Greatest baseball movie of all time?

[villager]

Takin' a walk this morning, and these the first three titles were knockin' around the front lobes. By popular demand -- and general DU insight -- I also added "Bull Durham." Those of you voting "other" -- hip us to the titles, etc.!

[underpants]

1. Uh............. Bull Durham?

That is my favorite.

[VelmaD]

4. Gotta agree...Bull Durham

Only movie I ever found Costner attractive in.

[wryter2000]

2. Others

Damn Yankees
It Happens Every Spring

On edit: A League of Their Own

[shaolinmonkey]

3. What about Bull Durham?

Save for the "I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone" line...

:)

[villager]

8. Yup -- so critical, I went back and added it...

Agree about the "Lee Harvey Oswald" speech kinda throwing a damper on the proceedings...

[sus]

5. Bull Durham

[Cocoa]

Bad News Bears!

also, Fear Strikes Out.

[Whitacre D_WI]

6. Fear Strikes Out (nt)

[Streetdoc270]

7. A League of their Own

Few people even remembered the AAGBL untill this movie, plus anything with Tom Hanks in it is a good movie

[Commendatori]

9. The first "Major League."

Sorry, but I think that is one of the funniest comedies ever made. The rest of them are honestly movies that I can do without.

[northzax]

22. just a bit outside! Vaughn tried the corner and missed!

fuck the curveball, rickey, give em the heater!

[rangerfan]

24. I'm wit you.

Major League. Watch it at the beginning of every season.

[Nailzberg]

27. You telling me Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?

Hats for bats. Keep bats warm.

I love that movie. Definitly belongs on the list.

[MaineDem]

10. Fear Strikes Out

Gotta be a Red Sox movie in there. :)

Edited: I actually saw Jimmy Piersall play at Fenway but he was with the California Angels at the time.

[mac56]

11. "Bang The Drum Slowly".

The film version with Bob DeNiro and Michael Moriarty is superb. The live version from the 50s features Paul Newman in the Moriarty role, and is definitely worth a look. Read the book, too.

[Teddy_Salad]

12. Yeah...I'm biased

[Scottie72]

13. Darn I was thinking about starting a poll on this....

and you beat me to it.

With out a doubt I have to say

"The Natural" though the pick is a bit biased. I am a native Buffalo NYer. When I was around 10 yo. I remember this being filmed in Buffalo. The stadium was known as "The old rock pile". It was really cool to be able to go see Buffalo Bison games there around the time of the filming, with all the old time advertisements.

It was a sad day when they finally had to tear it down.

on edit: title of post

[dedhed]

14. "Babe"

The Babe Ruth story, with John Goodman as The Babe. Seriously, I think Goodman is one of the most under-rated actors in the business.

[villager]

20. yeah, that movie came and went...

(though first I wondered if you were adding animal flicks to the poll!) Not the greatest, but not too bad, either...

[bmbmd]

21. Almost as good as

"The Babe Ruth Story" with William Bendix. I still have hope that the Babe can recover.

[BOSSHOG]

A League of their Own

Fantastic acting. Great soundtrack. True story line. Cute plot twists. Tom Hanks. Geena Davis. Dancing Madonna. Great baseball action. And you just had to love homely Marta. Remember when her Dad said, "okay Marta now lefty" and all the boys groaned.

And one of the great lines in any Move - "There's no crying in baseball."

[Tom_Foolery]

15. The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings...

starring Billy Dee Williams.

[wysimdnwyg]

16. I can't believe you left out...

"The Pride of the Yankees".

And I'm a Red Sox fan!

[villager]

19. well, dammit, I grew up on the West Coast

plus, there's the fact I've never actually seen it!

[BringEmOn]

17. The Jackie Robinson Story

The Pride of St. Louis

[sir_captain]

18. Bang the Drum Slowly

Fear Strikes Out, and Pride of the Yankees should all be on the list

Bang the Drum Slowly is the best of the best

[Quahog]

23. Field of Dreams

Sorry, I am such a softy, that movie makes me cry every time. Everyone does a damn fine job with their roles, and that last scene where Costner recognizes his dad on the field is SO GOOD, it even survives his reading of his line ("I only knew him later, when he was worn out by the vicissitudes of this arguably meaningless existence," or whatever bullshit it was that sounded utterly unlike what would come out of someone's mouth were they faced with the ghost of their father... hello!!). That, and James Earl Jones heading out into the cornfield... man, that is just great stuff.

Also, one of the FUNNIEST exchanges in any movie ever, that concludes with the line, "Oh. Dog and a beer."

[democracyindanger]

25. The Bad News Bears

Just the first one, with Matthau.

[catmandu57]

26. Maybe not the greatest, but a good one

Rhubarb, an old screwball comedy about a yellow tabby cat inheriting a baseball team. It's well worth a look if you can find it.

[El Supremo]

28. Anybody remember 'It Happens Every Spring'?

One of the best.

[rinsd]

29. I voted for the Natural....

Maybe it's just the beauty of the period piece. Redford at his squinty finest.

Below are also some of my favorites.

Bull Durham - excellent movie though Tim Robbins is for lack of a better word horrid as a pitcher. Costner saves him looking good at the plate but good lord has there every been a suspension of disbelief as Tim Robbins as Nuke Laloosh, the fire baller who moves from A ball to the bigs.

Bang the Drum slowly - absolutely gut wrenching movie that really speaks about the cutthroat nature of the business. And Deniro looks worse at the plate than Robbins on the mound. Michael Moriarty turns in an excellent performance.

A League of their Own - great movie, stylish and comical. And the baseball action wasn't half bad either. Tom Hanks's character is one of the best sports "charicatures", taking his place alongside Mickey & Buttermaker

61 - a relatively new piece by Billy Crystal. Enjoyable(especially if you like the Yankees), a tamer Ball Four in pictures.

Bad News Bears - simply outrageous

Field of Dreams - not so much ball as bawl. But in a good way.

Major League - very funny.

Pride of the Yankees - I don't care if you have a heart of stone, Cooper's performance will rip the tears from your eyes.