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Discussion: Favorite Baseball Movie

A bunch of us softball addicts were together hanging out and decided that we should watch a baseball movie together. Some ideas were thrown out, but I am pleased to say when I told them my favorite that we watched it. My favorite is Bull Durham. I honestly do not know if this is because it has a chick flick angle to it. My favorite scene in a baseball movie is the last one in Eight Men Out that was filmed at Metro. It probably really has not that much to do with the movie or Shoeless Joe Jackson. I get in my happy place when I see parts of Metro as they were for so long. It means even more now that when the camera comes into the scene that it passes over where we had Coachie's memorial.

Anyone else want to weigh in on their favorites? It is a rainy day here; so we may not get in our games tonight.

Neck10, close the gate; get the popcorn and beer, and let's watch Fever Pitch. ;-)
Field of Dreams and The Natural
Comedy: It Happens Every Spring with Ray Milland and probably everyone's favorite: The Natural--multi-layered, lots of symbolism, and the grand finale is just the best.
don't forget For the Love OF the Game
I forgot-- The Babe Ruth Story with William Bendix, and The Jackie Robinson Story-both the original with Jackie Robinson playing himself and the newest one 42.
C'mon Man . . . The Sandlot ! ! !
"You play ball like a girl!"
BOY!!, those old movie titles you guys are naming sure brings back a lot of memories. I had forgotten several of them and bet most of our younger players never heard of.
all good, my vote goes to League of their own. Having met 4 of the original players @ World tourney @ Phoenix several years ago, they now hold a special place for me personally. Besides one of the best & most often used lines-- "there's no crying in baseball" ( softball)
"Pride of the Yankee's, The Lou Gehrig Story" starring Gary Cooper.
A couple for consideration: Bang the Drum Slowly & Major League
Hector, I was about to list two movies. "Bang the Drum Slowly" was one. You beat me to the punch; it could be considered a tearjerker, but it is an awesome movie. That was a good choice! The other movie I really enjoyed was "The Stratton Story". In case none of you have seen this movie, it was about Monty Stratton, an amputee pitcher. The movie featured James Stewart and June Allyson. I just love that pair together. I can hear her in every movie saying, "honestly". It's a classic!
Never seen the Stratton Story, have to look for that one Cognac L.
Bull Durham and Field of Dreams
When I think of Bull Durham, I always think of the term lollygaggers and laugh. I also like the quote "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Now I do have one issue with it because it never mentions running which as we get older becomes an even more important fourth factor. I joke with the guys that at (you pick the age) that you get a welcome message and are asked to pick one: running, hitting, fielding, throwing. You all pick hitting.

I do like League of their Own very much. I was fortunate enough the first year of the Brickyard (2000) to officiate games with one of the inducted girls on a team. We have never had a women's division since. That and umpiring Reggie Miller's softball games in a tournament when the NBA was on strike are probably my 2 biggest personal highlights in softball.

I have seen a lot of these other movies, and they are all very good. I still get a good laugh out of Major League. I also like The Pride of St. Louis very much. I would probably include *61 and The Rookie if I was doing a marathon watch of movies. The Fan is really good but kind of freaks me out. Field of Dreams is just sort of unspoken but always a favorite. My grandpa was from Iowa and loved baseball.

Still raining here.
CLOSE THE GATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Neck10, if John leaves that gate open more time, I am going to have to teach the shortstop how to not overthrow the first baseman.
Major League
"I should have been a farmer" "I should have seen it coming" "I'm as interested in a buck as the next guy" "losing, is a disease"

^^^^adlibbed Quotes I use in during softball, or business, to this day from The Natural.
One of my favorites, "The Rookie".............
Bull Durham is my favorite as well... but don't forget 'Fear Strikes Out'(about Jimmy Piersall) and Damn Yankees...
But many of you are too young for either of them.
BW
Thriller: The Fan

Im an hour from the Field of Dreams movie set...very pristine yet, and awesome. Informal, just show up and like kids in a playground...take your turn in the field and then hit. No admission, no one to tell you what to do..just go on the field and enjoy. Dyersville Iowa. They had Kostner and a bunch of celebs for a 25th anniversary game last year. Fantastic...just a small gift shop. A quarter century later, and people flock to it as foretold in the movie..
What about 'Damn Yankees', its a classic!
Angels in the Outfield.
Ok........are we just naming movies or is Angels In The Outfield really your favorite baseball movie?
The Perfect Game. Not my favorite ...but I watched it with my 7 year old grandson. My favorite is Field of Dreams.
Bull Durham is a very accurate movie of the minor leagues...it was a blast to watch and relive some of those things.

Sandlot was an amazing movie that took us all back to our childhood days of playing baseball with our friends.

These two are tops in my book.
The original " Bad News Bears".
@Dbax ~ Well, I did play for a team named the Angels, and I did play in the outfield. But I somewhat digress.

The original "Angels in the Outfield" involved the Pittsburgh Pirates with the ex-wife of Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh.

The other was a Disney movie probably 20 years ago. Nothing like Tony Danza, and Danny Glover teaming up in a movie. Admittedly though, teaming with Mel Gibson would have made the film too bloody.
Wayne 37, if you ever speak of a woman in a historic sense, I think it is better to mention their merits. My first marriage was bad, and I would not take kindly to someone describing me in terms of my ex husband. Perhaps you could of referenced Janet Leigh as Jamie Leigh Curtis' mother or the wonderful actress in the shower scene in Psycho.

I will have to look that movie up as I have never seen it. Of course after your mention of this accomplished actress, it made me realize that I have not watched High Anxiety in a long time. It has nothing to do with baseball, but the shower scene is also classic.

Good luck to everyone in Lansing. I probably will not get up that way this weekend although I probably should. There is always the beach and delicious lake perch to enjoy after softball.
I'm sure the original was much better than the Disney crap.
Bogie-I just got to reading this thread-wow-I lived in Cedar Falls for a year with my dad in 1971. I played baseball on the town team from Winthrop, and I know we went to Dyersville to play because we got lost on a dirt road (short cut) headed there. We stopped to ask a farmer how to get there, and his answer was-'Dyersville? You can't get there from here!". We had to back track to get there. We sure didn't play at field of dreams though. It was a field with no grass, as a lot of them were back then.
Fear Strikes Out left a lasting impression on me. So did Field of Dreams.
The Sandlot & The Natural!
Best/Worst/Only Slow pitch softball commercial film: "Beer League" (2006). Awful caricatures of the beer drinking bunch beating the arrogant top rated league team.
forgot one.. Bad News Bears!
Dear Nancy,

There always seems to be confusion between, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jamie Leigh Curtis. No offense intended to women anywhere. Oddly enough, nobody has mentioned, "A League of Their Own".

ARE YOU CRYING? THERE'S NO CRYING BASEBALL!

On a side note, Anthony Perkins who portrayed Jimmy Pierall, was also in Psycho.

Met Jimmy in the mid-seventies when he was briefly a broadcaster with the Texas Rangers.

He and Billy Martin were here at the same time. They talked about the fight they had in the Yankees clubhouse...........wow! Billy Martin in a fight!
Wayne 37, thanks. I guess when the studio changed her name to Janet Leigh that there was some hesitation because they thought that it might be confused with Vivien Leigh.

Curty and I did discuss A League of Their Own above except we both omitted the "A".
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