San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
One man’s list of top baseball movies
There are too many good baseball movies to list a top 10, but we’ll do so anyway as a tribute to Thursday’s “Field of Dreams” game in Dyersville, Iowa.
Some memorable flicks didn’t make the cut. “Bang the Drum Slowly.” “Sugar.” “The Rookie.” “Moneyball.” “Fear Strikes Out.” “Damn Yankees.” “The Pride of the Yankees,” despite Gary Cooper’s lack of athleticism.
Here’s a top 10 with some thoughts on each:
1. “Eight Men Out”: The story (kinda) of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Some truth, some not. But a fascinating look at the world a century ago, especially when realizing two of the eight White Sox players banned for life for their part in throwing the World Series had Bay Area ties, shortstop Swede Risberg from San Francisco and first baseman Chick Gandil from Berkeley.
2. “42”: When the movie was coming out, I was given an opportunity to interview either Harrison Ford or Chadwick Boseman, and it was an easy call to choose the man who portrayed Jackie Robinson. Little known at the time, Boseman quickly elevated to superstardom and helped a new generation get hip to Jackie’s story. “The emotions were completely real,” Boseman told me of the powerful hallway scene in which he pounded his bat against the walls after hearing a series of racial slurs from Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman.
3. “The Sandlot”: Folks who grew up in another era can appreciate the organic summertime settings without uniforms, umpires or parents. Just kids being kids, playing games such as workups (working your way around the field until you get to bat) or 500 (a flyball game) and, hey, if we’re short a guy or two, right field is closed. If my daughter and I are going to watch a baseball movie, this is the one. Great soundtrack, too.
4. “A League of Their Own”: Thanks to the directing of Penny Marshall and the acting of Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell, the world forever will know about the women’s pro baseball league during World War II, and plenty of books on the subject provide greater detail. A recommendation: “The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League” by Anika Orrock.
5. “Field of Dreams”: Nobody I knew ever said, “Want to have a catch?” In our corner of the world, it was always, “Want to play catch?” Either way, there are few things better in life. The biggest knock with all those ghosts coming out of the cornfield isn’t that Shoeless Joe was swinging from the wrong side of the plate. It’s this: no minorities. Where was Satchel Paige? Josh Gibson? Martin Dihigo? Sadaharu Oh? Huge mistake.
6. “Bull Durham”: Fewer people nowadays think there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing the designated hitter, but the movie remains an entertaining glimpse into minor-league ball, where dreams are made but mostly end. Plus a tutorial on how to “get us a rainout.” Crash Davis told Nuke LaLoosh he had a million-dollar arm (and 5-cent head), but I’ll never forget former Giants manager Roger Craig saying Tim Robbins had a rag arm.
7. “The Bad News Bears”: The original, not the remake. When did drinking beer in the dugout stop being a thing? It’s all wrong by today’s standards but still a classic, and, no, Hank Aaron did not commit 42 errors as a 9-year-old.
8. “The Natural”: Yeah, Robert Redford was 47 when he portrayed 19-year-old pitcher Roy Hobbs (and mid-30s outfielder Roy Hobbs), but it works. Props to baseball writer Max Mercy, whose best asset might not be professionalism or integrity, but Robert Duvall plays the heck out of the role.
9. “Major League”: The plot might remind A’s fans of what’s going on with their team’s ownership. The characters in uniform are zany and wonderful, but make no mistake: Bob Uecker makes this film.
10. “61*”: The story of Roger Maris’ road to 61 homers in ’61 will receive more play the closer Aaron Judge gets to the magical figure, the most hit by anyone not connected with performance-enhancing drugs. Casting was well done including Anthony Michael Hall — who grew up from his roles in “Vacation,” “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club” — playing Whitey Ford.
Around the majors
This year’s “Field of Dreams” game didn’t have the signature moments of the 2021 game such as Tim Anderson’s walk-off home run, but it was cool nonetheless for a game to be played on such a wonderful neutral site. MLB won’t return to Dyersville next season because of planned construction on the site, and there’s no promise the game will return at all. Well, it better. So far, we’ve had both Chicago teams in the “Field of Dreams” game. White Sox versus Yankees and then Cubs versus Reds. Let’s not forget a few teams play out West, and a game with the Giants and Dodgers or Padres and Dodgers — maybe even Giants and A’s — could be a ratings boon. If the Orioles continue with their stunning play, we could have a manager of the year from Santa Rosa. Brandon Hyde, pride of Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa and Santa Rosa Junior College, has guided Baltimore into legitimate playoff contention. For a team that lost 115, 108 and 110 games in the previous three full seasons, this is remarkable. Hyde has made great use of an improved pitching staff that ranked dead last in recent years. The bullpen ERA is third lowest in the majors, and the Orioles have 25 comefrom-behind wins and eight walkoff wins. Curiously, they traded Trey Mancini at the deadline but haven’t missed a beat, winning seven of their first eight in August. Going to miss Jed Lowrie. His production wasn’t the same, but he remained a thinking man’s ballplayer, able to analyze the game in standard and outof-the-box terms with both old-school and new-school principles. If he wants to stick around after retirement, he’d be an excellent executive, with the A’s or elsewhere. Watching Juan Soto for three days in San Diego, I couldn’t help but notice the lower half of his picturesque follow-through is Reggie Jackson-like, particularly with the back leg. Soto, like Reggie, is so low to the ground on impact that his leg, from his knee to his ankle, finishes parallel to the ground (forming a right angle with the upper half of the leg), and sometimes the force is so powerful that the knee actually drops to the ground on the swing. It clearly means he rotates his hips well, stays back on the ball and doesn’t lunge. It also means he has a quick barrel to the zone and doesn’t get cheated. That’s one thing we could always say about Reggie — he never got cheated, and that dates to his time in Oakland. Hooray for the NBA for taking a page from MLB — which universally retired No. 42 in 1997 — and retired No. 6 for Bill Russell, though it would have been nicer if this were done when he was alive. There has been talk that MLB should honor the great Roberto Clemente by retiring 21 across the game, and it’s a compelling case considering how he inspired generations of Latin Americans. MLB hasn’t been keen on the idea and is proud of how it honors the former outfielder via the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award.