MRQE Ranks: Cinema's Best Baseball Movies

1

Up for Grabs (2004)

Director: Michael Wranovics

Synopsis: In the summer of 2001, baseball star Barry Bonds was in the final stretch of a remarkable season when he knocked his 73rd home run of the year into... [MORE]

2

Moneyball (2011)

Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt

Director: Bennett Miller

Synopsis: Brad Pitt stars in the real-life tale of Major League Baseball general manager Billy Beane, who built up a winning team despite a decreased budget ... [MORE]

3

Field of Dreams (1989)

Cast: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster

Director: Phil Alden Robinson

Synopsis: "If you build it, he will come." That's the ethereal message that inspires Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) to construct a baseball diamond... [MORE]

4

Bull Durham (1988)

Cast: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Trey Wilson, Robert Wuhl

Director: Ron Shelton

Synopsis: A blend of comedy, drama and romance, Bull Durham follows the intertwining of three lives brought together by the great American pastime. Crash Dav... [MORE]

6

The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (1998)

Director: Aviva Kempner

Synopsis: Hank Greenberg was the first great Jewish star in baseball; at a time when the game was still racially segregated, Greenberg became a first-class h... [MORE]

8

A League of Their Own (1992)

Cast: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell

Director: Penny Marshall

Synopsis: The All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League was founded in 1943, when most of the men of baseball-playing age were far away in Europe and ... [MORE]

9

The Rookie (2002/I)

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Brian Cox, Beth Grant

Director: John Lee Hancock

Synopsis: The true story of a middle-aged baseball rookie comes to the screen from Finding Forrester (2000) screenwriter Mike Rich and the studio behind the ... [MORE]

10

Major League (1989)

Cast: Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Margaret Whitton, James Gammon

Director: David S. Ward

Synopsis: Inheriting the Cleveland Indians baseball team from her late husband, covetous ex-showgirl Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton) wants to move the franc... [MORE]

11

The Sandlot (1993)

Cast: James Earl Jones, Tom Guiry, Karen Allen, Denis Leary, Mike Vitar

Director: David Mickey Evans

12

Fever Pitch (2005)

Cast: Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon, Jason Spevack, Jack Kehler, Scott H. Severance

Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly

Synopsis: Nick Hornby's acclaimed memoir about one man's struggle to balance his love of a woman and his love for soccer was the basis of a well-reviewed Bri... [MORE]

13

For Love of the Game (1999)

Cast: Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston, John C. Reilly, Jena Malone, Brian Cox

Director: Sam Raimi

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Michael Shaara, For Love of the Game brought Kevin Costner back to the world of baseball after his successes with Bull Durham... [MORE]

14

Off the Black (2006)

Cast: Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Trevor Morgan, Rosemarie DeWitt, Sonia Feigelson

Director: James Ponsolot

Synopsis: When the growing divide between a troubled teen and his emotionally distant father finds the boy seeking the friendship of a disheveled and tempera... [MORE]

15

The Perfect Game (2009)

Cast: Clifton Collins Jr., Cheech Marin, Emilie de Ravin, Bruce McGill, Moises Arias

Director: William Dear

Synopsis: William Dear (Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann) helms the period baseball drama The Perfect Game, a cinematization of real-life events that t... [MORE]

16

Bad News Bears (2005)

Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden, Sammi Kane Kraft, Ridge Canipe

Director: Richard Linklater

Synopsis: A washed-up ballplayer is put in charge of a pack of kids scarcely more mature than himself in this remake of the 1976 comedy hit. Morris Buttermak... [MORE]

17

Mr 3000 (2004)

Cast: Bernie Mac, Angela Bassett, Michael Rispoli, Brian J. White, Chris Noth

Director: Charles Stone III

Synopsis: Directed by Charles Stone III, Mr. 3000 revolves around over-the-hill baseball star Stan Ross (Bernie Mac), who retired after making what he though... [MORE]

18

Everyone's Hero (2006)

Cast: Jake T. Austin

Director: Christopher Reeve, Dan St. Pierre, Colin Brady

Synopsis: A young baseball fan sets out on a cross-country quest to recover Babe Ruth's stolen bat and restore his father's good name in a computer animated ... [MORE]

19

Hard Ball (2001)

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Diane Lane, John Hawkes, Michael Jordan

Director: Brian Robbins

Synopsis: Television actor-turned-director Brian Robbins follows up Varsity Blues (1999) and Ready to Rumble (2000) with another sports comedy. Keanu Reeves ... [MORE]

20

The Fan (1996)

Cast: Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin, John Leguizamo, Benicio Del Toro

Director: Tony Scott

Synopsis: Robert De Niro is Gil Renard, baseball fan from hell. Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) is the player he is nuts about. No sooner does the talented Ray... [MORE]

21

Game 6 (2005)

Cast: Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Griffin Dunne, Catherine O'Hara, Bebe Neuwirth

Director: Michael Hoffman

Synopsis: A writer runs an obstacle course of neuroses as he prepares to debut an important new work in this comedy drama. Nicky Rogan (Michael Keaton) is a ... [MORE]

22

The Winning Season (2009)

Cast: Sam Rockwell, Emma Roberts, Margo Martindale, Rob Corddry, Jessica Hecht

Director: James C. Strouse

Synopsis: Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award recipient James C. Strouse follows up his 2007 Sundance Film Festival favorite Grace Is Gone with this comedy drama ... [MORE]

23

The Bad News Bears (1976)

Cast: Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Vic Morrow, Joyce Van Patten, Ben Piazza

Director: Michael Ritchie

Synopsis: The success this underdog comedy from director Michael Ritchie almost single-handedly spawned the kids' sports film boom of the 1980s and '90s. Whe... [MORE]

24

Rookie of the Year (1993)

Cast: Thomas Ian Nicholas, Gary Busey, Albert Hall, Amy Morton, Dan Hedaya

Director: Daniel Stern

Synopsis: Rookie of the Year is a light-hearted comedy about a 12-year-old baseball fan who, despite his love for the sport, can't play the game at all. Duri... [MORE]

25

The Babe (1992)

Cast: John Goodman, Kelly McGillis, Trini Alvarado, Bruce Boxleitner, Peter Donat

Director: Arthur Hiller

Synopsis: John Goodman is cast as the Sultan of Swat, whose excesses -- especially drinking -- and private demons can (in this context) be excused in view of... [MORE]

26

Damn Yankees! (1958)

Cast: Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston, Russ Brown

Director: George Abbott, Stanley Donen

Synopsis: Damn Yankees is a frothy, faithful adaptation of the 1956 Broadway hit. In an amusing slant on the "Faust" legend, aging baseball fan Joe Boyd (Rob... [MORE]

27

Mr. Baseball (1992)

Cast: Tom Selleck, Ken Takakura, Aya Takanashi, Dennis Haysbert, Toshi Shioya

Director: Fred Schepisi

Synopsis: When has-been baseball player Jack Elliot (Tom Selleck) is signed by a Japanese team, he is initially reluctant to take the game seriously. Elliot ... [MORE]

28

Angels in the Outfield (1951)

Cast: Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn, Donna Corcoran, Lewis Stone

Director: Clarence Brown

Synopsis: Though not the most profitable baseball comedy ever made, Angels in the Outfield is one of the most likeable and enduring. Paul Douglas stars as Gu... [MORE]

29

The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

Cast: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Walter Brennan, Dan Duryea, Elsa Janssen

Director: Sam Wood

Synopsis: "It's box office poison," producer Samuel Goldwyn is said to have exclaimed when he heard the idea of filming the life story of fabled first basema... [MORE]

30

Eight Men Out (1988)

Cast: John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, D.B. Sweeney, Christopher Lloyd, Jace Alexander

Director: John Sayles

Synopsis: Writer/director John Sayles' dramatization of the most infamous episode in professional sports -- the fix of the 1919 World Series -- is considered... [MORE]