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Did you know that baseball is older than the movies themselves? The first baseball movies actually featured well-recognized baseball players as the stars themselves; in many ways, they were our first movie stars. “Right Off the Bat,” widely considered the first baseball flick ever made, came out in 1915, the same year as the morally loathsome but cinematically groundbreaking “The Birth of a Nation,” and it starred John “Mugsy” McGraw as himself. McGraw actually appeared in dozens of movies that decade. The film industry was trying to capture America, and nothing was more American than baseball.
In the more than 100 years since, some of the most beloved movies ever made have been about baseball. Baseball’s story is the story of our times, with heroes and villains, glory and scandal, triumph and failure, comedy and tragedy. It remains the most cinematic of our sports, because it is, at its core, about human beings and their frailties and their glories. If baseball had never existed, the movies would have had to invent it.
And now taking a page out of the film industry’s book, Major League Baseball brought “Field of Dreams” to life in Dyersville, Iowa, where the Yankees and White Sox played a game at a newly constructed, 8,000-seat ballpark near the movie site. Fans of the movie got to see the magic unfold for one night, with a baseball diamond in a corn field.
Now, when it comes to making a list of the best 25 baseball movies ever made, it’s quite the challenge. You must consider their historical importance in the annals of cinematic lore … but also, hey, it’s baseball: This is supposed to be fun. While the list may not include your favorite baseball movies, to me, these are the 25 baseball movies that best reflect what the sport is, both on screen and in the real world. Remember: There is no crying in baseball, but sometimes, there is crying in baseball movies.
The conversations on the mound. The tricks for getting out of a slump. The managerial motivational tactics. Which hand to swing with in a fight. “Bull Durham” is a movie that understands the romance and madness of baseball better than any movie ever has, and it has an all-timer cast. The only thing better than watching this movie is watching an actual baseball game. And only barely.
2. A League of Their Own (1992)
A movie that has baseball in its bones as few other movies do, and one that tells a terrific story that few people even knew about. The cast is terrific top to bottom — even Madonna is good in it! — and the movie has the good fortune of having Tom Hanks as the crusty manager just before he became the biggest movie star in the world.
3. The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Gary Cooper is an instantly iconic Lou Gehrig — people to this day still think Gehrig looked like Cooper — and don’t forget the terrific portrayal of Babe Ruth by …