As we enter the final month of the Major league Baseball season, I thought it would be fitting to give you my top 10 favorite baseball films of the year. So without further ado...
10. The Pride of the Yankees
I may hate the New York Yankees with a passion, but to be honest this film makes me cry and actually like them for a split second. This moving biographical drama follows the life of revered baseball player Lou Gehrig (played by Gary Cooper). Championed by sportswriter Sam Blake (played by Walter Brennan), Gehrig eventually gets recruited by the New York Yankees, joining a team of heavy hitters that includes the legendary Babe Ruth (played by himself). When Gehrig marries his spirited sweetheart, Eleanor (played by Teresa Wright), things look up for him, but he is soon sidelined by a terrible illness that he bravely tries to battle. The Pride of Yankees was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Writing-Original story, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score and Best Sound Mixing whil winning the award for Best Film Editing and it has a rating of 92% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Little Big League
Out of all of the films with kids playing being the main characters in baseball films throughout the 90's, this is my favortie of those films. When his grandfather (played by Jason Robards) dies, 12-year-old Billy (played by Luke Edwards) suddenly becomes the heir to the Minnesota Twins baseball team. It's a dream come true for the baseball fan, who believes he can get the Twins out of their current slump by managing them personally. Of course, managing a pro baseball team is a lot of work, and some of the players aren't crazy about taking orders from a pre-teen, but Billy's honest approach and love for the game could be just what the Twins need. Little Big League has a rating of 33% on rottentomestoes.com.
8. Hardball
This might be one of the more emotional baseball films you'll evr see as well as a great dramtatic performance from Keanu Reeves. Conor (played by Keanu Reeves) is a ticket scalper, gambler and, now, Little League coach for a rag-tag team of kids in one of the toughest part of Chicago. He's no role model, but his buddy Jimmy won't help him pay off his gambling debts unless Conor coaches Jimmy's corporately sponsored team. Surprising even himself, Conor becomes attached to his players -- and to their attractive schoolteacher (played by Diane Lane) -- and drawn into their tough and sometimes tragic lives. Hardball has a rating of 39% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Moneyball
This is a really fascinating look into the behinds the scenes part of baseball we never really see and it's a great story about a theory that almost worked. Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), general manager of the Oakland A's, one day has an epiphany: Baseball's conventional wisdom is all wrong. Faced with a tight budget, Beane must reinvent his team by outsmarting the richer ball clubs. Joining forces with Ivy League graduate Peter Brand (played by Jonah Hill), Beane prepares to challenge old-school traditions. He recruits bargain-bin players whom the scouts have labeled as flawed, but have game-winning potential. Moneyball was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. Bad New Bears (2005)
While the original film may be a better overall film, this film by far more funnier. Morris Buttermaker (played by Billy Bob Thornton) is a burned-out minor league baseball player who loves to drink and can't keep his hands to himself. His long-suffering lawyer (played by Marcia Gay Harden) arranges for him to manage a local Little League team, and Buttermaker soon finds himself the head of a rag-tag group of misfit players. Through unconventional team-building exercises and his offbeat coaching style, Buttermaker helps his hapless Bears prepare to meet their rivals, the Yankees. Bad News Bears (2005) has a rating of 48% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. A League of Their Own
This film is absolutley funny and very groundbreaking and it should be a model for all future films that a film with majority female cast can be very successful. As America's stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey (played by Garry Marshall). Competitive sisters Dottie Hinson (played by Geena Davis) and Kit Keller (played by Lori Petty) spar with each other, scout Ernie Capadino (played by Jon Lovitz) and grumpy has-been coach Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) on their way to fame. A League of Their Own has a rating of 77% on rottentomtoes.com.
4. Bull Durham
This film is just an absolutely hilarious look at the antics that go on in Minor League Baseball. In Durham, N.C., the Bulls minor league baseball team has one asset no other can claim: a poetry-loving groupie named Annie Savoy (played by Susan Sarandon). As the team's season begins, Annie selects brash new recruit Ebby Calvin Laloosh (played by Tim Robbins), whom she christens "Nuke," to inspire with the religion of baseball. Nuke also receives guidance from veteran player Crash Davis (played by Kevin Costner), who settles Nuke's erratic pitching and teaches him to follow the catcher's lead. Bull Durham was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and it has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Feild of Dreams
This is just an absolutely fantastic film that is more just about baseball and it is a very emotional film. When Iowa farmer Ray (played by Kevin Costner) hears a mysterious voice one night in his cornfield saying "If you build it, he will come," he feels the need to act. Despite taunts of lunacy, Ray builds a baseball diamond on his land, supported by his wife, Annie (played by Amy Madigan). Afterward, the ghosts of great players start emerging from the crops to play ball, led by "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (played by Ray Liotta). But, as Ray learns, this field of dreams is about much more than bringing former baseball greats out to play. Field of Dreams was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score and it has a rating of 87% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. The Sandlot
This is an amazingly fun and great coming-of-age film that'll make you laugh, cry and just make you absolutely love the game of baseball with a lot of memorable lines. When Scottie Smalls (played by Thomas Guiry) moves to a new neighborhood, he manages to make friends with a group of kids who play baseball at the sandlot. Together they go on a series of funny and touching adventures. The boys run into trouble when Smalls borrows a ball from his stepdad that gets hit over a fence. The Sandlot has a rating of 59% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Major League
This film is just crazy on so many levels and the humor is so spot on and really fun look at Major League Baseball. The new owner of the Cleveland Indians, former showgirl Rachel Phelps (played by Margaret Whitton), has a sweetheart deal to move the team to Miami. But to break the lease with the city of Cleveland, ticket sales have to plummet. So Phelps hires the most incompetent players available, including near-blind pitcher Rick Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen) and injury-prone catcher Jake Taylor (played by Tom Berenger). But her villainous tactics accidentally foster a can-do team spirit, turning the Indians into potential winners. Major League has a rating of 82% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite baseball films and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
10. The Pride of the Yankees
I may hate the New York Yankees with a passion, but to be honest this film makes me cry and actually like them for a split second. This moving biographical drama follows the life of revered baseball player Lou Gehrig (played by Gary Cooper). Championed by sportswriter Sam Blake (played by Walter Brennan), Gehrig eventually gets recruited by the New York Yankees, joining a team of heavy hitters that includes the legendary Babe Ruth (played by himself). When Gehrig marries his spirited sweetheart, Eleanor (played by Teresa Wright), things look up for him, but he is soon sidelined by a terrible illness that he bravely tries to battle. The Pride of Yankees was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Writing-Original story, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score and Best Sound Mixing whil winning the award for Best Film Editing and it has a rating of 92% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Little Big League
Out of all of the films with kids playing being the main characters in baseball films throughout the 90's, this is my favortie of those films. When his grandfather (played by Jason Robards) dies, 12-year-old Billy (played by Luke Edwards) suddenly becomes the heir to the Minnesota Twins baseball team. It's a dream come true for the baseball fan, who believes he can get the Twins out of their current slump by managing them personally. Of course, managing a pro baseball team is a lot of work, and some of the players aren't crazy about taking orders from a pre-teen, but Billy's honest approach and love for the game could be just what the Twins need. Little Big League has a rating of 33% on rottentomestoes.com.
8. Hardball
This might be one of the more emotional baseball films you'll evr see as well as a great dramtatic performance from Keanu Reeves. Conor (played by Keanu Reeves) is a ticket scalper, gambler and, now, Little League coach for a rag-tag team of kids in one of the toughest part of Chicago. He's no role model, but his buddy Jimmy won't help him pay off his gambling debts unless Conor coaches Jimmy's corporately sponsored team. Surprising even himself, Conor becomes attached to his players -- and to their attractive schoolteacher (played by Diane Lane) -- and drawn into their tough and sometimes tragic lives. Hardball has a rating of 39% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Moneyball
This is a really fascinating look into the behinds the scenes part of baseball we never really see and it's a great story about a theory that almost worked. Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), general manager of the Oakland A's, one day has an epiphany: Baseball's conventional wisdom is all wrong. Faced with a tight budget, Beane must reinvent his team by outsmarting the richer ball clubs. Joining forces with Ivy League graduate Peter Brand (played by Jonah Hill), Beane prepares to challenge old-school traditions. He recruits bargain-bin players whom the scouts have labeled as flawed, but have game-winning potential. Moneyball was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing and it has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. Bad New Bears (2005)
While the original film may be a better overall film, this film by far more funnier. Morris Buttermaker (played by Billy Bob Thornton) is a burned-out minor league baseball player who loves to drink and can't keep his hands to himself. His long-suffering lawyer (played by Marcia Gay Harden) arranges for him to manage a local Little League team, and Buttermaker soon finds himself the head of a rag-tag group of misfit players. Through unconventional team-building exercises and his offbeat coaching style, Buttermaker helps his hapless Bears prepare to meet their rivals, the Yankees. Bad News Bears (2005) has a rating of 48% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. A League of Their Own
This film is absolutley funny and very groundbreaking and it should be a model for all future films that a film with majority female cast can be very successful. As America's stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey (played by Garry Marshall). Competitive sisters Dottie Hinson (played by Geena Davis) and Kit Keller (played by Lori Petty) spar with each other, scout Ernie Capadino (played by Jon Lovitz) and grumpy has-been coach Jimmy Dugan (played by Tom Hanks) on their way to fame. A League of Their Own has a rating of 77% on rottentomtoes.com.
4. Bull Durham
This film is just an absolutely hilarious look at the antics that go on in Minor League Baseball. In Durham, N.C., the Bulls minor league baseball team has one asset no other can claim: a poetry-loving groupie named Annie Savoy (played by Susan Sarandon). As the team's season begins, Annie selects brash new recruit Ebby Calvin Laloosh (played by Tim Robbins), whom she christens "Nuke," to inspire with the religion of baseball. Nuke also receives guidance from veteran player Crash Davis (played by Kevin Costner), who settles Nuke's erratic pitching and teaches him to follow the catcher's lead. Bull Durham was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and it has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Feild of Dreams
This is just an absolutely fantastic film that is more just about baseball and it is a very emotional film. When Iowa farmer Ray (played by Kevin Costner) hears a mysterious voice one night in his cornfield saying "If you build it, he will come," he feels the need to act. Despite taunts of lunacy, Ray builds a baseball diamond on his land, supported by his wife, Annie (played by Amy Madigan). Afterward, the ghosts of great players start emerging from the crops to play ball, led by "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (played by Ray Liotta). But, as Ray learns, this field of dreams is about much more than bringing former baseball greats out to play. Field of Dreams was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score and it has a rating of 87% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. The Sandlot
This is an amazingly fun and great coming-of-age film that'll make you laugh, cry and just make you absolutely love the game of baseball with a lot of memorable lines. When Scottie Smalls (played by Thomas Guiry) moves to a new neighborhood, he manages to make friends with a group of kids who play baseball at the sandlot. Together they go on a series of funny and touching adventures. The boys run into trouble when Smalls borrows a ball from his stepdad that gets hit over a fence. The Sandlot has a rating of 59% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Major League
This film is just crazy on so many levels and the humor is so spot on and really fun look at Major League Baseball. The new owner of the Cleveland Indians, former showgirl Rachel Phelps (played by Margaret Whitton), has a sweetheart deal to move the team to Miami. But to break the lease with the city of Cleveland, ticket sales have to plummet. So Phelps hires the most incompetent players available, including near-blind pitcher Rick Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen) and injury-prone catcher Jake Taylor (played by Tom Berenger). But her villainous tactics accidentally foster a can-do team spirit, turning the Indians into potential winners. Major League has a rating of 82% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite baseball films and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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