Our series of ranking the greatest sports movies ever has already seen us cover the 10 best gridiron movies ever. Today, we’re looking at the best baseball movies ever.
Much like American football, and frankly basketball as well, baseball feels geared towards spectacular movie-making moments; the late-innings drama, iconic characters, feel-good storylines and even the downright dramatic or controversial occurrences.
Whether these films explore baseball’s rich, extensive history or a fictional environment that loosely ties to the general emotions the sport generates, these films are all exceptional and entertaining in their own right.
To compile our list of the best baseball movies ever, we ran our eye over the rankings of some prestigious movie and sports sites and pulled together an aggregate score that formed our list. We felt this was the fairest way possible, ensuring our own personal opinions did not sway the final standings.
Best baseball movies ever, ranked 10-1
If you feel we’ve let one of your favourites out, please let us know via our social channels below!
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Honourable mentions:
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, Pride of the Yankees, Everybody Wants Some!!, The League and Sugar all fell just short of our top 10 best baseball movies ever.
10. 42, 2013
(The film’s called ‘42‘ to be clear)
Jackie Robinson was a pioneer, not only in the sport of baseball but society more broadly. Starring Harrison Ford and the late, great Chadwick Boseman as Robinson, 42 regales the story of Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League Baseball.
Not only one of the best baseball movies ever but also one of the most inspirational films ever produced.
9. The Bad News Bears, 1976 (original) & 2005 (remake)
It was too hard to split between The Bad News Bears 1976 original film and the 2005 remake. Both are equally adorned through the baseball community. The plot of the film feels quintessentially baseball; a down-on-their-luck coach tries to inspire a team of misfits to glory.
Watch it on Apple TV or Rent on Prime Video
8. The Sandlot, 1993
A certified classic. 1993’s The Sandlot follows Scotty Smalls as he embarks on a journey to make friends in his new neighbourhood through the sport of baseball. The film is loaded with iconic clips that have long remained in pop culture, even if the movie’s more than 30 years old.
Watch it on Disney or Apple TV
7. Major League, 1989
Before the controversy and before Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen starred in Major League, which chronicles the story of a baseball team owner in Cleveland constructing a horrible side in an attempt to move them to Miami.
6. Eight Men Out, 1988
Part mob movie, part baseball film, Eight Men Out tells the story of the Chicago White Sox fixing their 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. A year before he starred in Major League, Charlie Sheen reprised the role of Oscar ‘Happy’ Felsch.
5. The Natural, 1984
Robert’s Redford and Duvall star in The Natural, a film about a middle-aged man who, seemingly from obscurity, becomes one of the greatest baseball players of all time, thanks largely to a near-supernatural ability.
4. A League of Their Own, 1992
Based loosely on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, A League of Their Own explains how two sisters joined the first professional baseball and inspired its success. It’s quite a stellar cast, starring Tom Hanks before he was the biggest movie star in the world, Madonna, then one of the biggest stars on the planet.
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3. Field of Dreams, 1989
There are few better sights in sports movies than Kevin Costner anywhere near a baseball field. Whether he’s on the pitching mound or in the bleachers, there’s something about Costner’s marriage with baseball films that’s perfect. Field of Dreams encapsulates this.
If you don’t know about this film, one of the best baseball movies ever, what have you been doing?
2. Moneyball, 2011
Now, practically everyone on Earth knows the Oakland A’s. In 2010, you’d have needed to be a baseball fan to know them. By 2011, when Brad Pitt starred in Moneyball, they were arguably the most famous baseball team in the world.
Pitt is exceptional as Billy Beane, a once-prodigious baseballer trying to turn the A’s fortunes around on a shoestring budget using ‘Moneyball’ tactics of prioritising analytics and stats over the eye test, something which is now common practice in most sports.
1. Bull Durham, 1988
It’s that man Kevin Costner again. The late 1980s was a golden age for baseball films, as evidenced by the top-ranked film on our list, Bull Durham. This film is so good Sports Illustrated ranked it number one on its list of the greatest sports films ever made.
For us, it’s the best baseball movie ever made. What’re you waiting for? Watch it!
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