1. Bull Durham (1988)
Baseball season gets off to a rocky start when the Durham Bulls' new catcher,
"Crash" Davis, punches out the cocky young pitcher, "Nuke" LaLoosh, he's just
been hired totrain. Then sexy Annie Savoy informs both men that each season she
chooses one player to share her bedand Nuke and Crash are this year's "draft
picks." After Crash passes on the offer, Nuke eagerly enlists as Annie's summer
fling...until Crash's jealousy takes over and he convinces Nuke that sex with
Annie will jinx the Bulls' newfound winning streak!
2. Field of Dreams (1989)
Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella hears a voice in his corn field tell him, "If you build
it, he will come." He interprets this message as an instruction to build a
baseball field on his farm, upon which appear the ghosts of Shoeless Joe Jackson
and the other seven Chicago White Sox players banned from the game for throwing
the 1919 World Series. When the voices continue, Ray seeks out a reclusive
author to help him understand the meaning of the messages and the purpose for
his field.
3. The Sandlot (1993)
Scotty Smalls moves to a new neighborhood with his mom and stepdad, and wants to
learn to play baseball. The neighborhood baseball guru Rodriquez takes Smalls
under his wing, and soon he's part of the local baseball buddies. They fall into
adventures involving baseball, treehouse sleep-ins, the desirous lifeguard at
the local pool, the snooty rival ball team, and the travelling fair. Beyond the
fence at the back of the sandlot menaces a legendary ball-eating dog called The
Beast, and the kids inevitably must deal with him.
4. The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Biopic traces the life of Lou Gehrig, famous baseball player who played in 2130
consecutive games before falling at age 37 to ALS, a deadly nerve disease which
now bears his name. Gehrig is followed from his childhood in New York until his
famous 'Luckiest Man' speech at his farewell day in 1939.
5. The Natural (1984)
An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out
of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league in this
magical sports fantasy. With the aid of a bat cut from a lightning struck tree,
Hobbs lives the fame he should have had earlier when, as a rising pitcher, he is
inexplicably shot by a young woman.
6. A League of Their Own (1992)
In the farm of Oregon Dottie Henson and Kit Keller are working on the farm.
Sisters that do love each other, except when it comes to baseball. Kit wants to
play in the league but is upset to hear that it is Dottie who is chosen to play
for the All American Pro Girls League. Dottie refuses to play unless Kit can
come along. AAPGL was only made because of the World War II and all of the man
were in the war. Along the way to the stadium they meet Marla Hooch who is a
great hitter, but to most people not the prettiest girl. When they are going to
try out they meet Doris and Mae because Doris threw a baseball at Dottie who
caught it impressing Doris. They girls find out their new manager is Jimmy
Dugan.
7. Eight Men Out (1988)
The great Chicago White Sox team of 1919 is the saddest team to ever win a
pennent. The team is bitter at their penny pincher owner, Charles Comiskey, and
at their own teammates. Gamblers take advantage of this opportunity to offer
some players $ to throw the series (Most of the players didn't get as much as
promised.) But Buck Weaver and the great Shoeless Joe Jackson turn back at the
last minute to try and play their best.
8. Major League (1989)
An exotic dancer marries the owner of a baseball club. He does not survive the
honeymoon and she is in control of his ball club. Looking at a small stadium,
she wants to move to warmer climes where some new stadiums have been built, but
her lease has only one escape clause, poor attendance. She fields the worst team
she can find. The attitude of the owner gives the misfits and losers something
to rally around and they fight back.
9. 61* (2001)
This Billy Crystal film is an endearing ode to the baseball days of yore when
the press was the enemy, salaries were in check, and breaking records with bat
and glove took on Ruthian proportions. In 1961 baseball expanded its season from
154 games to 162, allowing weaker pitching into the major leagues and two New
York Yankees teammates--the colorless Roger Maris and golden boy Mickey
Mantle--to make an assault on the sport's ultimate record: Babe Ruth's 60 home
runs. To add to the stew, baseball commissioner Ford Frick announced any record
set in the last eight games of the season wouldn't count toward the official
record; records had to be achieved in 154 games.
10. The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
This film by John Badham concerns the efforts of a barnstorming baseball team of
African American players to work around the dominance of the Negro National
League. Set in 1939, the swift, impressive, and entertaining troupe of
personality-rich athletes easily make the viewer wistful for this level of
spiritedness on a green field. While the story is a bit halting, the script
intelligently reflects some of the difficulties and requirements of black
players at that time to find success in the game. The excellent cast includes
Billy Dee Williams, whose character is based on Satchel Paige, and James Earl
Jones, whose part is suggestive of the tragic Josh Gibson, as well as Richard
Pryor, Ted Ross, DeWayne Jessie, and Stan Shaw. Produced by Motown's old film
division, the musical score, not surprisingly, is highly memorable.