Favorite Baseball Movies

With everything that's been going on, who would've thought that sports would make a comeback this year? A couple weeks ago the MLB decided that there would still be a baseball season! The only catches are that there's a quarter (60) of the amount of games that'll be played and ball parks will be crowd-less. So in light of baseball actually happening this year, I thought I'd list some of my favorite baseball movies.

Here they are (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

The Sandlot (1993)

If I had to guess I'd say this is probably the first, or second, movie people would pick if they had to think of a baseball movie. This movie brings you back and reminds you what life was like growing up in the 60's. Scottie Smalls (Thomas Guiry) is the shy new kid in town. While trying to make friends, he finds a couple of outcasts playing baseball at an abandoned field. Even though they didn't accept him as one of their own at first, "Smalls" becomes a part of the group playing pick up games everyday. One fateful day comes and Smalls hits his dads Babe Ruth ball over the fence into the Beast's yard. Now the guys have to try and salvage the priceless ball before Smalls' dad comes back home.

A League Of Their Own (1992)

Similar to circumstances today, America was between a rock and a hard place. World War 2 was in full swing and many pro baseball players decided to enlist in the cause. With so many players going overseas, people still wanted their fill of baseball. From that came the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. This movie follows the story of two sisters, Dottie and Kit, as they try and find a team and become a part of history. Dottie ends up becoming a catcher for the Rockford Peaches while Kit is a pitcher for the Racine Belles. The two meet up in the championship game at the end but only one can come out on top. Not to mention that Tom Hanks is Dottie's coach who could care less about this league, is a tiny bit abrasive and drunk at every opening pitch.

The Rookie (2002)

As time goes on, an athlete usually loses what they once had. For the sake of this movie, that's not entirely true. Based on a true story, Dennis Quaid plays the professional baseball player Jim Morris. After suffering a shoulder injury, Morris decides to stick around the game by coaching at his local Texas high school. He leads his team, of what once seemed like impossible odds, all the way to the championship game. After winning it, Morris decides to keep a promise he made to his team by going to a tryout being held by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After consistently pitching in the upper 90's, a minor league scout decides to take a chance on Morris and sign him. Jim works his way through the minors and eventually has a brief stint as a closer for the Texas Rangers.

42 (2013)

There are baseball players and then there are legends. Jackie Robinson was THE player that broke barriers for black players wanting to become a part of the MLB. This movie is a biopic of Jackie's trials and tribulations of becoming one of the first black professional baseball players. You get to see his side of the story portrayed incredibly by Chadwick Boseman.

Moneyball (2011)

With most sports movies you see players on the field (or court) sweating it out for the title. This movie is a little different. Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is the GM of the Oakland A's and is looking for a solution. After losing the 2001 American League pennant to the Yankees, the team lost a lot of key players in the off season. Billy enlists the help of Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) who's an expert on saber metrics. The two of them use on-base percentage stats to find players to replace the ones they lost. Follow along as the team goes on an incredible win streak and slowly works their way back to the top.

The Bad News Bears (1976)

Coaching high schoolers or pros is one thing, little league is a whole other ball field. Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) is brought in to coach a newly formed little league team, the Bears, after a local city councilman's son is excluded from a team in the Southern California Youth Baseball league. After losing their first game 26-0, Morris goes out and finds a girl named Amanda (Tatum O'Neal) and convinces her to come and be the teams pitcher.

Field of Dreams (1989)

The ability to hear voices usually makes someone come off as crazy but sometimes it can be used for good. While walking through his cornfield one afternoon, Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a voice saying, "If you build it, he will come". Shortly after, Ray has a vision of a baseball field where his cornfield is. With the help of his skeptical wife Annie (Amy Madigan), Ray goes and builds the field. One night the legendary Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and the rest of the guys from the 1919 Black Sox show up, including someone Ray really wants to impress.

Bull Durham (1988)

Veteran catcher "Crash" David (Kevin Costner) gets sent down to the single-A Durham Bulls for the sole purpose of shaping a promising, but erratic, pitcher Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins). To make matters worse, they both fall in love with baseball groupie Annie Savoy (Susan Saradon).

The Natural (1984)

After taking an extended break from the game, Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) returns to baseball as a rookie for the last-place New York Knights. Roy goes on to become one of the best players in the league and turns the last place Knights' luck around. The owner, Judge (Robert Prosky), gets upset with Roy and tells him to starts losing games instead of winning them despite their recent success.

Honorable Mentions: Benchwarmers, Major League, Trouble With the Curve, Million Dollar Arm, For the Love of the Game, Everyone's Hero, Angels In the Outfield, Mr. 3000, Rookie of the Year