With baseball’s World Series opening on Tuesday, it’s time to get into the spirit of the Fall Classic and awaken your inner baseball fan. For some that will mean watching every game start to finish, but that’s not the only way to embrace the season.
Baseball has inspired some of the best sports movies ever made, and if you want something to watch on World Series off days, before or after games—or even instead of them—we’ve got you covered.
Below is a list of our favorite baseball movies:
Moneyball
Year: 2011
What’s it about?: This adaptation of the best-selling Michael Lewis book tells the true story of an underdog team—the Oakland Athletics—and their creative attempt to circumvent financial disadvantages by approaching building a baseball team in a completely new way. Brad Pitt was nominated for an Oscar for playing General Manager Billy Beane.
Who are the stars?: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
Where’s it streaming?: Netflix
Bull Durham
Year: 1988
What’s it about?: Bull Durham is the quintessential story of the minor league grind, as it follows the story of a veteran catcher who’s been in the minors forever being paired up with a young hotshot pitcher (a baby-faced Tim Robbins) on the way to the major leagues—with a heavy dose of romantic entanglements.
Who are the stars?: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins
IMDB Rating: 7.1/10 (a criminally low rating)
Where’s it streaming?: Paramount+
Field of Dreams
Year: 1989
What’s it about?: An Iowa farmer is inspired by a dream to go to great lengths to build a baseball field on his farm where the ghosts of former baseball players will play. It’s the origin of the phrase “If you build it, they will come” and the inspiration for MLB’s Field of Dreams Game. Just try not to cry.
Who are the stars?: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta
IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
Where’s it streaming?: Amazon Prime Video
Major League
Year: 1989
What’s it about?: A new Cleveland Indians owner tries to build a horrible team to lose on purpose, but when the squad finds out, they start winning to spite her. Major League brought new meaning to the term “screwball comedy” and inspired multiple sequels.
Who are the stars?: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Wesley Snipes
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
Where’s it streaming?: Hulu
A League of Their Own
Year: 1992
What’s it about?: Based on the real All-American Girls Baseball League that sprang up during World War II, this movie follows the Rockford Peaches and their quest for glory. Tom Hanks charms as their old-school, has-been manager (loosely based on Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx), famous for the line “There’s no crying in baseball!”
Who are the stars?: Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Lori Petty, Madonna
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
Where’s it streaming?: Amazon Prime Video
The Sandlot
Year: 1993
What’s it about?: In the summer of 1962, a new kid, Scotty Smalls, arrives in town and tries to fit through the baseball games he plays with the other neighborhood kids. The movie follows Smalls’s first summer after his move, which includes plenty of adventures (and misadventures) on and off the diamond.
Who are the stars?: Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Denis Leary, James Earl Jones
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
Where’s it streaming?: Disney+
The Bad News Bears
Year: 1976
What’s it about?: A down-on-his-luck former minor-league player winds up managing an extremely dysfunctional Little League baseball team.
Who are the stars?: Walter Matthau, Tatum O’Neal, Vic Morrow
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
Where’s it streaming?: Amazon Prime Video
Hard Ball
Year: 2001
What’s it about?: An unfocused young man surprises himself by finding purpose coaching a Little League baseball team from one of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago.
Who are the stars?: Keanu Reeves, Diane Lane, and Michael B. Jordan
IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
Where’s it streaming?: Netflix
Eight Men Out
Year: 1988
What’s it about?: This movie dramatizes the true story of how the 1919 Chicago White Sox took bribes to throw the World Series, leading to lifelong bans for some of the players.
Who are the stars?: John Cusack, Clifton James, Jace Alexander
IMDB Rating: 7.2
Where’s it streaming?: Hulu
The Rookie
Year: 2002
What’s it about?: A high school baseball coach well into his 30s agrees to try out for the major leagues if the team he coaches makes the playoffs. We’ll let you guess the rest.
Who are the stars?: Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, and J.D. Evermore
IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
Where’s it streaming?: Disney+
Comments
Where is “Bang the Drum Slowly?” Surely it is the absolute best portrait of minor league ball, with spirited, joyful, heart-breaking performances by Robert De Niro and Michael Moriarty. Top of my list —
you guys left out the natural with robert redford!