Top 5 Baseball Movies

With the 2022 Major League Baseball season finally underway, it’s probably a good time to reflect back on what I feel are the best of all baseball feature films. A sport that many people (including me) think is lacking in action (but strong on strategy and personality), it has also provided a wellspring of the greatest-ever sports movies. This could have easily been a Top 10 list. (See the included “honorable mention” titles.)

‘Field of Dreams’ (1989)

Directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the bestselling novel by W.P. Kinsella, “Field of Dreams” is all that and a bag of chips. Kevin Costner stars as Ray, a New York native now eking out a living as a fledgling farmer in Iowa with his wife Annie (Amy Madigan) and daughter Karin (Gaby Hoffman).

Promotional ad for "Field of Dreams." Universal Pictures

While tilling his cornfield, Ray hears the repeated, haunting whisper “If you build it, he will come.” He eventually interprets it as a message to build a baseball field to salvage the reputation of the maligned “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), a member of the disgraced 1919 Chicago White Sox. Further messages prod Ray to visit reclusive writer Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) and the mysterious Midwestern doctor Archie “Moonlight” Graham (Burt Lancaster), which leads to an emotional catharsis that he and we never see coming. Have boxes of tissues at the ready.

‘Bull Durham’ (1988)

As with basketball and football, many (but not all) baseball fans believe that minor league (or college level) play is the best indicator of the true talent and love of the sport. Those who participate because they will play for peanuts, only hoping that a bigger financial payday might follow, show their dedication.

Promotional ad for "Bull Durham." Orion Pictures

Catcher Lawrence “Crash” Davis (Kevin Costner again) used to be one of those guys but is now just an aging veteran trying to stay active and maybe snare a long-shot break. He’s hired by the Durham Bulls, a AAA North Carolina farm team, to hone the rough edges off of promising yet headstrong upstart pitcher Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), while both of them (at least for a while) compete for the amorous attention of resident superfan and hipster mystic and soothsayer Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon).

‘The Pride of the Yankees’ (1942)

Less of a movie about the game itself, and more of a simple biography of one of its most iconic and inspirational players, director Sam Wood’s loving homage to baseball’s “Iron Man” was released barely a year after Lou Gehrig passed away.

Poster for "The Pride of the Yankees." RKO Radio Pictures

Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, the film almost didn’t get made as both producer Sam Goldwyn and leading man Gary Cooper (as Gehrig) were not baseball fans, and each took some convincing before agreeing to do the project. Gehrig’s slightly more famous teammate Babe Ruth lobbied fiercely to be in the film, and it was only after he committed to lose significant weight was he cast as himself (as were other then-current and former Yankees).

What made the film a perennial favorite among many non-baseball enthusiasts was the romantic subplot between Gehrig and his wife Eleanor (Teresa Wright), who also served as a consultant on the production.

‘Major League’ (1989)

Cited by many players (pro or otherwise) as their own favorite (and most realistic) baseball movie, “Major League” is also the funniest baseball flick ever made, and it only gets better with repeated viewings.

Written and directed by David S. Ward (who wrote “The Sting,” and co-wrote “Sleepless in Seattle”), the story centers on a ragtag group of has-beens, never-will-be’s, and unknown startup players (Corbin Bernsen, Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Dennis Haysbert, Wesley Snipes, and others) who are signed by the Cleveland Indians. Former-showgirl owner Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton) wants them to lose so she can move the team to Miami.

Poster for "Major League." Paramount Pictures

Rene Russo makes her feature debut as the Berenger character’s love interest, and Bob Uecker plays a fictionalized version of himself as the Indians’s hard-drinking radio announcer.

‘Eight Men Out’ (1988)

Written and directed by John Sayles (“Passion Fish,” “Lone Star”), “Eight Men Out” is the true story of the 1919 World Series, in which the heavily favored Chicago White Sox lost on purpose. This would have probably never happened had owner Charles Comiskey (Clifton James) hadn’t been such a tightwad who cut corners, underpaid his players, and welched on bonuses for a team considered by most at the time to be the greatest ever assembled.

With bribes provided by crime boss Arnold Rothstein (Michael Lerner), seven starters and one benchwarmer are easily coerced by dim go-betweens to throw the games. As much of a black eye this event forever gave baseball, it also led to the swift implementation of strict and unwavering rules (which are still levied) requiring lifetime bans on any and all MLB players caught gambling or even associating with other gamblers. (Pete Rose is the recent and most memorable modern example of this exacting punishment.)

Poster for "Eight Men Out." Orion Pictures Corporation

Here are some other quite worthy and highly recommended titles that didn’t quite make the final cut: “Moneyball” (2011), “A League of Their Own” (1992), “The Natural” (1984), “The Rookie” (2002), “For Love of the Game” (1999), “The Bad News Bears” (1976), “The Sandlot” (1993), and “42” (2013).

All titles are available on assorted streaming services. For options, visit justwatch.com

Also of note are three Ken Burns-directed, PBS-produced documentaries: “Baseball” (1994), its two-part 2010 sequel “The Tenth Inning,” and “Jackie Robinson” (2016).