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With A New Season Upon Us... Let's Take A Look At The Greatest Baseball Moments on Film

March 31st, 2008 11:59am EDT Post a comment

It's no secret that one of America's favorite days of the year is opening day (in turn, we are not a fan of the Japan trips that do not allow all teams to open on the same day). With all the controversies that exist in baseball today (steroids, HGH, the designated hitter) it is nice to look to the movies and find an innocence that we all may be losing a grip on.

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30 Member Comments

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Mon Mar 31 2008 16:33:58 By: Guy Nacolojist (

1144)
ummmm...
The Bad News Bears?
The Sandlot?
Pride of the Yankees?
Eight Men Out?
Major League?
Your list is fantastic though, although I am one of the few who think that Field of Dreams is one of the most overrated baseball movies ever. I thought it was pretty boring and the story was kind of weak.
But Bull Durham? Best baseball movie ever.

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Mon Mar 31 2008 16:55:24 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@Guy Nacolojist: I think Major League is a bit of a ripoff of Bull Durham. They even steal the "sacrifice a live chicken". I do agree with you 100% on The Bad News Bears, but a you tube clip was required when submitting this article and I could not find the appropriate one. Eight Men Out is fantastic as well but does not have that "one moment" if that makes sense.

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Mon Mar 31 2008 17:51:10 By: zombiefightsshark (

15)
I physically cannot watch Field of Dreams, being a child of divorce with daddy issues and all. It's like an open invitation to drink a bottle of Everclear and stare pointedly at a loaded gun. Not to get all dark or anything.
Also, I looove Major League. That movie kills me.

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Mon Mar 31 2008 18:36:07 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@zombiefightsshark: Yeah, it takes a lot of strength to get through Field of Dreams. You are not alone, and it's not your fault. It's not your fault.

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Mon Mar 31 2008 19:00:43 By: 15 (

1)
I don't care for Field of dreams, myself. I liked it when I was a kid, but now it's just ridiculous and treacly. Same with The Natural (except for the "liked it when I was a kid" part).
Bull Durham is ridiculously good, though, and that 61* moment gave me goosebumps.

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Mon Mar 31 2008 19:09:23 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@15: Bull Durham, as an entire film,can not be topped.

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Mon Mar 31 2008 20:13:52 By: rob who had a broken foot (

130)
what, no clip from 'mr 3000'?

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Mon Mar 31 2008 20:20:04 By: rob who had a broken foot (

130)
speaking of 'major league', i was perusing the cards' opening day roster this morning and i felt like those indians fans' looking over the indians' opening day roster in 'major league'. brian barton? rico washington? kyle mcclellan? mitchell freedman? who are these guys?

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Tue Apr 1 2008 03:38:50 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@rob with the broken foot: I was thinking exactly the same thing.

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Tue Apr 1 2008 03:58:36 By: quin browne (

39)
never liked bull durham.
but, you got the rest, dead on.
my uncle played major league...zeke bonura... he played because he was good, he played because he loved the game. he was one of the old players, who hit hard due to the fact he was a big man, who swung hard. he sneered at the players coming up in the game before he died, because they were in it for money... i still remember the look he'd get when he spoke of walking onto the field, opening day... and hearing the fans call his name.
yeah, baseball. gotta love it.

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Tue Apr 1 2008 12:12:48 By: 666_Steinbrener (

983)
should have led this article with the national anthem.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MIr-S6mwFk

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Tue Apr 1 2008 12:28:59 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@666_Steinbrener: I can not argue, I love Enrico Palazzo

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Tue Apr 1 2008 12:31:36 By: Tom Sizemore (

18677)
Hey Look! It's Enrico Pallazzo!

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Tue Apr 1 2008 12:39:57 By: Mr A Knife (

13)
I like when Charlie Sheen is in the restaurant with no sleeves and a tie. That is funny cause it is silly.
I also like when Wesley Snipes is running in his pajamas and he runs faster than everyone else. Cause then theyre like, wow hes good we should keep him and it makes me think he is running from the IRS, why else would he run so fast.
That movie is funny because the owner's plan backfires because all the players were silly and had problems but they also were some of the greatest raw talents there were in the league. Seems to me if you were trying to have a team lose you would get guys w/no natural ability.

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Tue Apr 1 2008 12:59:40 By: Sinbad (

72)
Must not have been able to find a youtube clip of Air Bud: 7th Inning Fetch either.
Also, how could you have left out the terrific moment in Summer Catch, when he leaves the no-hitter to get the girl?! What a film.

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Tue Apr 1 2008 15:05:54 By: Guy Nacolojist (

1144)
@Sinbad:
You do not leave a no-hitter to get any girl. Period.
@zombiefightsshark:
grow up and get over your "daddy" issues. They will haunt you if you let them. A bottle of booze and a gun is no solution to some bad memories. That's totally retarded. Get over it.
@quin browne:
dude, there was never anybody named 'Zeke' who played in the major leagues for more than an afternoon, nor were there fans who 'chanted his name' while he came to bat. Your uncle Zeke is nothing more than a storyteller and you fell for it.

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Tue Apr 1 2008 16:18:56 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@sinbad: I dropped the ball on seventh inning fetch.

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Tue Apr 1 2008 16:33:22 By: Bill From Gainesville (

26)
I am pretty sure you "hit a home run " with that post.

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Tue Apr 1 2008 23:30:28 By: quin browne (

39)
gee, guy, i guess that big ole 8" thick scrapbook we have, the souvenir bat with his signature on it, his records when he played for the white sox and the stack of baseball cards are phony, too.
www.baseball-reference.com/b/bonurze01.shtml
www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/submit/Gis clair_S._Derby3.stm

his rookie records with the sox stood for a long time, with one only recently broken...he was their first power hitter.

we did use to laugh that he held a a.l. record for the least number of errors when he played for the old senators because if he didn't think he could get to the ball, he didn't try. he was a huge fan favourite, when he was traded from the senators, they had to go get him from the train and bring him back to the stadium to speak to the crowd after it was announced...they were so angry, chanting. (look up the news story) he won an aau javelin throw at the age of 16 (still the youngest athlete ever for a national event, did a great deal in WWII for and with baseball and the armed forces and just a nice guy that taught my brothers and i about baseball and he's family. you don't tell me about my family, capisce?

check your facts next time...you won't look so silly and, i don't have an xy chromosome.

ps. sorry mike. he irritated me.

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Tue Apr 1 2008 23:46:28 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@Bill From Gainesville: Thank you sir
@Quin Browne: No problem

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Wed Apr 2 2008 09:42:45 By: Guy Nacolojist (

1144)
Henry John Bonura.
See, his name's not Zeke.

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Wed Apr 2 2008 12:18:53 By: quin browne (

39)
oh, his name is henry john?? OMG! you mean, zeke was his nickname that he autographed with, and was known by?
thank you for telling me. i'll call my cousins, i'm not sure they knew, either. no wonder we couldn't figure out who all those things were addressed to henry john. you've solved a mystery.
accept your loss, sweetheart....i'll take your coming back here as an open apology to us all.
:)

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Wed Apr 2 2008 12:20:12 By: Squints (

2817)
I think George Herman Ruth, Jr. had the same problem.

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Wed Apr 2 2008 16:20:37 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
So did Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean

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Wed Apr 2 2008 17:52:57 By: jimdonovanboogie (

301)
The strange thing about Bad News Bears is that it was written by Burt Lancaster's only son, who made a rather huge $$$ killing on the deal, then never wrote again. Imagine dying with that piece of kid crap on your bio, along with sonuva star. I adored FIELD OF DREAMS and have watched it like 8 times, and tear up every time when he throws with his father, recalling when my dad tried to teach me how to catch with a glove, and kept trying to toss me one I could catch, then that wonderful feeling when it snapped in there! I became a great fielding SS with a gun arm, and my father begged me to quit Pop Warner football, somehow knowing that I'd not get big enough, like he was let down as a 5'8" guard that won the NYC championship back to back (with his teammate Connie Hawkins at Boys High) but was passed by all colleges as too small. I told him I field better than everyone but only hit good, not great, and on the football field I was the best. In the last game that year, just a few days after I turned 14, I was brutally injured, my hard disc pads center back piece shoved 1 disc into another when I pulled the QB down onto me for my 12th QB sack at left Defensive End, and almost died from shock, never to play ANYTHING competively again. I'm now 47, had epidurals every three weeks since August, living on morphine in order to walk normally. My father was right, but never said it once. I made him very proud that one year in 1974, as a Greenpoint Crusader. My memories are re-lived many X

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Wed Apr 2 2008 17:58:43 By: jimdonovanboogie (

301)
BEST BASEBALL MOVIE EVER STARRED TOM SELLECK!

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Wed Apr 2 2008 20:53:38 By: Mike Ryan (

599)
@jimdonovanboogie: nice story. I'm assuming you are referring to Mr. Baseball. I enjoy it but I can not put it in any "all time best" list. Except perhaps a "best movies of Tom Selleck" list along with, of course, Lassiter.

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Thu Apr 3 2008 12:14:15 By: Petra E (

3)
"The Natural" is really not a good movie. The homerun moment is unbeatable, but the movie is just...not great. It's too sepia-toned, sentimental, glossy. I love it because I watched with my dad -- we used to go to college games together and he taught me how to keep score.
And while I do love "there's no crying in baseball," my favorite part of "A League of Their Own" is at the tryouts, when Gena Davis catches Rosie O'Donnell's pitch (dirty!). "Ok, some of THEM are going home."

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Thu Apr 3 2008 14:10:04 By: Agent Smith (

5407)
@Petra E:
You mean when Rosie O'Donnell catches Gena Davis' throw. (wasn't a pitch)
"Hey cowgirls, see the grass? Don't eat it."
"And there's Marla Hooch"

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Thu Apr 3 2008 15:44:16 By: Petra E (

3)
@Agent Smith: "Throw" wouldn't have been as potentially dirty as "pitch." And geezer though I am, I do think like a 12-year-old. I wasn't implying she was on the mound at the time.

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