Favorite Baseball Flicks

Recently on Facebook, I listed my twenty favorite films. There were a few sports films in the mix and one baseball film specifically. See if you can guess what I feel is the best baseball film of all time as I count down my ten favorite baseball flicks.

10. Angels in the Outfield - (1994) An underrated and entertaining movie. Far-fetched for sure but fun for the kids.

9. The Naked Gun - (1988) Not a movie about baseball but the movie reaches its climax at the Big A in Anaheim as Reggie Jackson tries to assassinate the Queen Mum. Leslie Nielson as an umpire was hilarious.

8. Eight Men Out - (1988) An underrated film for sure - the true story of the 1913 Chicago "Black Sox." One of America's most notorious scandals.

7. Major League - (1989) This was the movie to see when I was in eighth grade. In the late eighties the Indians really were as bad as the movie depicted. Famous line from Bob Eucker: "Juuussst a bit outside."

6. Field of Dreams - (1988) A great tale of redemption and following your dreams with a little lesson in faith mixed in.

5. Bull Durham - (1988) Considered by some to be the best baseball movie ever. Good flick about life in the minors.

4. Sandlot - (1993) Baseball through the eyes of kids. I lived this movie as a child. Nineties pop-culture quote: "You're killin' me Smalls."

3. The Pride of the Yankees - (1942) There have been few movies in the history of American film in which the actor, in this case Gary Cooper, does a more seamless job of portraying his subject, the great Lou Gehrig. Though the movie is a classic, it's also a real downer.

2. *61 - (2001) This made for HBO movie is without doubt the best baseball movie you have never seen. It is exceptional. Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane are dead on in their portrayals of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle respectively. The film gives great insight to the struggles Roger Maris faced while chasing Babe Ruth's single-season home-run record.

1. The Natural - (1984) One of the best movies ever - baseball or not. There are two scenes in the Natural that give me goose-bumps every time I see them. The scenes where Roy Hobbs crushes the clock at Wrigley and the one where Hobbs smashes the bank of stadium lights creating a pseudo fire-work display with sparks falling all around him while he is circling the bases to score the winning run in the game against the Pirates are classic scenes from American cinema.

If I missed anything, feel free to put me in my place. I know I left some good ones off the list. Let me hear what you think.