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About this blog

I've always loved baseball and when I can't watch baseball, I enjoy checking out a baseball movie. Once I realized that I've seen nearly 60 different baseball movies, I decided it's time to put down my thoughts for posterity. I will rank the films according to my taste and try to avoid labeling something as "good" or "bad" because what you mark down as a home run may be a backwards K in mind (or vice versa). From the big hits to the odd and obscure, if it's a baseball movie, I'll check it out. I hope this will help you find some new favorites and if you want my thoughts on any particular baseball film, just let me know in the comments. That being said...

Lights, camera, play ball!

 

Entries in this blog

Baseball Movies

Romanticizing Baseball - For Love of the Game (1999)

Baseball is a game of emotion. Not so much the raw energy and extremes you see in sports like football or even basketball, but a deeper, more constant flow of emotions. Remember the Twins winning it all in 1991? What a high. How about Joe Mauer donning the catcher's gear for part of his last game? We weren't sure what to feel there, but we felt it. For me personally, the day I got cut from college tryouts and realized that my baseball playing days were over was crushing. That's the overarch
Tyler Omoth

Tyler Omoth in Baseball Movies

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Baseball Movies

Major League (1989) - The Caddyshack of Baseball

How about a sports movie where a bunch of misfits are put together on one team and they somehow come together to win it all? *Yawn!* We've seen that already at least a dozen times. What if they don't band together for the love of the game or each other, but out of pure spite for their money-grubbing boss?  Now you have something. Major League! Major League came out in 1989, which is right in the golden era of baseball movies. It doesn't hang its hat on nostalgia or pure love of ba
Tyler Omoth

Tyler Omoth in Baseball Movies

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Baseball Movies

Mr. 3000 (2004)

As the Twins' season sputters to a merciful end, it seems only fitting to focus on our neighbors, the Milwaukee Brewers, who are dominating the league. I mean, what's not to love? They're named for a profession that brings many of us much joy. The very likable Christian Yelich has returned to form. Arguably their most exciting player may be a Brewer, but he's barely old enough to have a beer. Their second in the league in both steals and hits and their starting rotation is impressive.  So,
Tyler Omoth

Tyler Omoth in Baseball Movies

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Baseball Movies

The Fan (1996)

We all love baseball. If not, why are you here? But, we've all met that one person who takes things right to, or past, the edge. That person who really puts the "fanatical" in the term "fan." Many of our green and gold neighbors can attest to this. In the 1996 movie, "The Fan," we see this concept taken to extremes. I've been meaning to watch this one for quite a while, but it's been hard to find. It has less-than-stellar reviews, but let's give it a look anyway.   "The Fan" centers aroun
Baseball Movies

Game 6 (2005)

Sports fans take their game and their favorite team seriously. Too seriously more often than not. You see the passion play out in "The Sandlot," but they're kids. They'll grow out of it, right? For many of us the answer to that is, no, we won't. We will continue to put baseball and our favorite team right in the dead center of our emotional daily lives. Unfortunately, for many fans (Twins fans included) that can be an ongoing drama. And yet, we love it. 2005's "Game 6" is a flick that looks at
Baseball Movies

The Sandlot (1993)

I like baseball movies that make me feel something. It might be the thrill of a big moment like the homerun in The Natural or Wild Thing's big entrance in Major League. I might be a nostalgia for the game, itself, like any of Costner's baseball movies, really. 1993's The Sandlot makes me feel and remember the pure joy of playing baseball as a kid with a bunch of crackpot friends! There are a lot of baseball flicks that showcase a team of kids and it's essential to bring out their personalities a
Baseball Movies

You Gotta Believe (2024)

What makes a great baseball movie? Star power never hurts. A team of kids that rallies around a common cause? Sure. We've loved that before, right? Solid on-field play? Definitely a plus. Based on a true story? I'll be honest, I've never cared too much about that part, but it can lend a bit of weight to a story. Think "Moneyball" or "Eight Men Out." But, even if you put all of that together, it's not a magic recipe for a great baseball movie. The 2024 Netflix release "You Gotta Believe" has all
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Tyler Omoth in Baseball Movies

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Baseball Movies

Calvin Marshall (2009)

We all have that one friend. You know the one. He or she talks a big game, but their game can't back up their mouth. Sometimes that can drive you nuts, but darn it, they're still so lovable you decide to overlook their quirks. Besides, your buddy isn't trying to fool anyone. They actually believe it. That, in a nutshell, is Calvin Marshall.  "Calvin Marshall" is a Rudy-esque tale of a junior college kid who is a legend among his friends as a baseball star. But, the reality is that his fr
Baseball Movies

The Babe (1992)

Baseball is a game of legends. Jackie Robinson. Lou Gehrig. Nick Punto. The list goes on and on, but George Herman "Babe" Ruth is undeniably the most deified player in the history of the game. He entered baseball around the same time that the Black Sox scandal was tearing it down. Babe's larger-than-life personality and record-breaking feats on the diamond helped to heal those wounds and make him the biggest name in baseball, if not America.  "The Babe" follows Ruth's life from the da
Baseball Movies

Bull Durham (1988)

Happy Opening Day 2025! It's a day full of hope and excitement where every team not named the White Sox still has hope for a fun and successful season. It's a day I loof forward to each year like a 7-year-old looks forward to Christmas morning. And, much like other beloved holidays, Opening Day comes with honored traditions. For well over a decade, I've opened my baseball season by watching a baseball movie before the actual games get going. And, it's not just any movie, it's my favorite of all
Tyler Omoth

Tyler Omoth in Baseball Movies

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Baseball Movies

The Natural (1984)

In the pantheon of baseball movies, like most genres, there are a few examples that have reached such a legendary status that they are almost untouchable and beyond criticism. 1984's "The Natural" may be the most iconic and most revered baseball movie of all time. That being said, does it still live up to that status today? Let's take a look.   "The Natural" is the tale of Roy Hobbs, a 19-year-old kid who seems destined for baseball greatness. In a fantastic scene, the kid is challenged
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Tyler Omoth in Baseball Movies

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Baseball Movies

Angels in the Outfield (1994)

Forgive me baseball movie fans, for I may have sinned. I've gone my whole life, until tonight, without watching the 1994 remake of "Angels in the Outfield." I confess. I've avoided it for years because I feared the over-the-top cheesiness that I was sure would make it too much to stomach. I wasn't entirely wrong, but not completely right, either. Fun fact: the owner of the Angels in the film, Hank Murphy, is a cowboy-hat wearing, straight-talking fella that's loosly based on the real-life owner
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Tyler Omoth in Baseball Movies

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Baseball Movies

Long Gone (1987)

"Long Gone" is a bit of a deep-dive that I saw last year for the first time and liked it. It held up a second time. It has one of the highest ratings of all baseball movies on IMDB.com, 7.7 to Moneyball's 7.6. Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's as good or better than Moneyball, but it's definetly a hidden gem.  This is a made-for-tv movie by HBO that has a very Bull Durham feel to it. William Peterson, who has been in a bunch of CSI stuff, plays the lead, Stud Cantrell. Thi
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Tyler Omoth in Baseball Movies

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Baseball Movies

Everyone's Hero (2006)

Did you know that when Joe Dimaggio was chasing the consecutive games hit streak record in 1941, someone stole his bat? It was a Saturday double-header in the Bronx and in between games a fan managed get his mits on "Betsy Ann." This was well into the streak, so it was a pretty big deal. Luckily for Joe, his buddy and driver, Jimmy "Peanuts" Ceres, had some small-time mob connections. He spent five days looking for the bat and eventually found the culprit and "negotiated" for its return. True st
Tyler Omoth

Tyler Omoth in Baseball Movies

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Baseball Movies

Little Big League (1994)

I'll never forget my first pro baseball game. It was May 15th, 1987 and I was there with most of my sixth grade class. I was already a huge Twins fan and Kirby Puckett was far and away my favorite player. At this point, we had no idea what that season had in store for us. We were just excited to be inside the Metrodome watching Señor Smoke take the mound against the Boston Red Sox. Long story short, or at least less long, the game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning when Kirby stepped
Baseball Movies

Soul of the Game (1996)

There's a good chance you're familiar with Jackie Robinson's rise from the Negro Leagues to the Brooklyn Dodgers. You may have watched "42" or "The Jackie Robinson Story," which are both fine movies. But 1996's "Soul of the Game" walks you through the story from a different angle entirely. This underrated baseball film takes a look at Robinson's tale with less of focus on its effects on MLB and the white players around him as much as it casts a lens on his fellow Negro League players who thought
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