We baseball fans take the American Pastime very seriously. That is especially true every September when we hold our collective breath in hopes that our team doesn’t join the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies as infamous chokers. Baseball movies are an entirely different world for us. We are forced to flip off the swich to the portion of our brain that instantaneously and simultaneously calibrates the pitch count, number of outs, who’s warming in the bullpen, positioning and arm strength of the outfielders, and the speed of the runner on second base.
Over the years, baseball movies have subjected us to such cringe-inducing moments as Jimmy Stewart pitching, John Goodman swinging a bat, Shoeless Joe Jackson hitting right-handed, Robert DeNiro’s throwing motion, and walk-off home runs by the visiting team. Yet, we continue to give most every baseball movie a chance because the magic of baseball can only be rivaled by the magic of movies. Every so often we are rewarded with a perfect moment such as James Earl Jones‘ eloquent soliloquy or catcher Crash Davis mentoring Nuke on dealing with reporters … and all is right with field and film.
September has passed and October baseball is here. Moneyball has entered baseball movie discussions during this year’s playoff series. The Red Sox and Braves have now joined the ’64 Phillies in the lore of historic collapses. The dreams of their fans were sufficiently deflated and Late Night jokes aplenty. It seems the perfect time to elicit responses for your favorite baseball movies of all time. Since there are more than 200 baseball movies, I have tried to jog your memory by listing about 40 of the most famous.
Please VOTE for your 3 favorites in the COMMENTS section below. Write-in votes are welcome and please send this to your friends and any baseball fans you know … results will be announced during the World Series. If you ever doubt the emotion and life lessons of baseball, just watch Steve Martin in this clip from Parenthood:
A League of Their Own (1992) Amazing Grace & Chuck (1987)
Angels in the Outfield (2000) Babe (2000)
The Babe Ruth Story (1948) Bad News Bears (1976)
Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) Baseball: by Ken Burns (1994)
Bingo Long & Traveling All-Stars (1976) Bull Durham (1988)
Cobb (1994) Damn Yankees (1958)
Death on the Diamond (1934) Eight Men Out (1988)
The Fan (1996) Fear Strikes Out (1957)
Fever Pitch (2005) Field of Dreams (1989)
For Love of the Game (1999) Game 6 (2005)
The Heckler (1940) It Happens Every Spring (1949)
Little Big League (1994) Long Gone (1987)
Major League (1989) Mr. Baseball (1992)
Mr. Destiny (1990) Mr. 3000 (2004)
Moneyball (2011) The Natural (1984)
The Pride of St. Louis (1952) The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
The Rookie (2002) Rookie of the Year (1993)
Safe at Home (1962) The Sandlot (1993)
The Scout (1994) 61* (2001)
The Stratton Story (1949) Sugar (2008)
Up for Grabs (2004) The Winning Team (1952)
Check back during the World Series for the results and an article on baseball movies. Just click on “Leave a Comment” to type in your 3 favorite baseball movies (in order)!
Movie Reviews from the Dark 
#3 = The Sandlot
#2 = Field of Dreams
and
#1 = The Natural
#1-Field of Dreams
#2-The Sandlot
#3-Bull Durham
#1-Major League
#2-Field of Dreams
#3-Bull Durham
1. Ken Burns baseball
2. It happens every spring
3. Natural
1. The Natural
2. Bull Durham
3. Bang the Drum Slowly
# 1 The Natural
#2 Field of Dreams
#3 Bull Durham
Haven’t seen Money Ball yet and I suspect it will be in the top 3.
1. Baseball: by Ken Burns
2. Bull Durham
3. The Pride of the Yankees
Top 3….
Bull Durham
The Natural
Field of Dreams
Top 3 comedy
Bad News Bears
Sandlot
Major League
Joe – thanks for the entries … and your breakout makes sense. Is there any way you can pick your overall top 3 out of these 6?
1. The Natural
2. Bull Durham
3. Field of dreams
Honorable mentions:
Sandlot
The Scout
Bingo Long
For Love of the Game
1)The Pride of the Yakees (Hate the Yakees but good movie)
2)Major League
3)The Natural
The Natural
Bull Durham
Pride of St. Lousi
Bull Durham
Major League
Field of Dreams
1)Eight Men Out
2)A League of Their Own
3)Major League
Winning Team
Pride of the Yankees
Field of Dreams
1. Major League
2. The Natural
3. Bull Durham
** I have not seen Moneyball
1) A League of Their Own
2) A League of Their Own
3) A League of Their Own
I have to stack the deck for the girls!
My vote:
1. A League of Their Own
2. The Natural
3. The Pride of the Yankees
I loved the movie ‘The Stratton Story’ with James Stewart
Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner
Mr Baseball with Tom Selleck based in Japan
1. A league of their own
2. The Sandlot
The Winning Team
The Natural
Field of Dreams
-Rookie of the year
-The Sandlot
-Major League
1. The Natural
2. Eight Men Out
3. Major League
Honorable Mention:
The Untouchables (Deniro uses a bat)
Dishonorable Mention:
Ed (Matt LeBlanc + Monkey)
Hard to pick 3
A league of their own
Field of dreams
The Natural
1. A League of Their Own
2. Bull Durham
3. For Love of the Game
A League of Their Own
The Natural
Field of Dreams
It Happens Every Spring
I almost forgot!
Angels in The Outfield – Danny Glover 2000
Angels in The Outfield – Paul Douglas 1952
You overlooked the Jackie Robinson Story on your list. It may not have been the greatest acting, but, unlike all the others, it actually featured the real life player as himself in the starring role..
Thanks for the note, Dave. I didn’t actually overlook the Jackie Robinson Story and have seen it a few times. There are over 200 “baseball” movies, and I just listed about 40 to help get people thinking about their favorites. You are certainly welcome to include it in your Top 3.
Rhubarb was also omitted from the list. It was a fantasy film featuring a good luck charm cat and the my old time favorites, the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Rhubarb did not receive MLB permission so they used the team name Brooklyn Loons for the movie.
Damn Yankees
Field of Dreams
Bull Durham
Field of Dreams
Pride of the Yankees
A League of Their Own
1. Bull Durham
2. The Natural
3. The Sandlot
Moneyball is very good, but it needs a few years to be eligible for my list. Really like *61, too.
The Natural
Field of Dreams
Baseball: by Ken Burns
For Love of the Game
A League of Their Own
Touching Home
The Natural
Field of Dreams
For Love of the Game