My 1-5 Hitters

My 1-5 Hitters

I apologize for taking so long to get back to this post, but I had to finish up some research, and I can only move as fast as Netflix. This will be the first of hopefully many great Top Five lists to come. Just in time for Opening Day this week, here are my Top 5 Baseball Movies of all-time.

#5 Rookie of the Year
While the premise of the movie is the most far-fetched of the Top 5, how can I not put a movie about the Cubbies on the list? The movie shows some great parts of a game at Wrigley, from riding the train to sitting in the bleachers. Directed by Daniel Stern, this one has a lot of the Home Alone team. A good family movie that has lots of laughs.

#4 Field of Dreams
Few quotes have been immortalized like “if you build it they will come.” Easily Kevin Costner’s best baseball flick (see Bull Durham if you want to be disappointed or For Love of the Game if you want a chick flick). Field of Dreams is a movie that carefully examines relationships (especially father-son) through the magic of baseball. It’s amazing how such a seemingly impossible film can engross you to the point that you no longer question the ghosts of former baseball players playing in a cornfield. Both Costner and James Earl Jones are great. The movie is more than baseball, its reconciliation, its fate and destiny. A true classic from the heartland of America.

#3 The Natural
This is a guy’s baseball movie. The film succinctly captures what often goes on in the male psyche. The desire to be someone, for people to know you. But more importantly, Roy Hobbs just wanted to play ball. Robert Redford is great and truly looks (sorry for the cliché) natural as a baseball player. Some parts of the movie are just frustrating, but that’s life, and that’s why they’re in there. You want to get out of your chair and yell at Hobbs for staying with the skank, but that’s the choice he made. As the movie says, there’s “The life we learn with and the life we live with after that.” This is a comeback story, that captures the very essence of baseball in a time before instant replay and steroids. Hobbs embodies everything that is good and pure about the sport. He’s not in it for the money, he just wants to play and give it his all.

#2 Major League I & II
So I cheated on this one a little bit. In order to get another movie on the list I clumped both of these movies together, but its my blog, my rules. These movies are among the best in sports comedies. Both are chock full of one-liners from “Are you telling me Jesus Christ can’t hit a curveball?” to “Mine were the deadest!” However, as far as one-liners, Bob Uecker steals the show. Bob not only solidifies the fact that he’s the only thing worth his pay in the Brewers franchise, but also shows some talent as an actor as he portrays the bumbling drunk sportscaster of a dying ball club. The baseball is fairly realistic and the plots are believable enough. What is more important is the common theme. Whether its Margaret Whitton trying to move to Miami or “Wild Thing” Rick Vaughn changing his image to become more marketable, the movies stick to the fact that baseball transcends money, and it makes them a must watch every season.

#1 The Sandlot
While this movie is about baseball, it is more about growing up. Just watching the kids dink around on their field reminds me of summers when my friends and I would play on our own version. Sometimes we had to steal sand from a nearby volleyball court to fill in the infield or to soak up the water, sometimes we would head over to Hampton’s Market for a Jones Soda before the second half of the double billing. But no matter what, we had a good time. That is what this movie is about. Kids growing up and having fun. The movie perfectly captures what young boys do in the summer and perfectly emphasizes the unbreakable bond that is baseball and summertime.


What all of these films capture is the transcendence of baseball, that baseball endures. Neither time, nor money, nor anything else can change baseball. It is truly America’s pastime and in many ways symbolizes what it is to live the American Dream. I know this may have gotten a little sappy, but its true. Most of these films show how baseball can bring people together. Some of my fondest memories of high school are of watching the CG baseball team. Whether it was travelling to Cathedral (shoutout to Pete and Dave G), or playing at the sandlot, or meeting up with old friends to go to a Cubs game, baseball has produced some great memories. These films capture that essence, and the excitement that is Opening Day. So fire up the grill, grab some dogs, sit back and enjoy the game. You’ll be happy you did.

Go Cubs Go!

-Nuss

What are your Top 5 baseball movies of all time?