Padres Editorial: Friars On Base Ranks Their Favorite Baseball Movies Part II

Mandatory Credit: movieloversparadise.blogspot.com

Editor’s Note: Today, we conclude our Friars On Base staff rankings of our all-time favorite baseball movies, by unveiling numbers 5 through 1. As you can tell, many of us have differing tastes in what we like to see from a baseball movie, but when the rankings were all said and done, there were a handful that we all agreed upon, that held true as the very best baseball flicks of all-time.

There were other classics that didn’t crack the list, simply because when developing the list, I allowed each member of the staff to claim a movie they thought should go on the list. Some of my personal favorites failed to even get an honorable mention, but with any multi-person ranked list, you’re not going to agree with every movie that appears. However, we hope you enjoy the final five! ~B.B.

Mandatory Credit: HBO.com

Co-editor Jason Evans discusses #5-Moneyball

When the book Moneyball came out, it was revolutionary. You got an inside look at a forward-thinking front office and about how the Oakland A’s went through their process. I read it when it came out because both my father and I were curious to read it as baseball fans. I then read it again in grad school after the movie came out.

Was the movie the best ever made? No, but it was entertaining. I thought it was interesting casting to have Brad Pitt as Billy Beane and Jonah Hill as basically Paul DePodesta. I don’t know much about Beane, but I could see Beane doing that kind of tirade as things went south. I imagine Beane not being able to watch the games.

Some of it seemed to go along with the book with the trades and other moves that were made to put together the team. They didn’t really talk about the draft, but I guess that didn’t really play to non-baseball audiences.

If you’ve read the book, some parts of it were hard to make into a movie. I think they should have looked a little more into his past.

I think for what it was as a baseball movie, I thought it was pretty good. A non-baseball fan could get the point of the movie without reading the book. I thought Pitt and Hill did an excellent job in bringing the characters off the page and onto the screen.

Mandatory Credit: flix66.com

Scott Alfano discusses #4-The Sandlot:

The 90s were great for a number of reasons, but one of the best has to be the sheer number of baseball movies that came out during the decade. Without a doubt, one of the best was The Sandlot.

Releasing in 1993, The Sandlot came out early enough for kids to still be kids. They weren’t censored the way children in movies are today. This was The Goonies of baseball movies. The movie took place thirty years earlier, giving an instant nostalgic feel that lasted throughout the movie.

The movie, of course, centered on baseball. Scottie Smalls had just moved to a new town and knew close to nothing about the game.

However, the hodgepodge collection of the other young baseball players brought everyone together. The comedy and the memorable quotes like, “You’re killing me Smalls!” “You play ball like a girl!” “Baby Ruth, who is she?” have kept the movie relevant for decades.

To go along with The Goonies feel, how can you forget about the Beast? The massive, legendary dog owned by James Earl Jones, eating dozens of baseballs made for the perfect enemy.

The Sandlot made baseball romantic. Other movies that came out at the same time were funny or cute. The Sandlot gave genuine laughs, had a large enough main cast that everyone watching had their own favorite character, and you felt like you were growing up with them.

Two words: Wendy Peffercorn. Young kids across the world got their first crush the first time they saw this movie. Squints’ fake drowning to land his first kiss with her had all of us standing in our seats.

I was lucky enough to be eight-years old when The Sandlot came out. So I was able to really put myself into the movie. I can’t imagine being an adult and seeing the movie for the first time. It had a massive part of me falling in love with baseball. The Sandlot is a movie every parent needs to show their children growing up.

Mandatory Credit: hollywoodreporter.com

.John Hiatt discusses #3-Field of Dreams:

One of my favorite baseball movies of all-time is Field of Dreams, you want to know why? Because it’s one of those movies that is not just a baseball movie, but actually has real life in it as well. I know a lot of people including some of my fellow staff members don’t think it’s a “baseball movie”, but if you actually think about it, it is!

I mean think about all of the history that was in the movie. Does anyone remember the Black Sox Scandal? One of the biggest stories in baseball history! If you are a baseball fan, I am sure you do! Well in the movie, the Chicago Black Sox come to the field that farmer Ray Kinsella built. For those of you who haven’t heard of the phrase “If you build it, they will come” It came from the movie Field of Dreams. As for the other situation in the movie that I like, the family is in a tough time financially, and Ray building his field because “The Voice told him too” is crazy! I mean would that happen in real life? Probably not!

If there is one thing about me everybody should know, it’s that I love the history of baseball and this movie has everything from the history of baseball, to real life situations, as I explained earlier, which is why Field of Dreams is one of my favorite baseball movies of all-time. The haters can hate all they want, Field of Dreams is a good baseball movie, even if it isn’t your typical one.

Mandatory Credit: punchdrunksports.com

And Keegan Tatum has our #1 ranked favorite baseball movie of all-time…Major League!

Almost every baseball fan knows the words: “Juuust a bit outside!” It comes from the next movie on the countdown.

Major League, for those that don’t know, centers around the hapless Cleveland Indians. The owner wants to finish in dead last so that attendance records can suffer to the point where she can relocate the team to Miami. The film revolves around Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), Rich Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), and Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen) on a motley mix of cast-offs and raw amateurs. One player is into voodoo; another played in the California penal leagues. When the team finds out what the owner is up to, they go all out to ruin her plans.

As both a film and a baseball film, Major League succeeds. It is a great comedy even for people who don’t pay much attention to the game. Bob Uecker’s ad-libbing is a source of constant entertainment as well as the numerous bits of funny scenes. Watch any scene that includes both Pedro Cerrano and Eddie Harris and you’ll know what I mean. In the world of Michael Bay movies, it’s also refreshing to watch a film in which all of the major protagonists have a character arch. And all of those protagonists are likable. You root for them – something really important in any movie, but when I watch Major League I actually feel like I’m rooting on the Indians.

The film also has what all films need – an emotional core to the story. While also trying to stay in the majors for one last year and hang onto his career, Jake Taylor tries to win back his wife, who is set to marry some rich attorney. Unlike so many other sports films, the love story feels organic and fits in with the rest of the plot.

As a baseball movie, director David Ward and whoever helped cast this movie and whoever worked with the actors did a wonderful job. These people are actors. They aren’t typically the most graceful or coordinated bunch. But other than perhaps Wesley Snipes everyone looks like a ballplayer. Special props should go to Charlie Sheen who had a great pitching motion.

It is a worst to first movie that I highly recommend.

And there you have it! Now that the winter is over, and our staff has taken some time to share our favorites with you, our readers, what wasn’t on the list that should’ve been? Do you agree with the final rankings? Sound off in the comments below, and again, thanks for sticking with us throughout the winter, and within a few weeks, the real fun begins…San Diego Padres baseball 2015!

Next: Padres Favorites To Land Hector Olivera?

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