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 just that. The lead character is a Red Sox fan and the time frame is, you guessed it, October 1986. 

"Game 6" centers around playwright Nicky Rogan (Michael Keaton) on the day his new, and most anticipated play, is set to open on Broadway. But, as exciting as that sounds, he's also dealing with an impending divorce, an estranged daughter, a lead actor who's losing his memory, the imminent arrival of NY's most brutal theater critic, and worst of all, the Red Sox are up 3 games to 2 in the World Series, and they could win it tonight.

Cue Crash Davis, "We are dealing with a lot of s**t!"

When the curtain rises on his latest creation, where is Nicky? At a local watering hole with a cabby and her grandson watching Game 6.

As the game progresses, the cabby, played by Lillias White, serves as a sort of guardian angel for Nicky. She points out his desire for the Red Sox to fail and even gets him to start uttering a mantra: "Life is good, people are dependable..." As the game gets to the late innings, he even starts to believe it. At this point, he's the classic Hemingway hero. He's struggled, he's doubted, and just as he's about to gain his ultimate reward, well, Buckner happens. In a fit of angst and rage, Nicky goes after Steven Schwimmer, the movie critic that he believes is about to destroy his play. What happens next is funny, poignant, and somehow believable.

The writing and dialogue in "Game 6" sound like a retrospective Broadway play. It's literary and emotional. Keaton is at his best and Robert Downey Jr. is quirky and interesting as Schwimmer, as well. The supporting cast all turn in solid performances. 

All in all, this relatively unknown baseball flick is a winner. It's light on baseball action, but the bar scene where he's watching that legendary game 6 is such a heartbeat-to-heartbeat moment, that you feel the pain. As you watch his hope build, you know what's coming and dread what's going to happen to him. "Game 6" is an ode to the suffering sports fan that hits the sweet spot that many of us can relate to on a personal level. It may not be for everybody, but this movie is definitely in my list of sleeper baseball movies to check out.

Bonus: Did you know that James Earl Jones has been in at least four baseball movies? He must have loved the game. Can you name them?

Run Time: 1 hr 27 min

Scorecard: Solid double to the gap.

Best line: Nicky Rogan: "When the Mets lose, they just lose. It's a flat feeling; there's nothing there. Now the Red Sox, now, here, we have a rich history of really fascinating ways to lose a crucial game. You know what I mean? Defeats that just keep you awake at night. They pound in your head like the hammer of fate."