FanHouse BullDurham

If you're ranking the best baseball movies ever made, The Natural would be near the top, and Field of Dreams wouldn't be far behind. At the risk of being laughed at, I'd include For Love of the Game (aka, "Kevin Costner's other baseball movie") in the discussion, too, that's probably because I'm a Tigers fan first and an objective film critic second.

But what's the best baseball movie ever made? Why, Bull Durham, of course. To this day, Crash Davis and Nuke LaLoosh still serve as timeless archetypes of the grizzled farmhand and the spoiled bonus baby. It's an absolute masterpiece ... which is why talk of a sequel kind of scares me.

Speaking on Friday at the Baseball Hall of Fame to commeorate the film's 20th anniversary, writer/director Ron Shelton and Timothy "Nuke" Robbins revealed they've kicked the idea around to make another film. From Mark McGuire of the Times Union (via BBTF):

"My view of his major-league career is he went up there and in his second year in the majors he was 18-4. In his third year he was 4-18," Shelton said. "It was a sort of an unrealized career in which we saw glimpses of his greatness."

Crash Davis, the grizzled catcher, "is now managing Durham in Triple A, back with a (major-league) dream alive again," Shelton said. "I think he's kept this wonderful hot relationship with Annie, who probably has the Faulkner Chair in Oxford, Miss."

"Major League" -- good movie. Not a great or classic movie in any sense, but for baseball fans, it doesn't get much better than a late-Saturday, darkened-living room viewing of "Major League," especially when one's favorite real-life baseball team is particularly horrendous. Afternoons like that are good for the soul.

Baseball players agree. Emphatically. At least, that's the anecdotal lesson in this blog post by the Seattle PI's John Hickey:

There were literally 19 pairs of eyes transfixed on the screen as almost all other business in the clubhouse was put on hold. The players, most of whom have seen the movie dozen and dozens of times, knew all the dialog and talked along with each of the characters. Catcher Jamie Burke estimated he'd probably seen the movie 250 times, and said it and Bull Durham remain his two favorite baseball movies. Pitcher Jarrod Washburn, also one of those transfixed during the movie's finale said it was his favorite baseball movie, bar none.

The standard-issue question here is whether or not "Bull Durham" is a better movie, which leads me to a confession: I've never seen it. I know, I know. I suck. I've never seen Back to the Future or any of the Indiana Jones movies, either, and I blame my parents and my millenial birthdate. Get off my case, OK?

If you like single A ball, and you like movie remakes, you're sure to like the Modesto Nuts' incredibly well-worked version of the classic Bull Durham scene, shown above, as well as a bunch of other scenes they've done. I don't know much about Nuts, but I like the cut of their jib. Or something like that.

(Via Ballpark Digest)