Spring is often synonymous with warmer weather, rain, flowers -- it's the season of renewal. And most years, spring also brings the return of Major League Baseball. Although, for a while, even that looked iffy as the league locked out the players in December as part of a labor dispute, turning this spring into a season of anxiety for baseball fans. But good news! The lockout finally ended with the team owners and players union recently coming to an agreement. Spring training is finally underway, and baseball fans are feeling pretty good. So to help put yourself in the spirit of the season, here are 11 baseball movies we'd recommend while you for the regular season to get started.
Angels in the Outfield (1994)
The 1994 Disney production Angels in the Outfield, a remake of a 1951 film, has a simple enough premise: Roger Bomman (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a child in foster-care with an absent father, prays that the California Angels will win the pennant because his dad told him that's when they could be a family. Setting aside how messed up that is, the rest of the movie is actually a lot of fun. A team of actual Angels from Heaven, led by the head angel, Al (Christopher Lloyd), provide a boost on the field to flesh-and-blood Angels and help lift them to the pennant. Tony Danza and Danny Glover co-star, and the ending is a happy, if predictable, one.
The Bad News Bears (1976)
Walter Matthau stars in this decidedly non-politically-correct hardball classic as Morris Buttermaker, an alcoholic former player who agrees to coach a youth baseball team. His players are a bunch of misfits led by Tanner Boyle (Chris Barnes), the blonde-haired, potty-mouth shortstop who has a habit of slamming his glove to the ground in disgust. Also on the roster are "booger-eating" right fielder Timmy Lupus (Quinn Smith); stereotypically overweight catcher Engelberg (Gary Lee Cavagnaro); and Alfred (Alfred Lutter III), a stats nerd who helps Buttermaker manage the team from the bench. As you might expect, the team is awful. But thanks to the help of a hard-throwing pitcher (Tatum O'Neal), who Buttermaker recruits and is also -- gasp! -- a girl, and a motorcycle riding bad boy (Jackie Earle Haley) who has to be talked into playing, the Bears are able to turn their season around and make it to all the way to the championship game against their hated rivals, the Yankees.
The Natural (1984)
The Natural is another film that features both an old-school baseball backdrop and a supernatural twist. Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) makes a bat from the splintered wood of a tree that had been struck by lightning, nicknaming it “Wonderboy.” At age 35, Hobbs (and the bat) make a comeback with the last-place New York Knights, as he reconnects with his long-lost love, Iris (Glenn Close). The Natural features an iconic score from Randy Newman and one of the all-time greatest sports movie moments, when Hobbs hits the home run that shatters the lighting stanchion. Sparks drop to the field as Newman's theme booms. Chills.
Rookie of the Year (1993)
If there were a true inspiration for the timing of the Angels in the Outfield remake, it might be the surprise success of Rookie of the Year just one year prior. The movie follows 12-year-old Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas), who gains the ability to throw 100+ mph after breaking his right arm. Of course, the logical solution to such an anomaly is to quickly get the kid pitching for the Chicago Cubs. There are a lot of laughs, especially when the whimsically out-of-touch team owner, Bob Carson (Eddie Bracken), is on screen. His outrage upon learning that he's charging $3 per hot dog is hilariously dated -- both for the price itself and for the notion that the guy who owns the team cares about the affordability of the food being sold in the ballpark. Rookie of the Year is total wish fulfillment for any '90s kid. Rowengartner gets to live out the big-league dream and help lead the Cubs to the World Series, all while learning a valuable lesson about not trying to grow up too quickly. Rookie of the Year co-stars Gary Busey and Daniel Stern, the latter of whom also directed.
Field of Dreams (1989)
Field of Dreams is one of the most popular and resonant baseball movies of the last 40 years. Starring Kevin Costner as Iowa farm owner Ray Kinsella, the film takes both the viewer and the protagonist on a mystical journey, which begins when Kinsella's cornfield begins cryptically speaking to him: “If you build it, he will come.” He builds a baseball field, with the corn just beyond his outfield, and witnesses as long-dead members of the 1919 White Sox begin emerging from the stalks. It sounds like a horror movie, but Field of Dreams is full of heart. And, in 2021, the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees played a game at a stadium erected next to the filming site for the movie, corn and all.
Bull Durham (1988)
Another Costner baseball movie makes the cut, and that's the romantic comedy Bull Durham. Released to theaters just a year prior to Field of Dreams, Bull Durham features a great core cast of actors to go along with some classic baseball-movie names: veteran catcher Crash Davis (Costner), upstart pitcher Ebby “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), and minor-league groupie and super fan Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon). There are a lot of laughs in Bull Durham, but don't sleep on the character growth. All three of the main protagonists seem to learn key lessons from each other and become improved versions of themselves by the end of the movie.
The Sandlot (1993)
There were a lot of excellent baseball movies made for Millennials in the 1990s, and 1993's The Sandlot is a prime example, as it's widely regarded by a whole generation to be one of the best baseball films of all time. Fun fact though: The Sandlot is actually set in the 1960s and followed a group of otherwise ordinary children playing unorganized summer baseball in a vacant lot. But when the ball – autographed by Babe Ruth, himself – goes over the fence into an adjacent yard, the story spins into a tall tale about a beast that protects the property. Shenanigans ensue, and James Earl Jones makes a cameo. The Sandlot is a great baseball movie, but it's an even better coming-of-age tale.
A League of Their Own (1992)
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Even if you haven't seen A League of Their Own, it's likely you've at least heard the film's most famous line as uttered by the legendary Tom Hanks: “There's no crying in baseball!” Directed by Penny Marshall, A League of Their Own follows the female-only baseball teams that were formed while the men were off fighting during World War II. Geena Davis plays catcher Dottie Hinson and Lori Petty plays her sister, pitcher Kit Keller, with Hanks as the team's manager. The film's characters are fictional, but the league itself based on the real-life story of the All-American Girl Professional Baseball League. There's actually real footage from the AAGPBL used in the film. Other stars with roles in A League of Their Own include Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Jon Lovitz, and Bill Pullman.
Major League (1989)
There's a distinct 1980s style to Major League, which was released at the end of that decade. It's yet another misfit story, this time about a Major League team (the formerly named Cleveland Indians) that has been stripped down by its nefarious owner Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton). The ragtag group that remains include aging catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), hard-throwing pitcher and noted headcase Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), speedy showboat Willie “Mays” Hayes (Wesley Snipes), superstitious slugger Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert), and a team full of has-beens and never-weres. The Indians rally around the idea of winning just to spite Phelps, going on a winning streak to finish the season and forcing a playoff game against the New York Yankees. Major League has great music, costumes featuring white suit coats with jeans, and plenty of corny baseball jokes. Bonus points for the hilarious play-by-play man Harry Doyle, played by real-life Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker.
42 (2013)
After the tragic passing of actor Chadwick Boseman, 42 has become a beautiful tribute to the legacies of two African-American icons: Boseman and Jackie Robinson. Boseman captures Robinson, who was the first Black player allowed to play in the majors, well in the film, and 42 became his first big breakout as an actor. Harrison Ford co-stars and plays Branch Rickey, the baseball executive who made the bold decision to sign Robinson. The plot follows the second baseman through the early years of his career, detailing the brutal racism he dealt with while he broke the color barrier in baseball. Although film and baseball fans remain divided on whether 42 dug deep enough into the challenges Robinson faced, the movie did get a big thumbs up from one important person: Jackie's widow, Rachel Robinson, took an active role in the production to ensure that it portrayed her husband accurately.
Moneyball (2011)
Based on the Michael Lewis best-selling book, Moneyball is a combination of modern innovation and a great Hollywood storyline. The film follows Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and a slew of players from Oakland's actual 2002 team. Strapped by ownership with a budget that leaves him unable to re-sign their best players, Beane discovers a system that allows him to root out overlooked and undervalued talent by applying little-used statistical date. Jonah Hill plays Peter Brand, the catalyst for Beane's foray into “moneyball,” but the fictitious Brand is actually a combination of a few real-life people and some creative storytelling. On the field, however, the movie sticks pretty close to the truth, including the A's historic 20-game winning streak and unfortunate loss to the Minnesota Twins in the playoffs.