My Top 5 Baseball Movies

November 9th, 2023

There are way more baseball movies than I thought there were. There are a few baseball movies that are called “classics” that I’ve never seen before. I have seen a lot though, and I’m gonna list my top 5.

First I have to start with a couple of honorable mentions. Little Big League is symmetrical with the movie Rookie of the Year, as it follows the story of a 12 year old GM who was granted ownership of the Minnesota Twins after the passing of his grandfather. It follows an interesting dynamic of a young kid telling major league baseball players what to do. At first they don’t listen, then he eventually wins them over. It’s a great plot for a baseball movie and I had a hard time keeping it out of my top 5.

Another honorable mention is Hardball, the tear-jerking story featuring Keanu Reeves as the head coach of an inner-city rec team. He doesn’t wanna be there, but he doesn’t really have a choice after making previous mistakes. He goes from not caring, to buying the team the best jerseys in the league, taking them to see major leaguers play, and of course, pizza parties. He learns a lot about life from these kids and the ending will make a grown man cry. It was insanely hard to not put this in my top 5.

5: Mr. 3000

This movie is about a selfish, entitled MLB star who only cares about what’s best for himself and not his team. Stan Ross (played by the late Bernie Mac) reaches 3,000 career hits, which is basically a guaranteed ticket to the hall of fame. Immediately after the game, he retires from the league in dramatic fashion while his team is still fighting for a playoff spot. Almost 10 years later, a baseball statistician found that one of the games he played in was accounted for twice, meaning he actually finished his career with just 2,997 hits. So the 47 year old comes out of retirement in an attempt to punch his ticket to the hall of fame. This time around, he learns the importance of being a team player. This is a great plot, a great lead role in Bernie Mac, and a great execution of showing growth. This is a severely underrated baseball movie.

4: 42

The movie 42 is the story of Jackie Robinson (played by the late Chadwick Boseman) breaking the color barrier in the MLB. This follows the story of how Dodgers manager Branch Rickey (played by Harrison Ford) and Jackie Robinson navigate their way through all the hate that is bestowed upon Robinson. He faces a series of physically and emotionally violent, intense racism and is brave enough to tune out the noise and do what he loves. This is an inspiring movie that addresses real history and truly captures what we can only imagine it was like for Robinson. This movie has great roles and some of the best cinematography I have ever seen. It has earned several academy awards, deservingly so.

3: The Benchwarmers

This movie sides with the perspective of stereotypical “nerds” who just want to be involved in the game. It’s about 3 grown men who act as the voice for the freaks and geeks as they play against the best youth baseball teams in their area. It’s just them 3… a pitcher, a catcher, and one fielder. It is a hilarious film that has endless amounts of great quotes. The main message of this movie is that the game is supposed to be fun and doesn’t always have to be about who’s the best. Led by Rob Schneider, David Spade, and Jon Heder, the three men represent something bigger than themselves in this movie. I had to put it in my top 3 because it is just too funny not to.

2: Moneyball

This movie depicts the story of the Oakland A’s historic 2002 season led by GM Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), who completely reshaped the way that players are evaluated. He follows the numeric evaluation program designed by Peter Brand (Jonah Hill). The true story entails the A’s breaking the record for most consecutive wins, which came in a year that nobody thought was theirs. Pitt and Hill absolutely crushed their roles in this film. The script is fantastic, the cinematography is fantastic, and the movie is full of drama and passive humor. It’s a flawless movie. If it’s on TV, I will not change the channel, even if I’ve already seen it 20+ times.

1: Major League

I am a Cleveland fan, so if you were to call me biased for putting Major League as my #1 baseball movie, you’d be absolutely right. This movie is about a terrible Cleveland Indians team who is intentionally sabotaged by their rich owner who wants the team to be so bad that they will be forced to relocate. She signs the worst players she could find. The team is based around wild-thing pitcher Ricky Vaughn (played by Charlie Sheen) and washed up 3rd baseman Jake Taylor (played by Tom Berenger). The supporting roles of the rest of the team are outstanding as well with Roger Dorn, Willie Mays Hayes, Pedro Cerrano, and of course the cameo from Bob Uecker. The team is destined to fail but ends up winning the division after they unite against their terrible owner. This movie has it all, from hilarious dialogue and love stories to incredible nostalgia. This movie aged like fine wine and is very important to me. I loved watching it for the first time with my family. This is without a doubt my number #1.