Off-Day Introduction: What's the best baseball movie of all time?
by Jesse on Apr 26, 2010 6:15 PM EDT
in Best Baseball Movie Ever
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PrintI thought this could be fun. After an introduction to our 16 movies, we'll begin an emlimination-style tournament.
I realize that there are more than 16 baseball movies. I purposely left out potential middle weights like Cobb or The Babe in order to get a decent cross-section of genres. Oh, yes, my friends, there are genres of baseball movies. Additionally, I grouped 16 movies into groups of four. Rejected groups: Disney, Old Classics and Yankees. Probably others that I've forgotten. Anyway, here are your finalists...
New Classics
1-Field of Dreams
4-For the Love of the Game
2-Bull Durham
3-The Natural
Kids
1-Bad News Bears (Walter Matthau's version)
4-Angels In the Outfield
2-The Sandlot
3-Little Big League
Drama
1-The Fan
4-A League of Their Own
2-61*
3-Eight Men Out
Comedy
1-Major League
4-BASEketball
2-Mr. Baseball
3-Mr. 3000
We'll take one-on-one votes until we get a winner from each category. From there, New Classics will take on Drama, while Kids take on Comedy. First vote tomorrow morning!
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You put
3 of my favorites all in one category. Haha the Kids one. ROY, Angels, and the Sandlot
BASEketball; OMG what a HORRIBLE movie. Thats two hours of my life that I’ll never get back :/
I love Twins Baseball and Minnesota Vikings Football.
by Percy Harvin My Fav! on Apr 26, 2010 6:31 PM EDT reply actions
Agree 100%, BASEketball is awesome!
by Span's the Man!!! on Apr 26, 2010 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions
BASKetball is one of the most ingenious movies of all time.
The San Fransisco Vagina’s?
AHAHAHAHAHAH!
I always loved that one.
Baseketball is my guilty pleasure
I’ve watched it about 40 times.
"I couldn't do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?"
This kind of sucks!
The Natural, Field of Dreams and Bull Durham are all in the same catagory. Put them in seperate catagories and I could easily see them squaring off in the final.
Can we just rename the New Classics division
the Kevin Costner division?
"Sacrifice for the unknown" - Herb Brooks
Good Call
Just move The Natural to the drama section, toss out The Fan, add in Chasing Dreams or Upside of Anger to the Costner section. I know neither of those are good Costner baseball movies, but, I had to reach.
Really, I just wanted to get rid of The Fan, that was a terrible movie.
I did think of that....
…curse him for making so many good baseball movies and so many other shitty ones.
This is a Twins site
and no love for Little Big League. A kid enherits a baseball team. What’s better than that.
Seriously though The Natural has to be considered the best. Field of Dreams has it’s moments but The Natural is all about baseball.
Follow me on twitter@mnsportstalk
I had it on my list...
…but I liked the other 4 for the kid’s category instead.
I left out The Rookie, too. That was fun.
+1 on Little Big League
especially will all the Billy Heywoods on TT!
Ha Ha :-)
"For the parents of a Little Leaguer, a baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into innings."
— Earl Wilson
Speaking of movies with the Twins
How could you leave off Major League 3: Back to the Minors?
OH! BEST baseball movie! Please disregard.
"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"Positive happines come whit sucess if you no have that is all bs" -Ozzie Guillen
by less cowbell, more 'neau on Apr 26, 2010 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions
True Fact
Major League 3 also was about the Minnesota Twins and their farm system.
Follow me on twitter@mnsportstalk
by @mnsportstalk on Apr 26, 2010 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Major League...
I’m sorry, but Major League has got to be on anyone’s top 5 baseball movies list…
Mr. 3000 was a great movie.
Bernie Mac did what Bernie Mac did well and that was make me laugh.
by waldo11teen on Apr 26, 2010 11:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Stacked region
The “New Classics” section has three of the four best. Brutal section.
Proprietor of Hockey Wilderness - We take Minnesota hockey WAY too seriously.
by nathaneide on Apr 26, 2010 7:15 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
jesse giving into peer pressure...
and now I bet Little Big League doesn’t get past the 1st round… ;-)
"For the parents of a Little Leaguer, a baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into innings."
— Earl Wilson
ROY
Cant you just move bad news bears in to comedy and then put Little Big League in there. You cant bump Rookie of the Year.
What about "The Rookie?"
I’d probably put that in there over For the Love of the Game.
The actual game in that was good, but there was way too much sappy chick drama with the back and forth.
Ditto
I freakin love the rookie, not best of all time but still a damn good baseball film. Also a big fan of the final season, but that’s mainly cause I’m from Iowa.
by HawkeyeVikingTwinsUnited on Apr 26, 2010 7:42 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Also "Little Big League"
Those are the “first two left on the bubble” in bracketolgy terms.
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane
I have to agree
I really like The Rookie, but I know you can’t please everyone. So I will suffer in silence (well after this post anyway, haha)
Great idea Jesse! Something to get me through the off day…
The Natural easily.
Followed closely by For the Love of the Game…
I'm still a Minnesotan at heart...
in the 70's kids could say and do all kinds of things
"For the parents of a Little Leaguer, a baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into innings."
— Earl Wilson
Man
Man, there realy are some great choices on the list. First I thought the kids division was incredible with Angels in teh Outfield and surefire champion The Sandlot, but Bull Durham and the Natural is pretty good. 61* and a League of their own are both super strong too (though I’d say A League of Their Own is mostly comedy) and Major League is just beyond classic.
Baseball has many good movies. I gotta’ give my final four to Bull Durham, A League of Their Own, The Sandlot, and Major League. In my opinion, the winner of the Kids and Comedy should take the title, and I have The Sandlot by a hair over Major League…
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane
Mr. 3000?
That movie is terrible… Replace that with the new school Bill Bob version of Bad News Bears.
No Rookie of the Year? Ridiculous. That is way better than Angels in the Outfield… which is a Disney movie.
Also, for those of you that haven’t seen Sugar, you need to. About a Dominican baseball player that has trouble getting acclimated to the Minor League lifestyle in the US.
Also, for drama, the Final Season should make it on there, great movie.
This isn’t going to be close though, none of these movies measure up to Field of Dreams, The Natural, Bull Durham, and Major League…
If anything you should seed them like the NCAA basketball tourney… except we won’t expand it to 68 teams.
Roy Hobbs Division:
1. The Natural
2. Little Big League
3. The Fan
4. BASEketball
Nuke LaLoosh Division:
1. Bull Durham
2. The Sandlot
3. Rookie of the Year
4. A League of their Own
Eddie Harris Division:
1. Major League
2. For the Love of the Game
3. Bad News Bears (Old)
4. Mr. Baseball
Shoeless Joe Division:
1. Field of Dreams
2. 61*
3. Sugar
4. Eight Men Out
Just my two cents…
Sugar was good
but nowhere near as good as some of those on the list already.
My vote’s definitely for Bull Durham, though A League of Their Own has been a favorite since I was a kid.
"A-Rod has that arrogance about him. I’d drill him." -Bert Blyleven
Liked Sugar
Better than 8 of the movies that made the cut
And this is hilarious.
As well as terrifying.
"A-Rod has that arrogance about him. I’d drill him." -Bert Blyleven
Kill it! Kill it now!
"I couldn't do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?"
Of all of those that I've seen
I cast my vote for 61*.
by MarshalltheIrish on Apr 26, 2010 9:08 PM EDT reply actions
A great extra on the
For Love of the Game DVD is a short film starring The Babe himself, teaching kids in a sandlot game some baseball basics. You have to pass a quiz to get there. Cool.
by z-squad on Apr 26, 2010 9:17 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Summer Catch
I want to throw this into the discussion. I know it was Freddie Prince, but I thought it was really cool to see what the college player summer league players kind of live like. Moving to some backwater baseball town, shacking up with some adults you don’t know, chasing the dream. It’s pretty sweet.
Plus, Jessica Biel climbing out of a pool in a bikini is worth the 90 minutes alone.
by PinkiePinkerton on Apr 26, 2010 9:27 PM EDT reply actions
Sugar is a must see!
“Sugar” is an excellent, thought-provoking film and look at the international world of modern-day baseball. A must see.
http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/sugar/
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony/sugar/
Rookie of the Year
move it to the comedy section and take out Mr. 3000. I know I am not the first to bring this up, but it must be stated again. Watch out for Steadman’s high heat if you don’t.
by NYCisTwinsTerritory on Apr 26, 2010 9:40 PM EDT reply actions
Major League one and two
Were my favorite baseball movies.
“You have no, you have no, MARBLES, you have no marbles”
Some great characters here
Willie “Mayes” Hayes
Rick “The Wild Thing” Vaughn
Pedro Cerano
The Japanese Outfielder
I also have to give love to Little Big League because its from Minnesota. That movie taught me the true intracacies of a water balloon. Anyone also remember Major League 3 where it was about the Twins farm team that ended up beating the Twins in a game? That was back when the Twins were really that bad.
Boo.
No “Pride of the Yankees?” Wow. Just … wow. How can you have a New Classics section without a Classics section?!
I am okay with
Any Yankee related omissions.
I always loved that one.
by FoulJack on Apr 27, 2010 1:28 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Angels in the Outfield (1951)
Yar, Pirates they be sez I.
Jesse, this is a brilliant idea.
Most excellent. I think if you expand each division to 5 we should be able to calm the outraged masses. Don’t be the BCS. Listen to the people!
And for sure my vote will be for BASEketball.
I always loved that one.
by FoulJack on Apr 27, 2010 1:26 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I like it
forces tough decisions. Like choosing between the Bad News Bears and the Sandlot…
my overall winner for best baseball movie is the Bad News Bears though
Easily The Natural
No contest.
Soon to be usurped by “The Beard: The Jason Kubel Story”
The beard abides.
by Jason Kubel's Beard on Apr 27, 2010 9:47 AM EDT reply actions
Evil
You put “The Sandlot” (greatest “kids playing baseball” movie ever) against “Little Big League” (most underrated baseball movie ever) in round 1? Curse you for making me vote against a movie about the Twins right away!
If “Major League” doesn’t win unanimously in the first two rounds, I will be very, very disappointed in all of you. Honestly, the comedy and drama brackets are both pretty weak compared to the other two.
My Final Four prediction: Bull Durham (really, a toss-up between that and Field of Dreams), Sandlot, A League of Their Own (really, Jesse, you’re giving “The Fan” a #1 seed?), and Major League. I can’t pick a winner, because I think it will depend on the seeding.
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Old Movies
Alibi Ike, Pride of the Yankess, It Happens Every Spring
My top five
Natural
Bull Durham
Cobb (if only because Tommy Lee Jones deserved an Oscar for that performance)
Field of dreams
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Erm...1, 2, 3, 4...?
California math there? :)
"A-Rod has that arrogance about him. I’d drill him." -Bert Blyleven
No Long Gone????????????
Long Gone is my absolute favorite!!! Stud Cantrell. Jamie Dunn Weeks. Joe Louis Brown…..F@#$ em if they can’t take a joke!!!!
The Kid From Left Field
Gotta love that one!
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