I was an extra in Moneyball, and it was actually surprisingly dark during filming. Filming took place at the Oakland Coliseum 9pm to 5am. Maybe it was a city ordinance due to the hours filming took place, but only a few of the stadium lights were on. Other unrelated details: 1. It was COLD! We weren’t allowed to walk around, so having to stand/sit in one spot for hours made it worse. 2. Catering was actually just Coliseum food (which was awful) 3. There was a prop churro that obviously wasn’t seen on screen, but yes… there was a food vendor in the stands twirling a rubber churro between takes. 4. There was a standup comic doing his best to keep the extras upbeat during the shoot. It was cold, food sucked and filming is already tedious as is. He did a surprisingly good job. 5. Brad Pitt wasn’t a part of the shoot, but he was still there on-set for the first few hours in his normal clothes occasionally being social with extras. 6. This is gonna sound like BS, but I got to high-five Chris Pratt several times. One of the shots was him leaving the dugout heading towards the tunnel to the clubhouse. These are exposed walkways at the Coliseum. We high-fived in the first take and they wanted us to keep doing it for a few more takes. 7. The closest I got to being visible on screen was in a shot where Jonah Hill is in the stands and he stands up to react to something happening on the field. I was one row up, and one seat diagonal to him. However the shot was framed tight and alas… it was my Moonlight Graham moment.
I wanted to be an extra for Moneyball so badly! Unfortunately, I was still in high school and my mom would not let me stay out after dark for it lol. I did see the lights added to the Coliseum for the shoot while taking the BART home on occasion...some of the brightest lights I've ever seen in my life, which makes the dark results all the more confusing for me.
I was an extra in Moneyball as well. Can concur it was dark as hell when they were shooting. I remember the guy who was playing T-Long couldn't nail the scene where he muffs the ball in left field that they switched the actors so they could get the shot. I got to meet Philip Seymour Hoffman when he was walking through the stadium.
As someone with Asperger’s, I had no idea I could throw 100 mph; I’ve topped out at Tim Wakefield’s late-career heater, so clearly I’ve been misdiagnosed for the past 16 years
I never heard of this movie before this video but was not surprised that a bottom of the barrel sports movie starred Dean Cain in the store brand Kevin Sorbo phase of his career
For real, references air bud multiple times, kept forgetting about it, immediately after bill durham I’m like what movie can top this? And then boom, air bud
Moneyball being dark during gameplay was one of my favorite choices in any baseball movie. You’re getting in the mind of the players being shown. Baseball players mention everything else being drowned out and being locked in. Looks as if they’re more on a stage. The baseball vernacular was great, and as someone who grew up in the bay they really nailed what the colosseum was like in those years.
I watched an hour of this only for you to put airbud as #1 unbelievable finally someone gives it the recognition it deserves as a truly accurate and realistic baseball movie.
The stretch of time from 1988 (Bull Durham) through 1994 (remake of Angels in the Outfield) was truly a golden age in baseball and baseball-themed films.
I understand they're disqualified because of players age, but The Sandlot and origional B.N. Bears deserve honerable mention for capturing the joy of baseball as a kid. My first little leauge team was all 1st & 2nd year players - we won a single game that season...4 years later - with almost all the same kids - we won the championship.
The reason that Bull Durham was so realistic is because Ron Shelton (writer-director) played minor league baseball. You hit on one of my favorite points in the movie; how cruel baseball can be. Crash Davis, a switch-hitting catcher with power could never break through for more than those three glorious weeks. I loved his speech on the bus about how Nuke didn't respect the game despite the fact that The Gods gave him a thunderbolt for a right arm. Crash was a guy who loved the game that didn't love him back. I also like that his record-breaking home run wasn't a big dramatic moment to win a big game. It went out of the park and into obscurity. Ron Shelton had a great line about the theme of baseball in the movie: careers don't end with game-winning home runs, they end on two-hoppers to second base.
Bull Durham was more about the other fave American "sport" than baseball. Costner's pontificating got tiresome halfway through the movie. Yeah, we get it, "Nuke" LaLoosh is a lunkhead that doesn't respect the game, at least according to "Crash's" standards...yet, WHO ends up in the "show", and who's a de facto minor league coach? At least Crash gets the girl and finds his true niche in baseball is coaching/managing.
Actually, Tim robbins' character was loosely based on a pitcher that was in the Orioles farm system that never made it to the majors. He was supposedly the hardest thrower that ever lived and also the wildest. His name was Steve Dalkowski. I don't know if there is any footage of him throwing or not.
@@cmoore185 Or Ryne Duren, who pitched for the Angels in their formative years (1961-1962), the Orioles, KC Athletics, Yankees, and several NL clubs before finally ending his "reign of (t)error" with the second incarnation of the Washington Senators in 1965. Duren's blazing fastball and his poor eyesight, questionably helped by his "Coke Bottle" eyeglasses, made him FEARED by hitters...that they'd get plunked!
@@cmoore185 I thought you meant this Steve Dalkowski threw a lot of wild pitches, but it seems like the thing that really stopped him from succeeding was his wild lifestyle, being an enormous alcoholic. I guess he was the wildest pitcher both literally and figuratively. But yeah the guy must have thrown exceptionally hard to be remembered and have movies made about him and books written about him despite never progressing further than the minors. It's a shame, probably only a small change or two would have been needed for him to get to the major leagues. Like Randy Johnson, when Tom House and Nolan Ryan told him to start landing his front foot on his toe instead of his heel, he went from being very inconsistent to being the best and scariest pitcher in baseball. But then again, that kind of information wasn't available in Dalkowski's time (cos Tom House was one of the first pitching coaches to really take advantage of the new technology of computers).
I f-ing LOVE that of all movies, the Naked Gun is a respectful in how they portrayed baseball. Theres a reason its one of the finest works of art in cinematic history. 😂
The original “Bad News Bears” was always my favorite, most realistic and believable. The first 5 minutes immediately takes me back to the T-Ball, little league and Pony league years. Great flick.
My grandfather's brothers bestie was actually a grounds keeper for the Yankees back in the day around that time frame. Wetting the fields was not a thing until somewhere in the mid 20's. It actually became a thing because someone who was a grounds keeper for a different organization got fired and decided to spray a field before game play out of spite and it actually made the play better. My grandpa always told me it was the chocolate chip story of baseball. Commenting on your debate for dust accuracy.
That line drive by Liotta in field of dreams actually happened and was not a choreographed stunt as you assumed, which is why Costner's reaction is so good, and he managed to stay in character
Nah. They used a pitching machine. Imagine if the studio really let Costner stand there and pitch to someone lol then he gets killed by a line drive....
@@andyf7027 Anyone swinging a bat can cause instant death at that distance. He def lied lol. Theres no way that was a natural accident hitting the bag of baseballs like that and his over the top kicking up dirt fall. Looked great on camera. Too great to be real. I love me some old school Costner tho so screw it im willing to believe it was real why not.
@@TP_Gillz Well if you watch the bonus features (I believe it was in the commentary with the director) you will learn it actually did happen and the reason they were able to use it like they did, was because Costner stayed in character and said a funny ad-libbed line "Yeah, yeah you can hit the curve ball". But according to the director as well as Costner himself, they said it actually happened. Could they both be lying, of course they could, but I'm taking them at their word.
Watching this as someone who doesn't have baseball as a sport in my country, nor do I have a particular interest in it as a sport, but I'm a BIG fan of anime and movies about Baseball. So getting this video recommended to me was like striking gold. Don't know if you'd ever consider looking at different baseball anime since I imagine that is way out of your line of interest and watching series is a bit more intensive than watching a bunch of movies, but genuinely thanks for the list! I always love finding niche-ish topics covered by passionate people.
Ahh man it tore me open when I got brought back to Angel's in the Outfield and lost it when Rookie of the year was right after. My grandma introduced me to both and watching little league games was probably her favorite thing ever. She was an amazing lady and I'll never forget her.
Glad to see Little Big League up so high. When I watched it as a kid, I loved that it actually looked like MLB gameplay (unlike Rookie of the Year). Thanks for putting this together, it has always been something I wondered in the back of my mind how well movies depict actual baseball.
It always amazed me that Little Big League and Rookie of the Year came out around the same time, but Rookie of the Year seemed to be more well known. I've always loved Little Big League. The kid didn't earn his spot through magic, he was just smart. He accomplishes so much with intelligence, I love the scene where he gets the grumpy pitcher to play hard by pointing out he's tanking his free agent value. And the way he was smart isn't too far from believable, a 12 year old can be excellent at something if they focus all their energy on it, which he did. The baseball action blew me away, I still wonder how many takes some of their montage plays must have taken.
Kamikaze Tanaka from Major League 2 was played by Takaaki Ishibashi and he was one of the biggest and most powerful celebrities in Japan back in the late 80s, all throughout the 90s and into the first decade of 2000s. He is one half of the comedy duo Tonneruzu (Tunnels) and they had major comedy/slapstick sketch shows back in the day, all the way up until their longest and what's become their only running show which was finally retired in 2017 after a 30 year run. He got the part in ML2 at the height of his career. What many may not know about him is that he is the biggest baseball fan, having played for the prolific Teiken High School in Tokyo, which was and is still a baseball powerhouse (tho he was not a starter), and have continued to demonstrate his affection for baseball during his shows, often inviting professional players as guests. Even though he does not have a show on broadcast TV anymore, he started a RU-vid channel a few years ago which has 1.6 million followers and regularly talks of baseball, including a sports corner every Monday during the season, covering all kinds of sports, especially baseball. He regularly meets current Japanese baseball players and there's also footage of him meeting Shohei Ohtani in LA along with some of his Angels teammates, and most recently meeting Yu Darvish for a meal when Darvish was back in Japan.
Besides Tunnels, if you were a jpop fan in the late 90s and 2000s, he was the co-host of the music variety show, Utaban, along with SMAP (a jpop boy band/talent group back in the day, who also their own variety show SMAPxSMAP and starred in a lot of popular j-dramas) member Masahiro Nakai. I actually never knew this despite watching Utaban and watching Major League 2 when I was a kid before that! When I go back to watch old Utaban episodes, I feel embarrassed for not noticing before cuz now that I know it's so obvious it's him. He also covered the latest World Baseball Classic on Japanese TV too (not sure which channel...)
Excellent job of staying on point about the baseball quality and I appreciate your work in looking at so many of the details (Chapel's ERA for instance).
Tthis is one of the few times I’ve actually been entertained for a full hour on RU-vid without switching videos. Great explaining and great work. I completely agree with Air Bud being in the top that movie is incredible
same I'm like what is number 1????? thinking like idk maybe sandlot ig because of the ending he was in the majors or maybe some movie I've never heard of. but then I was like you gotta be kidding me lol well played sir.
The fact that Little Big League is so high up there is amazing to me! It was my favorite movie growing up as a kid in Seattle because getting to see Lou, Ken, and Randy on film was mind blowing! Amazing content throughout this video! Thanks for making this video!
Cheers for putting "Little Big League" at #3. Underneath the ridiculous premise of a 12 year old managing an MLB team, it is a very smart baseball film. It covers situational strategy, hot streaks and slumps, free agents, contract disputes, cuts, injuries. On top of that it has incredible action as you pointed out. It will always be underrated and overlooked, but it will always be one of my favorites.
Agreed! A ridiculous premise that turns out to be a hidden gem of a movie. I kind of wish it was all a dream so more people could take the movie seriously.
100% agree. It's a film that loves and respects the game, plus it also helps it has some amazing hall of famers in it like Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson, and Pudge!
Now we're talkin' 1. Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch - 1:09:00 2. Bull Durham - 1:04:44 3. Little Big League - 1:01:29 4. 42 - 58:42 5. Major League - 57:02 6. For Love of the Game - 55:01 7. Sugar - 53:13 8. Touching Home - 52:10 9. 61* - 50:24 10. A League of Their Own - 48:49 11. Mr. Baseball - 47:50 12. Talent for the Game - 45:38 13. Field of Dreams - 43:24 14. Mr. 3000 - 41:29 15. Moneyball - 40:38 16. The Natural - 39:25 17. Everybody Wants Some!! - 38:52 18. If the Sun Rises in the West - 38:08 19. Soul of the Game - 37:27 20. Summer Catch - 36:34 21. Trouble with the Curve - 35:35 22. The Naked Gun - 34:58 23. Major League II - 33:18 24. The Rookie - 31:34 25. Rookie of the Year - 30:50 26. Angels in the Outfield - 28:56 27. Eight Men Out - 26:58 28. The Scout - 24:40 29. Baseball Girl - 23:57 30. Undrafted - 21:24 31. Cobb - 19:20 32. Brewster's Millions - 18:00 33. Home Run - 17:04 34. The Fan - 14:49 35. Ed - 13:23 36. Joe Torro: Curveballs Along the Way - 12:48 37. Angels in the Infield - 10:59 38. The Babe - 9:13 39. Major League: Back to the Minors - 7:13 40. A Mile in His Shoes - 3:18 P.S. 1st place - that's a nice one 🤣 P.P.S. I'm not from the USA and just starting to get into baseball, this is just a breath of fresh air. Brilliant work on reviewing all this stuff 🤘
Mr. Baseball is one of my all-time favorite sports movies. To this day, whenever someone pulls an obscure statistic to make their point, I quote, "Last season, I led this club in ninth-inning doubles in the month of August!"
Someone in the production side of Little Big League HAD to be not just a massive baseball fan but a massive Twins fan, because there are SO many little details in that movie not just about the Twins but about Minneapolis and St. Paul that could have been missed. Also props for noting John Gordon's presence in the movie. I do miss Gordon and his booth mate, Herb Carneal, as good as Cory Provus is. I think the Twins may have been the last MLB franchise that didn't have a regular color man who was a former MLB player through Carneal's retirement, shortly before his death - neither Gordon nor Carneal played a day of professional baseball, they were just solid, old-school broadcasters.
Great video, good list of movies. I loved Rooke of the Year and Angels in the Outfield as a kid (I even caught that terrible Angels in the Infield once at a friend's house). I'm glad to see they were relatively higher than I was expecting them to be. But then I was pleasantly surprised to see The Naked Gun make the list, forgetting that yeah, there was a significant portion of baseball in that movie. One of the funniest movies ever made, in my opinion.
I was at the game in Arlington when they shot the film The Rookie. They shot it after the real game, and fans were invited to stay to be extras in the stands. Watched Dennis Quaid jogging in from the home bullpen instead of the visitors, which was annoying. Overall a fun experience, they gave away a Dodge Ram truck to a random fan too
I just love the nostalgia of the movie. I'm from a small town. I moved to Arlington when I was 20. My reaction to the Ballpark when I first saw it was the same reaction the kids had in the movie.
For the movie 61*, they used Tiger Stadium and repainted it to look like 1960s Yankee Stadium, with CGI on top to add the 3rd deck and freize. On a scene when reporters questions Maris about his signed "X"ball, we can clearly see Michigan Central Station in the background.
40. A Mile in His Shoes(2011) 3:19 39. Major League: Back to the Minors(1998) 7:13 38. The Babe(1992) 9:12 37. Angels in the Infied(2000) 11:00 36. Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way(1997) 12:48 35. Ed (1996) 13:23 34. The Fan(1996) 14:49 33. Home Run(2013) 17:04 32. Brewster's Millions(1985) 18:00 31. Cobb(1994) 19:19 30. Undrafted(2016) 21:24 29. Baseball Girl(2019) 23:57 28. The Scout(1994) 24:40 27. Eight Men Out(1998) 26:58 26. Angels in the Outfield(1994) 28:56 25. Rookie of the Year(1993) 30:49 24. The Rookie(2002) 31:33 23. Major League II(1994) 33:17 22. The Naked Gun(1998) 34:58 21. Trouble with the Curve(2012) 35:35 20. Summer Catch(2001) 36:34 19. Soul of the Game(1996) 37:27 18. If the Sun Rises in the West(1998) 38:08 17. Everybody Wants Some!!(2016) 38:52 16. The Natural(1984) 39:25 15. Moneyball(2011) 40:38 14. Mr. 3000(2004) 41:29 13. Field of Dreams(1989) 43:24 12. Talent for the Game(1991) 45:38 11. Mr. Baseball(1992) 47:50 10. A League of their Own(1992) 48:49 09. 61*(2001) 50:23 08. Touching Home(2008) 52:10 07. Sugar(2008) 53:13 06. For Love of the Game(1999) 55:01 05. Major League(1989) 57:02 04. 42(2013) 58:42 03. Little Big League(1994) 1:01:29 02. Bull Durham(1988) 1:04:43 01. Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch(2002) 1:09:00
@@Miggly He said he was born in 1984. The Sandlot came out in 1993. The reason it's not on here is because of the criteria he laid out before. No kids' baseball teams. College level or higher. That takes The Sandlot right out.
I legitimately had to pause the video at 32:40 after that sidebar about Mantle and Maris to just reflect on the sheer depth of information provided here. Such an incredible amount of detail that went into the editing, and the data collection for this video. It's always a joy to see sports channels take their knowledge to other subjects, which is clear by the vast understanding of film as a medium, showcased all over this video. Also, the scene of Maris and Mantle in Touch of Mink is great.
When I saw the title the first thought that popped into my head was Costner's mental internal dialog at the plate in Bull Durham. Best depiction of what playing baseball is like ever made imo. I totally agree with you!
Mr. Baseball was my favorite film growing up. It and major league. The sound in Mr. Baseball was CRITICAL for me. It was a stylistic choice that made the entire experience feel more foreign. I loved it. It's one of my top 3 films that explore what it's like to be a foreigner in Japan because not only is the character dealing with it, but they are sort of making you deal with it too with all the aesthetic choices they make with the cinematography, lightning, sound. It's so crazy.
I think I agree the sound of the bat sometimes is just for affect to stress the moment I don't mind it if it fits. But nowdays we have come to expect a pretty dead on portrayal of our sports movies. Really our bar has completely been raised on really everything people think cgi can do anything hahahah
Plus if you also recognize he seems pretty not picky anyways. He talks about the homerun in the natural like it totally takes you out of the movie ..I just dont see it. To me that's a pretty classic baseball movie moment. The movies w the stupid shit in it and the aweful baseball I agree it's not hard to go to a local div 1 college and ask a few kids to play around for a couple hundred bucks or whatever. After their season about 90% of those guys are done w baseball forever anyways most would do it for fun prolly.
@@stevenshaker465 A-ball players average something like $25k a year, I guarantee you could get a local team to agree to film for a few days by offering a little cash and free food.
So glad to see Little Big League high on the list. One of my all time favorite movies ever and you can really tell how much love for the sport went into the movie.
I agree!! I watched it for the first time when I was 6 playing T ball for the first time and after that I was hooked. 17 years later I’m still a lifelong twins fan!
@@drew7294oh you poor thing. Nothing but Suffering for you. I was born in MN so I’m born into the suffering. Hopefully you didn’t pick it from a movie lol
9:13 I recorded The Babe back in 2020 when sports channels did not have anything else to broadcast, then sports movies. I assumed the movie was pretty historically accurate. I looked certain things up. Aside from all the things you said in that video. I noted a couple of other things. Jumping Joe did not play with Babe Ruth in Boston in the Babe's 1st year. He appears in the movie as a big brother to Babe, when Ruth joins the MLB in 1914. But in fact Joe joined the MLB in 1917 in Philly (A's). They first played together with the Yankees in 1922. Also in the movie you get the impression that the Babe played his last game at Forbes field when he hit 3 homeruns with the Boston Braves. But he played a couple more games then retired. I wonder if they really hired someone to do research on the subject. Maybe someone said something like '' Well aside from baseball nerds, nobody will be able to verify this stuff.'' Before the internet you would have to go to libraries or baseball museums to check this out. But now it's quite different. Also the part when he is a kid, get from someone who never played baseball on the 1st pitch. But in the 2nd pitch hits a homerun. And then chaining dingers on every pitch to finally hit one that breaks a window on the bell tower past the center field's wall. Come on!! Does it have to be that incredible? Would have been more credible if we saw him hit solid balls in the outfield.
These are fascinating details, but with this film, there's no point to judging the action, or anything else, because John Goodman was just too enormously fat. Looks like he never actually ran for any distance. This would have been impossible. Babe Ruth was heavy-er toward the end of his life, but he was never 300+ pounds of blubber. I'm sorry for sounding cruel, but I thought as I watched this film when it was first made, that John Goodman looked ridiculous. My mother and her brothers, all not living anymore, saw Babe Ruth at Forbes Field. This was actually an exhibition game. He was not in the league which would normally have a team up against the Pirates. Mother and her brothers were fans who could have "verified stuff". They would not have tolerated 5 minutes of the bad 90s films reviewed here. They had an uncle...pitcher named Al Mamaux...who had pitched quite successfully for the Pirates...and so they could walk into the Pirate offices and be hired for what ever position they wanted, on the spot. My uncle worked his way up, from water boy to bat boy to equipment manager. My mother worked for the ticket manager, for about a decade. I enjoyed the brief glimpse of Forbes Field, which is slipped into this video.
Saw this suggested video and watched it just to see how high Little Big League was! It is my favorite baseball movie and I was soooo happy that the realism is recognized in this video! Such an underrated baseball movie as well! Thanks for making this!
I was working at Castle Rock when they made Little Big League and you are right: the producers were super focused on showing off how they would get the baseball right. It was more about rubbing elbows with them, but one of them had befriended Elster, who got the other MLB folk to come aboard. They told many many stories about Elster and Timothy Busfield that should not be mentioned in most company. The same can be said for For the Love of the Game - Costner was super insistent on getting it all right. (Loved this vid bc good friends of mine worked on about 12 of these films, my dad worked on "Babe," and I worked on "Sugar.")
I'm glad you took everything into account for Angels In the Outfield. As you said, it was supposed to look silly when the angels interfered, and when they weren't interfering it looked just fine(not great but fine). I loved that movie when I was little.
I was sad at first about Moneyball's placement, but the dark baseball scenes is a legit hit, based on your criteria. Makes sense. Also, amazing punchline at the end, well done.
I'm so glad you had Little Big League so high on the list. It's my favorite baseball movie. I'm not really a baseball fan, so I never knew how accurate it really was. And I did grow up watching it, so part of my love may be nostalgia, but still. It's nice to see it getting some love.
Tim Busfield, the putative 'star' of LBL, played HS baseball 20 years earlier. (He was an ok player, not a star) His character was supposed to be an All-Star, but didn't have many action shots. Some of the baseball extras were very good in addition to the shots edited in of MLB stars such as Griffey.
In "The Rookie" ( I was at the game where Morris made his debut, and my buddies were at the one where the filming took place) Jim Morris warmed up in the Rangers Bullpen instead of the visitors. When filming at The Ballpark in Arlington, they actually asked the crowd to stick around after a regular season game was over to be in the movie.
They did something similar as well with everybody’s all American for LSU versus Alabama. They had shots of the crowd, but LSU was getting blown out, so they were mainly just Alabama fan so they had to come in and film them at a different time.
Indeed they did. Was at the game and about 30 rows behind the bullpen. they filmed his entrance during the seventh inning stretch. I did not stick around afterwards, but was a neat add on to a random game me and some buds went to.
Hey BND, this was great work. Been a fan for a while now. I was fortunate enough to have played the role of Tom Selleck’s agent in Mr Baseball, and was hoping it would make the list. I had no idea it was used to help American players headed for Japan! Thanks for your hard work, it’s definitely appreciated.
In Field of Dreams, the scene you mentioned about the comebacker to Costner pitching, was not in the script, but kept in. So it's legit. Costner says this in an interview he gave.
This is so random but my mom is actually family friends with the Miller brothers, and they used to come by our house pretty often when I was a kid. Even got to see the movie in an early private screening. So cool that you included them in that, I loved the baseball in that movie as a kid.
This video is probably one of the best that I have seen. I wasn’t waiting for it to end or skipping boring parts. You had such good detail and facts to follow along with. Great job!
I was looking for baseball movies and looking foward to see a movie on the list that I saw many years ago. Sadly I just remember 1 or 2 scenes.... can't remember actors or anything. I remember a guy training his pitches at home, throwing at a wall, then a kid comes and sees that the guy finaly manage to throw some curve balls. MAYBE another scenes of a kid breaking in a glove by puting it under the mattress....or maybe that's from another movie or tv show.... Thank you so much for the video! ❤
I’m only into the 30s but this is fantastic. Each time a movie pops up, I think if the egregious baseball-breaking moments and, yep, you point it out. Great work-can’t wait til finish the rest tonight!
@@BaseballsNotDead Ok so when talking about Angels in the Infield you make a comment about not noticing something on your first watch through ( 12:25 ). So you actually watched that shitshow more than once? That is some major dedication to your craft right there. Thanx for putting yourself through that so that you could make this video to entertain us.
I have to admit, I was so excited to find out #1. I had a small list in my head... and I was baffled, was there a baseball movie I did not know about. A masterpiece missing from my knowledge. A film about baseball better than Bull Durum! And 42, and Major League... etc Sigh. All must bow down to the great Air Bud
The Natural is not just a baseball movie but a heavy esoteric movie with deep meanings hidden throughout. It has masculine and feminine themes. The book was different but the producer wanted it to be this way. Excellent movie when you realize what they are doing. Really two different movies at the same time.
It's my fav baseball movie, probably sports movie. The drama, love story, father and son relationship and excellent soundtrack by Randy Newman overshadows the unrealistic fantasy like moments.
The book though. Especially the ending. Have some courage and do the book's ending. And it's funny because that stupid scoreboard exploding shot might be the most enduring thing about the movie even though it is frankly stupid and ruined the whole thing. Do the real ending and have a real "esoteric movie with deep meanings."
Hobbes being "impregnated" by a silver bullet, only to give birth to it later on, is more about him letting go of a shame than any masculine feminine theme. He had a sexual relationship with a woman suffering delusional disorder who tried to kill him for her fantasy, and he was ashamed of how it looked, and let it gestate for years until Memo's attempt to poison him helped him let it go. Two women tried to harm him, one canceling out the other, and his first love was the woman that helped him realize what he is, should have been, and always was. There's no feminine theme to it.
Of course Naked Gun has decent baseball behind the slapstick. That movie is downright incredible, and so many one-liners from that movie (and Airplane!) are used by my entire family at my family events.
Leslie Neilson is a Saint. Absolute legend. Such great movies. Airplane! Beyond classic. I believe Leslie and Betty white have coffee ery morning in heaven. Don't ruin this.
I'm surprised you didn't mention in "Major League" that former Brewer great Pete Vuckovich played Yankee's power hitter "Hayward". Vuckovich also helped with the films production on authenticity of baseball in the movie. Also former MLB Steve Yeager played "The Duke" the guy once threw at his own son in a father son game. That anecdote was a true story about Steve Yeager they thought it was funny so they added to Bob Uecker's lines.
@@Wallyworld30 not his life story, just an instance. For an example, Yeager helped invent the throat guard that is still used by catchers and umpires. They don't say in the movie that The Duke did that.
One of my favorite details in Little Big League is the memorial sleeve patch on the Twins' uniforms for the deceased owner. Amazing attention to detail.
Fun video! The Natural is a hero allegory modeled after King Arthur. (The team name is also the Knights). I think the reason the bat breaking is depicted so dramatically is largely because the bat represents Excalibur. It’s pure mythology.
The source novel is *very* different, set in the 1950s instead of the 1930s with a different ending. The movie is about heroes and mythology and has an upbeat ending, but the book is very downbeat with Roy Hobbs as a tragic figure. At the end, instead of people seeing him on the street and saying he was "the best there ever was", they say "he could've been a king".
I never liked the Natural. I don't know why it just seemed very dramatic. It was obvious the Whammer was Babe Ruth. I did like the baseball scenes and the music. Also the scene at the beginning with the Sun setting looked beautiful while he was pitching to the Whammer. Other then that I think that it's overrated and not as good as Bull Durham or Field of Dreams .
Okay, but the scene where Kamikaze throws his mitt in the air, does a Michael Jackson spin move, then catches the ball bare handed and screams, is objectively hilarious.
I'm guessing Air Bud being No. 1 was a joke. You putting Little Big League in the top 3 made me happy. It's my favorite baseball movie, mostly because of it's realism.
I was an extra in Moneyball and I was on set between 10pm-5am and the majority of that night focused on the Hatteberg homerun. They only had a couple of banks of lights on. I’m not sure if it was for dramatic effect or maybe the city wouldn’t allow all lights on during those hours.
I completely agree with Little Big League. Have watched it several times again as an adult now, and was also impressed with how authentic the baseball play is. Also helps that I was a 90's kid growing up outside of Seattle ;)
I wouldn't put it at #1 but I liked it a lot. The kids were great in it and the mom was hot. I'd definitely rank it above Rookie Of The Year, which came out earlier and was the more popular movie. Partly because it's AL and shows my White Sox instead of the damn Cubs! 😀
I think the reason why the Natural works for me is that the movie is a love letter not just to Ruth-era baseball but also how it was covered with them making the players seem legendary. It captures that aspect well while also serving as an interesting contrast with everything going on outside of the games with Robert Redford's character. I think's a little satirical too, especially with scenes like the one with Babe Ruth towards the beginning. It's kind of like a movie about Bo Jackson including all of the urban legends about him throwing crab apples through a screen door and all that.
I'm curious if you read the book? I read it before seeing the movie, and don't appreciate the movie much. The point of the book is that legends stop being legendary. Roy strikes out at the end of the book, with a young up and coming player getting him out - very much like Hobbs was pitching at the beginning of the story.
@@SuperJ24 The reality is that most people do not want to see that ending. I was aware that the book ended differently. I always think it is funny how hung up people are that the film MUST be exactly like the book. And it is certainly fair to like the book better than the film. The film would be great for the the cinematography and musical score alone, but then it is also a great redemption story. And as far as Bump Bailey's death not being a big deal, it is played almost as humorous. A League of Their Own???? Look at some of the films he picked BEHIND "Madonna Plays Baseball."
This... was... so much fun. Once I acclimated to his ranking parameters, I was able to really enjoy and understand his list. A few things I wish he'd mentioned/was surprised he didn't: The three actors he identified as "pretty good" ball players - Costner, Sheen and Redford, were all high school stars. Sheen was 40-15 as a pitcher and also played shortstop, and could have played in college. Redford actually had a scholarship to play at Colorado but flunked out of school. Costner tried out at Cal-State Fullerton, but making that team was a tall order for anyone. I loved his comments about how the Brewers were battling for third in "Mr. 3000"... I felt the same way about the Tigers (My team) in "For Love of the Game", but did love it was the Yankees who got shut down. I wish he had mentioned they shot most of *61 at Tiger Stadium, my boyhood ballpark, after the Tigers had moved to Comerica. Such a wonderful park. Finally, I was surprised he didn't know that the shot in "Field of Dreams" where Costner almost gets hit wasn't a trick... it was a wonderful accident, and Costner ad-libbed his line "Yep, you can hit my curve". He said in an interview just after the death of Ray Liotta : "What happened that moment in the film was real," he added of the scene, admitting that it was not planned and his reaction was genuine during filming. "God gave us that stunt." Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find a copy of "Sugar".
One thing I've really grown to like about Major League over the years, even in the crazy last inning setups, is how accurate everything in the background is. Players and umpires all moving to cover their positions. There are cutoff throws, tagging up like you mention, etc. I don't know how many of the players had playing experience, but they all look like they fit. The menacing first baseman was a Cy Young winner, the Duke was an MLB relief pitcher, and the 3rd base coach was a World Series MVP. Seems they put that collective knowledge to good use.
Thank you for putting Little Big League at 3. My all time favorite baseball movie. When I first saw it as a kid. The fact that it felt so real was the reason I loved this movie so much.
Little Big League was always so underrated. It came out around the same time as Rookie of the Year. That movie got all the love, but Little Big League was so much better in my opinion.
Bill Simmons did a fascinating interview with Costner about "Love of the Game". Apparently Costner threw 200 pitches the day they filmed the game scenes.
I was at that Rangers game back in 01. My family came to visit from Amarillo and we always went to see Rangers games when they came to visit and we went to all of the home games against the Devil Rays that year.
As a die hard baseball fan (LFGM) and someone with a math background, I freaking love that your gripe with "For The Love of the Game" is that the ERA is mathematically impossible. I don't think I would ever have the psychoticness to do the math on that lmao.
Also, just went a few seconds further in the video and you complained about fan interference. I could be wrong on this, but i don't think this rule was enforced as it is now at that time.
Ok Naked Gun KILLED me. It’s a home game for the Angels. The game is played in Chavez Ravine. Reggie Jackson is on the Angels. He was retired at this time and hadn’t played for the Angels in 4 years! Hahaha This is the stuff that got me when watching.
1) I need to see Sugar 2) I agree that The Natural is just so so 3) I love the use of silence in For the Love of the Game 4) I need to re-watch Major League, because I remember thinking the baseball didn’t look great when I saw it on release 5) Bull Durham is the best 6) #1 … you got me
Costner's role was definitely the best physical performance of a ballplayer. Charlie Sheen gets honorable mention for Major League. He really had good pitching mechanics.
@Crazy Ohioan Cars, Guns, and Gaming He must have been a pretty good hitter, too, because there's no mistaking he hit a home run in one scene. It was a static shot start to finish and he looked hitterish doing it.
Costner was something of a b-list Bo Jackson before becoming an actor. There's a reason he's in so many sports movies: he can do the thing and look like he's done it before.
The video I didn't know I needed. It's almost hard watching any baseball related movie because you just know there's a good chance the actors don't know how to throw or you get unrealistic game situations
That relay from the warning track in "Little Big League" always impressed me. You really don't see those kind of shots in other movies. I've gone through that scene frame by frame to see what kind of movie magic was used to pull it off. But there's no secret. They actually pulled it off. It's such a great movie with great baseball and growing up with that movie, it holds a special place in my heart.
Just wanted to mention for angels in the outfield, the games were all at home cause the kid who sees the angels and gives the signs to the coach about them was 11 and couldn't go on away games, they did mention in the movie about him calling the dugout on away games.
Sugar was very relatable to me as someone of Dominican descent who has known minor leaguers and has had relatives in the minor leagues. A lot of people I showed it to didn’t like it because of how it ended but I loved it for that reason. Most minor leaguers don’t pan out. A lot of sports films are geared towards success stories so it was refreshing to see a film that went in another direction. My only gripe is that they could’ve done a better job at driving the point home that he was done. It could be interpreted that he gave up instead of he hit a ceiling.
@@beesly01 I once helped prepare a box of food and other items for a relative who was playing in Iowa for a minor league team. I think the team was based in Clinton. We shipped all sorts of Dominican related goodies that were harder to find out there.
You deserve more subscribers, cant imagine how long this took to make. As a die hard baseball fan, it feels good to know others like you know and pay this much attention to how baseball actually works. Keep up the good work!
I read an article years ago where Freddie Prinze Jr. said he was clocked in the low-80s during a baseball camp he went to in training for "Summer Catch". Maybe that was the case (he'd have been a fit actor in his mid-20s) for just a "throw the ball as hard as you can at this target" sort of deal like at a county fair, but his mechanics on the mound undermine those high velo claims.
