Top Five Best Baseball Movies Ever

America's pastime has graced the silver screen on countless occasions, decade after decade. From serious films about corruption and heartache to lighthearted films about friendships and family, baseball has grown roots in Hollywood. Because of its universal appeal and deep history, patrons have spent Friday evenings with a bucket of popcorn on their laps watching Kevin Costner struggle through the minor leagues with the Durham Bulls after a brief stint in "the show". Others have rolled down to their local video store and returned to comfort and warmth of their living rooms to nestle with the kids to see Tony Danza deal with those unseen angles floating about the outfield in Anaheim.

However, while all baseball movies have their place in culture, some are simply better than others. Only a few films withstand the passing of time and remain popular stories that touch the human spirit in some form or fashion. Whether funny or dramatic, these special films go beyond the basics and make the viewer understand the game behind the game; they essentially open the door for the average person to experience the true emotionality that baseball offers on its most intimate levels.

The Top Five Baseball Movies Ever:

1."Field of Dreams" starring Kevin Costner and Amy Madigan. Possibly the best baseball drama ever made, this story of an Iowa farmer who plows his cornfields to make room for a baseball diamond captures the passion and lure of the game of baseball. After hearing voices and going on a pursuit to solve the riddles, Costner's character constructs a field of dreams in the middle of his cash crop and spends afternoons sitting in bleachers watching players who have long since passed play the game they love. Although others cannot see them, he and his little daughter believe, so much so that Costner mends the major source of his pain in his life at the film's close: he plays catch with his deceased father.

2."Bull Durham" starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins. A widely popular romantic comedy, the film tells the tale of a cocky rookie right-hander, played by Robbins, who comes to town with high hopes and even higher expectations. Yet what he receives is a stern education in not only baseball, but also in the games of love, sex, and life from a journeyman catcher, played by Costner, whose claim to fame is spending a week in the big leagues. While both struggle with their lives, an aging groupie, played by Sarandon, generates a steamy and volatile love triangle.

3."The Natural" starring Robert Redford and Robert Duvall. This sentimental drama unearths the journey of Roy Hobbs, played by Redford, as he suddenly appears on the baseball scene and rises to unexpected stardom. The aging left-handed hitter draws viewers in, and he forces them to celebrate at the movie's close when his final homerun smashes the lights high above the stadium, sending a shower of sparks onto the field below.

4."Eight Men Out" starring John Cusack and Clifton James. The hard-edged period film shows, with rigid detail, the corruption and greed that swirled around the fixed World Series of 1919. Smart and dramatic, the film educates the readers on the intricacies of the fix, and it shows the brutal and often tragic outcomes of such a disgraceful time in baseball's history.

5."Pride of the Yankees" starring Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright. This heart-wrenching drama tells the tale of Yankee legend Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse, and his battle with ALS. This highly-acclaimed film unveils the struggle Gehrig experienced while attempting to remain strong in the face of a terminal and seemingly mysterious disease. While baseball represents the film's backdrop, the story itself revolves around a human condition, one that took one of the toughest and most loved players of his generation.

Sources:
http://www.bostonbaseball.com/baseball