Top 10: Best Baseball Movies

Sports fans, it is time to break out the bat and balls for another season of baseball! This time of year makes everyone think about the greatness of baseball and the history of the sport, but we should also be thinking about the great movies the sport of baseball has spawned. The following is a list of the top ten baseball movies of all time, hopefully drawing out some conversation and debate.

1. Bull Durham (1988)- The story of the Class A Durham Bulls, led by veteran catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), whose prolific minor league career only highlights how futile his baseball career has been. Davis is moved to the Bulls in order to mentor hothead pitcher “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) and the relationship between the two provides some hilarious scenes. The two are pitted against each other over local fan/philosopher Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) and this movie shows both the struggles of the minor leaguer and how it is a metaphor for the struggles of the mediocre in life.

2. Major League (1989)- Major League is a hilarious movie and probably would be number one if it included the more serious notes brought about in Bull Durham. The ensemble cast includes wild pitcher Rickie Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), outfielder Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes), and the eccentric voodoo-practicing power hitter Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert). A feel good movie in the end, but most of its greatest scenes are humorous in nature.

3. Field of Dreams (1989)- Just a great inspirational tale of an Iowa farmer (Kevin Costner) who builds a baseball diamond in his corn field in order to allow baseball’s greatest (the 1919 Chicago White Sox, led by Shoeless Joe Jackson) to play again.

4. The Natural (1984)- Robert Redford’s acting ability make this movie great, as he stars as a middle-aged pitcher who comes back in the mid-1930s to lead a local baseball team. Redford’s dramatic skills makes the return bittersweet, due to his character Roy Hobbs’ failed career early (due to a gunshot wound) and his successful return later in life.