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Rank my top 5 baseball movies
Tomi
Posts: 643 ✭✭✭
1 Sandlot
2 Field Of Dreams
3 Bad News Bears (original)
4 Major League
5 Eight Men Out
Had to choose Sandlot as my #1. Kids clowning around and trying to recover a Babe Ruth signed ball from a big dog. The only part of Field Of Dreams that I hated was a right handed "Shoeless Joe Jackson" but still a great movie and my #2. Kids and a drunk coach makes Bad News Bears my #3. A crappy team that sucks and then doesn't makes Major League my #4. Just fascinated by the Black Sox scandal and a great movie, just hated the "say it ain't so, Joe" part.
How would you rank my top 5 movies and what would be your top 5 baseball movies.
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It's hard to look at a list that has the Bad News Bears on it, but not The Natural.
Being a child of the 90's, Rookie of the Year and Little Big League also come to mind
I would swap sandlot and field of dreams. Never got drunk enough to sit through Major League. I would add Pride of the Yankees and a little known movie called Long Gone with a much younger William Peterson (CSI) and a super hot Virginia Madsen.
Bull Durham not being named is borderline sacrilegious
Bang the Drum Slowly is worth a look.
It might be safe to say that 5 is not enough for a list about baseball...
My personal top 5
1) The Bad News Bears (original) &
2) The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
3) The Natural
4) One in a Million: The Ron Leflore Story
5) Mr. Baseball
Honorable Mention
Pride of the Yankees
42
Major League
A League Of Their Own
Brewster's Millions
61*
Moneyball
Eight Men Out
Field of Dreams
Fear Strikes Out
Bull Durham
I'd include the following from 2002:
A City on Fire: The Story of the '68 Detroit Tigers
the natural #1 no contest
My five are;
1, Bull Durham
2. The Natural
3. 61*
4. Eight Men Out
5. Mr Baseball
Rhubarb. An old B/W movie about a cat named Rhubarb who is a mascot for a baseball team. Funny. A young Leonard Nimoy (Mr.Spock) is part of the cast
The natural deserves a top 5 spot.
The Bad News Bears remake with Billy Bob is raunchy but has some hilarious scenes. While it might not make the top 5 or be as good as the Bad Santa it's pretty funny.
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This is the best baseball Movie you have never seen
Hardball (2001) - IMDb
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
I remember that one.
I always suggest Long Gone(1987), it was an HBO movie about a minor league team in the 1950's. It starred William Peterson(CSI fame), Virginia Madsen and Dermott Mulroney. Very realistic about that day in age. Find it and watch it, you wont be disappointed.
I actively collect Kirby Puckett. I have collections of Michael Jordan, Emmitt Smith, Roberto Clemente, Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver, Errict Rhett and Evan Longoria.
thanks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
My five are;
1. Bull Durham
2. The Sandlot
3. A League Of Their Own
4. Field of Dreams
5. Major League
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
Trouble with the Curve (2012) with Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams is worth checking out. Some great scenes with grizzled old cantankerous MILB scouts. Also, lots of Amy Adams.
Can we make a master list of all things baseball on film? There are a few above I have never heard of and am stoked to check out.
I will add two more, both documentaries:
The Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014) - Oregon MILB team. So cool. Kurt Russell truly has lived a blessed life.
The Republic of Baseball: The Dominican Giants of the American Game (2006). Found this at a thrift shop a few weeks ago. Highlights the first few DM players to break into the Bigs. Slow to start, but great in the second 2/3. Focuses (obviously) on the SF Giants players (Alous, Marichl) and a neat discussion of how the Cuban Cepeda fit in with them.
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Bad News Bears is a nearly perfect movie. The scene where Brandon Cruz gets slapped by his father is one of the best
movie scenes ever, regardless of genre; most every scene with Tatum O'Neal and Matthau is outstanding. (Speaking of Tatum O'Neal, if you have never seen Paper Moon, see it. She was, without question, the greatest child actor of all time.)
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I like the other four on my list, but they all have problems. The closing 10 minutes of A League of Their Own may be the most painful viewing experience of my life.
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No other baseball movie rises above "meh" for me. The Natural and Field of Dreams are so sappy I'd rather watch a Disney princess movie; Disney at least knows how to do sappy correctly. Bull Durham could have been a decent movie if they had cast an actual actor in the lead role; Kevin Costner is so bad in that movie he just ruins it (see also: any other Kevin Costner movie).
*61
Field of Dreams
Bad News Bears (original)
A League of Their Own
The Natural / The Sandlot (This is a tie for me).
For those who haven't seen or heard about it, there was a documentary on Netflix called Fastball where they talk about the hardest throwing pitchers of all time. Not sure if it's still on Netflix but definitely worth a watch.
Pride of the Yankees
The Natural
Field of Dreams
Bull Durham
For Love of the Game
I've seen it. You're right - it's terrific.
Not sure these are in order but my top 5:
1) Eight Men Out
2) For Love of the Game
3) Bull Durham
4) Major League
5) A League of Their Own - maybe. I have issues with the enormous liberties they took with the facts in this one. But it's a terrific movie on its own.
I specifically excluded documentaries. If those were included, I'd throw in "Battered Bastards" and "A City on Fire", both of which are awesome.
My 2 cents.
1) Major League
2) Field of Dreams
3) Bull Durham
4) Eight Men Out
5) The Natural
My five are;
1. Bull Durham
2. The Sandlot
3. A League Of Their Own
4. Field of Dreams
5. Bad news bears
forgot the bad news bears. all great baseball movies mentioned
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
1) Bull Durham
2) The Natural
3) Bad News Bears
4) The Sandlot
5) Sugar
T222's PSA 1 or better
1) Major League
2) Bull Durham
3) 42
4) Sandlot
5) Bad News Bears
Tomi, if you haven't watched it before "Pride of the Yankees" was my favorite. WPIX would show it on occasion when the Yankees were rained out when I was a kid...Cried every time.
Pride of the Yankees is a great baseball movie. Gary Cooper even looks like Lou Gehrig. And the Babe plays himself in that movie. You couldn't ask for more. I'll just do my top 3:
1 The Natural
2 Field of Dreams
3 Pride of the Yankees
Field of Dreams
The Natural
then a tossup between a lot of movies including one called "Stealing Home" with Jodie Foster
Robert
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The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings...check it out.
For you young 'uns Darth Vader's voice and Lando Calrissian play the lead roles.
For anybody who has watched their team from home, you gotta like Damn Yankees.
One thing I agree on is all the above mentioned are worth watching.
My top 5 are:
1) Bull Durham
2) Moneyball
3) The Rookie
4) Field of Dreams
5) 42
Honorable mentions:
For Love of the Game
Major League
A League of Their Own
Mr Baseball
61*
Wow. All these posts and only ONE person mentions this film. You sir, are a reverend, and I hope each and every other member of this forum follows your advice.
The image of DeNiro swinging a bat is a painful one. Read the book first. The movie does get bonus points for having LaVerne DiFazio's Dad in it.