Top 13 baseball flicks to get in shape
Angie DiSalvo/Columnist
Issue date: 4/16/07 Section: Sports
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This is my second favorite time of the year as far as sports go. The best, of course, is March Madness. But the beginning of baseball season holds so much promise. The slate is clean. The opportunities are endless. It's kind of like how my life will be after I graduate next month.
However, since I've been holed up in Meredith and Carnegie working on my senior capstone, I haven't had much time to watch baseball. Sad, I know. So, I would like to honor the start of baseball season by sharing my Top 13 (I tried to narrow it down as best I could) favorite baseball movies. I promise these classics won't disappoint - they are the perfect way to wind down when your brain is fried next week.
13. Hardball
Keanu Reeves as an addicted gambler who takes over as a little league baseball coach to pay off his gambling debt isn't the best storyline. However, the underprivileged kids trying to make the most out of the only fun thing in their lives makes this movie unforgettable. If you're not singing "I like it when they call me big poppa" while waving your arms by the end of the movie, you have no heart.
12. Angels in the Outfield
The first blast from the past involves a foster kid named Roger who finds he can see actual angels while attending an Angels game. Oh, come on. You know you wanted to stand up and wave your arms along with Roger to cheer on Tony Danza in the final game scene.
11. Rookie of the Year
A young Thomas Ian Nicholas (Kevin from the "American Pie" series) plays a young Chicago kid who, after breaking his arm, finds out he can throw over 100 mph. Yup, you guessed it. The Cubbies, who stink even in movies, recruit him to pitch, and he lives out every kid's dream of playing in the majors.
10. Eight Men Out
Although not really well-known, this movie details the 1919 Black Sox Scandal in which a number of Chicago White Sox players agree to throw the World Series, supposedly including slugger "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.
9. The Rookie
Dennis Quaid plays a middle-aged high school science teacher and baseball coach in Texas who agrees to try out for the major leagues if his team makes the playoffs. He fights financial problems and family/homesickness while moving his way up in the minors to chase his dream.
8. Field of Dreams
The 1919 White Sox players make another appearance, this time in heaven...er...I mean, Iowa. Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) listens to the voice he hears in his cornfield and goes the distance by building a baseball field. But will he be able to ease his pain? Bonus: You can take a day-trip to visit the real Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.
7. Major League (the original, not the horrible sequels)
The Cleveland Indians suck, and the late owner's young wife wants them to continue to suck so she can move the team to Miami. But an all-star cast has other things in mind. Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) and knee pain-plagued catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) join a roster of has-beens and never-will-bes.
6. *61
Billy Crystal's film portrays Yankee Roger Maris' chase to break Babe Ruth's single season home run record. At one point, Maris loses clumps of hair from stress as he deals with pressure from baseball traditionalists and unsupportive New Yorkers, but still outdoes favorite Mickey Mantle as the ghost of the Great Bambino looms over him.
5. For Love of the Game
Veteran Detroit Tiger Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is pitching the game of his life as he looks back on his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Jane and contemplates retiring or getting traded to another team. Sounds cheesy, I know. But the way he "clears the mechanism" is the best example of focus in any sports movie I've ever seen.
4. The Natural
Based on Barnard Malamud's classic book, this movie follows Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford), another middle-aged rookie, whose slugging and fielding digs the New York Knights out of the cellar and puts them in the pennant race. From a homemade bat named Wonderboy to a manager's niece named Memo (Kim Basinger), this movie knocks the cover off the ball.
3. A League of Their Own
There's no crying in baseball, but there are women. In this fictional account of the real life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League's Rockford Peaches, you'll see Madonna catch a pop-fly in her hat, Geena Davis do the splits in catcher gear, and Tom Hanks call an umpire a penis with a little hat on. I recommend a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., following a viewing of this movie to learn about the real AAGPBL.
2. Bull Durham
Hey meat, this is the best baseball movie you've never heard of. Single A team the Durham (N.C.) Bulls have a promising prospect in wild pitcher Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) but need veteran catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) and No. 1 fan Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) to tame him. Learn how to breathe through your eyelids, take a curse off a glove and make it to the Show.
1. The Sandlot
You haven't seen this movie? You're killing me Smalls! Benny "The Jet" Rodriquez takes Smalls, the new kid on the block, under his wing and teaches him how to play baseball with the rest of the sandlot gang. A camp-out, a showdown with the snotty cross-town rival baseball team, a monster dog and a fake drowning that turns into a kiss will have you begging for s'more.
Angie DiSalvo is a news/Internet and secondary education double major and a Times-Delphic columnist. She may be contacted at ADD002@drake.edu.
However, since I've been holed up in Meredith and Carnegie working on my senior capstone, I haven't had much time to watch baseball. Sad, I know. So, I would like to honor the start of baseball season by sharing my Top 13 (I tried to narrow it down as best I could) favorite baseball movies. I promise these classics won't disappoint - they are the perfect way to wind down when your brain is fried next week.
13. Hardball
Keanu Reeves as an addicted gambler who takes over as a little league baseball coach to pay off his gambling debt isn't the best storyline. However, the underprivileged kids trying to make the most out of the only fun thing in their lives makes this movie unforgettable. If you're not singing "I like it when they call me big poppa" while waving your arms by the end of the movie, you have no heart.
12. Angels in the Outfield
The first blast from the past involves a foster kid named Roger who finds he can see actual angels while attending an Angels game. Oh, come on. You know you wanted to stand up and wave your arms along with Roger to cheer on Tony Danza in the final game scene.
11. Rookie of the Year
A young Thomas Ian Nicholas (Kevin from the "American Pie" series) plays a young Chicago kid who, after breaking his arm, finds out he can throw over 100 mph. Yup, you guessed it. The Cubbies, who stink even in movies, recruit him to pitch, and he lives out every kid's dream of playing in the majors.
10. Eight Men Out
Although not really well-known, this movie details the 1919 Black Sox Scandal in which a number of Chicago White Sox players agree to throw the World Series, supposedly including slugger "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.
9. The Rookie
Dennis Quaid plays a middle-aged high school science teacher and baseball coach in Texas who agrees to try out for the major leagues if his team makes the playoffs. He fights financial problems and family/homesickness while moving his way up in the minors to chase his dream.
8. Field of Dreams
The 1919 White Sox players make another appearance, this time in heaven...er...I mean, Iowa. Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) listens to the voice he hears in his cornfield and goes the distance by building a baseball field. But will he be able to ease his pain? Bonus: You can take a day-trip to visit the real Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.
7. Major League (the original, not the horrible sequels)
The Cleveland Indians suck, and the late owner's young wife wants them to continue to suck so she can move the team to Miami. But an all-star cast has other things in mind. Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) and knee pain-plagued catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) join a roster of has-beens and never-will-bes.
6. *61
Billy Crystal's film portrays Yankee Roger Maris' chase to break Babe Ruth's single season home run record. At one point, Maris loses clumps of hair from stress as he deals with pressure from baseball traditionalists and unsupportive New Yorkers, but still outdoes favorite Mickey Mantle as the ghost of the Great Bambino looms over him.
5. For Love of the Game
Veteran Detroit Tiger Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is pitching the game of his life as he looks back on his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Jane and contemplates retiring or getting traded to another team. Sounds cheesy, I know. But the way he "clears the mechanism" is the best example of focus in any sports movie I've ever seen.
4. The Natural
Based on Barnard Malamud's classic book, this movie follows Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford), another middle-aged rookie, whose slugging and fielding digs the New York Knights out of the cellar and puts them in the pennant race. From a homemade bat named Wonderboy to a manager's niece named Memo (Kim Basinger), this movie knocks the cover off the ball.
3. A League of Their Own
There's no crying in baseball, but there are women. In this fictional account of the real life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League's Rockford Peaches, you'll see Madonna catch a pop-fly in her hat, Geena Davis do the splits in catcher gear, and Tom Hanks call an umpire a penis with a little hat on. I recommend a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., following a viewing of this movie to learn about the real AAGPBL.
2. Bull Durham
Hey meat, this is the best baseball movie you've never heard of. Single A team the Durham (N.C.) Bulls have a promising prospect in wild pitcher Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) but need veteran catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) and No. 1 fan Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) to tame him. Learn how to breathe through your eyelids, take a curse off a glove and make it to the Show.
1. The Sandlot
You haven't seen this movie? You're killing me Smalls! Benny "The Jet" Rodriquez takes Smalls, the new kid on the block, under his wing and teaches him how to play baseball with the rest of the sandlot gang. A camp-out, a showdown with the snotty cross-town rival baseball team, a monster dog and a fake drowning that turns into a kiss will have you begging for s'more.
Angie DiSalvo is a news/Internet and secondary education double major and a Times-Delphic columnist. She may be contacted at ADD002@drake.edu.
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