Baseball
| Title | Year | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heading Home | 1920 | Biographical | A silent film about young Babe Ruth, who stars as himself. |
| Fireman, Save My Child | 1927 | Comedy | Silent film. |
| Elmer, the Great | 1933 | Drama | Joe E. Brown as an egotistical Chicago Cubs baseball star. |
| Alibi Ike | 1935 | Comedy | Joe E. Brown as a pitcher with a million excuses. |
| Death on the Diamond | 1935 | Mystery | Ballplayer (Robert Young) tries to find who's killing his fellow St. Louis Cardinals. |
| The Pride of the Yankees | 1942 | Biographical | The life and career of Lou Gehrig, with Gary Cooper as Gehrig and Babe Ruth as himself. |
| The Babe Ruth Story | 1948 | Biographical | The life and career of Babe Ruth, starring William Bendix. |
| It Happens Every Spring | 1949 | Comedy | Ray Milland as a scientist whose secret formula turns him into a great pitcher. |
| The Stratton Story | 1949 | Biographical | The career and fateful accident of pitcher Monty Stratton, starring James Stewart. |
| Take Me Out to the Ball Game | 1949 | Musical | Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly as singing, dancing ballplayers. |
| The Kid from Cleveland | 1949 | Comedy | The '48 World Series champion Cleveland Indians come to the aid of a young fan. |
| Kill the Umpire | 1950 | Comedy | William Bendix as a baseball fan who becomes an umpire. |
| The Jackie Robinson Story | 1950 | Biographical | Baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson as himself, with Ruby Dee as his wife. |
| Angels in the Outfield | 1951 | Comedy | A Pittsburgh Pirates manager (Paul Douglas) gets some help from above. |
| Rhubarb | 1951 | Comedy | Ray Milland in a cute tale about a cat. |
| The Pride of St. Louis | 1952 | Biographical | Dan Dailey as the colorful pitcher Dizzy Dean. |
| The Winning Team | 1953 | Biographical | Based on pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, played by Ronald Reagan. |
| The Kid from Left Field | 1953 | Comedy | The son of a peanut vendor (Dan Dailey) becomes the leader of a big-league team. |
| Big Leaguer | 1953 | Drama | Hans Lobert (Edward G. Robinson) runs a training camp for baseball's New York Giants. |
| Fear Strikes Out | 1957 | Biographical | The life and career of Jimmy Piersall, played by Anthony Perkins. |
| Damn Yankees | 1958 | Musical | A man sells his soul to the devil on behalf of Washington's baseball team. |
| Safe at Home! | 1962 | Comedy | With Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris as themselves. |
| Bang the Drum Slowly | 1973 | Drama | A pitcher's friendship with a catcher (Robert De Niro) who has a terminal disease. |
| The Bad News Bears | 1976 | Comedy | Walter Matthau's bad Little League team gets help from a girl pitcher (Tatum O'Neal) and a motorcycle-riding slugger (Jackie Earle Haley). |
| The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings | 1976 | Comedy | About a barnstorming team of Negro Leagues players, with James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor. |
| The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training | 1977 | Comedy | Sequel to The Bad News Bears. |
| One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story | 1978 | Biographical | A made-for-television film on the life and career of Ron LeFlore, starring LeVar Burton. |
| A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story | 1978 | Biographical | Fact-based made-for-TV account of Yankee immortal's marriage and tragedy, featuring Blythe Danner and Edward Herrmann. |
| The Bad News Bears Go to Japan | 1978 | Comedy | Second sequel to The Bad News Bears. |
| The Kid from Left Field | 1979 | Comedy | television film, remake, with Gary Coleman. |
| Squeeze Play! | 1980 | Comedy | Sexy women form a softball team. |
| Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige | 1981 | Biographical | television film with Louis Gossett, Jr. as the ageless 1940s pitcher. |
| Blue Skies Again | 1983 | Comedy | Denver Devils' potential second baseman isn't a man, it's a young woman. |
| Tiger Town | 1983 | Comedy | Early Disney Channel film about an aging Detroit Tiger (Roy Scheider). |
| The Natural | 1984 | Drama | Robert Redford in a fable about an unlikely, unlucky hero, Roy Hobbs. |
| Brewster's Millions | 1985 | Comedy | Richard Pryor as a minor-leaguer with a chance to inherit 300 million dollars. |
| The Slugger's Wife | 1985 | Romance | An Atlanta Braves player tries to break Roger Maris' record and make a marriage work. |
| A Winner Never Quits | 1986 | Biographical | television film on one-armed pro ballplayer Pete Gray, played by Keith Carradine. |
| Long Gone | 1987 | Comedy | Early cable television film about a minor-league ballclub starring William Petersen. |
| Trading Hearts | 1987 | Comedy | Has-been player (Raúl Juliá) and his romance with a Florida single mom. |
| Amazing Grace and Chuck | 1987 | Drama | A Montana boy refuses to pitch Little League until the world bans nuclear weapons. |
| Bull Durham | 1988 | Rom-Com | Ron Shelton's screwball comedy of a woman's (Susan Sarandon) summer with two minor-leaguers (Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins). |
| Eight Men Out | 1988 | Biographical | Based on the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. |
| Stealing Home | 1988 | Drama | Mark Harmon and Jodie Foster in a fictional tale of lost love. |
| The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | 1988 | Comedy | Someone's out to kill the Queen of England during an Angels baseball game, and it's up to bumbling detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) to foil the plot. |
| Field of Dreams | 1989 | Drama | Voices tell an Iowa farmer (Kevin Costner) to build a baseball stadium in his cornfield. |
| Major League | 1989 | Comedy | Fictional story of a team of misfit Cleveland Indians. |
| Night Game | 1989 | Crime drama | A ballpark murder mystery starring Roy Scheider. |
| Mr. Destiny | 1990 | Comedy | A man (James Belushi) blames his misfortune on a long-ago baseball game. |
| Taking Care of Business | 1990 | Comedy | A man (James Belushi) escapes jail to see the Chicago Cubs play in a World Series. |
| Pastime | 1990 | Drama | A pair of minor leaguers, one 17, one 40, form a bond. |
| The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson | 1990 | Drama | Andre Braugher in TV biopic of Robinson's court-martial in U.S. Army. |
| Talent for the Game | 1991 | Drama | A fictional Angels baseball scout (Edward James Olmos) finds a fantastic young pitcher. |
| The Babe | 1992 | Biographical | Based on the life and career of Babe Ruth, starring John Goodman. |
| The Comrades of Summer | 1992 | Comedy | television film about a manager (Joe Mantegna) asked to take over a Soviet ballclub. |
| A League of Their Own | 1992 | Comedy | A fictionalized account of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s. |
| Mr. Baseball | 1992 | Rom-Com | Tom Selleck as a baseball star who ends up in Japan. |
| Rookie of the Year | 1993 | Comedy | A boy develops a magical right arm and becomes a big-league pitcher for the Cubs. |
| The Man From Left Field | 1993 | Comedy | television film about a homeless man (Burt Reynolds) coaching a Little League team. |
| The Sandlot | 1993 | Comedy | A man reminisces about his childhood friends and the games they played. |
| Baseball | 1994 | Documentary | Comprehensive history of the game, 18 hours-plus, as chronicled by Ken Burns. |
| Angels in the Outfield | 1994 | Comedy | Disney remake of the 1951 film of the same name. |
| Cobb | 1994 | Biographical | The career and last days of Ty Cobb, played by Tommy Lee Jones. |
| Little Big League | 1994 | Comedy | A child becomes owner of the Minnesota Twins. |
| Major League II | 1994 | Comedy | Second film in the Major League series. |
| The Scout | 1994 | Comedy | A desperate Yankee scout (Albert Brooks) comes upon a phenomenal but psychologically troubled prospect. |
| Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream | 1995 | Documentary | Aaron's pursuit of Babe Ruth's all-time homer record, directed by Michael Tollin. |
| Dorf on the Diamond | 1996 | Comedy | Direct-to-video short film in the Dorf series starring Tim Conway. |
| Ed | 1996 | Comedy | Matt LeBlanc becomes friends with a baseball-playing chimpanzee. |
| The Fan | 1996 | Thriller | A deranged San Francisco fan (Robert De Niro) kills a player, kidnaps another's son. |
| Soul of the Game | 1996 | Biographical | Story of baseball trailblazers including Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson. |
| Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way | 1997 | Biographical | Paul Sorvino as the former New York Yankees manager. |
| The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg | 1998 | Documentary | The life and career of a former Detroit Tigers star and war hero. |
| BASEketball | 1998 | Comedy | A new game is invented combining baseball with basketball. |
| If the Sun Rises in the West | 1998 | Drama | South Korean story of an umpire. |
| Major League: Back to the Minors | 1998 | Comedy | Third film in the Major League series. |
| For Love of the Game | 1999 | Drama | In possibly his last start, a Detroit pitcher (Kevin Costner) goes after a perfect game. |
| Perfect Game | 2000 | Comedy | television film starring Ed Asner. |
| Angels in the Infield | 2000 | Comedy | Second made-for-TV sequel to the 1994 film. |
| 61* | 2001 | Drama | HBO film directed by Billy Crystal about the 1961 home run record chase of Roger Maris. |
| Hardball | 2001 | Drama | Keanu Reeves as a young man who takes charge of an inner-city team. |
| Summer Catch | 2001 | Romance | Fictional love story starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. |
| Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch | 2002 | Comedy | Fourth entry in the Air Bud series. |
| The Rookie | 2002 | Biographical | Based on true story of a high school coach, pitcher Jim Morris, portrayed by Dennis Quaid. |
| Bleacher Bums | 2002 | Comedy | television film version of 1970s stage play about diehard fans in the outfield bleachers. |
| Battlefield Baseball | 2003 | Action | Japanese film. |
| Day of Independence | 2003 | Drama | Short film |
| Hustle | 2004 | Biographical | ESPN dramatization on the career and controversies of Pete Rose, starring Tom Sizemore. |
| Mickey | 2004 | Drama | John Grisham story about a Little Leaguer and his father. |
| Mr. 3000 | 2004 | Comedy | A potential Hall of Famer (Bernie Mac) is told he's actually three hits shy of 3,000. |
| This Old Cub | 2004 | Documentary | Chronicles life of Ron Santo, focusing on baseball career and struggle with type 1 diabetes. |
| Up for Grabs | 2004 | Documentary | A battle over who owns ball hit in 2001 by Barry Bonds for his 73rd home run. |
| The Winning Season | 2004 | Drama | A child from 1985 wakes up in 1909 and meets hero Honus Wagner (Matthew Modine). |
| Fever Pitch | 2005 | Rom-Com | Loosely based on Nick Hornby's soccer story, in this case a devoted Boston Red Sox fan (Jimmy Fallon). |
| Game 6 | 2005 | Drama | A playwright (Michael Keaton) has a wild night during a Red Sox playoff series. |
| Bad News Bears | 2005 | Comedy | Remake of 1976 film of same name, starring Billy Bob Thornton. |
| The Sandlot 2 | 2005 | Comedy | Direct-to-video sequel to The Sandlot. |
| The Benchwarmers | 2006 | Comedy | David Spade and Rob Schneider as middle-aged nerds who want to play ball. |
| Everyone's Hero | 2006 | Animation | Cartoon family film with baseball theme. |
| Beer League | 2006 | Comedy | A town drunk plays in a big softball game. |
| Off the Black | 2006 | Drama | An umpire (Nick Nolte) befriends a high school player who hated him. |
| Kokoyakyu: High School Baseball | 2006 | Documentary | Broadcast on the U.S. PBS series POV. Explores the phenomenon of high school baseball in Japan. |
| The Final Season | 2007 | Drama | Based on 1991 season of Norway High School in Norway, Iowa, before it was closed and consolidated into its county school district, starring Sean Astin. |
| The Sandlot: Heading Home | 2007 | Comedy | Second direct-to-video sequel to The Sandlot. |
| The Bronx Is Burning | 2007 | Biographical | A docudrama about the 1977 New York Yankees, with John Turturro as Billy Martin. |
| Black Irish | 2007 | Drama | Boston teen tries to escape family problems through his pitching. |
| Chasing 3000 | 2008 | Drama | Two boys go a long way to witness 3,000th career hit of Roberto Clemente. |
| City Without Baseball | 2008 | Drama | Chinese film. |
| Sugar | 2008 | Drama | Story about a Dominican prospect and his adjustment to life in the U.S. |
| Touching Home | 2008 | Drama | Brothers with pro-ball ambitions deal with their homeless father (Ed Harris). |
| The Perfect Game | 2009 | Drama | Based on true story of Mexico team that won 1956 Little League World Series. |
| The Open Road | 2009 | Drama | Minor leaguer Justin Timberlake has issues with baseball-legend dad Jeff Bridges. |
| Fernando Nation | 2010 | Documentary | Made for TV as a part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Chronicles the impact of Fernando Valenzuela's 1981 rookie season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. |
| Four Days in October | 2010 | Documentary | Made for TV as a part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Chronicles the Boston Red Sox' comeback from a 3–0 series deficit against the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. |
| Hero | 2010 | Drama | Christian film about fathers and sons. |
| How Do You Know | 2010 | Rom-Com | A romantic triangle involving a softball player (Reese Witherspoon) and a Washington Nationals pitcher (Owen Wilson). |
| The House of Steinbrenner | 2010 | Documentary | Made for TV as a part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Explores the legacy of George Steinbrenner's ownership of the New York Yankees. |
| Jordan Rides the Bus | 2010 | Documentary | Made for TV as a part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Explores Michael Jordan's brief career in minor league baseball after his first retirement from basketball. |
| Little Big Men | 2010 | Documentary | Made for TV as a part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Chronicles the Kirkland National Little League team that scored a stunning victory in the 1982 Little League World Series, and the players' lives in the nearly three decades that followed. |
| Silly Little Game | 2010 | Documentary | Made for TV as a part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. A look back at the group of New York writers and academics who created Rotisserie fantasy baseball, and how their creation eventually left them behind. |
| Catching Hell | 2011 | Documentary | Made for TV as a follow-up to ESPN's 30 for 30 series. Explores the relationship between Steve Bartman and Chicago Cubs fans since Bartman's famous incident in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. |
| Moneyball | 2011 | Drama | Based on a true story, the Michael Lewis best-seller about Oakland A's exec Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt. |
| Trouble with the Curve | 2012 | Drama | Clint Eastwood as a veteran Atlanta Braves scout. |
| Home Run | 2013 | Drama | A ballplayer dealing with substance abuse returns to his hometown. |
| 42 | 2013 | Biographical | Story of Jackie Robinson and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey (played by Harrison Ford). |
Read more about this topic: Sports Films
Famous quotes containing the word baseball:
“It is not heroin or cocaine that makes one an addict, it is the need to escape from a harsh reality. There are more television addicts, more baseball and football addicts, more movie addicts, and certainly more alcohol addicts in this country than there are narcotics addicts.”
—Shirley Chisholm (b. 1924)
“I’ve gradually risen from lower-class background to lower-class foreground.”
—Marvin Cohen, U.S. author and humorist. Baseball the Beautiful, Links Books (1970)
“Baseball is the religion that worships the obvious and gives thanks that things are exactly as they seem. Instead of celebrating mysteries, baseball rejoices in the absence of mysteries and trusts that, if we watch what is laid before our eyes, down to the last detail, we will cultivate the gift of seeing things as they really are.”
—Thomas Boswell, U.S. sports journalist. “The Church of Baseball,” Baseball: An Illustrated History, ed. Geoffrey C. Ward, Knopf (1994)