Vendetta’s Choices For Our Favorite Baseball Films
When baseball hits the cinema, magical things happen. Ever since baseball became America’s national pastime in the first half of the twentieth century, it has taken the silver screen by storm. Arguably the best decade for baseball films was in the ’90s with films such as The Sandlot (1993) and The League of Our Own (1992). Today the baseball-loving staff of Vendetta will compile a top-five list of our all-time favorites, in honor of baseball returning to the sports world. Without much further adieu, let the countdown of baseball films begin.
#5 Major League (1989)
Starring Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, and other hilarious actors, Major League takes a fresh and comedic take about the day-to-day adventures of a ball club. The film is laugh-out-loud funny and quotable at the same time. The premise follows a struggling Cleveland Indians team at the brink of being sold to Florida. With this in mind, they give it their best and potentially last shot for success. Players include delinquent pitcher Rickie “Wild Thing” Vaughn (Sheen), speedy outfielder Willie Mays Hayes (Snipes), and power-hitting, voodoo-loving Pedro Serrano (Dennis Haysbert).
#4 42 (2013)
The triumphant biopic about Jackie Robinson’s life stars the late Chadwick Boseman as Robinson. It is a drama in every way and shows how Robinson was treated as a black man in a white man’s game. The film also stars Harrison Ford as Dodger General Manager Branch Rickey. He was a big part of breaking the color barrier by giving Jackie the chance to play for Brooklyn. With all that’s going on now and has been going on, this film is super important to view for anyone.
#3 Rookie Of The Year (1993)
In another goofy baseball film, a 12-year-old kid named Henry Rowengartner rises quickly into fame. This is due to him breaking his arm and then suddenly able to throw a 100 mile per hour fastball once the cast comes off. He becomes a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs and a fan favorite. He leads the struggling Cubs to a playoff spot and has the best summer of his life as one of the best pitchers in the National League.
#2 The Rookie (2002)
In this biopic, Dennis Quaid stars as Jim Morris, a former pitcher who has given up on baseball in his small Texas town, since then becoming a science teacher with a wife and kids. He also coaches the school’s baseball team and discovers he may still have it as a Major Leaguer with a 96 mile per hour fastball. His life changes instantly and is able to live his dream that he was never able to accomplish as a professional baseball player. The story is wonderful and beautifully told. Well worth watching for anyone who loves the game.
#1 The Sandlot (1993)
This film is a childhood film for almost anyone you talk to who grew up in the late nineties or early 2000s. It is another movie that is oh so quotable with arguably the most memorable one being “you’re killing me smalls”. The Sandlot is about a young kid named Scotty Smalls in the sixties who moves into a new neighborhood. He befriends the local baseball kids who play at a rundown abandoned field called the Sandlot. The leader of the pack is Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez who is by far the best player of the group. The film centers around their adventures and misadventures like first kisses and getting a Babe Ruth signed ball back from “The Beast”. What’s there not to love?
Honorable Mentions: A League Of Our Own, Field Of Dreams, Bad News Bears
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