Diamonds For Women

stlred · Guest

Francine, I completely forgot about the Rookie. That was not only a great movie but a great true story. It is hard to pick out your top 3. Sometimes it just depends on what kind of mood I am in. Field of Dreams is good for me now. It has alittle bit of everything. Hopes, dreams and fantasies. There are so many baseball movies that I could watch a million times and enjoy them everytime.

Happy Thanksgiving
Jan

crzblue · Joined: 11 Aug 2005 Posts: 1840 Location: Dodgerland, CA

The Winning Team ended up being a good movie. I recomend it to all of you. I kept looking for it at the Central Library not realizing that it was on Video and not DVD.

It was filmed in the 50's with Ronald Reagan playing pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander and Doris Day as his wife. This movie reminded me of "The Pride of the Yankees" in that Alexander, through determination and the love of a good woman, overcame illness, misfortune and finally alcoholism. It does contain footage of the Cardinals and Yankees. Gene Mauch appears in the cast.

Frank Lovejoy plays Rogers Hornsby who, according to the film, began his Hall of Fame career when opponent Alexander in cohoot with his battery mate intentionally pitched him a ball to hit, to keep him from having to go down to the minor leagues.

After seven seasons and a stint serving as an artillery officer during World War I, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs where he started having troubles, perhaps caused by an earlier injury he'd received before he played in the Majors which caused him double vision (he'd been hit in the head by a baseball thrown by a shortstop trying to turn a double play while he was the base runner from first base trying to make it to second) and/or his war experiences. He had periodic dizziness which was believed to be due to too much alcohol consumption (which was partially true; he did drink) by everyone else, including his wife. This movie doesn't tell it, but Alexander had 7 of 9 very good season with the Cubs before 1926, when the screenplay shows that he washed out of the league and couldn't find a position with any club until his old friend Rogers Hornsby, now the second baseman and player-manager of the Cardinals, added him to their roster and he went on to help them win the World Series, beating the New York Yankees and helping to defeat their "Murder's Row"

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Mon 11/27/06 7:32 pm Post subject:

Both "The Winning Team" and "Pride of the Yankees" were filmed at Wrigley Field as were many other good baseball movies ("It Happens Every Spring", "The Kid from Left Field", "The Pride of St. Louis") and of course, the classic early '60s "Home Run Derby" series (narrated by Ross Porter).
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"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

Alexis de Troit · Guest

Anthony Perkins was miscast, I thought, as Jimmy Piersall, in terms of physical imagery. Perkins may have had the neurosis down, but I never cared for him in the role of Piersall.

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Fri 3/1/13 11:47 pm Post subject:

The last time I tried to post in this thread, I ended up accidentally deleting the previous post. That was in 2011, so now that I'm coming back to add a new post, I am finally reposting about "Chasing 3000." I had originally posted this two years ago and finally found the text in another folder on my computer. Exclamation

(By the way...I can't believe this thread went five years without a post!)
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"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Fri 3/1/13 11:50 pm Post subject:

Today marks exactly one month (30 days) away from Opening Day, 2013.

But...

It is exactly 42 days until the opening of this movie that's being so anxiously awaited by many!

_________________
"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Fri 4/12/13 2:07 am Post subject:

Wow! In the course of 48 hours, I've seen this movie twice now.

Back later to report more about it.
_________________
"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

forloveofthegame · Joined: 23 Oct 2009 Posts: 7346 Location: San Diego

Nice post. I bet you were really excited after that long wait! We plan to see it within the next few days and hopefully over the weekend before my next trip.
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"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem." - Saul Steinberg

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Sun 4/21/13 9:24 pm Post subject:

Finally! Getting some time to catch up on posts of the last week.

By now, just about everyone I know has seen "42" and that includes many non-baseball fans or casual fans. To a person, they have all raved about it. The script, directing, and acting were all phenomenal. There was some disappointment expressed that the time frame covered only through the 1947 season, but the movie was over two hours from the point of Jackie's signing to the end of his rookie year, and to delve in-depth into all that was going on required that amount of time. Others wondered if perhaps adding another 45 minutes (thus moving it into "epic film" status) might cover a lot more of his life story before and after his first professional seasons. I'm certainly not complaining, but Jackie's life encompassed so much more. What an inspiration it was!

The baseball footage was realistic; the re-creation of the era was well-done, and the character depictions were simply superb. While much has been written about Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey and Chadwick Boseman as Jackie, John McGinley's portrayal of Red Barber was definitely a highlight for me.

The ultimate fan's dilemma came on Thursday night, April 11, when I was in attendance for the Padres-Dodgers game at Petco Park with four friends who planned to join me for the 10:10 p.m. showing of the movie at the Reading Cinemas just down the street from the ballpark, in the Gaslamp District. We all agreed that the timing was just right--the game should end around 10:00 unless it went into extra innings, so we just hoped it wouldn't.

What we didn't anticipate was the lengthy delay resulting from the rushing of the mound by CQ and ensuing fight. By the time the dust settled and the seventh inning was rolling around at the time we planned on the game being over, our plans were scrapped. With the score tied, 2-2, not only could this one go into extras, but I have this personal belief in never leaving a nine-inning game early...so, most of us remained firmly in place at Petco. One couple went on to the movie, anyway, and relied on text updates to learn the Dodgers' fate, as well as Zack's.

By the time Juan Uribe put the Dodgers ahead for good with his solo shot in the eighth inning, it was 10:15, and the game didn't end until 10:40.

The rest of us celebrated the Dodgers' 3-2 win for awhile afterward, and went on to the 12:20 showing of 42. Smile

_________________
"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

forloveofthegame · Joined: 23 Oct 2009 Posts: 7346 Location: San Diego

Great story. Very Happy

We saw the movie last week and loved it. My husband was very impressed as well as me. It really made you feel like you were there firsthand. Kudos to the production, this one deserves Oscars and it goes well beyond being a baseball movie. Later my sons saw it too, and it was eye opening for them given they grew up so much later. And I told them, that story could not have happened in any other sport but baseball. How many people know who the first black player in the NFL was - or any other sports - baseball was the only real place that could take place and have the impact it did.

We also went to "A Day of Baseball Nostalgia" on Saturday at the Hall of Champions, hosted by Andy Strasberg of our SABR chapter. It was super fun! Here is the link - just a day full of baseball classics. I think if they do this in future years they will have to include "42." It is a classic already in my opinion.
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"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem." - Saul Steinberg

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Sat 4/27/13 8:28 am Post subject:

forloveofthegame · Joined: 23 Oct 2009 Posts: 7346 Location: San Diego

Linda have you heard of this movie? "The Only Real Game" - it sounds good! Of course most baseball movies sound good to me! Smile

_________________
"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem." - Saul Steinberg

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Mon 3/10/14 1:43 pm Post subject:

I have, and it sounds great! I just haven't seen it in major release and I don't know if it ever will be. It got a lot of coverage last week at the Scottsdale Film Festival, for obvious reasons, but it was also presented at the Cooperstown Film Festival last summer.

May have to wait for DVD!
_________________
"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Thu 5/15/14 9:51 pm Post subject:

"Million Dollar Arm" is in general release beginning this weekend.

From the L.A. Times:

" 'Million Dollar Arm' Tosses Out a Nice Softball"

You can see the stuff "Million Dollar Arm" throws at you from miles away, but that doesn't stop this baseball movie from being genially enjoyable. An example of the pleasant things that can happen when a better class of people work on Disney family films, it makes touching all the bases feel like fun.

Based on a true story so improbable you might not believe it at all except for the reality footage shown at the end, "Million Dollar Arm" is built around the charismatic presence of Jon Hamm, "Mad Men's" Don Draper, but its off-screen strengths include two people who are not household words, screenwriter Tom McCarthy and director Craig Gillespie.

McCarthy, whose character-driven writing credits include "The Station Agent" and "Win Win," two fine films he also directed himself, and Gillespie, best known for Ryan Gosling's underappreciated "Lars and the Real Girl," combine to give the film a spirit that is amusing and warm-hearted without being excessively cloying.

"Million Dollar Arm's" focus is on J.B. Bernstein (Hamm), a sports agent who used to toil for the soul-destroying Procorp (he calls it "the Death Star") but is now working with Indian American good friend Ash ("The Daily Show's" Aasif Mandvi) in his own small firm.

The only trouble is, said firm is not doing so well, and efforts to sign a self-absorbed pro linebacker (former USC player Rey Maualuga) keep hitting snags. Then Bernstein ("desperate men try desperate things") gets a brainstorm.

Riffing off his partner's childhood memories of watching cricket, Bernstein determines to go to India, find capable young cricketers through talent contests, bring them to the U.S. and turn them into ace major league hurlers. "A billion people play this game" he enthuses. "That's a billion new fans."

"Million Dollar Arm" spends a chunk of its time in India, vividly photographed by Gyula Pados to an A.R. Rahman soundtrack, and its scenes of the crowds and competition give the film a bit of a "Slumdog Millionaire" flavor.

Much more familiar is Ray Poitevint, the cranky old major league scout Bernstein hires to help him figure out who's got talent. As played by the always amusing Alan Arkin, Poitevint is so savvy he can tell how fast a prospect is pitching by the sound the ball makes hitting the catcher's glove.

Bernstein and company come up with two players, Rinku ("Life of Pi's" Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh (Madhur Mittal), and bring them back to L.A., where the more serious part of the film begins. Never having so much as seen a major league game, the guys have to learn to play, which is where USC coach Tom House (Bill Paxton) comes in. Helped by enthusiastic translator Amit (Pitobash), the guys also have to learn about all the things, ranging from elevators to pizza, they have never seen in rural India.

Because this is a Disney family film after all, it's not just the young ballplayers who will be learning a thing or two. Self-centered, supermodel-dating (is there any family film sin greater than that?), J.B. will learn some stuff as well.

Used to putting the deal before everything else, J.B. will come to understand, with a little help from Brenda, that he has a personal responsibility to the young men he brought over from India and ended up installing in his own house. He has to pay more attention to these prospects as people if he wants them to perform well as athletes.

While this sounds rather gee whiz, as written by McCarthy, directed by Gillespie and performed by a strong cast, "Million Dollar Arm" doesn't push. Especially effective is star Hamm, who displays an easy charm and nice comic instincts in a role that fits him like a broken-in glove. Watching someone become more of an adult is rarely painless, but "Million Dollar Arm" makes the lessons go down easy.

kenneth.turan@latimes.com
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"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

forloveofthegame · Joined: 23 Oct 2009 Posts: 7346 Location: San Diego

We will be in the Long Beach area this weekend and I do not think I will be able to get out and see it for a week or more. Sounds like fun, though. Smile

I have seen the previews for this as well as all the commercials.
_________________
"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem." - Saul Steinberg

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Fri 4/1/16 5:27 pm Post subject:

Hard to believe it's been almost two years since this thread has been posted in, but I thought I'd share that I recently saw "Fastball" and highly recommend it! It's been in limited release and is no longer showing in the area, but is worth viewing on DVD or wherever. It's a documentary about power pitching, tracing the great arms of Major League Baseball back to the days of Walter "Big Train" Johnson, and includes historical context as well as interviews with Hall of Famers who share their thoughts as well.

Here's a great review from Variety, including the note:

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Sun 4/8/18 8:00 pm Post subject:

This is funny--the last time I posted in this thread, I wrote, "Hard to believe it's been almost two years since this thread has been posted in..."

Well, that was two years ago, so I'll now post again, "Hard to believe it's been almost two years since this thread has been posted in..."

Laughing

Guess there just haven't been that many great baseball movies over the last couple of years.

Anyway, "The Sandlot"--which was released in April, 1993--has been a cult favorite of baseball fans for a quarter-century now. The coming-of-age movie about the events of the summer of 1962 touched many with its nostalgic memories of a simpler era, and on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, I thought I'd share this article that touches on the staying power of its popularity.

This season, it's also one of the Dodgers' post-game movies that can be viewed from the field on DodgerVision.

"The Sandlot" will always tug at this baseball heart.
_________________
"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

sunnyblue · Posted: Mon 4/9/18 3:48 pm Post subject:

That movie is just timeless, and it brings many generations together.

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Mon 4/16/18 6:58 pm Post subject:

Follow-up to previous post:

Last week on the "Today" Show, the cast of the original "Sandlot" reunited , which made for a great "feel good" story.
_________________
"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Mon 12/24/18 2:59 pm Post subject:

With the recent passing of actress/director Penny Marshall, many have been revisiting her groundbreaking project, the 1992 movie "A League of Their Own". With that, let me share this article from USA Today about the significance of that movie reviving what was a lost era in baseball. Beyond the entertainment value of the film lay the stories of the AAGPBL of World War II. And behind bringing them to light, came opportunities in baseball for many young women in the ensuing years after "A League"'s release.

It makes me feel like watching it all over again. Perhaps sometime, before the holidays are over.
_________________
"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

forloveofthegame · Joined: 23 Oct 2009 Posts: 7346 Location: San Diego

Happy memories for me, too. It has long been one of my favorite baseball movies. I did not know the history of the AAGPBL was so little known before it, though. I know there was not a lot of information about it but I had read a few articles here and there. It was hard to believe there were some baseball fans who never knew of it before the movie.
_________________
"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem." - Saul Steinberg

sunnyblue · Posted: Tue 7/2/19 4:29 pm Post subject:

I'm sure everyone has heard about it, but I read the San Diego Union-Tribune's movie review for "The Spy Behind Home Plate." Here's the link

forloveofthegame · Joined: 23 Oct 2009 Posts: 7346 Location: San Diego

I saw the review too and would love to see that! I am just not sure when yet.
_________________
"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem." - Saul Steinberg

dodgerblue6 · Posted: Sat 4/29/23 12:35 pm Post subject:

I decided to bump this thread simply because "The Sandlot" celebrated its 30th anniversary earlier this month. Scrolling back, I noted its 25th anniversary in 2018 (when the cast reunited at Dodger Stadium).

But what a classic! It takes me back in so many ways--not just seeing the movie itself, but the time frame it was set in (too early in my life to remember--but which I've always felt bonded with anyway).
_________________
"The Dodgers have always occupied an enormous place in the history of the game. If the Yankees are the most successful team in baseball history, the Dodgers are the most essential. Their legacy is unique."

-Baseball Hall of Fame

sunnyblue · Posted: Sat 4/29/23 10:17 pm Post subject:

Thanks for reminding us! Loved it.

There is also a new documentary which came out last month on Amazon Prime about Reggie Jackson. We watched it and thought it was thought provoking. Not much really new information but from what I know he was one of those larger than life superstars in his time. I remember when he played for the Angels toward the end of his career but was too young to remember a lot about his Yankees days.

forloveofthegame · Joined: 23 Oct 2009 Posts: 7346 Location: San Diego

I have been hoping to see the Reggie Jackson doc you mentioned here.

Another new doc about a Yankee is out, about Yogi Berra. It is called "It Ain't Over" and I heard from a friend who saw it in L.A. that it was very good. I think we can all appreciate the era he played in and how good the Yankees were. Also he was a teammate of the Colonel, so that tugs at my heart.

Article from USA Today
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"Baseball is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem." - Saul Steinberg