Top Ten Baseball Movies

The Natural Trailer

Warner Home Video

America's passtime, the game of baseball has inspired a wealth of very remarkable films. As we begin another baseball season it is time to list some of the best of the many classic baseball pictures.
1. The Pride of the Yankees 1942. Gary Cooper is marvelous as “the luckiest man on the face of the earth” The New York outfielder “Iron Horse”, Lou Gehrig. His swing is questionable however.
2. The Natural 1984. A fabulous allegory; with Robert Redford playing an aging rookie who leads the New York Knights to victory with his magical bat “wonderboy.”

3. Field of Dreams 1989. Another mystical tale starring Kevin Costner of an attempt to give a dead ballplayer the chance to play again in an Iowa corn field. “ If you build it, he will come.”

4. A League of Their Own 1992 . Geena Davis and Tom Hanks star; based on a true story of the first women’s professional baseball league. “There is no crying in baseball.”

5. Bull Durham 1988. Susan Sarandon and Kevin Costner cavort in this highly literate story set in the southern minor leagues. Do you believe in "The church of baseball?"

6. Angels in the Outfield 1951. The inept Pittsburgh Pirates receive heavenly help. The Pirates could certainly use more divine intervention this year to avoid a record 17th losing season.

7. Bang the Drum Slowly 1973. Robert De Niro plays a dying ballplayer in this powerfully moving drama.

8. Eight Men Out 1988. Accurate account of baseball’s darkest hour, the Black Sox Scandal; “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and the Chicago White Sox throw the 1919 World Series. “Say it ain’t so, Joe.”

9. Fear Strikes Out 1957. Based on the true story of Boston Red Sox outfielder Jimmy Piersall’s battle with mental illness; wonderfully played by Anthony Perkins.

10. Major League 1989. The story of a hapless Cleveland Indian team, beautifully narrated by Bobby Uecker. “That pitch was just a bit outside.”