Best Movies on Baseball And Baseball Players: Movies are our favorite things to entertain us, straight. There are movies based on possibly everything you can imagine and sports are no exception.
Hollywood has an unparalleled talent for capturing the poetry, drama, and beauty all sports fans know. Although there are Hollywood movies on every sport but for sure there is something cinematic about baseball. If you see Baseball as a whole, it’s perfect for storytelling.
Though it took a lot of time for Hollywood to figure out how to make good Hollywood movies about baseball and baseball players, there have been some great ones since the 1970s. Many of the Hollywood’s biggest actors have done movies on baseball and baseball players at some point of their career be it biographies of great players, real events, and the connection of the game with the American culture or fictional stories.
Most of the films in this list of Best Baseball Movies of All Time and Baseball are based on Real Life stories.
So if you like a good comeback, a lot of spitting and cussing, a final at-bat, then you are surely going to love these Hollywood movies about baseball and baseball players.
List of Best Hollywood Movies Based on Baseball
Moneyball (2011)
Can you actually form a winning baseball team with some amazing baseball players when you don’t have the payroll of the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Yankees? A former player with Billy Beane tries to discover how much he could do with his limited payroll during the 2002 season as the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics. The movie stars Brad Pitt as Beane and was a complete box office success. The movie was nominated for 6 Oscars and a ‘Best Supporting Actor’ nomination.
Bull Durham (1988)
The glory of the major leagues is totally different from the world of minor leagues. Bull Durham features Kevin Costner as Crash Davis who was an amazing catcher helps an ever more talented but younger pitcher Nuke LaLoosh acted by Tim Robbins prepare for a stint in the major leagues. But a love triangle starts between the two and Susan Sarandon who played the role of Annie who was a baseball groupie and tries to prepare LaLoosh in her own way. The movie was nominated for a ‘Best Original Screenplay’ Oscar and It is one of the Best American films about Baseball or life of baseball Player.
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (1998)
The 1998 documentary movie written, produced and directed by Aviva Kempner. It’s about first baseman Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers the Hall of Fame. Hank was the major Jewish baseball player in the major leagues who chose to not play in 1934 on Yom Kippur. He almost broke the 60 home run record of Babe Ruth in 1938 by hitting 50 home runs. But just like most of the players’ career, his career was also interrupted by military service.
The Bad News Bears (1976)
The movie features Walter Matthau as an alcoholic who is hired to train a team of the worst Little League players in Southern California. The young players who have absolutely no skills playing with Matthau are something amusing as he tries to bring the team together. A TV series and two sequels were followed but none of them were as endearing and hilarious as the original one.
Also Read: All Time Best Hollywood Films on Sports
The Pride of Yankees (1942)
One of the most heartbreaking stories in the world of baseball was the early death of the greatest players Lou Gehrig. And a year later after the death of this legend the biopic of the great Yankees first baseman was released by RKO Pictures. The Pride of the Yankees starring Gary Cooper as Lou is one of best pre-1970s movies and chronicles Lou’s rise from studious student to baseball powerhouse until his body begins to fail him. The movie features Babe Ruth, baseball’s biggest icon playing. The Pride of the Yankees considered as one of the Best Baseball Movies of all Time.
Also Read: Best Hollywood Biopic Movies of All Time
Eight Men Out (1988)
The movie featured Christopher Lloyd, John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, Michael Rooker, David Strathairn, and other very well known actors depicted the story of the not so popular ‘Black Sox’ scandal of the 1919 World Series nearly derailed and shook baseball. The members of the Chicago White Sox who were heavily favored in the World Series were fed up with owner Charles Comiskey’s greed, and gambled to intentionally lose the game. Although the movie directed and written by John Sayles, was not a box office success, still it was critically acclaimed for fairly depicting the players’ disgust with team management. It’s considered as one of the worst sports scandals in American sports.
Field of Dreams (1989)
As you can guess by the name of the movie it’s about the dreams a man used to have that asks him to build a baseball field on his Iowa farm. Once he listens to his dreams and builds it, the ghosts of the baseball’s past come to the scene. Kevin Costner has some of the most amazing baseball movies on his part and the dialogue “If you build it, he will come” is one of the most memorable quotes in the Hollywood film history.
The Sandlot (1993)
This movie changed pickup baseball forever. The movie captured young millennial dreams of backyard glory and beyond. Scottie Smalls shifts to a new place and there he learns the game of baseball from his new friends he made there. But the twist comes when Scottie learns even more about life when he is forced to retrieve his father’s Babe Ruth signed baseball from the clutches of ‘The Beast’ living next door.
The Natural (1984)
If you see and know about baseball, you’re going to agree that it’s mythic of sports. Based on a 1952 novel the movie ‘The Natural’ totally follows the sentiments. Robert Redford who featured Roy Hobbs the mythic baseball hero who is blessed with natural talent but bad luck saddles him.
42 (2013)
The first American African to play in Major League Baseball Jackie Robinson is the biggest legends of the game. The movie tells the story of Jackie’s struggle to make history with Robinson played by Chadwick Boseman and Branch Rickey played by stars Harrison Ford, the Brooklyn Dodgers general manager.
Sugar (2008)
The movie is directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. It tells the story of Miguel Santos or Sugar played by Algenis Perez Soto. He was a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro de Macorís, who was struggling to make it to the big leagues get his family and himself out of the poverty he was facing. At the age of 19 Miguel finally gets his break when he advances to the United States’ minor league system after playing professionally in the Dominican Republic, a baseball academy. But when his play on the mound falters, Miguel begins to question his life’s ambition and dreams.
Also Read: Best Hollywood Inspirational and Motivational Movies of All Time
Million Dollar Arm (2014)
An American biographical sports drama movie of 2014 produced by Walt Disney Pictures and screenplay written by Thomas McCarthy and directed by Craig Gillespie is based on a real-life story. The movie is about two baseball pitchers Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh who were discovered by J. B. Bernstein a sports agent after winning a reality show.
Cobb (1994)
A 1994 biopic of Ty Cobb the famed baseball player the movie features Tommy Lee Jones as Cobb. The picture was well directed and written by Ron Shelton. It’s based on a novel by Al Stump. Elliot Goldenthal composed the original music score.
The Rookie (2002)
The movie shows how a man struggles outwards and inwards when he gets a second chance. The movie is based on a real-life story of Jim Morris who was Tampa Bay Ray’s pitcher. It’s the story of Jim showing how he went to pitching major league at the age when pitchers retire from being a minor league in a small Texas town. It teaches you to never give up on your dreams.
Up For Grabs (2005)
Who doesn’t remember the single-season home run record in 2001 broken by Barry Bonds?! The movie ‘Up For Grabs’ depicts the story of two men and the popular ball that took part in the humorous sad legal battles of all time. It’s a comedy morality drams movie on the dangers of myopia and greed that can creep into your life if you don’t keep yourself in check.
Your Turn!
Share, Your favorite American film based on Baseball or baseball players in the comment section. If you think some films are missing on this list then you can mention them in the comment section of this article.
