Baseball movies = happiness

(this article was published in the March 2008 issue of The Ryder)


Take yourself out to the ballgame… from the comfort of your own living room

After awards season there is a cinematic lull until summer blockbusters hit theaters in May. To keep busy, you could turn to another yearly event that is just beginning - baseball season. When March rolls around, the pro ball teams are in Spring Training to prepare for the upcoming season, and this year, I actually went to a game in Lake Buena Vista, Florida – Indians vs. Atlanta Braves!

While the weather in Florida was perfect for a ballgame, the rain in Bloomington has kept us from enjoying America’s favorite pastime out on the field. Playing baseball (or softball) is a rite of passage for many people. My parents played when they were kids and taught my siblings and I how to play catch around the time we learned how to walk (I know what you’re thinking – No, they did not force us to play, nor were they the kind of parents to coach from the sidelines). Growing up in Akron, Ohio, we cheered on the Cleveland Indians, as well as made many trips downtown to Canal Park, home of the AA Eastern League’s Akron Aeros. My mom coached my softball team for a year and both parents were up for a game of catch if asked.

My family enjoyed playing and watching baseball together, but we also watched a lot of movies. Though we all have different preferred genres, baseball movies were universally accepted in our household. Baseball movies really made an impact on me because I knew the game so well and I could really relate to the characters. If you’ve played, then maybe you also know the highs of hitting the game winning run, or the lows having a ground ball sneak past your glove and go through your legs.

So while you’re sitting at home oiling your glove waiting for the sun to come out, why don’t you watch a baseball movie? Better yet, watch several. Here’s just a few of my favorites to keep you busy while you wait for the regular season:

The Sandlot (1993)

It’s hard enough being the new kid in town, but trying to join the other neighborhood kids in a pickup game when you don’t even know how to throw or catch a ball is downright embarrassing for Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry). Smalls finally starts to get a handle on the game with the help of his newfound friends when he hits his stepfather’s baseball (signed by Babe Ruth) over the fence and into the territory of the meanest dog in town. While the boys of the sandlot spend their summer plotting how to get that ball back, they come of age and bond over watching girls at the pool, swapping stories at sleepovers and getting their first taste of chewing tobacco.

The Sandlot is a fun watch for people of all ages because it brings you back to the summers of your youth when playing ball and hanging out with your best friends was all that mattered. I remember my parents bought this DVD while my siblings and I were home from college a few years ago and the entire family sat down to watch, laughing harder than when we saw it together back in 1993. To this day, not a week goes by without someone in my family telling another Labovitz, "You’re killin’ me Smalls."

The Natural (1984)

Robert Redford stars as Roy Hobbs, an unknown older ballplayer who happens upon a losing team in the 1930s and helps them to turn their game around and become a winning ball club. Years back, a mysterious woman shot Hobbs, nearly ending his career as a pitcher on the make. Now, armed with a bat made from the wood of a tree that was struck by lightning, Hobbs proves that a mature player is still a force to be reckoned with on the field. The more he is allowed to play, Hobbs finds himself back at the top of his game, an asset to his team (the New York Knights) and an inspiration to the audience.

This film reminds me of an old-fashioned baseball card, with its muted neutral colors and baggy uniforms. It recalls a time when love of the game meant more to players than the paycheck or endorsement deals. Even though I know what’s coming, I cannot help but get excited when Roy Hobbs steps up to the plate.

The Rookie (2002)

Based on the true story of Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid), a family man and high school science teacher from Big Lake, Texas who accepts a challenge from the struggling ball team he coaches: If the team makes it to the district championship, he’ll try out for the major leagues. After facing some tough teams in their division, the Owls make it to State and Morris is obliged to go to a tryout. Like Roy Hobbs in The Natural, Jim Morris is quite a bit older than the rest of the men vying for slots on major league rosters. He’s a great pitcher and loves playing ball, but also has the reality of his life and family back home in Texas.

Ever since releasing Remember the Titans in 2000, Disney has been producing films based off of real, often overlooked, people who made an impact on sports in America and I have enjoyed them all. I saw The Rookie with my sister on opening night and it felt like we were at a ballgame with all of the energy and team spirit radiating from our fellow audience members. I know the phrase "feel-good movie" gets tossed around a lot, but that label 100% applies to The Rookie. You cannot help but feel warmth and happiness when you get to see someone else with such passion for baseball get to play the game they love and have an entire stadium cheering for them.

Field of Dreams (1989)

Ray Kinsella is farmer in Iowa with daddy issues who hears a voice ("If you build it, he will come.") which inspires him to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield. This decision upsets Ray’s brother-in-law who constantly reminds us how that would financially hurt Ray and his family. The ball field soon becomes the hangout of players past, men who walk out of the cornfield for the chance to play again, though no one can see them except for Ray’s family and reclusive writer Terence Mann (James Earl Jones). Ray’s unwavering faith in his field leads him to resolve his own feelings about how he and his dad ended things before his dad’s untimely death many years ago.

Since the film came out, thousands of people have made the pilgrimage to Dyersville, Iowa where the baseball diamond still exists among the cornfields. To be honest, the first time I saw this film, I didn’t see what the big deal was (I was a sixteen year old girl who had a perfectly fine relationship with my dad and just assumed everyone else got along with their dad too). Over the years, I have seen this film a few more times and with each viewing, I am able to see that its message about the importance of family and faith makes this film so special.

A League of Their Own (1992)

During World War II while men were oversees fighting, women were recruited to play professional baseball. This film follows fictional sisters Dottie Hinson and Kit Keller (Geena Davis and Lori Petty) from their dairy farm in Oregon to Wrigley Field in Chicago for tryouts with hundreds of other women from all over America. As the sisters and their teammates prove themselves to be athletes and not just pretty women in uniform, sibling rivalry starts to take hold. Dottie is one of the best players in the league but her plan is to stop playing after one year and start a family. Kit’s a good player who would make playing ball a career if given the chance, but she feels stuck in the shadow of her sister.

A League of Their Own is the women’s version of Field of Dreams, but instead of father issues this film deals with the bond between sisters. Like Kit, I was a pitcher and have an older sister, Sarah, who could hold her own when in the field (the star first baseman) and up to bat (the only person I know who hit the ball over the parking lot at Forest Lodge three times in one game). The first time I saw A League of Their Own after I went away to college, I cried when Kit and Dottie meet up after playing against each other because I missed Sarah - and I never cry at movies. So, while you guys have a catch with your dad after reading this article, I’m going to hug my sister.

Bull Durham (1987)

Catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) has been playing in the minor leagues for a long time. When Crash’s contract gets bought out by the Durham Bulls to help hone the skills of rookie pitcher "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), he’s pissed off that his protegee has so much potential but no respect for the game. To complicate things further, both men are attracted to Bulls fan Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) who has a rule that she only sleeps with one ball player per season. As the season wears on, Crash and Nuke lead their team through the ups and downs of the minor league and all discover that "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. Think about that for awhile."

Because writer/director Ron Shelton played ball in the Caroline league and based the script off his own experiences in the minors, the camaraderie between the teammates feels authentic and the audience really gets to know these Durham Bulls. The dialogue has been incorporated into my everyday vernacular ever since high school. When we were going to play softball games at the professional league’s stadium back in Akron, we called it "going to the show". When I felt flustered up on the mound, I summoned my inner Nuke LaLoosh and repeated to myself "Don’t think, just throw." If I ever need a pick-me-up, I slide this into my DVD player and will instantly feel better and laugh harder than the last time I watched it. What can I say – I believe in the Church of Baseball.

No one ever said Spring Training was just for athletes - there are plenty more great baseball films out there, just type "Baseball movies" into Google and you’ll have a list long enough to last you until the skies clear and you’re able to go outside. Grab some peanuts and Cracker Jacks; press "play" and Play Ball!