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Home » Baseball, The Vine

The Vine: May 14, 2008

Submitted by on May 14, 2008 – 8:21 AM129 Comments

Dear Sars,

I have read your blog for a long time, and I’ve searched the archives and I haven’t seen your estimation of the Best Baseball Movie Ever. Who better than you to make the call?

Well, my husband and I have an ongoing argument about what IS the Best Baseball Movie: Bull Durham or For Love of the Game. We recently watched both back-to-back just to make sure. My husband likes Bull Durham and I prefer For Love of the Game. My husband is a man of few words, and when I asked him for his reason (so that I can query you accurately) he said that Bull Durham has “everything in it that baseball is about.” I love the construction of For Love of the Game, as it plays out years of memories through a single “perfect game.”

Now, we both don’t like Field of Dreams and I’ve never seen The Natural, although I’ll trust my husband that both of the above movies come out ahead of Robert Redford’s movie. And neither of us are familiar with older baseball movies, so we may be missing a thing or two.

So, can you help our debate on the Best Baseball Movie (pick Bull Durham or For Love of the Game, one over the other), and if neither of those meets the title Best Baseball Movie, please recommend what does…

New member of “The Church of Baseball”

Dear New,

I don’t care for either of those, to tell you the truth; it’s baseball-fan heresy, this opinion, but I think Bull Durham is kind of annoying. …Wait, that’s not entirely accurate. I think Crash Davis is really annoying. His big speech to Annie, laying it all on the line — obnoxious. Like anyone’s sitting around all, “No, dude — artificial turf rules.” Come on. And the whole “fastballs are fascist” exchange, uch. It’s the same sort of world-weary smarming you have to put up with if you date much-older guys, like, if you’re so much more experienced and mature than I, how come you don’t date women your own age.

That said, the movie itself has good bits; the perennially underappreciated Robert Wuhl has a handful of excellent lines, and when it sticks to baseball instead of getting all Brother Crash Ignatius Explains It All For You, it’s fine.

For Love of the Game is quintessential ’90s Costner, which is to say that it takes itself very very seriously. We tend to forget that he did a bunch of good movies during the decade — JFK, A Perfect World — because of the unintentionally hilarious bombs like The Postman and Robin Hood: Prince of Dweebs, but the hallmark of all his projects from that time, well-received or not, is a post-Oscar Costner pulling a series of constipated faces, so hard is he concentrating on creating art of great portent.

FLotG marks the end of that period, fortunately, and it does have its adherents; I think it’s boring. (It does make me wonder why Kelly Preston never became a bigger star. She was so cute in Space Camp!) So, I have to give Bull Durham the edge in that face-off.

I prefer both The Natural and Field of Dreams to either of those, but it’s really a question of taste; many people consider both of those too sentimental, and I can’t disagree. Field of Dreams in particular is a love letter to baseball, the past, family, corn, and just about anything else you can name, and it’s got some overwrought speechifying for sure. But it’s my favorite baseball movie. “Want to have a catch, Dad?” kills me every time. Every damn time.

Honorable mention: Major League. Bob Uecker getting drunk in the booth! Tom Berenger follows his lady to her apartment in the bullpen cart! “Fuck you, Jobu”! During the season, it’s on cable like once a week, so if you’ve never seen it, try it; it doesn’t break any new ground, but it does what it does very well.

Just my take. The readers will no doubt have comments.

Dear Sars,

I have an etiquette/relationship question. I’ve recently (March, but it’s complex) broken up with my girlfriend of several years, and we’re going through the collecting stuff phase at the moment. I stayed in the communal house and she moved out to live with her parents, so most of her stuff is still here.

The other day I noticed that in her most recent stuff-collection visit, she’d gone through my bedside table. The little cupboard where I keep all my personal things, including the sex-related ones. When I asked her about it, she said she’d just glanced in it looking for something of hers, but she’d actually tidied it up — thrown out some things (that were still perfectly usable), stacked everything neatly in one corner, generally pawed through the whole lot.

I’m furious about this, because I’m a bit of a privacy nut. Even when we were together I didn’t like her going through my personal space. I didn’t demand a lot, just a drawer or two, but it was mine and I didn’t want her in it without permission. Now that she’s moved out and the relationship is over, I feel even more strongly about that.

My question is, is this a reasonable attitude to have? If it happens again (and it could, because she doesn’t seem to think she’s done anything wrong) should I make a big deal of it or just shrug and deal with it within myself?

Putting Locks On All The Drawers As We Speak

Dear Lock,

“Now that she’s moved out and the relationship is over,” you should both act like it — by which I mean that your home is no longer a shared one. I don’t know if you own the house jointly or what, and that may affect how hard a line you can take on this, but she doesn’t live there anymore, and as a result it’s not appropriate for her to have the same access to the space, or to your things, that she used to have. Do you see what I mean? It’s your home now, singular; if she wants to come over and pick up her things, that’s fine, and you don’t have to antagonize her for the sake of it, but it’s time for some ground rules in that regard.

To your actual question, yes, I think it’s a reasonable attitude to have, but per my comments above, if she can still come and go as she pleases, maybe it’s not a reasonable expectation — if the house is still “communal,” well, clearly that’s how she’s treating it, and you’ll have to take precautions accordingly.

As for what to do if it happens again…again, see above. Make sure it doesn’t — and I think the best way to guarantee that is either to decommunalize the house, or to speed up the process of stuff collection. If that means you move out and force her to gather up her shit, well, so be it. Y’all broke up; yes, that’s inconvenient for her if she needs to get a storage space for her furniture or whatever, but…tough.

So, no, I wouldn’t make a big deal of it; I’d set up the situation so that it can’t become a deal of any kind in future.

My mom recently passed away; it was her wish to be cremated and have her ashes spread with my father’s (who died many years ago). Surprisingly enough for my family, it’s all happening as she wanted, which is great, and we will do this privately in the next few months.

Here’s the quandary: my brother is the executor and the one handling all of the arrangements, but due to family drama, I’ve not really kept up correspondence with him (or any of my siblings) like I should. We’re not at each other’s throats, but we’re not close at all. Is it totally out of line to ask to keep some of my parents’ ashes for myself?

I’m not planning on a Keith Richards ceremony or anything disrespectful, but just want to have them together myself for a bit. Not that it makes much difference, but my father died when I was a baby, and I never got to know him or their relationship, which I’m told was terrific.

Okay — so first, is this a weird impulse, and second, is it okay to ask this of my brother, who really did all of the caretaking in mom’s last years? Or should I intellectualize/rationalize that this is just me hanging on to a physical vestige of something that no longer exists?

Trying Hard Not To Project-Manage My Grief

Dear Project,

I’m sorry for your loss.

I don’t think it’s a weird impulse; it sounds perfectly natural to me. In the absence of people we love, or after their deaths, we hold onto things, objects, talismans of them. My grandmother’s watch is one of my most prized possessions; it runs like shit (I think it misses her), but that isn’t the point. It’s something of hers, so it’s something of…her. It’s a little different with ashes, of course, because it’s the remains of the physical person, but you seem to have a solid grasp of what that is and what that is not. If you think it’ll help to spend some time with them, why not.

And by that same token, I think it’s perfectly okay to ask your brother if he’d mind saving some of the ashes aside for you. You should prepare yourself for the possibility that he’ll refuse — I don’t know what his take is on your relationship, but at times like this, resentments can come out that you don’t expect, never mind the ones you do — but it probably can’t hurt to ask. Just tell him what you’ve told me: you know he took care of everything at the end, you know he’s the executor, and you don’t want to put him to any trouble or come off like you don’t respect your parents’ wishes; after you’ve had some time with the ashes, you’ll do whatever he thinks is best with them, but you’d like to keep a little bit of them with you for a while. Give him some time to think it over, and stress that you really are just asking.

I don’t know if he’ll do it, but even if he says no, I think you should ask.

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129 Comments »

  • velvet goldmine says:

    This is hardly a thoughtful response to any of the above quandries, but…I’m a moron. I have a Vine question, but I can’t find a link or email for sending in the question? What is wrong with me? Wait! That’s not my question! I don’t want to waste a juicy tomato answer, so could you just help an idjit out, just this once? Thanks!

  • FloridaErin says:

    My husband watches For the Love of the Game every freaking time he finds it on cable and I always seem to walk in at a different part, so I’ve never seen it all the way through. He seems to love it, though, but the whole Detroit thing may be a big part of that.

    My horrible baseball movie confession? I adore The Rookie. I can’t help it. Disney cheeseball flick it is, but I love Quaid and I love baseball and I love an underdog, so there you go. My roommates and I watched it all the time in college, because we are suckers.

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    Email bunting at tomatonation dot com.

    I really liked The Rookie too. Mmm…Quaidy.

  • solaana says:

    I suppose that I’m the only smarty out there who loved Robin Hood, Prince of Awesome. He shot an arrow through Christian Slater’s hand! His Merry Men lived in an Ewok village! Alan. Freaking. Rickman. (Freaking is his real middle name, I looked it up.) But…anyway. Baseball. I love Bull Durham, but mostly for Tim Robbins. I think my favorite baseball movie is The Sandlot, but it’s not about the majors…I actually love kid’s baseball movies, like Rookie of the Year, Bad News Bears, etc. etc. etc. I feel like they more properly capture the inherent inanity of trying to hit balls that people throw at your face with a skinny old stick. And loving it.

  • bottomofthe9th says:

    A League of Their Own!!

    Has all of my favorite elements: baseball, women’s sports, feminism, family, etc. Two things I really liked about it:

    1. Dottie’s decision to leave the game to be with Bob was not treated with scorn and disdain but rather with acknowledgement of her personal choice.
    2. As someone with two sisters, I think the relationship between Dottie and Kit is spot-on. (And I’ll add, there’s no way Dottie dropped that ball on purpose: Kit would have preferred to be out than to be safe because Dottie was taking it easy on her. Dottie didn’t care as much about the game–that’s why she made a mistake in a crucial moment. IMO, she wouldn’t violate the competitive spirit of the game, and Kit wouldn’t tolerate her doing so.

    But I’ll grant that the flashback aspect was lame.

  • tixie says:

    The Sandlot – all the way…

  • SaturnCat says:

    Love “Major League”. “You may run like Mays, but you hit like shit.” Heh.

    Though, I will mention that if you watch it on cable, they G-rate some of the good lines, like the one above and also the aforementioned, “Fuck you Jobu!” Rent or Netflix, to get the full experience, I’d say.

  • sam says:

    The Natural was not only my favorite baseball movie growing up, it was one of my favorite movies, regardless of subject. I have to say though that, when I got older and discovered that (without giving too much away here) the ending of the movie is 180 degrees from the ending of the book, it lost a little something. Still love it though, and I still watch it anytime that it’s on.

    And Sars, that “wanna have a catch, dad” not only gets me every time I watch that damn movie, I started choking up, in my office, when I read your answer. But I’m usually in full blown tears by the time Burt Lancaster shows up.

    And overwrought speechifying is perfectly OK when it’s coming from James Earl Jones.

  • Kate says:

    When I saw the preview for The Rookie in the movie theater (waiting for Lord of the Rings to start) I was all Oh My God Baseball AND Dennis Quaid?? I could barely speak. And my friend leaned over to me and whispered “Merry Christmas”.

    Me, I love Bull Durham. Susan Sarandon’s speech in the beginning is a mantra to me. Because I belong to the Chruch of Baseball. I also have a soft spot for Pride of the Yankees but that may be because I am a Gehrig buff.

    I used to work for Major League Baseball years and years ago in hospitality and one year we put together a goody bag with the three best baseball movies. And since I got to help pick, they were Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and The Natural. Not that I think MLB should be looked for as an arbiter on anything but in case you cared . . .

    Man, that was a longer post than I intended. Sorry for the longwindedness.

  • lormac says:

    What about “Eight Men Out”?

  • Hollie says:

    More baseball movie confessions: Stealing Home. Love it. I know, I know, but I just do. The idea that we can make amends and thereby fix our screwed-up lives is appealing. And “Poison Ivy” is a catchy song.

    In a complete change of subjects and in an attempt to redeem myself, I’m so sorry for “Project” and the whole situation. My mom died when I was young and initially, I couldn’t let go of anything. After twenty years and about a zillion moves, I’ve weeded things down to a few knickknacks and the books that I share her love for, but it took time, so maybe “Project” might emphasize the time element. Not necessarily commit to a deadline, but make it clear that this isn’t viewed as a forever thing, just a grief thing. Even with cremation, some people are bothered by the “but they’re not all there!” aspect of splitting ashes up. And, in case of a no, be thinking of something else that might be nice to hang onto – not necessarily something of great value monetarily, but of sentimental value that would allow the sense of keeping Mom and Dad together.

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    @bottom: I like that one too, but Kit is really tough for me to take — Lori Petty’s wig is terrible, Lori Petty’s “acting” is terrible, I just wish Dottie would fuckin’ step on her and kill her already. Plus that play at the plate at the end is some Pete Rose/Ray Fosse bullshit.

    But aside from Kit (and the ending, which is mawkish), I like that movie a lot. Rosie is pretty bearable, and Tom Hanks is historically unappreciated in it, too. His speech to Dottie as she’s leaving with Bob is wonderful. “Hard is what makes it great.” You can really see Jimmy Dugan regretting all the years he lost to alcohol and telling Dottie not to give up something she loves if she can help it.

  • Kay says:

    i will formally cast my ballot for Eight Men Out. Love it. Meh, I’m from Chicago, born into a Sox/Bears/Bulls-obsessed family, so maybe I’m just a liiiiiittle bit biased. ;)

  • Sandman says:

    “But it’s my favorite baseball movie. “Want to have a catch, Dad?” kills me every time. Every damn time.”

    Oh, god, how could it not? If this line doesn’t get you at least a little choked up, your heart’s made of tin. I agree that some of the speeches are overwrought; I mean, I love James Earl Jones, I do. But I usually fast-forward through the “People will come, Ray…” speech. Timothy Busfield’s line about “Where did the baseball field come from?” pulls the scene out of the fire for me. But that last scene? No kidding: Every. Damn. Time.

    Also, can I just say that I love how Robin Hood: Prince of Dweebs has almost completely supplanted the actual name of that movie?

  • Ausim says:

    Oh my goodness, I have absolutely no discretion when it comes to baseball movies, I love them all. I’m surprised that there was a debate in the household between FLotG vs. Bull Durham though. I’m usually ridiculed mercilessly when I admit liking that movie. I’m so glad that I’m not the only one out there! I’ll hold my head high from now on. My favorite of all time though has got to be Major League, not only for the comedy but it gives (I think) a great perspective of the game from all sides – the fans, the sportscasters, the veterans, the rookies, the wives, etc.

  • Ausim says:

    …”that movie” being FLotG…

  • True says:

    Major League! It’s one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies. If I find it on cable, I just can’t turn it off. (Like Overboard and The Hunt for Red October.) And I agree with SaturnCat above– you have to see the unsanitized and un-shortened version to truly appreciate it.

    And, yeah. I love A League Of Their Own, but I have to mute the Lori Petty parts every time.

  • Drew says:

    I gotta go with The Natural for a whole host of reasons. Movie-wise, it’s got a great score, great cinematography, very good baseball scenes (Redford’s got the best baseball movie swing), and excellent support work by Wilford Brimley and the late Richard Farnsworth.

    On a personal level, most of that movie was shot in Buffalo/Western New York, near where I grew up, I know the guy who played the carnival barker at the batting cage contest thing (actually, I used to mow his lawn), my grandparents used to go on dates at the Parkside Candy Store where Roy and Memo meet after the game at Wrigley, and the whole thing reminds me of my grandfather’s stories of going to games in the 1930s. It’s romanticized, yes, but that era of baseball seems somehow like it’s worthy of that.

    I’ll give honorable mention to both A League of Their Own and Major League (which was on Comedy Centeral this past weekend). Uecker is hands down the best part, but one reason you forgot to mention about why Major League is great, Sars, is that the basic cable broadcasts feature some of the most unintentionally hilarious overdubs on the swearing this side of The Breakfast Club. You can’t beat the scene towards the end where Corbin Bernsen’s mouth is totally “motherfucker” while someone who is most definitely not Bernsen says “guy.” Hee hee.

  • GT says:

    What about Pride of the Yankees? I am not a huge baseball fan, but I watched it a few years ago and it is quite well done. The only ridiculous part is watching Gary Cooper try to play an first year university student.

  • wiscck says:

    I have to go with Major League. Though, I’m from Milwaukee and Bob Uecker and County Stadium (where the movie was shot) were an integral part of my childhood. Hell, Uecker still is, since Brewers baseball is ALWAYS on my parents’ television during the season. We even watched Mr. Belvedere for Uecker.

    Though not even the Milwaukee aspect will induce me to watch Mr. 3000.

  • Diane says:

    Trying,

    My father died several years ago and was cremated, and my mother gave a portion of his ashes to me, and a portion to my brother, who then divided that and scattered some at sea in Hawai’i and has saved most of the rest. My mother put a spoonful or so of dad on my grandmother’s casket when she died several months later. My portion lies in a ziplock baggie awaiting a more inspired home, but I take it up and touch it and look at the ashes’ texture and feel the weight from time to time. It doesn’t feel at all like “this is my father” – and I don’t believe he’d want it to – but the symbol is strong nonetheless. A friend of mine wears a small amount of her mother’s ashes in a very beautiful silver pendant and nobody is the wiser.

    Material observations of death are and have always been sacred to humanity, all over the world. To feel this need for a literal part of your father and mother is primal and entirely appropriate; you shouldn’t question or resist your impulses here, only treat and present them reasonably.

    Your respect and genuine feeling are clear to strangers in a letter posted online; if they aren’t even more so face-to-face, something else is in the way. Sars’ advice is right on. Ask, without pushing. This seems like something you should receive.

  • Beth says:

    Heh. I have a friend who signs every group birthday card, “Avoid the clap. -Jimmy Dugan.”

    For me it’s a toss-up between Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and The Sandlot. All great, all for different reasons. Although I’ve also seen Major League more times than I can count. And I definitely have *not* seen Major League 2 and 3 more than once.

    Yeah, I’m kind of a sucker for sports movies.

  • Nomie says:

    “There’s no CRYING in BASEBALL!”

  • nilyank says:

    It is a weird tie between The Natural, A League of their Own, and the Bad New Bears/the Bad News Bears 2 Breaking Training

    ***2. As someone with two sisters, I think the relationship between Dottie and Kit is spot-on. (And I’ll add, there’s no way Dottie dropped that ball on purpose: Kit would have preferred to be out than to be safe because Dottie was taking it easy on her. Dottie didn’t care as much about the game–that’s why she made a mistake in a crucial moment. IMO, she wouldn’t violate the competitive spirit of the game, and Kit wouldn’t tolerate her doing so.

    ***

    I disagree. Dottie was super-super competitive but in that instance Kit wanted it more, and that is why she won the game. I love that aspect of the film because we saw how great Dottie was but her team did not win the big game.

    League is also one of the only films that I loved Madonna in it.

  • EMR says:

    Major League: great stuff. Granted, I’m a Cleveland fan. When this movie was released, it was as close as my team had come to a winning season in my lifetime. Now that the decrepit Municipal Stadium is long gone and the skyline has changed and the team is considerably better, maybe it is just nostalgia that makes me continue to love it. That, and the awesomely bad 80s outfits worn by Rene Russo and Tom Berenger.

    Also: love Bull Durham, despite the Costner. Amen to Robert Wuhl: “Lady Kenmores suck.” That’s comedy right there.

  • Jen M. says:

    I kept a small portion of my mother’s ashes, and I’m very glad I did. My father and brother did not want to do so themselves, but had no problem with me doing it. The funeral home provided a tiny “keepsake urn” for me.

    I would agree with those who advise you to ask.

  • Lori says:

    Gotta love A League of Their Own. “Are you crying? There’s no crying in baseball!”

    But my vote would be for the greatest baseball-themed TV ep I know: “The Unnatural,” from season 6 of The X-Files (opening tagline: “In the Big Inning”). Mulder uncovers the history of an alien who discovers baseball and plays for the Negro Leagues; the show ends with Mulder teaching Scully to bat. Funny, moving, and features a fantastic spiritual: “Come and Go With Me to That Land.” Wish I could find an MP3 of the group on the bus who sings it….

  • Sandman says:

    I will stipulate that solaana makes a valid point about the wholesale awesomeness of Alan F. Rickman (heh) and the Ewok Subdivision of Sherwood Forest.

  • A League of Their Own!!!!!! It’s _girls_ playing _BASEBALL_ (not softball, real, live BASEBALL!). I can’t express how much I wish I were them, not only because I love the WWII era music and styles, but because they get to play real BASEBALL!!! None of this Title IX “separate but equal” softball crap.

    Plus it really happened! I think that makes it the best of all.

    “There’s no crying in baseball” is one of those quotables that goes with me everywhere.

    Ok…done “sqeeeee-ing.”

  • MelanieRose says:

    @solaana: I, too, am a… well, I wouldn’t say *proud*, fan of Costner’s Robin Hood. I was a tween when it came out, and that Bryan Adams song mixed with overwraught dramatic tension and all those nifty *plans*… not to mention, adorable floppy-haired Christian Slater attempting a British accent (sometimes), while the real Brits just rolled their eyes. And, as you pointed out, Alan. Freakin. Rickman. AWESOME. Plus, with the arrows and horses and chainmail… this would explain why I’m now a RenFaire geek too.

    Best line: “Fuck me, they cleared it!” (without even an attempt at an accent)… Hee!

    At this point I’m irredeemable, so I might as well admit that I also deeply love the Josie & the Pussycats movie.

  • Annie says:

    I’m surprised nobody has brought this up yet, but March . . . wasn’t really that long ago. “His” bedside table was recently, and it sounds like for a substantial period of time, *their* bedside table — “including the sex related stuff.” Even if they both had separate bedside tables, I’d consider, in a long-long-long term relationship involving living together, that certain items become communal. I don’t know precisely what stuff he keeps in there — he could mean any number of things — but there’s a lot of supplies in “our” bedside table that I would be buying new if “he” didn’t live with me anymore. I definitely agree that it makes sense for her to schedule visits, etc., and get that stuff out of there, but I don’t agree that it’s somehow weird for her to go through what a lot of reasonable people would have considered his AND her “sex stuff.”

    And: SpaceCamp! Sometimes I feel that I am the only person on the face of the planet who even remembers that this movie exists. For a brief period when I was maybe 8, I would watch this movie every single weekend. I still have huge chunks of it sitting in my brain, fully memorized. And then I grew up, went to high school, made money at a summer job . . . and went to Space Camp.

  • Susan says:

    Bull Durham is a classic and FLOTG is underrated, but personally I don’t think anything can touch Field of Dreams. It’s the only movie that can make me cry every single time I watch it.

  • tixie says:

    @ Annie – I totally remember Space Camp and was, in fact, just discussing it with someone the other day who also remembers it… and – I also went to Space Camp in 6th grade…

    I totally didn’t even think of League of Their Own – I have problems with it, but it is completley on my TV everytime I stumble across it… That and The Rookie – love me some Quaid…

    Field of Dreams – I want to like it for so many reasons, especially James Earl Jones, but I just can’t get past the schmultz…

  • JenV says:

    Sars, your comment about your grandmother’s watch reminds me of one of my favorite poems ever, which I read on the bus as part of Seattle’s annual Poetry on Buses program. I loved it so much I read it over and over until I had it memorized. (I don’t know the legality of posting it in your comments so if you don’t think it’s kosher feel free to not approve my comment!)

    Spare Buttons (by Michael Bonacci)

    Rummaging through the drawer
    For that little parcel of spare buttons
    I found, after looking – how long?
    More than ten years – your watch,
    Its leather band still curved
    Around the memory of your wrist

  • Jen M. says:

    @Lori: Oh, yes, “The Unnatural” is a classic XF episode! “So, uh… I get this message marked ‘urgent’ on my answering service from one Fox Mantle telling me to come down to the park for a very special very early or very late birthday present. And, Mulder… I don’t see any nicely wrapped presents lying around so, what gives?” So very cute, those two.

  • Natalie says:

    I love A League of Their Own. When I was growing up, whenever my sister and I would get worked up about something my dad would bellow “There’s no crying in baseball!”

    Otherwise all the baseball movies form one supermash in my head where I’m like, “Is that the one with the old guy who throws the ball really fast at the construction site but doesn’t know because the sign is out and then he builds a field to save literacy before he sleeps with Susan Sarandon after accidentally losing the ball signed by Babe Ruth?”

  • Carrie says:

    I have to go with A League of Their Own, as well, despite every accurately-described flaw mentioned in other comments. ALOTO was the most unbelievable and perfect intersection of a LOT of actors (performers? Ok, Madonna) before they became unbearable – Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell, Madonna. Plus, Bonus! Early footage of the later-excellent Sharona from Monk!

    It also contains every awesome element of a good baseball movie- training/injury montages, road trips, Big Game Scenes (several!), historical detalia (how fun is the boarding house where the girls stay for road games? No motels for them!), internal and external conflict (Jimmy v. Dottie in a conversation where neither is talking about the same thing- he can’t know her struggle, she can’t know his), good stuff about sports as a way out of stultifying traditional roles (hate on Kit all you want, she is annoying as hell, but when she says, “I’m NOTHING here!” it gets me every single time. And when she tells Dottie she’s not going back to Oregon- also awesome.) It is a feminist trojan horse in a lot of ways. It may be a frivolous movie, but I am a sucker for it because it is truly (and regrettably) the only one of its kind.

  • Drew says:

    @ Beth – Hee hee! A League of Their Own is immensely quotable, but I’d forgotten about that one until you posted it. As Tom Hanks says, “That’s good advice.” I like the movie for being a World War II period piece as much as I do for the baseball, not to mention, as I don’t see it’s been discussed yet, that Jon Lovitz totally steals the first half-hour with his all-too-short performance.

    @ Annie – I remember Space Camp, too. Come to think of it, I think I’ve still got an old VHS copy of it lying around somewhere. Guess I’ve found tonight’s project.

  • J says:

    The Bad News Bears, 1976 version.

  • KTB says:

    A few people beat me to it, but The Sandlot is hands down my favorite baseball movie. Boys being boys, big dogs, and James Earl Jones? Can’t go wrong.

    My family pretty much collectively adores Alan Rickman and will watch anything he’s in. Multiple times. Even Robin Hood.

  • Chris says:

    In the interest of full disclosure: I am not a baseball fan. I am, however, a huge fan of baseball movies. There’s something very cinematic about baseball, the structure of the sport just lends itself perfectly to that of movies. And while I have not seen The Natural or Field of Dreams (for a movie buff, the list of movies I haven’t seen is shameful), I can say that I did like Bull Durham for what it was: a fun comedy– and I adored For Love of the Game for what it stood for: a man choosing to go out on a high note. From what I’m told, in baseball, it doesn’t get much higher than a perfect game.

    Now I’m off to put The Natural and Field of Dreams in my Netflix cue. And Major League, just for old times sake.

  • Sandman says:

    @Lori & Jen M.: “Shut up, Mulder, I’m playing baseball.”

    LOVE.

  • Margaret in CO says:

    My very own mama was in a girl’s league, (man-o-man, my mama could knock ’em out of the ballpark!) so I vote for “A League of Thier Own” also. I kept expecting Lori Petty to pull up in a tank, but being the more-inept kid sister, I liked her character. And that last bit at the reunion makes me all sniffly every time. The sad little smile on Sharona’s rotten kid’s all-grown-up face just does me in.

    @Project – if your brother says no, you might consider keeping a pinch of dirt from the area in which the ashes are scattered. I have some from Mom & Dad’s gravesite & find an odd sort of comfort in my little jar of dirt. I’m so sorry for your loss. Time does ease the grief, I promise.

  • Melody says:

    I’m currently trying to catch up on all the baseball movies I never saw growing up. Here are my verdicts:

    Bull Durham: I agree that Crash is kind of annoying (I particularly hate the “Strikeouts are fascist” line) but I sort of think he’s annoying within the conceivable bounds of the character. How much of the character was as written and how much was Costner is another issue. I did like the movie a lot overall.

    The Natural: OMG. HATED IT SO MUCH. Hated every second of it. I only watched the whole thing because I couldn’t believe I would hate a baseball movie that much. I kept thinking it would win me over but it never did. Hated Redford, who I usually like. Hated the 97-minute slow-mo at-bat at the end, hated the bizarro beginning. (WHO was the woman on the train??? Why is it never explained? The only interesting part of the movie, and it basically never comes up again except as the most annoying kind of MacGuffin.) Is it a drama? Is it a fantasy? Is it a sports movie? Is it suspense? Is it romance? Who knows? Ugh. I’m truly sorry because I know this is heresy, but I can’t help it. HATE.

    Pride of the Yankees: The best part was the “luckiest man” speech, and that wasn’t as good as the real “luckiest man” speech, so just watch that instead. (Speaking of things that make you cry every time.)

    Field of Dreams: Love it! The difference may be that this one I actually saw when I was little, so I’m biased, but I love this movie. I love them playing catch at the end. (And seriously, am I the only one who has to keep reminding herself that that isn’t Eric Bana?) I love Burt Lancaster. I love James Earl Jones. I love “Where’d all these baseball players come from?” I get chills at “There’s a man out there on your lawn.” I don’t care that Shoeless Joe batted the other way. This one IS a fantasy, and knows it’s a fantasy, and it’s perfect as a fantasy. The only thing I don’t like is the dopey book-banning scene, but that’s what fast-forward is made for.

  • Go Amie says:

    @Annie – I disagree; it was pretty clear from the letter that the cupboard was filled with *Lock’s* personal things. Not *their* personal things. Lock made this explicit.

  • tulip says:

    “But it’s my favorite baseball movie. “Want to have a catch, Dad?”

    Ok I teared up just reading that!!! I do love that movie. And I’m a KC and an Amy Madigan hater so that is saying a whole hell of a lot. :)

  • Cindi in CO says:

    “I disagree. Dottie was super-super competitive but in that instance Kit wanted it more, and that is why she won the game. I love that aspect of the film because we saw how great Dottie was but her team did not win the big game.”

    I agree with your disagreement. Dropping that ball was Dottie’s gift to Kit. Because Dottie NEVER dropped the ball.

    I love A League Of Their Own so much. For all of the reason already listed. I also really love the part where the ball goes out of bounds, and the African-American woman throws it back and smacks the shit out of the league players hand. The looks on their faces were so poignent and priceless.

    Also love the brat at the reunion saying “Mom alway said this was the most fun she ever had in her life.” Makes me cry every time.

  • Terry says:

    Field of Dreams… I lose it every time when Archie Graham crosses the line to save Costner’s daughter; seriously, I’m verklempt thinking about it now.

  • La BellaDonna says:

    I watch “Major League” every time it comes on, and I am NOT the Church of Baseball. Of course, I also watch “The Replacements” every time it comes on, too, and I’m also not the Church of Football. I think there’s every chance, though, that I am the Church of Underdog.

    And Alan Rickman for the win, every single time. I don’t care if he’s reading the phone book. I don’t care if he’s holding the phone book.

  • Jack says:

    I have seen “Major League” probably twenty times, and it still cracks me up. Nothing groundbreaking, like you said, but it hits the funny bone, with (I think) some unexpected and not overdone sentimental parts. Personally, I love watching Jake Taylor absolutely killing himself to beat out that bunt.

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