MovieMantz: Top 10 Baseball Movies Of All-Time

First Published: March 31, 2011 3:38 PM EDT Credit: Composed by AccessHollywood.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Top 10 Baseball Movies Of All-TimeThe grass is cut. The hot dogs are ready. It’s that time of year, again – it’s Opening Day of the 2011 Major League Baseball season! As hope springs eternal for all 30 teams (hey, everyone’s tied for first place for at least one day!), Access Hollywood’s Scott “Movie” Mantz counts down his Top 10 baseball films of all-time.

Play ball!

10) “The Pride of the Yankees” Year of Release: 1942 The Coach (aka the director): Sam Wood The Lineup: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth The Pitch: Gary Cooper plays Lou Gehrig – a.k.a “The Iron Horse” – the famous NY Yankee who played a whopping 2,130 consecutive games before dying at the age of 37 from ALS, a deadly nerve disease. Cooper knocks it out of the park with his unforgettable “luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech.

9) “Bang the Drum Slowly” Year of Release: 1973 The Coach: John D. Hancock The Lineup: Michael Moriarty, Robert De Niro The Pitch: Moriarty plays a star pitcher who takes a dying catcher (De Niro) under his wing. It may be set against the backdrop of baseball, but “Bang the Drum Slowly” – based on the novel by Mark Harris – is a beautifully told and moving story about the power of friendship.

8) “Fever Pitch” Year of Release: 2005 The Coaches: Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly The Lineup: Jimmy Fallon, Drew Barrymore The Pitch: Jimmy Fallon plays a diehard baseball fan and Drew Barrymore is the woman who loves him – until he chooses his beloved Boston Red Sox over her! This underrated gem accurately portrays what it truly means to be the #1 fan of baseball, or anything for that matter.

7) “A League of Their Own” Year of Release: 1992 The Coach: Penny Marshall The Lineup: Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Tom Hanks The Pitch: While the male pros were off fighting World War II, the All-American Girls Baseball League of 1943 filled their very big shoes — no high heels in sight. The Rockford Peaches kept it together for their washed-up coach (Hanks), because, after all, there’s no crying in baseball.

6) “The Bad News Bears” Year of Release: 1976 The Coach: Michael Ritchie The Lineup: Walter Matthau, Tatum O’Neal The Pitch: Matthau plays a lazy, drunken, washed-up former-minor leaguer who coaches a bunch of pathetic, foul-mouthed misfits. Hysterical and moving, the baseball comedy proves that you can be small and still dream big.

5) “Field of Dreams” Year of Release: 1989 The Coach: Roger Donaldson The Lineup: Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones The Pitch: An emotional and heartfelt story about a struggling farmer (Costner), who hears the words “If you build it, they will come” in his head and builds a magical baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield. And come they did, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (Liotta) and Costner’s long-lost father.

4) “Eight Men Out” Year of Release: 1988 The Coach: John Sayles The Lineup: John Cusack, David Strathairn, Charlie Sheen The Pitch: This compelling look at the dark side of baseball documents the Black Sox scandal of 1919, in which the defamed Chicago team cashed in and fixed their own World Series.

3) “Major League” Year of Release: 1989 The Coach: David S. Ward The Lineup: Tom Berenger, Wesley Snipes, Charlie Sheen The Pitch: This rags-to-riches comedy isn’t just the funniest movie ever made about baseball, it’s the funniest movie about sports, period. A bitchy new owner wants her Cleveland Indians to lose so badly that she can move them to Florida, but these down-and-out players rise to the occasion just to ruin her plans.

2) “Bull Durham” Year of Release: 1988 The Coach: Ron Shelton The Lineup: Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon The Pitch: One of the most accurate depictions of baseball, both on and off the field. It’s gritty, sexy and funny as hell. Costner has never been better, and his chemistry with Sarandon sets the movie on fire.

1) “The Natural” Year of Release: 1984 The Coach: Barry Levinson The Lineup: Robert Redford, Glenn Close The Pitch: A former baseball great (Redford) tries to make a comeback with the help of a magical bat. It’s a divine, soaring, loving tribute to America’s pastime, and it treats baseball and its players with the respect they deserve.

AH NATION: Agree with MovieMantz’s picks for the Top 10? Disagree? Sound off in the comments section below!

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