Baseball

“I wrote 63 songs this year. They’re all about Jeter.” Just kidding. The game we love, the players we hate, and more.

Culture and Criticism

From Norman Mailer to Wendy Pepper — everything on film, TV, books, music, and snacks (shut up, raisins), plus the Girls’ Bike Club.

Donors Choose and Contests

Helping public schools, winning prizes, sending a crazy lady in a tomato costume out in public.

Stories, True and Otherwise

Monologues, travelogues, fiction, and fart humor. And hens. Don’t forget the hens.

The Vine

The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!

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.

Share!
Pin Share


Tags:        

129 Comments »

  • Marv in DC says:

    Is “The Natural” actually a “baseball movie” or is it a movie about baseball? The only reason I ask is because it seems like it is out of place with all the other baseball movies that people are talking about. Personally I think that a “baseball movie” has to have a fair to large amount of comedy in it, because baseball itself is inherently comedic. This isn’t to say that baseball can’t be incredibly dramatic or moving, but comedy is deeply ingrained in the sport. (think about the tradition of practical jokes and guys messing around in the dugout during the game) “The Natural” doesn’t really have that much comedy in it at all. I think this makes the movie weaker because it takes itself so seriously. It is almost more of a mythology of baseball. Heck, even Ken Burns documentary had more comedy in it.

  • Hollie says:

    Oh, I love The Sandlot. “We’ve been going about this all wrong. I blame myself.” That phrase has ended several arguments at our house.

    My problem with RH:PoT is less about Costner and more about that godawful “Everything I Do” song. It’s probably just post-traumatic stress that makes it seem like that was the theme of every prom while I was in high school….

  • Ausim says:

    Reading the comments, it strikes me that a lot of the comments are “I love X movie in spite of Y trait” and it is exactly the same reasoning behind someone loving baseball: I love the game in spite of the steroid scandal and I love baseball movies in spite of the overwrought speechifying

  • attica says:

    There’s a scene in Eight Men Out where David Strathairn is getting his pitching arm massaged by Maggie Renzi. I love this scene. It conveys weariness, routine, working to a common pursuit, love and partnership without talking about any of those things.

    I am a sucker for John Sayles flicks, though. I am a sucker for David Strathairn, too, so lemme toss a little love to ALOTO for his part therein as well.

    And, for me, Bull Durham shines for the mise en scene way more than for the principals’ storyline. Wuhlman, the meeting on the mound, the locker room, the bus rides – I can skip the Edith Piaf records just fine, thanks.

  • Dorrie says:

    Sars, could you put up a poll of all these baseball movies and let the readers vote?

  • Lori says:

    To all the Rickman fans: I am so with you, and yet it is hard to picture him at bat.

    Maybe as the scheming owner of the rival team?

  • El says:

    A League of Their Own – the line that gets me every time is “Can you read, honey?” I am tearing up just thinking about it now.

    @ Project – When my father was cremated, I actually asked for a small portion of his ashes, but my mother thought it was odd and nixed it. I have other things that remind me of him, but I would have like to have that keepsake as well.

  • Laura says:

    Hands down, my favorite is The Natural. For me, that whole movie has a certain glow about it…I can’t describe it. I’m sure it has something to do with my grandfather having been a baseball nut & the movie was set around the time that he would have been playing.

    And I think baseball lends itself to that kind of speechifying. I’m a sports fan in general, but baseball is just somehow Bigger than the other sports. Does that make any sense?

    Oh & I do need to thank all the other commenters for providing me with a list of movies that need to be purchased.

  • Kate says:

    I have to say, I have been enjoying reading these comments all day. Everytime I get a slow point at work, I come to this post and hit refresh. Thanks for all the great baseball movie memories.

    “That’s good advice!” Classic.

  • Paula says:

    Oooooh, yeah, a poll! I’m better at movies than I am at cheese.

  • kagoo says:

    Doesn’t anyone else love “Bang the Drum Slowly”?

  • Lori says:

    Ooh, ooh, for great baseball TV eps, besides “The Unnatural” there’s “In the Cards” from season 5 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Jake and Nog have to barter all over the station to get an ancient Babe Ruth baseball card to cheer up Jake’s dad, Captain Sisko. Great fun and a moving ending.

  • Lori says:

    Plus I seem to remember a ST:DS9 episode where Sisko fielded a baseball team against a rival station.

  • autiger23 says:

    I love all the movies folks mentioned, but Field of Dreams is not only my favorite baseball movie- it’s also my favorite movie of all time. Now, I have played softball my whole life and my Dad is a farmer in IL(read, corn and soybeans) and coached me, so I relate a whole lot more to it than I think most people do which is why it’s so dear to me. But as Sars said:

    ‘”Want to have a catch, Dad?” kills me every time. Every damn time.’

    Yes. Every time! I’ve seen the movie like 800 times- still gets me.

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    Another one that kills me every time, although it’s a basketball movie: Gene Hackman pointedly measuring the court and the nets for his team before the finals in Hoosiers. Snif!

  • Jen M. says:

    @JenV: Thanks for sharing the “Spare Buttons” poem. *That* had me tearing up. I took my mom’s watch off her wrist when we took her to the hospital for the last time, and I still have it…and the band is still curved.

  • Karen says:

    I can’t take pompous Costner, so I confess I’ve never seen “For Love of the Game.” It just looked dire from the trailers.

    To me, the contest is between “Bull Durham” and “Field of Dreams.” Now, while “Field of Dreams” KILLS me (“Want to have a catch, Dad?” Waaaaahhhhh!!!!!), “Bull Durham” is just dead-to-rights TRUE. I say this as someone who tended bar all through the 1980s in the hotel where all the teams that play the Mets and Yankees stay (the Grand Hyatt). I got to know a BUNCH of those guys, and went to a ton of games, and went out dancing with them till 4 in the morning, and let me tell you? “Bull Durham” is practically a goddam documentary.

    I also like it because while there are a couple of tin-ear moments (the big Costner speech, as well as the utterly affectless way he says “Fuck this fucking game” when he’s given his release), almost any other piece of dialogue can be used as an epigram for every moment in a given life. My friend and I are particularly partial to “Don’t think; just throw” and “Honey, we ALL deserve to wear white.” I cannot begin to tell you how many times we have used these quotes.

    But my own personal fave baseball movie of all time is and will always be “The Pride of the Yankees” which simply destroys me Every Single Time. By the time Gary Cooper gets to the “luckiest man on this earth” speech I am generally huddled in fetal position, sobbing into a pillow.

  • Jenny 2 says:

    My faves are A League of Their Own and Field of Dreams. And thanks to you people talking about them, I’m now in tears at my desk. Those movies are classics and so dear to my heart. I bawl like a baby at the end of each one even though I’ve seen them multiple times.

    “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…”
    Another Space Camper here, I went in the 5th grade. I also own the movie on dvd (found it on ebay) and watch it more than I’m willing to admit. I was fully convinced I would be an astronaut when I grew up and then high school math did me in.

  • Jenna says:

    I know it was a sort of lame t.v. movie, and that Anthony Michael Hall seems to be a weird choice for Whitey Ford, but 61* was a pretty decent.

    I’m glad to see that no one has mentioned Fever Pitch. I am a lifelong Red Sox fan and devoted Nick Hornby geek and I *hated* it. Just…bleh. If anything cheapens the ’04 WS win, its that movie.

    I liked FLotG when I saw it in the theatre. I watched it again on cable awhile back and, eh, luke warm. I really like the story structure, but other than that, flat.

    Field of Dreams kills me every, single time.

  • Caitlin says:

    I have a confession. “Wanna have a catch, dad?” I hate that line. I always have. I have never in my entire life heard someone say, “have a catch”. I’m usually about to cry during that scene, and then all of a sudden, I hear the stupid phrasing and I’m yanked right out of the moment.

  • Thomasina says:

    I thought For Love of the Game was dull, maudlin, and painfully earnest. I was shocked that it was a Sam Raimi movie, since it seemed so generic that it felt like it could have been directed by a committee of insurance salesmen and the outcome wouldn’t have been significantly different. Also, what is up with the title sounding like a grammatical error? Whenever I try to say it (which is not often), I always forget which articles to leave out and which to put in, so I end up with “For Love of Game” or sometimes just “Love. Game.”
    Costner’s problem, as others have alluded to, is that although his affect is almost terminally laconic (do he and Matthew McConaughey frequent the same head shop?), he has never learned not to take himself too seriously, so his characters rarely get through any of his movies without (at least momentarily) seeming like a tool.

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    That’s how my dad said it, always. Not once were my brother and I asked if we wanted to *play* catch; it was *a* catch, which you either had, or were up for. I would speculate that this is a regionalism, but my family doesn’t have people in Iowa.

  • Caitlin says:

    Oh, foot in mouth. I’m sorry I called the phrasing “stupid”. I just thought Costner was being crazy. I grew up in the Midwest, went to college in New York, and have lived in California and now Arizona. Just sounds unfamiliar to me. Sorry for being rude.

  • Ausim says:

    @Jenna: BAH! I’ve been holding my breath all day hoping that no one would mention Fever Pitch. I’m a lifelong Cards fan, was sitting behind home plate for Game 4, holding my breath, convinced that the partial eclipse was going to change the outcome of the game/series…I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch the movie. I’m still very bitter. Damn Red Sox.

    @Thomasina:I thought For Love of the Game was dull, maudlin, and painfully earnest.

    Check, check and check. Still can’t help loving it.

  • solaana says:

    Re: All the Sandlot love, YAY! I still use “For. Ev. Er” all the time in conversation. I am a very cool person, I will have you know. Speaking of, Prince of Dweebs – also glad to know I’m not the only one who loves this. I forgot about the scary spit-witch but yeah, Alan F. Rickman owns this movie like Johnny Depp owns the PotC movies. I mean, really – his commitment to that character is…I don’t know the word. I cannot think of it. Maybe the English language cannot encompass that much awesome. Anyway, it’s nice to see that love validated, rather than scorned. For once.

    And I cannot believe I forgot about A League of their Own. I also cannot believe I do not own it. I have to say, up until now I figured Dottie dropped the ball on purpose. I mean, really, Lori Petty was being so tiresome I figure she was like, I know I’m leaving, Kit’s staying in, and she wants it to the point where she’d be so fantastically tiresome if she didn’t win this game. Either way, that part’s pretty heartbreaking, as far as baseball movies go. But I’ve never seen Field of Dreams, The Natural, or Pride of the Yankees, or anything grown up like that. Basically just the BD, FLotG, and the kids’ baseball movies. I’ve even seen Angels in the Outfield. Which I know is sad. But you can’t say I’m not dedicated.
    Anyway, off to go educate myself.

  • rb says:

    I have to love Bull Durham for Tim Robbins alone. He is so freaking funny. Susan Sarandon is annoying in that movie too, but I do like the romance scenes. Kevin Costner I thought was hot at the time, but now I see him and think, what was I thinking?? Overall, though, I think Bull Durham really captures the feel of being a minor league fan and attending those hometown baseball games, which I grew up doing. Also, it’s good at portraying the level of stat-quoting fanaticism so many of us fall into.

    My favorite moment in the movie is when they mention the coaching opportunity in Visalia (CA) at the end. That’s my hometown and Kevin’s too, at least for part of his teen years.

  • Melody says:

    re: “have a catch”

    I believe this is a regional thing but I’m not sure what region. I seem to recall in the DVD extras for Field of Dreams (…shut up) that there was some debate about this wording. (Costner, I recall, thought it should be “play catch.”) I think it came down to a personal preference and the writer or director or somebody insisted on it since it sounded most right to them. NOT, you’ll notice, because that’s how they say it in Iowa. I’m from Minnesota and it’s never “have a catch,” it’s always “play catch.” I’d be surprised if Iowa were different.

    Maybe someone from Iowa or one of the other five people who’ve watched the DVD extras can elaborate?

  • Stormy says:

    I don’t know if I would call it the best ever, but The Sandlot deserves a place in the top 10.

  • bonnie says:

    Alan Rickmannnn… oh yes indeed.

  • Ann says:

    A League of Their Own is my favorite but that could be because I’m from Rockford, Home of the Peaches. My middle school played our football games at the same place the Peaches played and for a while I worked a couple of blocks from there. I think it is just a park now with a little sign marking it as the home of the Rockford Peaches. It has been a long time since I have been there and the area is really run down and downright scary at night.

    I’m not sure what they say in Iowa, but next door in Norhtern IL everyone I grew up with said *play* catch. The phrasing of the line didn’t bother me before but I think it will now. Thanks Caitlin :)

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    @Caitlin: NO THAT’S FINE JUST HATE MY DAD WHY DON’T YOU.

    (Hee. I’m kidding; no offense taken. I hadn’t actually thought about it before now, that my own dad only ever said “have a catch” and not “play catch” so the movie’s phrasing sounded perfectly ordinary to me.)

  • meltina says:

    Field of Dreams is a close second, but The Sandlot was my favorite. No other movie has ever taken a good natured neighborhood baseball game and turned it into an epic struggle of good vs. evil. If you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about…

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    Ready to clear out the old tear ducts? Great: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3XS2UtAlmX4

  • Deborah says:

    Major League! We totally tricked our parents into taking us to see it (they didn’t realize it was rated R), and it’s been one of my favorites ever since. I also love watching it on TV, where “up your butt, Jobu” turns into “up your bucket, Jobu.” I mean… up your bucket? What? Awesome.

  • L.H. says:

    I love that people all over the internet still say “There’s no crying in baseball!” but my favorite League of Their Own line is:

    “Well, now, I was going to send you a thank-you card, Mr. Harvey, but I wasn’t allowed anything sharp to write with.”

    I like the movie, but I always thought of it as a bit anti-feminist. When I saw it in the theater (I was 14) and they had that newsreel telling us how the team were really just a bunch of darling girls who loved cooking and keeping house, I gleefully waited for when they’d see it and get pissed about how they were being portrayed. Of course now I know it was supposed to reflect what those newsreels were actually like, but my 14-year-old righteous feminist anger was not appeased.

  • denit says:

    love The Sandlot.

    But has anyone heard of Mr. Baseball? Love that too. Partly because of the baseball, partly because it’s hilarously spot-on with all the gaijin-related faux pas. But I’m not sure if anyone who hasn’t lived in or visited Japan would get it/know it even exists.

  • Kate says:

    “Ready to clear out the old tear ducts?”
    Nooo… this is like being Rickrolled with sadness!

  • Bang the Drum Slowly is probably my favorite, even though I get kind of annoyed by all the team names. (The Yankees are the Mammoths, but the Pirates, Red Sox, Phillies, etc. are all in the film and under those names. And they either put NL teams in the AL or invented interleague.) Michael Moriarty is great in this. I must admit, however, that I nearly choked from laughter when Wiggen addressed Pearson’s father as “sir.” Because I watch way too much Law & Order.

    61* is definitely another favorite of mine. It’s in my wheelhouse (’60s baseball is a favorite subject of mine) and I’ll watch anything that’s mostly factual at least once. And I remember the Sosa/McGwire race well, since that’s about the time baseball started to become part of my life. Plus it’s funny and dramatic and all that good stuff. All of that together earns that film a spot on my shelf.

    I also love A League of Their Own. I love love LOVE Tom Hanks and David Strathairn. Funny, sad, dramatic, factual, blah blah blah. I mostly love it for the funny parts. And who doesn’t love the “there’s no crying in baseball” bit? Come on. I did a research project on the AAGPBL this semester, so some of the things in the movie bug a little, but not nearly enough to keep me from watching it again.

  • Michael says:

    @ Sars: While I agree with you that the “Strikeouts are fascist” line (Bull Durham) was weak, I thought the rest of Crash’s dialogue was perfect – especially when he calls Annie out on her bullshit. You could tell no one else had stood up to her before, and suddenly she was intrigued. (I also loved that the Oscars used “I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone” during a montage the year JFK was nominated.) I think Melody above nailed it when she said Crash is annoying within the conceivable bounds of the character. Not really a baseball movie, but Costner does a great job as a former ballplayer in The Upside of Anger – a bitter, funny film.

    My problem with Bull Durham (and I love the movie) is that Tim Robbins was totally wrong for the role. First, he was too old to play Nuke. He was almost 30 when the movie came out -and looked it. As a result, the naivete, inexperience, and overall lack of self-and-world-awareness fell flat for me. His role was too silly and not at all believable. He has since turned into a fine actor (and director), but Nuke is the reason I could not stand Tim Robbins for years.

    The Natural always felt to me like it was missing a reel from the middle of the picture. I think Barry Levinson must have felt that way also, since he added more footage to the Special Edition DVD last year.

    I think one of the best things about A League of Their Own is that you can make a strong case of either side of “Did Dottie drop the ball on purpose?” argument and the film works either way. Also, Geena Davis proved that given the right material, she could carry a film. Yeah, Hanks is great, but all of the drama in the film surrounds Davis, and she nails it. Totally holds her own with Hanks, too.

    Love both The Pride of the Yankees (due entirely to Gary Cooper – in hero/icon mode again), and Major League. SPOILER!! Major League’s bunt to win the game was probably the best plotted ending to a baseball film. No lighting array-smashing home run – just a gimpy catcher hobbling to first. My brother & I can, and do, quote Major League, A League of Their Own, & Bull Durham, as well as try to replicate Randy Newman’s The Natural score endlessly at every ballgame we attend. “Candlesticks are nice.”

    Love how Dennis Haysbert is an important, but very different part of the Major League franchise, as well as Mr. Baseball.

    I haven’t seen Robin Hood: Dances With Thieves, so I’ll stay out of that discussion.

    However, my favorite baseball movie of all time? The Bad News Bears -the original. Best thing about the movie? They lose the big game. And are poor sports about it. I’d have spoilered it, but c’mon – movie is from 1976. Just about the only baseball movie that does not end with winning the pennant. And frankly, winning the pennant not as important since 1976, either. You ever notice how none of the good/great/mediocre baseball movies have them winning the World Series – they all end with the pennant. It’d be like a skating movie that ends at the Olympic Trials.

    Lastly, @ La BellaDonna – I was an extra on the set of The Replacements for 4 weeks. For a terrible movie, it holds up surprisingly well to repeated viewings.

  • Lianne says:

    Baseball movies: A League of Their Own. For many reasons. I love that it’s real, I love how it’s feminist, I love how it acknowledges the faults from the time in both poignant and just-deal-with-it ways. It’s one of the movies I always tear up in. I’ve got a book that chronicles the women in baseball time, too.

    Re: asking to keep some ashes. I’m the executor of my grandparents’ estate — they died within 7 months of each other — and I know that I wouldn’t let anyone keep any. My reasons are to honor my grandparents’ wishes for where they wanted the physical remains of their bodies: mixed together, then half scattered in the mountains and half scattered in the ocean. That trumps everything else in my mind, because it’s the last thing you can really do for the deceased–and it’s something I strongly think should be done for the dead, not the living. If a preference isn’t known, it’s hard to call, but since Project’s mom did specify scattered with her husband’s… I personally would take that to mean all of her ashes. But I would also ask Project to think about her mother’s point of view: if it’s something her mother would likely have been okay with, then definitely ask. Having had even more contact, her brother might agree that even if he doesn’t feel quite right about it, if their mom would likely have felt it okay… and maybe handle it that way.

  • Alessandra says:

    Love Major League. It rules with the dialogue, and I credit it with turning the real Indians around, being a Cleveland fan.

    A League of Their Own is also a classic. “There’s no crying in baseball!”

    My husband loves Bull Durham. I like it, but more for Annie Savoy than anyone else.

  • Alan Swann says:

    I’ll watch just about any baseball movie — heck, any sports movie — even marvelous losers like Blue Skies Again and The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. It’s not that I don’t know the difference between the greats and the trash, just one of those “I like both steak and candy” things.

    Both The Natural and For Love of the Game are noble but flawed attempts to bring great books to the big screen. For those who haven’t yet seen FLOTG, or saw it but didn’t like it, READ THE BOOK. It’s a spare, elegant masterpiece. If you can not imagine Costner as Billy Chapel, all the better. As for The Natural, Randy Newman’s score deserved the Oscar, dammit. Until he finally won one a few years ago, I was reeeeally bitter about this.

    Best ever? Field of Dreams or Bull Durham is a tough call. BD had so much great humor and sweetness, but I think I gotta go with FoD, for all of the marvelous throat-catching moments listed above… plus Amy Madigan’s inspired defense of Terence Mann at the school meeting: “I experienced the ’60s.” “No, you had two ’50s and went straight on into the ’70s.”

    And one more reason: I saw FoD in college with a pal, the only friend I had at the time who shared my passion for baseball. After that marvelous tribute to the game, and fathers and sons, we walked back to our dorm, got our gloves and a ball, and “had a catch” for an hour, at midnight, not talking, just settling into the throw-and-catch rhythm and replaying the film in our heads. A great memory.

    Oh, and count me in among the Space Camp fans. I just KNEW that Lea Thompson could pilot them home!

  • Shellei says:

    @denit
    I remember Mr.Baseball. specifically I remember Tom Seleck in the showers/baths. I’ve never been anywhere near Japan.

  • rayvyn2k says:

    Chiming in late…

    My fav baseball movies are Major League and The Natural. I also love Bad News Bears (the original).

    *eyes glaze over* mmmmmm…Alan Rickman…

    @Project: When my dear brother died, he was cremated. My other brother, sister and I all received a portion of the ashes. What we did was find three small containers (ours was one of those small porcelain trinket boxes with the hinged lid) and we brought them to the funeral home. The director had the ashes split and sealed all the “urns” professionally. A year later Joe’s ashes were interred in a memorial garden my father built on his property…but I kept my share. I have a small shrine with the urn, our last family photo and a couple of my brother’s knick-knacks grouped together on a shelf.
    I’m very glad I have it and I encourage you to talk to your brother and make your request.

  • Canonfodder says:

    Maybe I’m remembering wrong, but in FoD, during the flashbacks of Ray with his father, don’t they live in the NY area? That might explain the *have* a catch vs. *play* catch. It always sounded awkward to my ear, but it kills just the same.

  • Sandman says:

    “Ready to clear out the old tear ducts? Great:”

    Why did I click that link? Whyyyyy?? I didn’t even make it to “Want to have a catch?” this time. I started to lose it when Shoeless Ray Liotta said “If you build it, he will come.”

    My memory of the novel is that it doesn’t bring the connection around full circle to John Kinsella. The father-son reunion is pure movie. Waah.

    I’m so glad Jimmy’s rule was never expanded to “There’s no crying at baseball movies!” Snuffle. Honk.

  • Michael says:

    @ denit – I found Mr. Baseball hilarious, having lived in Japan a 5 minute bike ride from one of the major baseball stadia. Go Hanshin Tigers!

  • Erin says:

    “Field of Dreams” is actually the biggest point of contention in my relationship with my boyfriend. He is in love with the movie, as is his father. When I finally watched it with him, I pointed out the grammatical error that I considered “have a catch” to be. At that point, he was near tearing up with emotion and was less than pleased with my comment. Needless to say, all I have to do now is say “have a catch” and he will immediately get fired up.

  • Emma says:

    @Canonfodder- that’s a good point. It definitely sounds wrong to my (southeastern South Dakota) ear, but if the dad is supposed to be from NY originally it could make sense. I had never heard that construction before and always assumed Kevin Costner was smoking crack between takes or something.

    Re: The Natural, I have never really liked the movie. It has all the right maudlininity (.. ininnitee ) to push my buttons but I get irritated every time by the slo-mo fireworks ending which completely invalidates the original climax of the book. If I had seen it before I read the book, it would probably be a different story.

    If you asked me my favorite movie featuring baseball (as distinct from ‘baseball movie’ as defined above) I would have to put my vote in for the original Angels in the Outfield. C’mon, it’s got a scrappy orphan and a curmudgeonly bacehlor! What more does any movie need?

  • Emma says:

    …and I would just like to clarify that I do actually know how to spell bachelor.

Leave a comment!

Please familiarize yourself with the Tomato Nation commenting policy before posting.
It is in the FAQ. Thanks, friend.

You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>