Top 10 Baseball Movies

This summer we went on a baseball movie bender. We watched 20+ baseball movies plus Ken Burns's Baseball documentary. Based on the group we watched, here are my Top 10.

1. For the Love of the Game. Starring Kevin Costner as an aging pitcher, the movie portrays his baseball career and his relationship with costar Kelly Preston. I loved this movie because it had a great plot and used baseball as part of the drama.

2. Bull Durham. Honestly, I don't really love Kevin Costner that much. This is a great baseball movie though. It stars Costner as an aging catcher brought in to coach a young pitcher, Tim Robbins. The love triangle with Susan Sarandon is subtle and interesting. The movie is filled with humor and I love the scene where the whole team is at the mound.

3. 42. This is a great drama showing the end of segregated baseball. The courage shown by Robinson and Dodger's owner Branch Rickey is well portrayed.  One of the things I love about baseball is that it is meritocratic. The color of your skin doesn't matter; your nationality doesn't matter; how you play the game does. 42 shows part of the process of making MLB that way.

4. The Rookie. The main character is a former major league player turned high school baseball coach. His kids bet him that if they make the playoffs, he will try out for the big leagues again. This was an emotional story and it turns out to be true.

5. 61*. Mickey Mantel and Roger Maris strive to break Ruth's record. Billy Crystal directs this fun movie, bringing these characters to life.

6. Moneyball. Based on the story of Billy Beane's Oakland A's, and the book written by Michael Lewis. It shows the influence of data analysis and alternative thinking by the A's. The movie wasn't as well dramatized as others on the list, but it's still a fun watch.

7. The Natural. I don't think any list of baseball movies could be complete without this movie. The production is excellent. Robert Redford is amazing. The only issue I have is the pace. I found the movie dragged and was a little confused by some of the plot points. Maybe I need to read the book and then watch the movie again.

8. Pride of the Yankees. A bio-pic of a great guy: Lou Gehrig. Strangely this movie lacked a little in baseball drama. It was more about Gehrig's life and struggles.

9. Major League. This is a silly comedy. You can't get around it. But it has two main virtues: it dramatizes the struggle of an underdog team, and it uses the game to dramatize plot points better than most other movies.

10. Trouble with the Curve. This is almost the anti-Moneyball movie. It discounts "big data" for an "ear for the game". That said, it's a fun story with interesting characters. Plus: Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams!

You'll notice that I left off Field of Dreams from my top 10. I disliked this movie. I've watched it three times over the years and have never liked it. I'll share my reasons in another post.