Baseball Movie Box Score: 15 Movies To Revisit This Season
by Brian Tallerico

10. DEEP SINGLE OFF THE WALL

For the Love of the Game (1999)
Starring: Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston, John C. Reilly, Jena Malone, and Brian Cox
Written by: Dana Stevens
Directed by: Sam Raimi

The Babe Ruth of the baseball movie makes his first of three appearances in our Baseball Movie Box Score in For Love of the Game. When most people think "movie baseball player," nine out of ten picture Kevin Costner. Most of them are probably thinking of Bull Durham or Field of Dreams, but For Love of the Game is a surprisingly effective romantic drama from a post-Ash and pre-Spidey Sam Raimi. The whole film takes place in flashback during one of the biggest games of Billy Chapel's (Costner) aging career. We watch as Billy flashes back to how he's had difficulty balancing love and playing his sport at the same time. Can a guy really get the girl and achieve greatness at sports, two things that can suck up a lot of your schedule? The romance in For Love of the Game is far from perfect but the baseball scenes are close to it, featuring some of the best cinematography on a diamond that the genre has seen. Held up against the other two Costner flicks, For Love of the Game didn't have a chance, but history will be kind to this romantic little movie. It's a well-hit single off the wall.

9. DOUBLE

Eight Men Out (1988)
Starring: Jace Alexander, John Cusack, Gordon Clapp, Charlie Sheen, Michael Rooker, Michael Lerner, and D.B. Sweeney
Written and Directed by: John Sayles

Now things are getting serious. Long before Barry Bonds was a twinkle in a steroids dealer's eye, the 1919 Chicago White Sox were doing their part to tarnish the sport of baseball. Focusing on working class baseballers, brilliant writer/director John Sayles paints a portrait of a group of players stuck in a common pickle - money or honor. Eight players, including star pitcher Eddie Cicotte and outfielder "Shoeless" Joe Jackson were caught up in a horrible situation where they were offered a way to make more cash to play poorly than to play well. As a result, they were banned from the sport for life, and the story became a legendary part of the fabric of baseball. Eight Men Out features one of the best ensembles in baseball movie history and an excellent screenplay by Sayles. It doesn't quite capture baseball the way you want it to - Sayles is always more interested in the people than what they do for a living - and it exonerates the Black Sox a bit too much for my taste, but Eight Men Out is such an essential story in the history of labor freedom in the sport and the stigma of cheating which continues to this day that it steals second standing up.

8. DOUBLE TO THE CORNER

Major League (1989)
Starring: Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, Dennis Haysbert, Corbin Bernsen, Rene Russo, and Bob Uecker
Written and Directed by: David S. Ward

Charlie Sheen makes it to second base twice in a row as his comedic side shines through in Major League, one of the dumb, late '80s comedies that we can watch on cable over and over again. Red Sox fans will always have Fever Pitch and Tigers fans will have For Love of the Game, but Indians fans get Rick "Wild Thing Vaughn, Willie "Mays" Hayes and Pedro Cerrano. It's a far better deal than they've ever been handed in the real game. Every sport has its share of lovable-loser comedies, but Major League is one of the better ones that features scene-stealing performances by Wesley Snipes, Rene Russo, and Dennis Haysbert before they were stars... and Tom Berenger when he still was one. Plus any movie with Bob Uecker gets a few extra points in our book. Well, any movie but Major League II and III. Major League has become such a part of the baseball consciousness that whenever we see a pitcher come out to a rock 'n' roll song, it's tough not to think of "Wild Thing" and smile. From the ridiculous endorsements ("The American Express card: Don't steal home without it.") to the awful announcers, there's something about Major League that strikes a nerve for those of us who grew up with teams that made the World Series once a generation... if we were lucky. It tapped the lovable loser in all of us and scores a double to the right field corner.

7. GROUND RULE DOUBLE

The Rookie (2002)
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, and Brian Cox
Written by: Mike Rich
Directed by: John Lee Hancock

The Rookie deserves a ground-rule two-bagger. It would have been a triple if the ball had stayed in play. Yeah, it's that good. Featuring career-best work from Dennis Quaid (yes, I said it Innerspace fans, career-best), The Rookie is one of those sports movies that's damn near impossible not to cry when you watch it. We're comfortable enough to admit that when Jimmy Morris takes that final step off the mound and sees everyone he's ever cared about there to support him, we tear up like a little kid who just stuffed his mouth with the last bit of Play-doh. Honestly, The Rookie gets something so right that most sports movies fumble - it takes a village to make a player. The Rookie is as much about the people behind Jimmy Morris and his improbable rise to the game of baseball as anything. It's a movie that makes you want to hug everyone who ever supported you along your bumpy path of life and hope that they're there the next time you step off the mound. We're getting a little schmaltzy ourselves, but it is a baseball movie feature. What do you expect?

6. TRIPLE

61* (2001)
Starring: Thomas Jane and Barry Pepper
Written by: Hank Steinberg
Directed by: Billy Crystal

The only TV movie on the Box Score is also probably the most under-seen. If you haven't watched 61*, you really need to check it out, if just for the award-worthy work by Barry Pepper and the excellent performance from Thomas Jane. 61* had a fascinating tagline that really cuts to the heart of the movie - "Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Why did America have room in its heart for only one?" 61* is not only a brilliantly made baseball flick - the game itself has rarely been recreated more dramatically - but cuts to the heart of one of the most interesting stories in the history of the game. 61* brings that all-important variable into the baseball equation - the fan. In the summer of '61, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were on pace to break the coveted record set by Babe Ruth - single-season home runs. Mantle was an American hero. Maris was not. The way the press who write about it and the people in the stands can affect the people in the batter's box has never been more directly portrayed in film. With a great supporting cast and surprisingly assured direction by Billy Crystal, 61* is a must-see for baseball fans.

Baseball Movie Box Score: 15 Movies To Revisit This Season Page 3