A-List: Baseball Movies
By Josh Spiegel
June 11, 2009
The cast also includes Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Jon Lovitz, David Strathairn, and Bill Pullman. Of course, there's also Hanks, as ex-ballplayer Jimmie Dugan (based on real-life player Jimmy Foxx), who manages the Rockford Peaches, the team the sisters play for. As a consistently drunk, initially uncaring oaf, Dugan is immediately likable, simply because his bark is definitely worse than his bite. Hanks is great here, whether it's berating one of the Rockford Peaches for welling up, mistaking a chaperone for the Wicked Witch of the West, or sobering up to become a better manager. My only problem with A League of Their Own is the completely fake-seeming subplot of sibling rivalry. I can't say it's just Petty's performance that turns me off her younger sister, but the scenes that feature her are the least memorable, partly because of her naturally shrill demeanor. Despite this flaw, A League of Their Own is an all-time classic comedy, with or without that iconic one-liner.
Rookie Of The Year
Okay, despite the fact that this film is completely lacking in nostalgia for a bygone time, I can't help but place this one on the A-List. Chalk this one up to childhood nostalgia, or even to my completely immature mind. Can you honestly say that hearing the non sequitur "Funky butt-loving" doesn't even make you smile? Sure, it has nothing specifically to do with baseball, but any movie where a doctor says this after being whacked in the face can't be bad. This 1993 comedy is a kid's dream come true: what would it be like to start for a Major League Baseball team? Thomas Ian Nicholas is Henry Rowengartner (a frequent running gag is how often his last name is mispronounced), a kid who loves his mom, his buddies, and the Chicago Cubs.
After a mishap with a baseball, Henry breaks his arm, but once it heals, he finds that he has the power to throw a baseball faster than the best professional pitcher. Despite the shock, the Cubs, who are having some serious trouble, decide to make Henry one of their starters. Of course, the plot is completely outlandish, but what kid wouldn't want to be a starting pitcher for their favorite team? Part of the reason that Rookie Of The Year still works so well is the humor from great actors such as John Candy, Daniel Stern (who also directed the film) and even Gary Busey...yes, Gary Busey, who not only plays Henry's mentor, but a romantic interest for the kid's mother! OK, now that you've got that image in your mind, I'll just say that Rookie of the Year is far better than most other kiddie baseball movies, simply because it was made with a fervent love for the game.
The Bad News Bears
There was once a time, way back in the 1970s, when all that Jackie Earle Haley was known for was his big role in the foulmouthed comedy The Bad News Bears, about a real underdog team lead by a grumpy coach who hates kids. Sure, this one is all about kids, but I can't really call this one a kiddie movie, as it's a little more blue than Rookie of the Year. Haley isn't the lead, but one of the underdog players. The great Walter Matthau, as Morris Buttermaker, an ex-baseball player who coaches a local Little League team that pretty much sucks. Buttermaker brings on two new recruits (Tatum O'Neal and Haley) who help the team turn things around and go all the way to the championship.
Despite falling into the sports-movie tropes, The Bad News Bears is most memorable because the characters are frequently as unsportsmanslike as you can get, from its alcoholic coach to the troublesome players. The movie was remade in 2005, and many sequels followed its success in 1976, but none matched up to the original. Matthau has rarely been better, except his byplay with frequent co-star Jack Lemmon; the baseball may not be so nostalgic, but The Bad News Bears is still a great baseball movie.
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