5 Baseball Movies to Watch in Quarantine
I can’t stand sports highlights or 24-hour news coverage anymore.
As someone who transitioned to a fully-remote career at the beginning of the year, I imagined working from home would be easy. Take away the coffee shops, sports, and other recreational activities aside from outdoor walks and grocery shopping, I’ve nearly driven myself insane.
One passion I haven’t tapped into in a while is my love for film. I was so obsessed with movies for a while in high school I nearly majored in film studies instead of sports media in college. Thanks to quarantine, I’ve been able to revisit some of my favorite baseball movies, by myself and with my partner and his family.
So, in place of my disinterest in NFL free agency and my crippling depression over baseball season’s delay, here are 5 of my favorite baseball films of all time:
1. Major League (1989)
Probably the most quotable of all these films here, a movie about making the Cleveland Indians the butt of a joke in the 80s is easy enough for cheap laughs. No laughs are truly that cheap with the film packed with memorable characters and Bob Uecker.
The manipulative owner, Rachel Phelps, wants to tank the franchise so badly they relocate to Miami. Ironic in 2020 that the team from Cleveland is now a contender for the playoffs with an incredibly talented team and the team from Miami is the absolute trash of baseball.
A star-studded list of actors in the 80s appears in this film, but the standout is Charlie Sheen as Ricky Vaughn of the California Penal League. Tom Berenger as the serious Jake Taylor, Corbin Benson as the shady Roger Dorn, Wesley Snipes as Willie Mays Hayes, and the All-State guy (the original one) as Pedro Cerrano performing voodoo in the clubhouse are all great too.
The concept of the movie is winning at the owner’s expense, and the sentiment rings true in some sports today. Overall it’s a comedy for baseball fans and the most accessible for non-sports fans.
Favorite quotes:
“You may run like Hayes. but you hit like shit.”
“Just a reminder, fans, comin’ up is our “Die-hard Night” here at the stadium. Free admission to anyone who was actually alive the last time the Indians won a pennant.”
2. The Bad News Bears (1976)
If Major League had a little league team instead of an MLB franchise…
The best little league team ever to be sponsored by Chico’s Bail Bonds are all a bunch of misfits (as the cliche goes) with the exception of two recruits of manager Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau). The first one is Tatum O’Neill as Amanda, the daughter of Buttermaker’s ex-girlfriend who is in the middle of puberty and leaning towards more girly things. The other is Kelly Leak, the rebel of the town that hits like Mike Trout, in a modern context.
This movie is of its time, as (SPOILER ALERT) the Bears drink beer with their manager at the end of the film and seeing a lazy, alcoholic in charge of kids on a little league team would be questionable in film today. But, I can’t keep track of how many snooty and entitled little league teams in California I’ve come across like the Yankees in this film.
It’s funny, it’s charming, it’s quotable, and I highly recommend.
Favorite quotes:
“Hey Yankees… you can take your apology and your trophy and shove ’em straight up your ass!”
“This is for Allah. And it’s goin’ way out there, sucka.”
3. A League Of Their Own (1992)
I always find this film gets slightly forgotten in the conversation of baseball movies, and I somewhat understand why. It plays more like a chick flick rather than a straightforward sports film, and Madonna’s song at the end is a pile of easy listening garbage. The movie does move slowly as well, and there’s not a resolution at the end because the women’s baseball league will stop eventually.
But none of that is the point.
Seeing women play baseball, many of them much better than their male counterparts, was a huge deal in the 1940s. The All-American Girl’s Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was made so that some women didn’t have to stay at home and wait for their husbands or boyfriends to come home from WWII. The movie does the best at showcasing obvious sexism women faced in the 1940s and the stigma of women in sports, especially baseball, that still exists today.
Also, Tom Hanks telling me there’s no crying in baseball seems appropriate among the coronavirus chaos.
Favorite quotes:
You know the damn quote. You know it…(read above)
4. The Sandlot (1993)
For some reason, I never watched this film as a kid. Every other kid I knew who loved baseball cited this film as their favorite of all time. I saw it once at a teenager and then again last year. This movie does better with age.
Granted, nostalgia is what makes the Sandlot fun. Many kids were like a Scotty Smalls, even though we wish we were more like Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez. The cool part about baseball when you’re a kid is that anyone can play and anyone can join a team. The game is inherently fun if you don’t take it that seriously and you imagine yourself as your idols.
Seeing kids in the 1960s idolize Babe Ruth certainly presents a history lesson. Baseball 101: Know About Babe Ruth.
It does get cheesy at times towards the end, but the unforgettable scenes of Wendy Peffercorn and Squints, the carnival, the dog, Baby Ruth…the list goes on.
Favorite quotes:
“You’re killin’ me, Smalls!”
“For-ev-ver! For-ev-ver! For-ev-ver! For-ev-ver!”
5. Bull Durham (1988)
I will say, this is my least favorite out of this list. There was a period in my life (recently) where I fell out of baseball. A sport I once worshipped, I stopped caring about due to the multitude of issues with the MLB.
I don’t like characters like Annie Savoy. I’ve encountered many baseball groupies and other sports groupies in my high school and college years and I seriously don’t get the fascination with trying to hook up with athletes.
What I do enjoy about the film is the dynamic between Nuke and Crash (Tim Robbins and Kevin Costner, respectively). Baseball is in the middle of a huge generational gap right now, divisive between young and old. It’s so clear that Crash and Nuke have extremely different attitudes towards baseball, but also towards life.
Nuke is a future All-Star pitcher that has to serve his time in Class A Durham, but has his eyes set on the Major Leagues. He looks down on guys like Crash, a career minor league hitter who loves baseball like a religion (that’s the theme of the movie: baseball is a religion).
Crash, meanwhile, has seen many guys like Nuke and they frustrate him. Through Annie, both Crash and Nuke learn to grow up through baseball. It’s entertaining, and there are some great parts. It’s not my absolute favorite, but it’s a classic for a reason.
Favorite quotes:
The entire scene where Crash teaches Nuke how to do post-game interviews with cliched answers. 10/10 every time.
