This is it, folks. This one's for all the marbles. But who is taking who's marbles? Will Tom Berenger take James Earl Jones' marbles, or will Kevin Coster take...okay, nevermind. We both know somebody's already stolen Charlie Sheen's marbles.

Last time around we saw Major League take 72% of the votes against A League of Their Own, and really, we shouldn't be surprised. So now we come to the end of our road: Major League, quite possibly the funniest baseball film of all time, against Field of Dreams, quite possibly the most poignant baseball film of all time. Oddly enough they were both released in the same year.

Have at it...

Field of Dreams (1989, 3 Oscar nominations) - Kevin Costner's first appearance in the tournament (and final remaining Costner nominee) is this classic, wherein a novice farmer hears voices ("If you build it, he will come"), goes against all advice and builds a baseball field behind his house.  He chases down Darth Vader James Earl Jones, Moonlight foregoes youth to step off the field and save Costner's daughter because he's a doctor but he's dead which is great because it makes sense, and of course the great revelation at the end is that one of the ghost players on the field is Costner's old man.  Great message about hopes and overcoming regrets...if you want to look deeper than time travel, ghosts and JEJ's voice.

Major League (1989) - When the new owner of the Cleveland Indians decides she can make tons of money by selling off the franchise, she loads the team up with youngers and has-beens, in the hope of driving fans away a giving her the excuse she needs to make the sale.  Things look bleak early, but the team and a grizzled manager come together to face their common enemy.  Wild Thing gets glasses, Willy Mays Hayes steals like 70 bases in the last month of the season (seriously, how many gloves does he get there during the montage?), the veteran who wants to become an interior designer starts diving for balls, voodoo finally works and Tom Berenger proves once and for all that if you stalk a girl long enough she'll love you.

In the first half of our semi-final matchup, Field of Dreams and The Sandlot went head-to-head for a number of days. FoD had a slight early lead before The Sandlot surged ahead, but with the votes still coming in strong I promoted the vote again a few days after initially posting it. While new votes poured in, this time they were significantly in favor of FoD. In the end, Field of Dreams gathered 62% of the vote with 863 of the 1386 entries.

Today we get to the other half of the semi-final ballot, with A League of Their Own and Major League, with the winner facing off against Costner and James Earl Jones next week. Let's get to it, and your brackets are after the jump!

A League of Their Own (1992) - "There's no crying in baseball!" is nearly as mainstream as "Play it again, Sam"...except Bogart never actually said "Play it again, Sam".  Anyway, this one is set during WWII, and it's just as much about the relationship between the two sisters as it is about a drunken Tom Hanks.  Porky Pig Rosie O'Donnell is there, you get Geena Davis at her best, some british chick named "Madonna" is in it and Lori Petty also stars.  And oh yeah, Jon Lovitz is always hilarious.  You're a real sport, Dottie!  You really make it seem like you and your sister truly ARE in "A League of Their Own"...

Major League (1989) - When the new owner of the Cleveland Indians decides she can make tons of money by selling off the franchise, she loads the team up with youngers and has-beens, in the hope of driving fans away a giving her the excuse she needs to make the sale.  Things look bleak early, but the team and a grizzled manager come together to face their common enemy.  Wild Thing gets glasses, Willy Mays Hayes steals like 70 bases in the last month of the season (seriously, how many gloves does he get there during the montage?), the veteran who wants to become an interior designer starts diving for balls, voodoo finally works and Tom Berenger proves once and for all that if you stalk a girl long enough she'll love you.

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Welcome to the semi-finals!  Over the last few months we've held vote after vote in an effort to determine which baseball movie truly is the best of all time.  And following what can only be described as cold-blooded murder, we now have our four semi-final contenders:  Field of Dreams from the New Classics division, The Sandlot from the Kids Division, A League of Their Own from Drama, and Major League from Comedy.  Full bracketology will be after the jump, but I now present you with one of the most intriguing matchups we've had.

Field of Dreams (1989, 3 Oscar nominations) - Kevin Costner's first appearance in the tournament (and final remaining Costner nominee) is this classic, wherein a novice farmer hears voices ("If you build it, he will come"), goes against all advice and builds a baseball field behind his house.  He chases down Darth Vader James Earl Jones, Moonlight foregoes youth to step off the field and save Costner's daughter because he's a doctor but he's dead which is great because it makes sense, and of course the great revelation at the end is that one of the ghost players on the field is Costner's old man.  Great message about hopes and overcoming regrets...if you want to look deeper than time travel, ghosts and JEJ's voice.

The Sandlot (1993) - Set as a flashback to the 60's, Scotty Smalls moves to LA and wants to learn how to play baseball.  Benny Rodriguez, the best damn player in the neighborhood, shows him the ropes and suddenly we're off and running with adventures of friends with mishaps and comedic adventuers a-plenty, including kissing the cute lifeguard while pretending to down and losing his step dad's baseball (that was signed by Babe Ruth) to the viscious dog known only as "The Beast".  There are so many amazing quotes from this movie.  I'll remember it fffooooorrrreeeeevvvveeerrrrrr...

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Introduction

Major League (1989) - When the new owner of the Cleveland Indians decides she can make tons of money by selling off the franchise, she loads the team up with youngers and has-beens, in the hope of driving fans away a giving her the excuse she needs to make the sale.  Things look bleak early, but the team and a grizzled manager come together to face their common enemy.  Wild Thing gets glasses, Willy Mays Hayes steals like 70 bases in the last month of the season (seriously, how many gloves does he get there during the montage?), the veteran who wants to become an interior designer starts diving for balls, voodoo finally works and Tom Berenger proves once and for all that if you stalk a girl long enough she'll love you.

Mr. Baseball (1992) - The old "fish out of water" plotline sees Tom Selleck and his mustache traded to the Japanese baseball league...where, naturally, he's super tall and has trouble adjusting to society.  Customs be damned, baseball is all about 'Merkuh!  Selleck (possibly because of his mustache) falls in love with a beautiful local, and his attitudes begin to change.  Eventually he (but not his mustache, which begins a torrid affair with Magnum PI) sees the light, and all is right in the world baseball.  And mustache love.

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It's been about four months since we had our last vote for the Best Baseball Movie ever.  I can't believe time has flown so fast!  Thanks to the good Mr. Gates over at Daily Norseman for stealing my idea, and therefore reminding me to get back on the horse.

For those of you new to this, be sure to check out the series introduction which will give you a pretty good idea of where we started from and what all this is about. 

So far we've had two quarter finals votes, with Field of Dreams just barely squeezing out a win over Bull Durham in the New Classics division and The Sandlot dominating Bad News Bears (the Matthau version) by a margin of more than three votes to one (361 of the 469 votes) in the kids division.  That brings us to our third round of the quarter finals, where A League of Their Own takes on Eight Men Out from the drama entries.

A League of Their Own (1992) - "There's no crying in baseball!" is nearly as mainstream as "Play it again, Sam"...except Bogart never actually said "Play it again, Sam".  Anyway, this one is set during WWII, and it's just as much about the relationship between the two sisters as it is about a drunken Tom Hanks.  Porky Pig Rosie O'Donnell is there, you get Geena Davis at her best, some british chick named "Madonna" is in it and Lori Petty also stars.  And oh yeah, Jon Lovitz is always hilarious.  You're a real sport, Dottie!  You really make it seem like you and your sister truly ARE in "A League of Their Own"...

Eight Men Out  (1988) - Basically this is the story of the day America realized her perfect daughter was a whore.  The legend of the Chicago Black Sox stands as one of the game's most iconic scandals, right up there with Pete Rose betting on baseball, the steroid era and the moon landing.  Essentially a number of White Sox players take bribes to throw the 1919 World Series, making life difficult for the few contributing players who play honestly.  You might know the story by now:  eight players are suspended for life, Buck Weaver spends his life trying to clear his name, and Charlie Sheen sleeps with Dorn's wife before marrying Hottie of the Year 1997 Denise Richards, and then lets his brother move into his beach-front house where the nephew occasionally stops by to make fart jokes.

Brackets after the jump!

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Yes yes, my friends.  We're back for another vote!

As much as it pains me to say it (which is just a little, honestly), Field of Dreams beat out Bull Durham in our last vote.  As the last Kevin Costner baseball movie standing, it will go on to face one of the following two movies in the Best Baseball Movie Semifinal.

But now we move onto the next quarterfinal matchup.  Classic Matthau beligerence versus FFFOOOORRRRRREEEEEEEVVVVVVEEEEERRRRRRR.  Who's your dog?

(By which I mean Matthau, or the dog from The Sandlot.)

Oh yeah, if you're new to this, here's our intro.

Bad News Bears (1976) - There's just something satisfying about a grumpy and disgruntled Walter Matthau.  Sort of like House.  Anyway, Matthau is a former minor leaguer who likes to drink beer and clean swimming pools.  Or maybe he drinks beer because he cleans swimming pools.  He starts coaching a talentless rag tag crew of misfits, and after a few ups and downs manages to get the punk daughter of an ex-girlfriend to be his star pitcher.  I put this in the Kids division because there are a kids in it...but that doesn't mean I recommend your kids watch it.  Oh yeah:  suck it, Billy Bob Thorton.

The Sandlot (1993) - Set as a flashback to the 60's, Scotty Smalls moves to LA and wants to learn how to play baseball.  Benny Rodriguez, the best damn player in the neighborhood, shows him the ropes and suddenly we're off and running with adventures of friends with mishaps and comedic adventuers a-plenty, including kissing the cute lifeguard while pretending to down and losing his step dad's baseball (that was signed by Babe Ruth) to the viscious dog known only as "The Beast".  There are so many amazing quotes from this movie.  I'll remember it fffooooorrrreeeeevvvveeerrrrrr...

Brackets after the jump!

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This is an unfair vote.  It just is.  Both are absolutely fantastic baseball classics, made before Kevin Costner started making more bad decisions than good ones.  But who do you choose?

Oh, by the way, here's the introduction to what we're doing here.  Below you'll see a brief synopsis of each film (for those of you who are unfamiliar), and after the jump you'll see the bracket now that we're into round #2.

Field of Dreams (1989, 3 Oscar nominations) - Kevin Costner's first appearance in the tournament is for this classic, wherein a novice farmer hears voices ("If you build it, he will come"), goes against all advice and builds a baseball field behind his house.  He chases down Darth Vader James Earl Jones, Moonlight foregoes youth to step off the field and save Costner's daughter because he's a doctor but he's dead which is great because it makes sense, and of course the great revelation at the end is that one of the ghost players on the field is Costner's old man.  Great message about hopes and overcoming regrets...if you want to look deeper than time travel, ghosts and JEJ's voice.

Bull Durham (1988, 1 Oscar nomination) - A year before FoD, Costner did another baseball movie.  In this one, he was actually a baseball player:  the proverbial Crash Davis, career minor leaguer.  His job is to groom the big league team's Next-Big-Thing, Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins).  Davis is the gritty veteran who plays the game right and with respect, LaLoosh wants to announce his presence with authority ("RUN, MEAT!").  The drama comes in when the team groupie, who has an affair with one player each season, gets involved with both.  I'd say that hilarity ensues, but it's not really funny.  It's just really, really good.

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New Classics
Field of Dreams VS For Love of the Game
Bull Durham VS The Natural

Kids
Bad News Bears VS Angels In the Outfield
The Sandlot VS Little Big League

Drama
The Fan VS A League of Their Own
61 * VS Eight Men Out

Comedy
Major League VS BASEketball
Mr. Baseball VS Mr. 3000

This is the final vote of the first round! Just in time for August we'll be able to move onto the second round, as the Twins try to make a final push to another division title.

I'm not sure we even really need to vote for this one, but we will anyway.

BASEketball (1998) - Starring Trey Parker and Matt Stone (of South Park fame, naturally), this is actually underrated as far as comedy goes.  Basically, Joe and Doug are the same as they were in high school and are labelled losers at a party.  In order to impress the jocks and a couple of girls they make up a game that they can win:  because they're great shooting a basketball as long as they don't have to dribble, jump or move.  H-O-R-S-E turns into baseball, with misses outs, etc.  It catches on like wildfire, and a nation-wide league is formed.  They guys become rich, they call the little dude bitch, and after making loads of money one of them starts to change.  But can they hold it together long enough to beat the Dallas Felons in the finals, and keep them from selling out the game?

Major League (1989) - When the new owner of the Cleveland Indians decides she can make tons of money by selling off the franchise, she loads the team up with youngers and has-beens, in the hope of driving fans away a giving her the excuse she needs to make the sale.  Things look bleak early, but the team and a grizzled manager come together to face their common enemy.  Wild Thing gets glasses, Willy Mays Hayes steals like 70 bases in the last month of the season (seriously, how many gloves does he get there during the montage?), the veteran who wants to become an interior designer starts diving for balls, voodoo finally works and Tom Berenger proves once and for all that if you stalk a girl long enough she'll love you.