Pitchers and catchers reported to spring training last Saturday and position players reported today. Hazzah! The Reds first regular season game is March 31st. What that means for me in the interim is...baseball movies galore. I dug out -- no pun intended -- my DVD collection of baseball movies on Saturday. Now, I just have to find time to watch them all before the swish of that first pitch, the first crack of the bat, the first "steee...rike" called by the home plate ump, and the first ball park dog of the season.
Ahhhhhhhh...baseball! It's a very good thing.
What follows is a list of the baseball movies I presently have in my collection. So, “For Love of the Game,” here are a few “Major League” quotes from these “timeless” baseball “classics.”
A League of Their Own - 1992
Tom Hanks as team manager Jimmy Dugan: “There’s no crying in baseball. Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pig---. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry. No. And do you know why? Because there’s no crying in baseball. There’s no crying in baseball.”
Major League - 1989
Bob Uecker as Harry Doyle, radio announcer: “JUST a bit outside.”
“Heywood leads the league in most offensive categories, including nose hair. When this guy sneezes, he looks like a party favor.”
“This guy threw at his own son in a father-son game.”
Bob Uecker as Harry Doyle, radio announcer: “JUST a bit outside.”
“Heywood leads the league in most offensive categories, including nose hair. When this guy sneezes, he looks like a party favor.”
“This guy threw at his own son in a father-son game.”
For Love of the Game – 1999
Vin Scully announcing the game: “The cathedral that is Yankee Stadium belongs to a Chapel.”
Vin Scully announcing the game: “The cathedral that is Yankee Stadium belongs to a Chapel.”
Kevin Costner as pitcher Billy Chapel: “Clear the mechanism.”
“God, I always said I would never bother you about baseball, lord knows you have bigger things to worry about. But if you could make this pain in my shoulder stop for ten minutes, I would really appreciate it.”
The Natural – 1984
Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs: “I coulda been better. I coulda broke every record in the book. And then when I walked down the street, people would've looked, and they would've said, there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game.”
Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs: “I coulda been better. I coulda broke every record in the book. And then when I walked down the street, people would've looked, and they would've said, there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game.”
Fever Pitch – 2005
Jimmy Fallon as Ben Wrightman, Red Sox fan: “You know what's really great about baseball? You can't fake it. You know, anything else in life you don't have to be great in - business, music, art - I mean you can get lucky. Yeah, you can fool everyone for awhile, you know? It's like - not - not baseball. You can either hit a curveball or you can't. That's the way it works...”
The Rookie – 2002
Dennis Quaid as Jimmy Morris: “You know what we get to do today, Brooks? We get to play baseball.”
Dennis Quaid as Jimmy Morris: “You know what we get to do today, Brooks? We get to play baseball.”
Baseball Scout to Jimmy: “I've been a scout for a long time, and the number one rule is, arms slow down when they get old. Now, if I call the office and tell 'em I got a guy here almost twice these kids' age, I'm gonna get laughed at. But, if I don't call in a 98-mile-an-hour fastball, I'm gonna get fired! I'm just saying there's a chance you might get a call on this.”
Field of Dreams – 1989
The Voice: “If you build it, he will come.”
James Earl Jones as Terrence Mann: “Ray, people will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”
Burt Lancaster as Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham: “Well, you know I... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?”
The Voice: “If you build it, he will come.”
James Earl Jones as Terrence Mann: “Ray, people will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”
Burt Lancaster as Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham: “Well, you know I... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?”
Bull Durham – 1988
Susan Sarandon as Annie Savoy: “I believe in the Church of Baseball. I've tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn't work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me. I prefer metaphysics to theology. You see, there's no guilt in baseball, and it's never boring... which makes it like sex. There's never been a ballplayer slept with me who didn't have the best year of his career. Making love is like hitting a baseball: you just gotta relax and concentrate. Besides, I'd never sleep with a player hitting under .250... not unless he had a lot of RBIs and was a great glove man up the middle. I've tried 'em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball.”
The Manager: “You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you?” “Lollygaggers!”
Tim Robbins as Ebby Calvin Laloosh: "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes… it rains."
Kevin Costner as Crash Davis: “Well, I believe in the soul, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”
Susan Sarandon as Annie Savoy: “Walt Whitman once said, "I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us. You could look it up.”
Susan Sarandon as Annie Savoy: “I believe in the Church of Baseball. I've tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn't work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me. I prefer metaphysics to theology. You see, there's no guilt in baseball, and it's never boring... which makes it like sex. There's never been a ballplayer slept with me who didn't have the best year of his career. Making love is like hitting a baseball: you just gotta relax and concentrate. Besides, I'd never sleep with a player hitting under .250... not unless he had a lot of RBIs and was a great glove man up the middle. I've tried 'em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball.”
The Manager: “You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you?” “Lollygaggers!”
Tim Robbins as Ebby Calvin Laloosh: "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes… it rains."
Kevin Costner as Crash Davis: “Well, I believe in the soul, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”
Susan Sarandon as Annie Savoy: “Walt Whitman once said, "I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us. You could look it up.”
3 comments:
Ah, 'Bull Durham', one of my all-time favourite movies. Can you imagine if Vincent had been cast in Kevin's role? I'd pay good money to hear HIM talk about the small of a woman's back ;0)
I went to a baseball game in New Jersey once. NO idea what was going on, and it seemed to go on forever. Then again I'm English - and I don't understand cricket either!
I do like Bull Durham quite a bit. Can recite much of the dialogue, so you probably wouldn't want to watch it with me. And, yes, VDO would have made a most interesting Crash Davis.
Baseball is one of those things you either like it or not. I don't understand cricket either, but then have had only limited exposure to it.
I've never seen any of these films. As for baseball, I always think it is really Rounders dressed up.
I loved playing that when I was 10.
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