K]

I respect your opinion but you should re-watch The Bad News Bears. There's so much about that movie that makes it better than The Sandlot.

-Better fat kid.....Engelberg was way cooler than Hamilton Ham Porter
-Kid who sucked.....Timmy Lupus made the best catch in baseball movie history so he edges out Scottie Smalls or the Wheelchair kid.
-Black kid.....Ahmad Abdul Rahim is better. I don't even really remember the black kid in the Sandlot.
-Crazy kid.....No way any kid in The Sandlot beats Tanner Boyle. Michael Squints was ok though in the Sandlot as the crazy kid.
-Best player...I suppose Benny The Jet may have been better but thats only because Kelly Leak annoyed me.
-Adults....The Bad News Bears had better adults too with Morris Buttermaker, The Yankee coach Roy Turner and the park director Cleveland. The Sandlot had the blind guy, the mom and the stepdad.

I know that it's easy to want to compare them because they both rely on archetypical characters who happen to be children, but the two films use those characters in very different ways. The Sandlot is all about the kids, their shared experiences and the lifelong friendships that emerge from those experiences. It's mostly lighthearted, but at it's heart it's a drama. The two main characters are fairly well fleshed-out, and the all the kids were good actors.

The Bad News Bears isn't really about the kids at all, but about Buttermaker's redemption, and does so as a comedy. Most of the child characters don't even have to be child characters. In fact, it wouldn't be too hard to rewrite this (set it at a college or the minor leagues) without having to change anything about the kids- with the possible exception of some of Lupus' proclivity towards eating boogers. The kids are just foils for Buttermaker.

That said, I like 'em both. Neither is near the top of my list though, because Bull Durham is head-and-shoulders above any other baseball film. One that hasn't been mentioned on this thread that I really liked the only time I saw it is Elmer the Great, starring Joe E. Brown, screenplay by Ring Lardner. Funny stuff there.

[Pere]

Soul of the Game is a pretty cool, if somewhat fanciful, telling of the Jackie/Branch story, with Satch and Josh as primary characters as well. It's not rigorous history, but it is a lot of fun, and the nod to the great Negro league players is important.

[ol' aches and pains]

Soul of the Game is a pretty cool, if somewhat fanciful, telling of the Jackie/Branch story, with Satch and Josh as primary characters as well. It's not rigorous history, but it is a lot of fun, and the nod to the great Negro league players is important.

It's well-intentioned, but highly fictional. I personally thought the truth was interesting enough.

[Ben Grimm]

For the Love of the Game

First time I saw this, it was being played inside the gift shop at the HoF. I happened to see it just after it had started and watched the entire thing. I liked the baseball aspects of it and I can never hear too much Vin Scully doing the play by play.

[Hank1974]

1.Major League
2. The Natural
3. Field of Dreams
4. League of Our Own
5. Moneyball

Honorable Mentions
Bench Warmers
Bull Durham
The Rookie

I really want to watch "The Perfect Game" about the '57 Little League World Series team. I've read that's a great movie too.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

First time I saw this, it was being played inside the gift shop at the HoF. I happened to see it just after it had started and watched the entire thing. I liked the baseball aspects of it and I can never hear too much Vin Scully doing the play by play.

When this movie came out I loved it but when I watch it now not so much.