Title |
Year |
Rating |
Rank |
Review |
Bull Durham | 1988 | 99 | 1 | - A beautiful comedy that captures the spirit of grown men still chasing dreams almost perfectly. |
For The Love Of The Game | 1999 | 95 | 2 | - One of the greatest baseball films of all time and extremely underrated in said genre. Kevin Costner continues his baseball film genius. |
Moneyball | 2011 | 93 | 3 | - The only downside here is Brad Pitt looks and feels nothing like the real Billy Beane. Other than that, it's one of the best sports films of our generation. |
42 | 2013 | 91 | 4 | - Out of nowhere this old-timey baseball flick lays down a wallop of a punch as it slides Jackie Robinson-style into the conversation of the better baseball movies EVER. |
Ballplayer: Pelotero | 2012 | 89 | 5 | - It's a documentary, it's a thriller, it's a drama....it's one hell of a 1-hour-17-minute ride. |
61* | 2001 | 87 | 6 | - It's a story that needed to be told. And Billy Crystal, with some big help from Tom Jane and Barry Pepper, told it beautifully. |
Eight Men Out | 1988 | 87 | 6 | - I can't help but to realize what interesting commentary this pastime period piece gives us on our modern day PED scandals. |
Field of Dreams | 1989 | 87 | 6 | - It's an epic. An epic about dreams realized, dreams deferred, and other dreams still unfulfilled. Better yet, it points to the necessity of not everyone catching their dreams. |
Fever Pitch | 2005 | 85 | 9 | - 'Fever Pitch' pretends to know what both genders want and gives them each their piece. The girl, looking for a rom-com, gets a story of a young and unstable relationship. Her male counterpart gets to enjoy a film about the highs and lows of being hopelessly devoted to sports team. |
Million Dollar Arm | 2014 | 85 | 9 | - Million Dollar Arm IS very good...for what it is. And what it is is your made-to-order modern Disney movie. Maximum inspiration and healthy goofiness, minimal pain and hurt. I look at a movie like 'Sugar' to what the tone of this movie, if told more honestly, should have been. But ever since they killed Mufasa, Disney hasn't been keen on making kids -- big and small alike -- feel bad at the theaters. |
Sugar | 2008 | 85 | 9 | - It's only a quasi-baseball movie. More than anything, it's a swan song on the varying definitions of the American Dream. |
The Rookie | 2002 | 85 | 9 | - Disney can't help but to inject its gushiness, but in between the spurts is a strong story of dreams deferred...and deferred dreams realized. |
The Stratton Story | 1949 | 85 | 9 | - The only problem with this underdog story is that it ends too soon. The synopsis tells more of Stratton's return to baseball than the film actually does. |
Major League | 1989 | 84 | 14 | - It falls victim to some of the eye-rolling hysterionics that became so prevalent during the '80's, but it's a solid baseball comedy for sure. |
Rookie of the Year | 1993 | 84 | 14 | - Shamelessly goofy, but you can't help but to love Ian Thomas Nicholas as he turns the Cubs -- and the teams they play -- upside down on their head. |
Sandlot | 1993 | 84 | 14 | - Set in the '50's, it's hard to call 'The Sandlot' a tale of nostalgia. Then again, as the movie so eloquently points out, some things just never change. |
Up for Grabs | 2004 | 84 | 14 | - 'Up For Grabs' chronicles the story of a simple issue getting blown way out of hand perfectly. Of all the stories out there about fans going too far, this one, in its own way, might just take the cake. |
Hard Ball | 2001 | 82 | 18 | - It's your typical sports flick formula. The little guys that shouldn't have overcome adversity for the assumed happy ending. |
Angels in the Outfield (1994) | 1994 | 81 | 19 | - A bit too cartoonish at times, but the film's spirit is pure. All little Joseph Gordon-Levitt wants is a family and the Angels to win. And....spoiler alert.....he gets both. What's so wrong with that? |
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg | 2000 | 80 | 20 | - A neat little biopic about the Jewish slugger who had the 'chutzpah' to ignore the 'shmucks' and play the game at the highest level. |
A League of Their Own | 1992 | 75 | 21 | - You feel like if you don't gloat over this movie, you risk being labeled a mysoginist. So I'll say this: it's good, but it could've been much, much better. |
Mr. 3000 | 2004 | 74 | 22 | - Stan Ross could easily be based on any one of a number of big name players fans love to hate. But Mr. 3000 is based on EVERY formulaic sports movie that has come before it. |
The Bad News Bears (1976) | 1976 | 73 | 23 | - Just a tad too bland to be really good. |
The Natural | 1984 | 73 | 23 | - I get it -- it's supposed to be an American folk tale of sorts -- but that doesn't mean I have to love it. |
Bad News Bears (2005) | 2005 | 71 | 25 | - It does JUST enough to make this reboot its own, but there is nothing, NOTHING I loathe more than facsimiles and, for the most part, this is what we have on our hands here. |
Mr. Baseball | 1992 | 70 | 26 | - One does not simply get over Tom Selleck cast as a fun-loving R-rated baseball player. It's only when he comes around to being semi-respectful of the cultures around him that you start to believe the character. |
Fear Strikes Out | 1957 | 60 | 27 | - It's more a story about Piersall's battle with mental illness and his relationship with his father than it is about his baseball career. Watching, you can't help but to ask yourself, "why couldn't we have both?" |
The Pride of the Yankees | 1942 | 60 | 27 | - The film says Lou Gehrig was a simple man. But in actuality, the film portrays him as just a simpleton. And that does this baseball legend no service. |
Chasing 3000 | 2010 | 59 | 29 | - Rory Culkin may have something to do with the "Home Alone" feel of this movie, but ultimately what you'll remember is Jay Karnes laughably-bad acting at the end of the movie. |
Little Big League | 1994 | 59 | 29 | - Ultimately, it's just too whacky to be taken seriously. Even with it's out-there premise, you just can't help but to get the feeling it could've been done much, much better. |
Bang the Drum Slowly | 1973 | 58 | 31 | - A classic story. A classic story of sloppy acting and poor direction ruining a film, that is. |
Damn Yankees | 1958 | 58 | 31 | - In reality, this movie could've been about an hour long. |
Trouble with the Curve | 2012 | 52 | 33 | - You'd have to be as blind as Clint Eastwood's character is and considerably deaf to believe this movie was anything more than forgettable. |
Babe, The (baseball) | 1992 | 48 | 34 | - Disney didn't have it's paws on this one, but it sure feels like it. All cheer and quark with very little of what either biopic or baseball fans would crave, 'The Babe' just simply doesn't do the "sultan of swat" justice. |
Cobb | 1994 | 46 | 35 | - A poorly-acted film based on literary pieces that have now been discredited as largely fictional makes this nothing more than a sad attempt at some baseball fan fiction. |