Top 50 Baseball Movies: #30-26
A trailblazer, an aging veteran, a real-life icon, and two sequels
In the run-up to the publication of my book Baseball: The Movie, we’re counting down the top 50 baseball movies ever made.
30. The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
Produced between Robinson’s third and fourth seasons in MLB, The Jackie Robinson Story is the template on which all future versions of Robinson’s story would be based. It’s all here: the abuse from fans, the cold shoulders from teammates, and, of course, Robinson’s preternatural restraint and stoicism. Of course, it also centers Dodgers owner Branch Rickey in the story almost as much as Robinson; that’s because Rickey’s right-hand man Arthur Mann co-wrote the screenplay. What’s not here? Robinson’s youthful indiscretions with a mostly harmless street gang, his Army court-martial for refusing to sit in the back of a bus, and, mostly, his justifiable anger. As an advertisement for integration (it was made before the Civil Rights Era really began and when the majority of MLB teams were still segregated), The Jackie Robinson Story mostly works. It doesn’t make waves, and it portrays Robinson (played by the man himself) as an angel. But the real Robinson was a fascinatingly complex man whose life is worthy of a proper telling. This isn’t it, but it’s a decent overview and an excellent snapshot of its era.
29. Long Gone (1987)
This HBO original film was mostly forgotten after its debut—probably because the more popular (and better) Bull Durham covered similar terrain—but every now and then I come across a fan who worships it. I’m not sure it’s quite deserving of that, but it’s still a pretty good baseball movie. It’s the story of Cecil “Stud” Cantrell (William Peterson), a minor league player-manager approaching middle-age and reckoning with life after baseball. It has a lot of elements you’ll find in slightly better movies: greedy owners, a gambling scandal, racist fans, a beautiful, aging beauty (Virginia Madsen). I’m not sure it entirely comes together, but Peterson is well-cast as a baseball lifer, and it nails the ending.
28. Major League II (1994)
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that this sequel holds a candle to the original. It doesn’t. The film’s first half is a mostly sour affair, as each player we grew to love in the first film returns with some kind of attitude issue. Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) is a brand more than a ballplayer now. Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert) has studied Buddhism and lost his competitive edge. Willie “Mays” Hayes is now played by Omar Epps. The addition of a catcher who has a mental block on throwing the ball back to the pitcher and a sullen Japanese player don’t really contribute much. But writer-director David S. Ward, who also helmed the original, knows how to film a winning streak and a big game, and when things turn for these Indians, Major League II is just as good as the original. When Rick Vaughn, re-coiffed with his old punk hairdo, strides out of the bullpen to the sound of “Wild Thing,” I get chills all over again.
27. Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach (2008)
In putting together my book, the most thrilling moment was when I got to sit down and talk baseball with filmmaker Richard Linklater. We talked about all his baseball movies—and about baseball in general—but I was especially excited to chat with him about Inning by Inning, a little-seen documentary he made about the late Augie Garrido, the University of Texas baseball coach. Garrido was the winningest coach in Division 1 college history, and Linklater was fascinated by what makes him tick. The film’s legacy largely revolves around this clip of Garrido chewing out his team, which has been seen millions of times; Linklater has mixed feelings about that, as he feels it’s a poor representation of a complex man Linklater admired. It’s easy to see what drew the filmmaker to the coach. In some ways, he’s a classic protagonist for the Austin-based filmmaker: competitive, garrulous, and with the soul of a poet underneath a wall of bravado. The film premiered on ESPN in 2008, but it’s available to stream now.
26. The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977)
As soon as The Bad News Bears became a surprise hit, the suits got involved. They started working on an ill-fated TV show starring Jack Warden in the role made famous by Walter Matthau, and produced two quick sequels, also without the legendary comic actor. The third movie, The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, is one of the worst baseball films ever made, but Breaking Training has its moments. There’s no Matthau or Tatum O”Neal. Instead, the film centers on Kelly Leak (Jackie Earl Haley), the coolest kid on the team, who crafts a plan to get the Bears from their sleepy California suburb to Houston, where they’ve been invited to play at the Astrodome in between games of a major league double-header. There are a few inspired bits of satire and a subplot with Leak and his father (William DeVane) that doesn’t really come off, but the scenes at the Astrodome are a hoot. My appreciation for this film went up tenfold when I read Josh Wilker’s incredible book about it. It’s a book about a film, an era, and the author himself. I hope I can write something that good one day.