Monday: Baseball and the Movies.

In the recent post about the upcoming ‘Moneyball,’ I, though not a huge fan of sports films in general, got to thinking about movies about baseball. Baseball has not had a major effect on the cinema, but it has a certain place of its own nonetheless. There are some baseball pictures that nearly everyone has seen, whether they’re a fan of the game or not. I mentioned that baseball movies have not had a great effect on the cinema, and I think it’s because they aren’t advertised the way some ‘great’ movies are. For example, I consider ‘The Pride of the Yankees’ to be a vintage classic, but we rarely hear about it in the critics’ ‘classic movie discussions’ or when Gary Cooper’s career is brought up. Modern baseball movies simply aren’t advertised as anything but ‘sports movies,’ which are usually released in the early months of the year, the garbage can for movies, or in August or September, when people are getting back to school. By then they’re a little tired of movies, seeing as the massive Summer blockbuster season is over (though, it’s sort of funny that the critics grind through the Summer, so they can get to the Fall, when most of the actual 'true cinema' rides in). So there really isn’t a lot of attention drawn to these sports yarns. They come and go, and are usually then forgotten completely (and not just baseball movies—look at ‘The Express,’ a football flick released last year). The bottom line though is that usually baseball movies don’t really deserve a moment in the spotlight, because nearly all of them contain clichéd messages, and copious moments of cheesiness. But notwithstanding the negative elements, baseball movies are still known around the world, and there are some that are actually quite good, despite their occasional flaws. So, here’s a look at, in my opinion, the top ten baseball movies of all time.

10. Fever Pitch. The movie is one of the rare romantic comedies that I actually enjoyed. No, it is not even close to a great movie, but it isn’t terrible either. Solid acting, a funny story, and some classic comic baseball moments make this worthy of a top 10 list, though just barely.

9. Angels in the Outfield. Most of you are probably thinking the 1994 movie with Danny Glover. But it’s actually a remake of a film of the same name, released in 1951. Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh (‘Psycho’) star in what is ultimately a better acted, more realistic story than the 1994 version.

8. Eight Men Out. Though it has the technical quality of a television production, ‘Eight Men Out’ boasts a solid cast and a terrific, though tragic true story of the infamous 1919 Black Sox scandal, which I’m sure everyone knows about. If you don't, a good account of it can be be found in the Chicago history files. John Cusack stars, with David Strathairn in a nice supporting role.

7. The Natural. If you ask most people, they would put this much higher on their list, but I'm part of the minority that didn’t love this movie. It was a nice tale, but overall, I would have liked to see this become a compelling sports drama with truth to it, rather than an overtly fictitious overdose of sentimental drama. Redford’s Roy Hobbs ultimately becomes a character we don’t really care about, rather than a true hero. Still, there are moments of greatness here, including this clip that was used for the Monday Movie a few weeks back.

6. The Rookie. The tagline for the poster of this movie was ‘it’s never too late to believe in your dreams.’ I saw that, and that the film is based off a true story, and groaned. However, ‘The Rookie,’ which tells the story of Jim Morris, one of the oldest rookies in MLB history, turned out to be quite a surprise, especially since the soundtrack includes a Guy Clark song.

5. The Sandlot. This may be the most popular baseball film ever made. I’ve seen it plenty of times, but unfortunately, it gets worse with each viewing. The first half hour or so remain terrific. But when the kids start coming up with solutions to get the baseball back, it just gets kind of tedious. Still, this is a good, fun family movie that really depicts the greatness of baseball. Plus, it was nice to see so many kids who actually knew how to act.

4. Field of Dreams. I really enjoyed ‘Field of Dreams,’ despite the overly ridiculous ending. But then again, it was actually a fitting way to finish the movie. This is the rare baseball movie that mixes sports and fantasy, and it ultimately produces a touch of magic that makes this national pastime seem all the more special.

3. The Bad News Bears. Now, don’t mistake this for the Billy Bob Thornton version. We’re talking the 1976 original with Walter Matthau. This remains not just one of my favorite baseball comedies, but one of my favorite comedies period. It was frustrating to see it remade, especially since the 05 version was basically a carbon copy of this one.

2. The Pride of the Yankees. I’ve talked about this on the Monday Movie before. It is a truly great movie, a movie that is just now being recognized as a classic. AFI ranks it at # 22 on the list of the most inspiring American movies. Also, the famous quote in the speech is ranked #38 on AFI’s 100 greatest movie quotes. To me, Cooper gives one of his best performances as Lou Gehrig.

1. And, my all time, favorite baseball picture is…Bang the Drum Slowly. Robert De Niro stars in one of his earliest and greatest roles as Bruce Pearson, a catcher who suffers a ‘bad break.’ De Niro, as in such classics as ‘Taxi Driver,’ and ‘Raging Bull’ plays a tragic character who seems so real, even though we can’t really relate to his situation. Al Pacino has said that this is one of his favorite movies, and though it isn’t high on my all time list, it certainly is the greatest baseball movie I’ve seen, a film that deserves to be called a classic.

Well, that does it for the ten greatest baseball movies ever made. There are definitely some good ones out there, as well as some truly horrible ones (would anyone really want to sit through ‘Rookie of the Year’ again?) I haven’t seen ‘Sugar’ yet, but I’m guessing it would likely make the list. I’d like to note that as much as I love baseball and movies, there are several baseball flicks that I haven’t even seen. Yes, I have never seen ‘Major League 1, 2, or 3, and I have never seen ‘Bull Durham’ or ‘A League of Their Own.’ But hey, I’ll get around to it some day. If there are other baseball movies you think are worthy of a top ten list, please, share your feelings in the comment section below.