|

Comedy
ED, 1996. Matt LeBlanc co-stars with a baseball-playing
monkey.
SCOUT, THE, 1994. Baseball scout (Albert Brooks)
discovers a talented player (Brendan Fraser) in Mexico.
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, A, 1992. A humorous look at the
women's professional baseball league that developed during
WW2.
MR. BASEBALL, 1992. Tom Selleck plays a washed-up
baseball player trying his luck in the Japanese league.
MAJOR LEAGUE, 1989. By only signing inept players, a
ruthless owner tries to ruin her Cleveland Indians and move
the team to Florida.
* BULL DURHAM, 1988. Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) Career
minor-leaguer catcher is demoted to teach Nuke LaLoosh (Tim
Robbins) some lessons. Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), the
Carolina League madam teaches them both some lessons.
TRADING HEARTS, 1988. Raul Julia, after being cut from
spring training, meets a lady whose daughter recognizes him
from an old baseball card and is determined to get the two
together. (Video only)
THE BINGO LONG TRAVELING ALL-STARS & MOTOR KINGS,
1976. A look at pitcher Bingo Long who tries to challenge
the business and break from the 1939 Negro Leagues.
BIG LEAGUER, THE, 1953. In this corny film, a former
player runs tryout camp like a drill sergeant.
KILL THE UMPIRE, 1950. An obsessed fan turns to an
umpiring job to save his marriage, but a bad call sends the
fans after him.
IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING, 1949. A scientist-baseball fan
uses his secret solution that repels wood to join the
majors, win 38 games as a pitcher who has traditional ball
movement and win the World Series for his team.
ALIBI IKE, 1935. Rookie pitcher makes excuses for every
mistake giving him a distinctive nickname.
HOT CURVES, 1930. A baseball club signs the first Jewish
player to attract Jewish fans. He becomes a hero on and off
the field. Inspired by the New York Giants acquisition of
Andy Cohen.
Drama
PASTIME, 1991 Minor-league baseball story which mixes the
realism of "Bull Durham" and the fantasy of "The Natural."
TALENT FOR THE GAME, 1991. An ex-player becomes a scout
looking for the perfect prospect to get the California
Angel's out of their slump. (Video only)
* FIELD OF DREAMS, 1989. Kevin Costner's character hears
voices that prompt him to clear his cornfield to build a
baseball diamond. If all goes well, Shoeless Joe Jackson and
others will come to play baseball.
* NATURAL, THE, 1984. Past his apparent baseball prime,
Robert Redford's character returns to the majors, still
gifted with the bat and leads the last place New York
Knights to pennant race.
Biographies/
Documentaries
HANK AARON: CHASING THE DREAM, 1996. Oscar-nominated
documentary about Hammerin' Hank.
COBB, 1994. Tommy Lee Jones stars as the despised player
Ty Cobb.
BASEBALL, 1994. Eight-hour documentary by Ken Burns
recreates the sport's history.
BABE, THE, 1992 . John Goodman depicts Babe Ruth starting
with his early childhood abandonment by his parents.
EIGHT MEN OUT, 1988. An account of the 1919 Chicago White
Sox scandal.
* BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY, 1973. A touching account of the
relationship between a catcher with Hodgkin's Disease and
his pitcher roommate.
FEAR STRIKES OUT, 1957. Jimmy Piersall of the Boston Red
Sox is pushed by his father from boyhood to make it to the
major leagues. Piersall undergoes a mental breakdown during
a game, undergoes treatment and later returns to the Red Sox
and his father who has many regrets.
* PRIDE OF ST. LOUIS, THE, 1952. St. Louis Cardinal
pitcher Jerome Herman "Dizzy" Dean rises from poverty in the
Ozark Mountains to a career of professional baseball and
sports caster .
JACKIE ROBINSON STORY, THE, 1950. Robinson plays himself
in this account of his experience as the first black player
in the major leagues.
STRATTON STORY, THE, 1949. Pitcher Monty Stratton returns
to the majors after his leg was amputated as the result of a
hunting accident.
BABE RUTH STORY, THE, 1948. Beginning with his early
life, this enjoyable but toned-down biography skims over
Babe Ruth's extracurricular life.
IT HAPPENED IN FLATBRUSH, 1942. Haunted by an error made
in an important game, a former player is given a second
chance in the big leagues as a manager.
** PRIDE OF THE YANKEES, THE, 1942. Award-winning
biography depicting Lou Gehrig's early life and career.
Children
ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD, 1994. Remake of the 1951 movie.
This time two orphans pray for the California Angels to have
a chance at the pennant.
LITTLE BIG LEAGUE, 1994. A lucky boy is willed a position
as general manager for the Minnesota Twins.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, 1993. After an arm break, a boy finds
he has a super pitching arms that makes him a major league
commodity. He's signed and leads the team to the pennant.
SANDLOT, THE, 1993. Think Little Rascals meet baseball:
the neighborhood baseball kids lose a ball with Babe Ruth's
signature in a junkyard protected by a guard-dog.
BAD NEWS BEARS, 1976. Walter Matthau plays the
beer-drinking coach of a hopeless little league team.
SAFE AT HOME!, 1962. The team's new kid claims he knows
Micky Mantle and Roger Maris. When challenged to produce,
the determined boy meets the players at spring training,
explains the situation, is encouraged to tell the truth but
receives a surprise group invitation to spring training.
GREAT AMERICAN PASTIME, THE, 1956. A lawyer takes on the
coaching position of his son's scrappy little league team,
much like the "Bad News Bears" twenty years later.
ROOGIE'S BUMP, 1954. Think "Rookie of the Year." When
neighborhood kids won't play ball with Roogie, a ghost who
played for the Brooklyn Dodger's and was in love with the
boy's grandmother, takes pity, and endows him with a major
league arm.
ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD, 1951. When the Pittsburgh Pirates
are having such a swell season, a little girl prays to the
angel Gabriel who intervenes.
KID FROM LEFT FIELD, THE, 1953. An ex-player peanut
vendor sends strategy ideas to the manager via his batboy
son, and the kid is promoted to manager when the tips pan
out.
Musical
DAMN YANKEES, 1958. Gwen Verdon, Tab Hunter and Ray
Walston. A man makes a deal with the devil to become a great
baseball player.
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME, 1949. Frank Sinatra and
Gene Kelly headline this song and dance team who do the
vaudeville circuit during the winter and semi-pro ball
during the season.
MOONLIGHT IN HAVANA, 1942. In this sports musical, a
singer-baseball player platoons between the two careers.
However, he can only sing when he has a cold.
THEY LEARNED ABOUT WOMEN, 1930. Musical professional ball
players give up baseball to become vaudeville singers.
Thriller/
Crime
THE FAN, 1996. Robert DeNiro reuses the psycho character
from "Taxi Driver." This time he's obsessed with Wesley
Snipes, who plays a Barry Bond's-like player.
DEATH ON THE DIAMOND, 1934. St. Louis Cardinal players
are murdered and a two-time rookie target figures it all
out.
ELMER THE GREAT, 1933. Chicago Cub's home run hitter
out-powers cheating pitchers and gangsters to win the Series
against the Yankees.
**: Won an Academy Award
*: Nominated for an Academy Award
copyright 04/17/98 Nevada Outpost
http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost
|