Are you a big fan of baseball? Have you been watching different baseball movies and not sure where to start? Do not worry. We came up with the 19 best baseball movies that every baseball fan must watch. Let’s start with the first movie on the list without further ado.
1. The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
English 2h 8m IMDb
Director: Sam Wood
Stars: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth
The first movie on our list, and definitely the oldest, is The Pride of the Yankees. It is considered a biography that tells the story of Lou Gehrig, a famous baseball player during those years. He played 2130 consecutive games during his prime before he succumbed to ALS at the young age of 37.
Many people are amazed by the portrayal of Gary Cooper as Gehrig in the movie, despite their difference in age and his lack of knowledge of baseball. It’s a recommended movie to watch, even for those who are not big baseball fans.
2. Major League (1989)
English 1h 47m IMDb
Director: David S. Ward
Stars: Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen
Major League is a must-watch movie for baseball fans who enjoy a bit of a comedy with their favorite sport.
The movie came out in 1989 and told the story of the Cleveland Indians baseball team as they faced a new team owner and new players. With a bunch of misfits, they try to fight one game at a time for a chance to win the championship.
Major League is filled with amazing actors and an excellent screenplay that will make you laugh throughout the movie. Get ready to laugh your heart out with this film.
3. The Bad News Bears (1976)
English 1h 42m IMDb
Director: Michael Ritchie
Stars: Walter Matthau, Tatum O’Neal, Vic Morrow
The Bad News Bears is a classic baseball movie that people of all ages should enjoy watching. It centers on the story of Morris Buttermaker, a former minor league baseball player who coaches the Bears, who are complete misfits. It’s full of humor and life lessons that baseball fans would love.
This is a tremendous classic baseball film filled with laughs and amazing actors. Many people consider this a part of their childhood, and it’s pretty understandable why. It teaches us many valuable lessons about friendship, teamwork, and win or lose that we can bring with us wherever we go.
4. Sugar (2008)
English 1h 54m IMDb
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Stars: Algenis Perez Soto, Jose Rijo, Walki Cuevas
Over here, we have one of the best baseball movies of the 2000s with Sugar. This film is highly praised for its excellent portrayal of the hardships and sacrifices that non-native Americans must endure to succeed in a specific sport, and in this case, baseball.
Join Miguel “Sugar” Santos, a 19-year-old from the Dominican Republic who has been abruptly removed from his small town and brought to Iowa, where he tries out and joins a minor league. Follow his story as he tries to find his identity in baseball and life in general.
5. The Natural (1984)
English 2h 18m IMDb
Director: Barry Levinson
Stars: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close
The next movie on our list is a 1984 movie called The Natural. It’s a magical baseball fantasy movie that depicts the story of an unknown man who turned into the best baseball player there could ever be with the help of a baseball bat formed from a lightning-struck tree.
The Natural is a movie that all families can enjoy watching for movie night. With excellent acting and straightforward narration of the story, this film exhibits a great sense of believing in the impossible that people of all ages would enjoy.
6. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
English 1h 36m IMDb
Director: John D. Hancock
Stars: Michael Moriarty, Robert De Niro, Vincent Gardenia
Bang the Drum Slowly is a great movie released in 1973 that shows what true friendship is all about. It tells the story of two friends, a catcher and a pitcher, who are the closest in every way possible.
The pitcher makes sure that the catcher is always playing with him on the field during the season as he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and is probably playing his last season ever.
This film will make you shed a tear at specific pivotal points, especially as you near the end of it.
7. Bull Durham (1988)
English 1h 48m IMDb
Director: Ron Shelton
Stars: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins
If you want a movie with the right mix of baseball, comedy, and romance, then we recommend you watch Bull Durham. This movie, released 34 years ago, revolves around the relationship of three people and a baseball season. Most people consider it a timeless classic, and the characters’ chemistry contributed to it.
What’s great about this movie is that it can attract different people to watch since it does not focus majorly on one. It can be a big hit to romantics, baseball fans, and people who just want to have a good laugh.
8. 42 (2013)
English 2h 8m IMDb
Director: Brian Helgeland
Stars: Chadwick Boseman, T.R. Knight, Harrison Ford
42 is an inspiring baseball movie that is depicted from the true story of Jackie Robinson, the first African American baseball player to make it to Major League Baseball. He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. The movie shows how he faced all the criticism and racism he experienced throughout his baseball stint.
Although the movie revolves around Robinson’s life, most reviews noted that the film focused on the racial revolution in the Major League and how a single decision turned into a big success for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
9. Field of Dreams (1989)
English 1h 47m IMDb
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Stars: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta
Are you looking for a family baseball movie you can watch with kids? Field of Dreams is the answer you’re looking for. This fantasy baseball film that came out in 1989 talks about the story of an Iowa farmer who hears whispering voices that he follows to build a baseball field on his own farm.
After making it, the farmer starts seeing the ghosts of eight Chicago White Sox players, and everything goes crazy. Enjoy going through the ups and downs of the farmer, who is played by Kevin Costner.
10. The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
English 1h 50m IMDb
Director: John Badham
Stars: Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor
If you want to have a laugh and educate yourself at the same time, then you should watch The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings.
This movie revolves around the story of Bingo Long, a star pitcher with overflowing charisma who’s had enough with the slave treatment from the team owner. He then started to create his own group with some of the best Negro League players that he took from their respective teams.
Bingo’s story will make you laugh every few minutes while shedding light on Negro Leagues, a long-forgotten historical fact.
11. Moneyball (2011)
English 2h 13m IMDb
Director: Bennett Miller
Stars: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill
The eleventh movie on our list is a more recent movie entitled Moneyball. Based on a true story, this film tells the story of the Oakland Athletics. This team was almost bankrupt but beat the odds by using a unique statistical way of picking baseball players for their team.
If you’re a big fan of baseball, then you should definitely watch this inspirational movie. Throughout the film, you’ll learn how perseverance and intelligence can help turn everything upside down. Not to mention the great actors who portrayed their characters well.
12. Up For Grabs (2004)
English 1h 30m IMDb
Director: Michael Wranovics
Stars: Marty Appel, Barry Bonds, Patrick Hayashi
Here we have another great movie from the 2000s with Up For Grabs. It all started with Barry Bonds’ record-setting 73rd home run ball, which was caught by one guy, but it fell into the hands of another. Everything turned haywire when it became a legal battle for the rightful owner.
In a way, Up For Grabs is simply a documentary that depicts what happened over this absurd legal battle. Still, the real drama behind it is what makes it great. Baseball fans will definitely relate to this movie. They can have a laugh over the situation as they go over it.
13. The Sandlot (1993)
English 1h 41m IMDb
Director: David Mickey Evans
Stars: Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Art LaFleur
Another family movie on our list is The Sandlot, a baseball movie released in 1993. Starring Tom Guiry, who plays Scotty Smalls, the movie follows his story as he learns how to play baseball from a local baseball prodigy. The film shows the journey to making friends, teaching sports, and the adventure of a lifetime.
If you ask us, we can say that this movie is an excellent choice for a movie night with kids since they can feel inspired by it. People of all ages will laugh their hats off at the casts’ crazy antics.
14. The Rookie (2002)
English 2h 7m IMDb
Director: John Lee Hancock
Stars: Dennis Quaid, JD Evermore, Rachel Griffiths
The Rookie is another movie inspired by a true story of a regular high school teacher who is also the baseball team’s coach. With a promise, he tells his players that he will try out for a professional team if they win the championship. He finds himself trying out in a remarkable turn of events and eventually making it to the Big League.
This movie received a lot of praise and was often given the comment of ‘‘A Sports movie done right.’’ It wasn’t embarrassing to watch, and people genuinely enjoyed the film.
15. A League of Their Own (1992)
English 2h 8m IMDb
Director: Penny Marshall
Stars: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty
If you’re looking for some girl power in this list full of male baseball movies, here is A League of Their Own. This movie follows the story of two sisters in World War II, where baseball teams have started recruiting females to play for them. These sisters are signed by the same team, and one gets to be a star player while the other lives in her shadow.
With excellent portrayal and a great story, A League of Their Own is a great movie, even if you are not a baseball fan.
16. Eight Men Out (1988)
English 1h 59m IMDb
Director: John Sayles
Stars: John Cusack, Clifton James, Jace Alexander
For big baseball fans out there, Eight Men Out is a movie that you must watch. It plays a massive part in baseball history since it gives a semi-fictionalized dramatization of what went down with the 1919 World Series or also known as the Black Sox Scandal.
Another person that should be credited for the success of this film and how well the story panned out is Eliot Asinof. The story was mainly taken out from his book entitled ‘8 Men Out’. This story not only has a significant effect on the history of American baseball but on the history of America itself.
17. Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
English 1h 33m IMDb
Director: Busby Berkeley
Stars: Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly
Another movie on our list released in the earlier half of the 1900s is Take Me Out to the Ball Game. This timeless classic is an excellent mix of different genres to form a spectacular film. Its central theme is baseball or sports, but a little bit of comedy, romance, and music make the movie enjoyable.
Starring Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, no one would ever believe that Sinatra was struggling with his films at the time. Their chemistry, along with Esther Williams, strengthened the movie’s core and made it great.
18. The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (1998)
English 1h 30m IMDb
Director: Aviva Kempner
Stars: Reeve Brenner, Hank Greenberg(archive footage), Walter Matthau
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg is a great movie to start off movie night for substantial baseball fans. This documentary/ biography covers the life of Hank Greenberg, the first Jewish Major League baseball player. Most of the people in this film are played by the original characters.
The movie gave justice to the storytelling of the extraordinary life lived by Hank Greenberg. His stats, legend, and everything in between, including his time as a WWII soldier, were thoroughly explained and shown through the interviews made with close friends and fellow baseball players.
19. Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
English 1h 57m IMDb
Director: Richard Linklater
Stars: Blake Jenner, Tyler Hoechlin, Ryan Guzman
Our last movie on the list is a more recent film released in 2016 called ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’. Suppose you’re up for some comedic baseball movie featuring a group of college people trying to find their place in the world.
In that case, this one is the proper film for you. It talks about a group of baseball players who are trying to figure out their identity while trying to get through college simultaneously.
Everybody Wants Some!! is a great movie choice if you’re trying to find a film that you and your friends could somehow relate to.
Summary
With this list, you’ll undoubtedly have enough baseball-related movies to keep you occupied and entertained. We hope these 19 best baseball movies will eventually end up on your movie night list. Baseball fan or not, you will definitely enjoy watching a movie or two from this list.
