What's your favorite baseball movie?

[pokerfan]

Mine:
Field of Dreams (1989)

Runners up:
Bull Durham (1988)
A League of Their Own (1992)
Pride of the Yankees (1942)

[edbermac]

1. The Bad News Bears

The original.

[DS1]

2. Major League

:shrug:

[flvegan]

3. Wild Thing, you make my heart sing.

Charlie Sheen had a bitchin' haircut.

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. That was filmed at County Stadium in Milwaukee

and a couple of my cousins got to be extras. They said it was a blast.

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. The Jackie Robinson Story

It must have been fun for Jackie to re-act his life over.

[book lady]

37. I liked the film flub in one of the scenes of Major League...

WTMJ Channel 4, a Milwaukee Station, is on the scoreboard :)

[Jimbo S]

46. And the clock on the scoreboard

was set at 10:30 am.

[ooga booga]

4. A League of Their Own

I really love baseball movies, and it's interesting to me that my favorite is about women playing baseball. But, wow, what a celebration of women during an amazing period in the history of the game. It's just a wonderful script with a wonderful cast. Beautifully realized. Even the song as the credits roll is just flat wonderful.

I also love "Field of Dreams" and "Bull Durham" for the way that they find earthy, sublime and beautiful angles associated with the game.

"Major League" is also a personal favorite. Bob Uecker's antics in the announcer booth are priceless.


Thanks for this post. Now is the time where hope springs eternal and spring hopes eternal once again. As I like to say, "Life is tough enough WITHOUT being a Texas Ranger fan." But, the ballpark is barely 2 miles from my front door and I'm a baseball fan. Whaddya gonna do? My answer is to follow the Rangers as much as I can until it becomes too painful and then look to the Red Sox for happier, more upbeat baseball.

[pokerfan]

11. That's what prompted my post

Great movie. It's playing right now on WGN, part of their baseball week theme for the week.

ESPN's Page 2 has a good http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020511.html">article om A League of Their Own. Part of their Reel Life vs. Real Life series on sports films:

In Real Life: Although the filmmakers insist that all characters, including Dugan, are fictional (weren't you fooled by Harvey the candy bar man?), Dugan bears a striking similarity to Jimmie Foxx, who managed briefly in the league. Foxx, a Hall of Famer, played in the majors from 1925 to 1945, mostly for the Athletics and Red Sox. Foxx was a first baseman, but played 141 games at third. In his best season, 1932, he hit 58 home runs, drove in 169, and compiled a .364 batting average and .469 on-base percentage. Foxx hit 534 home runs in his career. He was known for his drinking and died in 1967, at the age of 59.

[GreenPartyVoter]

41. Mine too. I am not a baseball fan, but I had to own that movie. Just adore it

[khashka]

5. Bull Durham

Obvious reasons.....

Susan Sarandon!


Khash.

[smoochy]

6. Bull Durham followed closely by Field of Dreams

[pokerfan]

9. Those are my top two

FoD gets the nod because of the performances of Burt Lancaster and James Earl Jones.

"That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag."

But Bull Durham is wicked funny: "Why's he calling me meat? I'm the one driving a Porsche."

[smoochy]

10. Agred, James Earl Jones is great in it

:)

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. It's a tie

between "Bull Durham" and "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings."

[begin_within]

8. Rhubarb (1951)

A cat inherits a baseball team. http://imdb.com/title/tt0043967/

[BlueJazz]

12. The Natural

[Forkboy]

13. Fear Strikes Out

[Ikonoklast]

14. Bang The Drum Slowly

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069765/

Bittersweet.

[HERVEPA]

27. Absolutely!

[Redbear]

35. I agree on Bang the Drum Slowly

Time to play some TEGWAR.

[soleft]

51. What's really really sad about Bang the Drum Slowly

The catcher they use for stock footage realism shots is Thurman Munson

:cry:

[Richardo]

15. Sentimental favorite: 'Angels in the Outfield' (1951)

Starring the Pittsburgh Pirates, back when they were as bad as they are now.


Modern: The Natural, The Bad News Bears and Bull Durham.

[OmahaBlueDog]

16. For Love of the Game

Also the original Angels in the Outfield, the original Bad News Bears, and Field of Dreams.

My favorite baseball announcer in the movies: Bob Uecker as Herry Doyle in Major League -- "Juuuust a bit outside..."


My other favorite Uecker line (having nothing to do with movies) "I signed with the Milwaukee Braves for $3,000. That bothered my dad at the time because he didn't have that kind of dough. But he eventually scraped it up."

[charlie and algernon]

31. I love For Love of the Game

i can't watch the ninth inning scene without tearing up. Vin Scully was perfect for the commentary.

[leftofthedial]

17. Bull Durham

Long Gone

The Sandlot

Mr. Baseball

Field Of Dreams

[Courtesy Flush]

26. Ditto nm

[sarge43]

18. Bull Durham

"Crash must have called him a cocksucker."

"He's sooooo romantic."

[Political Heretic]

21. There needs to be more praise for The Natural

[asteroid2003QQ47]

22. Talladega Nights

Not really, my favorite is Sandlot.

[RainDog]

23. Eight Men Out

"black sox" scandal

[geardaddy]

40. Bingo!

Excellent film

[Jimbo S]

47. Finally saw it last year.

If anyone questions the need for a Player's Union, watch this one.

[Va Lefty]

50. I agree

Great cast

[datasuspect]

24. Salo

[End Of The Road]

25. I've given up on Field of Dreams

I can't make it to the end without sobbing uncontrollably. I think it's the idea of being able to see my father again like that. So I'll have to go with Bull Durham instead.

[Mad_Dem_X]

28. Bull Durham

Major League is probably a close second.

[trof]

29. I really liked 'It Happens Every Spring'. 1949

College professor and baseball fan Vernon Simpson accidently invents a liquid that makes a baseball resistant to the touch of wood. The professor takes his new formula to St. Louis in hopes of getting rich, romance and a successful pitching career of his own. However, what will happen when the formula stops working?
Rating: NR Length: 87 mins. Year: 1949

Starring: Ray Milland, Jean Peters, Paul Douglas, Ed Begley, Ted de Corsia, Ray Collins, Jessie Royce Landis

[abq e streeter]

36. Was wondering if someone else was going to mention this one

My brother and I would get giddy with excitement as baseball season approached ( and those of you who've lived through Chicago winters will relate to the excitement of realizing winter is FINALLY over), and the annual showing of It Happens Every Spring on WGN was one of the sure signs that warm weather and baseball( using the term baseball loosely as played by the Cubs throughout most of the 50's and 60's) was imminent. Always liked Bull Durham too. Field of Dreams I always thought was not bad , but overrated... but an interesting ( to some) bit of trivia...especially for us poor accursed souls known as Cub fans: the actual field of dreams in the movie was designed by a landscape architect named Chris Krug; a catcher with the Cubs in '65 and'66.

[LTR]

30. Bull Durham

It really got the essence of baseball, without the sappy mythology trap that too many baseball movies fall into (i.e. "Field of Dreams."). It was warts-and-all, and had great dialogue, brilliant acting and very believable characters and situations.

[bigwillq]

32. Field of Dreams (nt)

[momophile]

33. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Kevin Costner is only good in

baseball movies.
It's a tie for me - Bull Durham and Field of Dreams.

I'll even say that these two movies are in my top ten or fifteen favorite movies of all time.

[pokerfan]

45. "When did these ballplayers get here?"

http://www.youtube.com/v/Eix8GvsxehM&hl=en

Anyone remember http://tinyurl.com/yuhds6">this song from Bull Durham?

[fight4my3sons]

34. The Sandlot

[ceile]

38. A League of Their Own

Or maybe Major League.

[SKKY]

39. Is there any other than Bull Durham????

[Brigid]

43. Yes. But that one is still the best. Honorable Mentions:

Field of Dreams
Major League
Pride of the Yankees
For Love of the Game

[Orrex]

42. Is there any other than Moochie of the Little League?

Featuring none other than Alan Hale Jr. Little Buddy!

LINK

[charlie and algernon]

44. The Natural

For Love of the Game
Field of Dreams
Major League

[Jimbo S]

48. I was present for the filming of Mr. 3000

The climax scene where Bernie Mac sacrifices his chance at 3000 so his team can win.

[ooga booga]

49. Mr. Baseball with Tom Selleck

OK -- I wouldn't expect it to be anyone's FAVORITE baseball movie, but it was a nice little movie anyway. Thought I'd briong it up.

Tom Selleck as a veteran on the Yankees gets traded to a team in Japan. Naturally, he immediately becomes the Ugly American because he won't even try to fit in on the team or in Japan in general. Then, it all turns around when he finds that he can learn something from the team's manager who was a Japanese baseball star himself. The manager also has a beautiful daughter, of course.

[soleft]

52. I was surprised at how much I liked this movie

[driver8]

53. Bull Durham and Eight Men Out.

I also love "Field of Dreams" but Tim Robbins kills me in "Bull Durham."

"Girls they do get wooley...'cause of all the stress, yeah..."

[LSK]

54. Bull Durham

[grasswire]

55. Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

Richard Pryor
Billy Dee Williams
James Earl Jones

...and many actual members of the old Negro League teams.

It's a comedy.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074207/

Tired of the slave-like treatment of his team's owner, charismatic star Negro League pitcher Bingo Long takes to the road with his band of barnstormers through the small towns of the Midwest in the 1930's

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTk1ODc1NzcxOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzgzMzAyMQ@@._V1._SY140_SX100_.jpg

[quip]

56. A bit late to the party, but I need to chime in because I just finished "For The Love of The Game"

A three way tie for first:

Field of Dreams
For the Love of the Game
The Natural

Honorable mention: Damn Yankees, and Little Big League, and Rookie of the Year

[Broken_Hero]

57. hmm, hard to pin down my favorite

but its a toss up, Major League, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams...all fantastic...

I just wanted to pop in, and give a shout out to The Rookie, with Dennis Quaid, I thought it was very good...I was about in tears when he gave the game ball to his old man.