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 story!

"Everyone's Hero" is an animated baseball film from 2006 that is loosely (very loosely) based off of that incident. In the movie, it's Babe Ruth's bat "Darlin'," and it's a young boy named Yankee Irving who seeks her out and returns her to the Babe. This movie is loaded with familiar voices including Rob Reiner as Screwie the baseball, Whoopi Goldberg as Darlin' (Yes, the equipment talks. A lot.) Brian Dennehy as Babe Ruth as well as Ed Helms, William H. Macy, Mandy Patinkin, Forest Whitaker, Robin Williams and Richard Kind. Most notable soundtrack songs are from the lead singer from Five for Fighting, which really grounds this in it's mid-2000's release date. 

Overall, it's a moderately entertaining film. The talking bat and ball are a bit annoying, but what do you expect from a kids' movie? There is a fun little scene involving a Negro Leagues team and the plot is not too outrageous...until the end. I won't spoil it, but the ending was a bit too far fetched for me and took the whole movie down a base. If you're looking for a baseball movie to watch with younger kids, this could fit the bill. On your own, you can do better, but you could do worse, too. 

Scorecard: Single

Best line: When the Negro League team starts playing shadowball on the bus, Screwie blurts out, "What are they doing? Oh, my gosh! They're mimes. Get me out of here!" 

Run time: 1 hr 27 min

Where can you see it? You may have to rent it from a library or check out Google for freebie (though sketchy) options.