Play Ball!: 10 Must-See Baseball Movies

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Spring has always been my favorite time of year.

This is the case not only because of the weather becoming nicer, but also because it's baseball season, still America's National Pastime - despite the popularity of the NFL.

When you combine that with the fact that I'm a movie buff, with over 300 films in my collection, it can safely be said that baseball movies hold a special place with me.

I've seen many diamond flicks through the years, but these 10 are the ones I particularly recommend, starting with (in chronological order)...

The Bad News Bears (1976)

The quintessential little league movie; if you want a realistic picture of what youth baseball is like, this is film you need to see.

This flick about no-talent "ballplayers" coached by a beer-guzzling has-been, played brilliantly by Walter Matthau, was one of the reasons why I started to play the game as a child.

And as fireballing pitcher Amanda and the stud-hitting delinquent Kelly Leak, Tatum O' Neal and Jackie Earle Haley were big influences on me.

Tatum striking out all of the boys was what first led me to believe that girls were equal to their male counterparts, and I patterned my style of hitting after Jackie's character - with pretty good success.

The music, Bizet's "Carmen", was a great touch as well.

This movie is clearly a classic. I think people will agree with me on that.

The Natural (1984)

I never really knew about Robert Redford until I saw this movie.

As Roy Hobbs, the 35-year old rookie trying to make up for lost time when he finally gets his chance at the big leagues in 1939, Redford was great in portraying a guy having his last chance to leave his mark on the game.

Which he ultimately does, as he overcomes a crooked owner and a devious girlfriend—played by Kim Basinger—to lead his New York Knights to the pennant.

Favorite scene? When a bloody-jerseyed Hobbs blasted that home run in the last game, breaking all the lights and circling the bases to Randy Newman's soundtrack.

It was all I could do to keep from cheering in the theater when I saw that. 

Bull Durham (1988)

If I had to pick one baseball film as being the all-time best, this would be the one.

And many people would—and have—agreed with me, including Sports Illustrated when they listed the top sports movies in their magazine.

As career minor leaguer Crash Davis, Kevin Costner shows us the frustration of playing pro ball for 12 years and barely making the majors for "...21 days...the greatest 21 days of my life", according to him.

Tim Robbins was also great as the not-too-bright phenom Nuke LaLoosh, who Costner's character is assigned with preparing for "The Show", and Susan Sarandon was at her sexiest as veteran groupie Annie Savoy.

Indeed, that is what you need to see if you want to know what life in the minors is like. Writer-director Ron Shelton should know; he played minor league ball for a time, and Bull Durham was based on his experiences.

Eight Men Out (1988)

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