Top Ten Baseball Movies (Drama)

There have been a number of great baseball movies made in the form of both fiction and biographies. When compiling my list, I felt the need to separate dramas from comedies. The dramas are listed here with comedies to follow at a later date.

10. Bang The Drum Slowly - It's been quite a while since I've seen this and admittedly, I don't remember a whole lot about the movie except that DeNiro was a bit of a simpleton and was dying.

9. For Love Of The Game - Costner revisits key moments in his life while pitching a no hitter. A lot of people thought it was hokey, but I enjoyed it. John C. Reilly and JK Simons round out a good cast.

8. The Babe - Not a terrific movie, but there was something about John Goodman's portrayal that I liked. It seemed to exaggerate things a bit and really highlighted the faults of Ruth.

7. The Natural - Fictional story of Roy Hobbs, the mysterious man who comes from nowhere to achieve greatness. I didn't like this movie as much as some, but recognize its place among the great baseball dramas. Some may have this higher on the list.

6. The Jackie Robinson Story - Like many in my generation, I struggle to get into some of the old black and white movies. I saw this a few years ago after being intrigued that Jackie played himself in the movie. It's a fascinating look at what he went through those first couple seasons after breaking the color barrier.

5. 61* - Another great bio-pic about the M & M boys, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Great cinematography makes this a great movie. The story of Roger Maris, and the disdain he received from the fans, is intriguing.

4. The Pride Of The Yankees - The story of Lou Gehrig, his rise to baseball greatness, and rapid decline. Amazingly, this film was made only a year or two after his death and features Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Bill Dickey.

3. Cobb - This is the story of Ty Cobb after baseball from the perspective of his biographer. Like The Babe, it focuses heavily on just how bad a person Cobb is said to have been. Tommy Lee Jones is outstanding as Cobb.

2. Field of Dreams - Great movie that shows how much the game of baseball means to true fans of the sport. I still get chills when Costner pulls that U-turn after dropping off James Earl Jones, only to have Jones standing in the middle of the street. It shows the magical and mystical side of the game.

1. Eight Men Out - The story of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox who accepted bribes to throw the World Series to the Reds. I'm not sure of the accuracy of the film, but it's extremely well acted and has a great cast. If you like historical movies or baseball movies, you should enjoy it.

Any other good ones that anyone can recommend?