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

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