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Recently, while enjoying a game, we got into a discussion of the best baseball movies. Now on this I do have an opinion. My fave baseball movie of all time is: FIELD OF DREAMS:
Because it's the BEST! James Earl Jones will always be one of my favorite actors of all time and his portrayal of author Terrence Mann in this movie was FANTASTIC!
Hub's favorite is BULL DURHAM:
And Mom's favorite in LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN:
Of course, there are many honorable mentions, BAD NEWS BEARS, DAMN YANKEES, SAND LOT, and MAJOR LEAGUE, to name just a few.
What about you, Reds and Readers, are you a baseball fan? Who's your team? And which movie is your fave (if you have one)?
I'm really just a casual fan of the game . . . just tell me the Yankees won and I'm a happy camper!
ReplyDeleteI live in Canada, in Southern Ontario so of course my team is the Toronto Blue Jays, the only baseball team in the whole country! their training camp is down in Duneden Florida but opening day is coming up at the end of March. Yankees are our mortal enemy! Do not know why that is - perhaps because we have trouble beating them! My favourite movie was always A League of Their Own.
DeleteMy mother was a huge tomboy in 1920s and 1930s Alabama and a demon baseball player. She taught my younger sister and me to catch and to hit. I still have my mitt from elementary school with my name in Mom's printing along the thumb. We played regularly in pickup games around the neighborhood and during recess and at least for a while on softball teams. Given all this I was astonished to find that baseball is not as familiar to many of today's children. As a U.S. history teacher, I used to show evening movies during or after many of my classroom units, and one that I screened every year was "42," about Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in major league baseball. I soon realized the children appreciated the film much more if I spent 10 minutes beforehand drawing a picture of the bases on the whiteboard, explaining the rules of the game, strikes, outs, innings, talking about the strategy of stealing bases, about major league, minor league, spring training, etc. etc. After that set-up, they loved the movie. (Selden)
ReplyDeleteLeague of Their Own
ReplyDeleteI like everything baseball including all the movies. In addition to ones already mentioned Moneyball, Fever Pitch, The Natural, Angels in the Outfield…the list goes on.
ReplyDeleteWe went to see the Red Sox at Tampa Bay in Port Charlotte, Florida on the first day of Spring Training games this season. It was a much shorter drive than coming down from Minnesota! Alas, it is a long way from my favorite team, the Kansas City Royals, who train in Arizona. I have been to the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa several times. You can play ball on the field and walk in and out of the cornfield. On some Sundays the Ghost team plays. And now you can even pay to tour the house and/or stay in it overnight.
I highly recommend looking for a vintage base ball team that plays in your area. They play by the rules of the 19th Century and there are teams all over the country. I just found out that some teams are even starting in Hawaii. You can find a list of teams at VBBA.org and there are others who are not members of VBBA.
Men’s Health magazine published this great list of baseball movies a few years ago. https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/g32770490/best-baseball-movies/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mgu_ga_mnh_ext_prog_org_us_g32770490&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAACrVUPk5yDNbcMQt9I7jKxP76awgi&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1um-BhDtARIsABjU5x5OGX3DBUS7_RGaYvPsbz9y-Uzs_bK-6zCk2HtOszdKgavQGs8Bm80aAlWyEALw_wcB
Thanks for the link, Brenda!
DeleteYes I love baseball! And Florida is also the home of Spring Training. I am a Boston Red Sox fan. I also like the St. Louis Cardinals, though that was back in the 1980s mostly.
ReplyDeleteI can enjoy pretty much any baseball movie. I love Kevin Costner's baseball trilogy: Field of Dreams, Bull Durham and For Love of the Game. The Pride of the Yankees (which is about the only time I will ever like anything associated with the Evil Empire), A League of their Own, The Natural, the Major League movies (even the really bad 3rd one). Trouble with the Curve, 42, 61*, The Rookie, The Perfect Game, The Final Season, Rookie of the Year, Little Big League, The Bad News Bears, The Sandlot, Fever Pitch, Summer Catch, Hardball, Long Gone, Amazing Grace and Chuck (which isn't technically about baseball itself but still it plays a big part of the story) and Talent for the Game.
I've seen all of these movies and love them.
How could I forget Major League, especially the first (and best) one?
DeleteAnyone who wants to boo or cheer the Yankees, they are in Tampa right now. They are sharing their stadium with the Rays who lost their field because of Milton. As for the movies? I vote for Damn Yankees. I mean, c'mon, who knew Tab Hunter could sing? Was a beautiful introduction into for my love of musicals.
ReplyDeleteThere are some great baseball movies and I've enjoyed lots of them. Bull Durham and Major League are two of my favorites. I rarely watch games because I get too hepped up, but I have been a Yankees fan since I was about 5 and a baby sitter told us that was the best team. My dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan and I think it just amused him that my brother and I were fans of his rival team.
ReplyDeleteI loved Field of Dreams, and I'm not into sports at all. But it was such a great story. I'm also a James Earl Jones fan.
ReplyDeleteNot a big sports fan, although I went wild rooting for the Red Sox in 1967. My favorite baseball movie is THE NATURAL. Runners-up are FIELD OF DREAMS (although I am usually less than fond of Kevin Costner's acting abilities) and A LEAGUE OFTHEIR OWN (because there's no crying in baseball).
ReplyDeleteOf course FIELD OF DREAMS is weirdly wonderful, And I also love MONEYBALL. So brilliant and so stressful…
ReplyDeleteOh wait—THE NATURAL, too. Even the music is fabulous.
Oh wait wait wait—DAMN YANKEES! Love that so much.
(And I truly love going to baseball games!)
Baseball means spring and summer-yay! I’m a Red Sox fan, although for a time when Tommy Glavine played for the Atlanta Braves I rooted for them. He grew up in the town I live in now. Damn Yankees is probably my favourite baseball movie, although the others are all pretty great. Play ball!
ReplyDeleteNot a sports fan, but baseball was my dad's game. Growing up in the 20s and 30s in Eastern Kentucky, young men would grab their bats, gloves, and head off to a game on a Sunday after church. He loved to watch the game and in his later years, being treated to a Cleveland Indians game was a thrill for him. But his absolute favorite was to go watch his grandsons play in t-ball games--the kids' love of the game gave him great joy. Love of the game has now endured with his great-grandsons, who play in summer leagues.
ReplyDeleteMy husband grew up in St. Louis and is a STL diehard fan. He grew up watching Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Lou Brock, and so many other greats. We go to every Cardinal game when they play in our hometown against the SD Padres. Half the stadium is decked out in Cardinal RED. One year we were sitting near the Cardinal dugout and saw Albert Puljos (retired) walk by! Seriously! everyone was going crazy. My daughter asked him if she could take a pic of him with her and her two kids. He was so kind and said yes.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite baseball movie is SANDLOT. I loved when the main character thought Babe Ruth was some girl who signed his step dad's baseball.
We are Red Sox Nation all the way here, although I am baseball-adjacent in terms of being a fan. He watches and angsts and cheers and I casually walk in and out of the TV room - unless they make the playoffs. Then I'm all in. As a child my parents and grandparents were LA Dodgers fans, and as a California Scholarship Society member (like a state Honor Roll), I got a free ticket and went to a game in Chavez Ravine.
ReplyDeleteI also love Field of Dreams and A League of Their Own.
Baseball is not my sport, but there have been some good movies. A League of Their Own may be my top one, and then Field of Dreams, which I remember sleeping through part of it, but watched enough to catch the iconic scenes. Wasn’t there a reference to baseball and the Sister in Bing Crosby’s The Bells of St Mary’s?
ReplyDeleteBaseball story. I was in grade 7, I was madly in love with a boy named Allison. He didn’t know I existed but he was madly in love with baseball. He always wore the cap which was always taken off in the classroom, and dutifully put the baseball on the teacher’s desk every day, as he insisted on flipping it and driving everyone crazy. He had been pushed ahead a grade, and was very smart, but not annoying about it, but this history teacher absolutely hated it and him, and she was obvious about it.
On this spring day, it was unseasonably warm, so I imagine we were all itching to get outside after school. I have no idea why, but she kept Allison in for an hour after school – really unheard of for the why and the length of the punishment. He sat in his seat and after a few why Miss, and could I do it tomorrow Miss, and maybe even would you just strap me Miss (you could do that then), he sat there blubbering.
It was the last day of the baseball World Series. His favourite team was playing. He missed it all. His team made a fabulous win. She did it on purpose and the whole class knew it. I never forgot.
Great story do you ever wonder what happened to Allison?
DeleteHe went off and became a teacher - he came back to town and the kids loved him, but he was very aloof/shy of adults and contemporaries. He was so interested in all things history that I think that love shone through. He played hockey, never married, never washed and stunk - and cheap, cheap, cheap. Had more than enough money and yet walked downtown everyday to the library to read the paper for free. He died a few years ago, aged early 70's - found dead in his home when someone checked as they had not seen him for a while. A few months later his house was torched - not enough to burn to the ground and so it stands. Better that it should have been finished as no doubt it was about as clean as he was. We used to chat when together at the library. A sad story.
DeleteSo sad about your friend Allison. Glad he still became a good teacher, liked by kids, though sad that he was shy of adults and contemporaries. When he was a child, why was that particular teacher so awful to him? Was she like that to everyone or did she pick on him? I had a teacher like that and luckily she had to go on maternity leave so we only had her for the first few months. She drove an old car from the 1940s and lived two hours from school so she had a long commute to work daily. She was worse to girls than to boys.
DeleteHuge St. Louis Cardinals fan here! I got into baseball through my son--when he was 5, he used to study the box scores on his way to kindergarten and of course, expected me to learn all the players too (that didn't happen). I really got into it during the 1998 season, when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (I know, steroirds) were chasing the single season home run record. My son and his dad went to St. Louis in May and saw a couple of games. They brought me a McGwire shirt. I then had a couple of dreams about McGwire (he was just super nice in my dreams) and turned into a megafan as the season heated up. Cards haven't been doing so well lately, but I'm looking forward to opening day!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen many baseball movies, but loved A League of Their Own and Moneyball (I read the book first).
When I met my husband, I told him the one sport I just couldn’t get into watching was baseball, and he almost cried — it is his favorite! I learned that, through the eyes of a true fan, it’s a great game. And like Jenn says, what’s not to like about a relaxing afternoon eating ball park food and chatting while a game unfolds. These days, I can even talk game strategy! My team is the Milwaukee Brewers, only an hour away, and the Mortal Enemy is the Chicago Cubs.
ReplyDeleteBaseball movies? They’re all so good, although I don’t love Kevin Costner. We’ve even been to the Field of Dreams farm in Iowa. But my favorite movie is probably A League of Their Own. No crying in baseball is a regular line in our house.
I was a much bigger baseball fan as a kid. My dad took us to see the Buffalo Bisons - who have been the Triple A affiliate of a number of teams, including the Blue Jays, Pirates, and Braves - a couple of times every summer. I rooted for the Pirates, but it's hard to keep following a team where ownership seems determined to drive them into the ground for profit.
ReplyDeleteAs far as movies, I'd have to say "A League of Their Own" followed by "Field of Dreams." Anyone remember "Eight Men Out," about the 1919 Black Sox scandal? John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Charlie Sheen, DB Sweeney, David Straithairn?
Liz, I remember "Eight Men Out". In fact, I met John Sayles (who directed and wrote (?) the movie) last month at a book signing in East Sandwich, MA.
DeleteJay, very cool.
DeleteIs Sandlot a baseball movie?
ReplyDeleteGot to see all of the baseball movies mentioned - Field of Dreams, Bull Durham and A League of Her Own. It took a long time before I could see the Tom Hanks movie about a women’s baseball team because for some reason that particular movie had NO captions. When it was on Netflix ?, I finally got to see the movie with captions !
ReplyDeleteMany years ago I watched Field of Dreams and Bull Durham on my VCR because in these days, movie theaters did Not show captioned movies until the mid to late 1990s. Deaf people had to wait for the video release then rent the movie from the local video rental or buy the video. Most, not all, of the videos had captions. I met the actor James Earl Jones in person when he wrote a memoir at a book signing. I remember his gracious manners,
Why did I confuse Field of Dreams and Bull Durham? Do they have some of the same actors? I watched these movies donkey years ago!
Diana, I think Kevin Costner was in both movies.
DeleteI wrote a long response which disappeared before my eyes! I’m not going to try to reconstruct it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I’m not much of a sports fan but I like to check in on the Yankees during baseball season. My dad’s family were all fanatics when it came to the Yankees.
DebRo
Not at all a fan - no pro ball where I grew up and no male in my life who was a fan and might have taught me- but that doesn't stop me from watching League of Their Own every single time it is on tv.And it gets my every time. I like Major League too, a pretty silly movie that is a lot of fun to watch...again. I haven't seen Field of Dreams in a long time but remember liking it a lot.
ReplyDeleteAs a Toronto native, my whole family was overjoyed when the Toronto Blue Jays became a MLB team in 1977. We went every summer to watch them play in the older stadium cheap seats.
ReplyDeleteBaseball movies? You have already listed the few I enjoyed watching including A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN and FIELD OF DREAMS.
That picture of your family is awesome, Jenn! Great memories, I bet.
ReplyDeleteMy dad, who had every Cincinnati Reds game on the radio loudly enough to hear through the whole house, also umpired for Little League when I was a kid. We went to lots of games. When my brother who was five years younger played LL, I took him to all his practices and games, and ended up dating his (my age) coach one summer.
My mom and dad went to lots of Reds games, but they never took us, so I had not been to a pro game until adulthood. One of my boyfriends played on a league, and that was a lot of fun, especially since their coach, a one-legged accountant co-worker, was the best trash talker ever. Later, I played a little adult softball, but I was so bad they benched me. I enjoyed watching the other women play, though. None of my kids ever played, alas, and Steve, who did play LL as a kid, is an indifferent fan, unless the Reds are in the playoff.
A League of Their Own is my favorite BB movie, along with the awesome nonfiction book, Dirt in the Skirt, that tells the story of women in baseball by author Pepper Paire, herself a league player. The Amazon Prime series of A League of Their Own is really good, too.
When you say, "I do" to a Mainer, you're also saying it to the Red Sox, so I've been a casual fan for decades. Never saw them play in person, but Ross did several times. Instead, what my family loves is our minor league team, the Portland Sea Dogs. When the kids were young, we went several times each summer - it was cheaper than taking the family to the movies, and the setting, near the Portland waterfront, can't be beat. The signature snack is the Sea Dog Biscuit, thick ice cream between two large chocolate chip cookies, and the signature move is the whole ball park standing up and dancing along when our mascot Slugger does "YMCA."
ReplyDeleteNow we're all adults, we take time to schedule at least one game together each summer. Serious boyfriends and girlfriends are invited along - last year Victoria's GF was there, and now she's Victoria's wife! Passed the Sea Dogs test, obviously.
And my favorite baseball movie? All of them. Why does baseball make for such great storytelling?
Lifelong Red Sox fan here, and also a Sea Dogs fan, for all the reasons Julia outlines above.
DeleteSpeaking of baseball and food, in 2004, the season the Sox reversed the curse and won the World Series, I lived on an island off Portland (Peaks). Our house became the go-to watching venue for all the island Red Sox fans who didn't have cable TV. Every night through the playoffs, people showed up at our door, snacks in hand, and we'd wind up with a big crowd cheering on our team. But no one ever seemed to take their leftover pretzels, popcorn, chips and beer home with them. By the time we won the World Series we were telling people they were welcome to come on over, but pleading with then not to bring more snacks.
So yep, baseball and food go together, as does baseball and storytelling.
I know we are talking movies, but I want to recommend these books: Mamie on the Mound A Woman in Baseball’s Negro Leagues by Leah Henderson and A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie “Peanut” Johnson by Michelle Y. Green Mamie’s grandson delivered our bedroom furniture from Rooms to Go here in Ocala, Florida. He said there were talks of a movie being made about her, but nothing definite has happened with it yet.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed playing softball in elementary school in San Juan, PR. I wasn't much of a pitcher or batter, but I could run very fast as a little kid, so I occasionally made it to home plate. But I never watched baseball (or any other sport) as a child or teenager, and I still don't watch any American sports now that I live in Switzerland. Instead, I watch the Swiss national soccer team when they get as far as the quarter-finals in the European Championship, and I used to watch Roger Federer play (all on TV, of course). Our current ski star, Marco Odermatt, is also an exciting (and terrifying) sight, speeding 90 mph downhill.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have never watched baseball, I still love A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN!
I became a Cleveland Indians fan way back when they got a new owner and rebuilt. I loved Omar Vizquel! My main team now are the Houston Astros. I was living in Houston (home town) when the Colt .45s became the Astros. My current love is Jose Altuve. I don't have a favorite baseball movie. They're all good! While living in Minnesota we took in a couple of games of the St Paul Saints, somehow affiliated with Bill Murray. True entertainment. The announcer was hilarious, the pregame stunts were a hoot, all fun. But probably not in a league with the Savannah Bananas.
ReplyDeleteI've been a Cub fan since childhood; I used to keep a scorecard while listening to the radio. 25th wedding anniversary was a limo to the game at Wrigley Field when we were living in Libertyville. BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY is a wonderful movie! Annette
ReplyDeleteLove your photo, Jenn, and thanks so much for the clips. But you can't make me choose between Field of Dreams (which is, I think, my daughter's favorite movie of all time) and Bull Durham. I was never a huge Kevin Costner fan except for those two movies.
ReplyDeleteI do love baseball but Rick doesn't (or any sport) but I find it nerdy and fascinating and somehow comforting. There is such a huge nostalgia factor in baseball. Home team is the Texas Rangers!
Baseball is my favorite sport so I love all of the movies. Field of Dreams is my all time favorite, but A League of Their Own is a close second. Jay gave a very good list, including a few I’ve never heard of. Have to fix that this season! (And Jenn, I remember seeing you and your Hubs going to see the Padres play when you were in SD for Bouchercon ‘23.) — Pat S
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