Top Ten Baseball Movies

Spring brings with it the return of baseball. Opening day usually starts around April Fool's Day for many major league baseball teams. The warm weather draws the crowds out to spring and summer sporting events like baseball. Watching baseball movies is one way to get yourself back into the spirit of baseball season. This article will show you ten excellent baseball movies.

1. Bad News Bears (1976). Starring Walter Matthau as the coach of the team, Bad News Bears is about a children's minor league baseball team. A lawsuit in a little league prompted the bad players not to be able to play on the teams. The league agrees to let an additional team play, with the worst players, to settle the lawsuit. This team is the Bears. Imagine how much fun it is to watch Walter Matthau trying to coach some awful players into actually becoming a real child's baseball team!

2. Bad News Bears (2005). Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Bad News Bears 2005 is a remake of the 1976 Bad News Bears film. It basically has the same plot, with a team of underdogs trying to learn how to play baseball and compete with the other, better teams.

3. A League of Their Own (1992). This is a movie about the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, created during World War II when many of the men were off fighting the war. A League of Their Own has a great cast lineup, including Tom Hanks, Rosie O'Donnell, Madonna and Geena Davis. Tom Hanks states a memorable phrase in the movie, when the girls don't seem to be the tough athletes males would have been, "There's no crying in baseball!"

4. The Rookie (2002). The Rookie stars Dennis Quaid, and is about a highschool baseball coach trying out for the major leagues. He is the oldest rookie ever, but he still can pitch a mean fastball! This is definitely an underdog movie about living out your dreams, no matter how old you are! The Rookie is my favorite baseball movie.

5. Field of Dreams (1989). Kevin Costner is a farmer in Iowa. He hears a voice in his corn field tell him to build a baseball field, and he subsequently tears down his corn crop to build the field. Imaginary players come to play, all former baseball stars from years past. The drama begins when Kevin Costner realizes that by having this field, he can't pay his bills because he doesn't have his corn crop. This baseball movie really has heart.

6. Stealing Home (1988). This is a baseball movie starring Jodie Foster and Mark Harmon. The movie is about a man who is now 30 something. He used to be a great baseball player in high school, and this is when he became great friends with Jodie Foster. Now, he learns she has committed suicide. He recalls many memories of the time they spent together, as he forced to figure out what to do with her ashes. Although the main theme is about the relationship between Jodie Foster and Mark Harmon, baseball is a recurring part of the movie.

7. Bull Durham (1988). Kevin Costner stars in another baseball movie with Susan Sarandon. Bull Durham is about a minor league professional baseball team with a wild pitcher who needs the help of a more seasoned pro. Kevin Costner is the older pro who comes back to help Tim Robbins with his pitching.

8. The Natural (1984). Robert Redford and Glenn Close team up in this movie about a baseball player with a lot of natural talent. The baseball movie is about his good times and bad times playing baseball.

9. The Sandlot (1993). The Sandlot is about boys coming together to play baseball in their neighborhood. This baseball movie is about acceptance of one's peers, gaining friendships and male bonding.

10. The Sandlot (2005). The Sandlot 2005 is about a new group coming back to the same sandlot. The cool part of this movie is that now we get a girl wanting to play with the team.

What are your favorite baseball movies?