What's the best baseball movie?

[pokerfan]

Poll question: What's the best baseball movie?

Inspired by the best Costner baseball movie poll... Borrowed the list from the baseball almanac. Had to drop Major League (1989) to make room for 'other.' Too bad, so sad.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/moviebat.shtml

[TheDebbieDee]

1. A League of Their Own! One of the greatest sports movies

of Allll Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!

[one_voice]

2. Other...

Hard to choose just one.

1. Field of Dreams.

2. 61*

3. Soul of the Game.

4. A League of Their Own.



*not necessarily in that order.

[OhioChick]

3. Field of Dreams....

Classic :)

[dropkickpa]

4. I picked the Sandlot

I freakin LOVE that movie!

[MrCoffee]

14. You are not alone

It's a really good movie.

[TZ]

5. I will vote for the dropped Major League

Only because I can't choose between Field of Dreams and Bull Durham which are tied for second in my book.
How could you drop ML? SOOOOO funny. "Wild Thing...You make my heart sing..."

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. What? Not Major League 2?

Featuring Oriole Park as a stand in for Cleveland Stadium, and inexplicably replacing Wesley Snipes with Omar Epps as Willie Mays Hays? For shame!

BTW, my sister was a crowd extra for Major League 2. She said by the time they ended filming that night, she never wanted to hear "Wild Thing" ever again.

[TZ]

7. That movie does not exist in my mind!

Ugh.

[Deep13]

10. Hats for bats. Keep bats warm.

Are you suggesting that Jesus Christ can't throw a fast ball?

[flvegan]

16. You may run like Mays, but you hit like shit.

[Deep13]

17. You could have at least said you were calling from the Yankees. nt

[pokerfan]

13. It was the lowest rated of the ten

"I know!" <=== Craig Ferguson voice

[Jokerman]

20. Major League has some amazing action scenes.

In addition to being a very funny movie, the photography, editing and sound of the ML game sequences are all top notch. It makes you really feel like you are there, on the field with the players.

That being said, I still think Bull Durham is a better film but ML is a very close second.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. Field of Dreams.

"Dad...wanna have a catch?"

Dammit, that line gets me every time.


Second choice for me would be Little Big League. A fun little movie about a kid who becomes manager of the Minnesota Twins.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

9. Several of the choices

were really dramas taking place in a baseball setting. A fun baseball movie,albeit old (in b&w), which used to be shown quite a bit is "It Happens Every Spring" with Ray Milland.Good entertainment! :toast:
Here's one critics write up;

This delightful comedy is seldom seen on cable. The Fox channel is a great source for these neglected and forgotten films that still produce a lot of fun to viewers, young and old. Lloyd Bacon directed this movie with a lot of flair. There are some insanely funny moments in the film, based on Valentine Davis' screen play.

Chemistry professor Vernon Simpson, working on a small midwest university, discovers as a fluke, that one of his projects produce a rejection of wood when rubbed in an object; that object being the baseball that almost destroys his lab. Professor Simpson's passion is the national pastime, which we see him hearing a broadcast during one of his classes. Simpson is also in love with the beautiful Debby Greenleaf, the daughter of the president of the university.

Vernon decides to try his hand as a pitcher, now that he has the secret, as he feels his beloved Saint Louis Cardinals can use him. As the mysterious King Kelly, Vernon proves to be an asset to his team. The catcher, Monk Lanigan, is his roommate. The two men develop an easy friendship. Lanigan, like anyone else, is puzzled by the way Kelly can pitch, even at his age. When Lanigan wants to know what does King keep in a tiny bottle in his dresser, and he is told it's hair tonic, which he proceeds to use himself, with magical results. He even gives some of it to the manager, not knowing is the secret formula that King uses to throw those magical pitches.

As Vernon/King, Ray Milland makes a wonderful appearance in the film. His chemistry with Paul Douglas, the catcher and roommate, is unique. Both stars are amazing together and this is what makes the comedy a winning and sunny time at the movies because of the fun we experience in watching them perform. Jean Peters is also good as Debby, the girl that conquered Vernon's heart. Ray Collins, Ed Begley and Jessie Royce Landis do excellent supporting work.

"It Happens Every Spring" is a sunny comedy that proves to be a lot of fun

[NewJeffCT]

11. I used to love baseball until "Field of Dreams" came out

I thought it was a pretty good movie, but when I read baseball writers practically orgasming over the movie, it was a big turnoff to me. I still like baseball & follow it, but nearly as enthusiastically as before... I haven't been to a live baseball game since that movie came out.

[MissMillie]

12. I like the comedies... so

either Bull Durham or League of Their Own.

(but I have a really warm spot in my heart for The Natural)

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. The only baseball movie worth watching is The Naked Gun

[racaulk]

18. "Are you crying? There's no crying in baseball!"

[Jade Fox]

32. Tom Hanks was so good in that movie.....

I liked him better back when he played schmucks, not saints.

[Broken_Hero]

19. Other,

Major League....

Hey, bartender, Jobu needs a refill!

Are you saying, Jesus can't hit a curve ball?

Its a hat, hat for bat!

[Dragonbreathp9d]

21. The sultan of swat!

The sultan of swat!

Ya ya!



and of course "You're killin me Smalls!"

[Bertha Venation]

22. Field of Dreams not the best baseball movie, but the only movie ever to be

better than the book.

[bif]

23. You thought it was better than "Shoeless Joe"?

By W.P. Kinsella? I thought the book was better. I liked the way he went after J.D. Salinger. I didn't like the fact that they changed him into a philosopher in the movie.

[Bertha Venation]

30. re Salinger: yet I couldn't see how they could make it Salinger

in the movie.

Yes, I thought it was better than Shoeless Joe. I just didn't like the book as much. A matter of taste, I suppose. :shrug:

:hi:

[Blue-Jay]

24. Tie between Sandlot and A League of Their Own.

If I'm flipping channels and happen upon either film, I'll sit and watch it until the end.

"League" always makes me shed a tear or two, especially when the soundtrack trumpeter is playing as Lori Petty pitches against her sister's team near the end.

Then again, "Sandlot" reminds me of my childhood. When baseball was true and unblemished. Sure there were lots of funny side-stories (the kiss, the dog, the stepfather/stepson relationship). But that movie really captured the love of the game that me & my friends shared when I was a little guy.

So... "The Sandlot". I grew up with most of those kids.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

25. another - Fear Strikes Out

story of Jimmy Piersall (Tony Perkins) and his over bearing old man (Karl Malden).

[Kat45]

26. Other: Rhubarb

Curmudgeonly rich guy dies and leaves his baseball team to his ornery cat. As soon as the cat is the owner, the team starts winning bigtime and everyone loves the cat and considers him good luck. Meanwhile, the man's spoiled adult children try to find a way to get the team for themselves.

[azmouse]

27. It's not really summer til I've watched The Sandlot.

And since I saw it last night it's now summer. :)

[NoPasaran]

28. Of that list, Bull Durham

Field of Dreams is a wonderful movie, but it's really about family that uses baseball as metaphor.

My guilty pleasure baseball movie is Major League, which is awesome. ML2 was worthy of criminal charges.

Another film of interest was Cobb, an interesting look at an athelete who was both a total dickhead and one of the greatest players the game has seen.

[Patsy Stone]

29. Then I vote for Bull Durham

but Major League is great. And if I could have picked two, it would have been Tbe Bad News Bears.

[Patiod]

31. My favorite is "Long Gone": Wm Petersen, Virginia Madsen

Dermot Mulroony, Henry Gibson, Teller, what's not to like?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093433/