Baseball season is just around the corner, and since I didn’t get a chance to see God’s Not Dead 2 (which should have been called God’s Still Not Dead) I decided to make a top five list. These movies are all classics that most people will have seen by now. In that vein, please note that while I speak about some of these movies, specifically five and four on the list, I am going to talk about the endings, so if you haven’t seen them, stop what you are doing and rectify that error.
Honorable Mention: Baseketball
Making the honorable mention list because it is not actually a baseball movie, nor is it a basketball movie, and it definitely isn’t horse. I could watch this movie 100 times and always laugh. Basketball hits me in all the right spots and is just as funny as South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut. At the time this was the biggest-budget movie Trey Parker and Matt Stone had done, and they proved to a lot of people they were funny beyond four animated kids. Not only that, but they somehow wrangled Al Michaels and Bob Costas to call the games. How cool is that?
5) Field of Dreams
I have two eyes and a heart don’t I? I tried leaving this movie off this list; Moneyball was in its place. But I couldn’t do it. This movie is damn near iconic and if it doesn’t scream baseball then nothing does. Does this movie make sense? Not one bit. How did all the people coming to the game hear about it? Did they also have ghost advertisers? Who was going to be taking ticket money? And where was everyone going to sit? There is no doubt this farm was about to devolve into chaos. I would have wrote off Field of Dreams right there if that was all it had, but this movie has one more trick up its sleeve. An emotional gut punch that is sappy as hell but who cares because I ate it up. This movie is quintessential baseball and illustrates why the game has such a special place in so many people’s hearts.
4) Angels in the Outfield
Does this movie deserve to be above a Kevin Costner classic? Yes it does. I thought about putting Rookie of the Year on the list, if for nothing else than for Gary Busey in a borderline dramatic role and rocking a sweet 'stache. But I know I watched Angels in the Outfield way more. Another movie that doesn’t make any sense. Let’s not forget Ranch Wilder, the team’s announcer, is somehow the villain in this movie for criticizing manager Danny Glover for not taking Tony Danza out of the game after throwing over 156 pitches and loading the bases in the ninth. Trust your bullpen, Glover, and protect your lead. But as a Back to the Future fan I loved seeing Christopher Lloyd as Al, and recognizing a young Adrian Brody and Matthew McConaugey upon rewatching this movie when I was way too old to be rewatching this movie.
3) A League of Their Own
his movie is almost a perfect combination of every emotion. A League of Their Own walks the line of being sappy but I don’t think it ever crosses it. This movie has the right kind of heart that earns all its feelings. Not only that, but it gets a ton of great performances and one liners from its actors. Tom Hanks as a drunk? Yes please. Prime Geena Davis being as delightful a character as I have ever seen. And the movie reminded me how much I like seeing Rosie on screen. One of the only knocks against this movie is the song Madonna sings over the credits at the end. She was such a great character in the movie and then to go out like that. Woof.
2) Sandlot
This movie was an integral part of my childhood and it made me believe. I believed Benny “The Jet" Rodriguez was lightning fast. I believed The Beast would kill you just as soon as look at you. I believed I could get a girl just like Wendy Peffercorn. Come to think of it I did get a girl just like Wendy Peffercorn. All hail Sandlot. You have made a believer out of me for-ev-er.
1) Major League
Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn, Willie Mays Hayes, and Jake Taylor--of all the rag tag misfits out there these guys were my favorite. If I was going to buy a jersey for a fictional player in any sports movie it would be one of these guys. This movie is the perfect balance of everything great I want to see in a movie: the music, the montage, the comedy, the Yankees as the villain of the movie, ya know, the way it should be. Not only that, but it has Bob Uecker calling the game with lines that can and should be used whenever watching any baseball game.
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> Enjoy the season,or at least try, for all my Phillies and Reds readers out there.
Honorable Mention: Baseketball
Making the honorable mention list because it is not actually a baseball movie, nor is it a basketball movie, and it definitely isn’t horse. I could watch this movie 100 times and always laugh. Basketball hits me in all the right spots and is just as funny as South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut. At the time this was the biggest-budget movie Trey Parker and Matt Stone had done, and they proved to a lot of people they were funny beyond four animated kids. Not only that, but they somehow wrangled Al Michaels and Bob Costas to call the games. How cool is that?
5) Field of Dreams
I have two eyes and a heart don’t I? I tried leaving this movie off this list; Moneyball was in its place. But I couldn’t do it. This movie is damn near iconic and if it doesn’t scream baseball then nothing does. Does this movie make sense? Not one bit. How did all the people coming to the game hear about it? Did they also have ghost advertisers? Who was going to be taking ticket money? And where was everyone going to sit? There is no doubt this farm was about to devolve into chaos. I would have wrote off Field of Dreams right there if that was all it had, but this movie has one more trick up its sleeve. An emotional gut punch that is sappy as hell but who cares because I ate it up. This movie is quintessential baseball and illustrates why the game has such a special place in so many people’s hearts.
4) Angels in the Outfield
Does this movie deserve to be above a Kevin Costner classic? Yes it does. I thought about putting Rookie of the Year on the list, if for nothing else than for Gary Busey in a borderline dramatic role and rocking a sweet 'stache. But I know I watched Angels in the Outfield way more. Another movie that doesn’t make any sense. Let’s not forget Ranch Wilder, the team’s announcer, is somehow the villain in this movie for criticizing manager Danny Glover for not taking Tony Danza out of the game after throwing over 156 pitches and loading the bases in the ninth. Trust your bullpen, Glover, and protect your lead. But as a Back to the Future fan I loved seeing Christopher Lloyd as Al, and recognizing a young Adrian Brody and Matthew McConaugey upon rewatching this movie when I was way too old to be rewatching this movie.
3) A League of Their Own
his movie is almost a perfect combination of every emotion. A League of Their Own walks the line of being sappy but I don’t think it ever crosses it. This movie has the right kind of heart that earns all its feelings. Not only that, but it gets a ton of great performances and one liners from its actors. Tom Hanks as a drunk? Yes please. Prime Geena Davis being as delightful a character as I have ever seen. And the movie reminded me how much I like seeing Rosie on screen. One of the only knocks against this movie is the song Madonna sings over the credits at the end. She was such a great character in the movie and then to go out like that. Woof.
2) Sandlot
This movie was an integral part of my childhood and it made me believe. I believed Benny “The Jet" Rodriguez was lightning fast. I believed The Beast would kill you just as soon as look at you. I believed I could get a girl just like Wendy Peffercorn. Come to think of it I did get a girl just like Wendy Peffercorn. All hail Sandlot. You have made a believer out of me for-ev-er.
1) Major League
Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn, Willie Mays Hayes, and Jake Taylor--of all the rag tag misfits out there these guys were my favorite. If I was going to buy a jersey for a fictional player in any sports movie it would be one of these guys. This movie is the perfect balance of everything great I want to see in a movie: the music, the montage, the comedy, the Yankees as the villain of the movie, ya know, the way it should be. Not only that, but it has Bob Uecker calling the game with lines that can and should be used whenever watching any baseball game.
>
> Enjoy the season,or at least try, for all my Phillies and Reds readers out there.
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