Category Archives: Baseball Movies

Baseball Movies

Baseball Movie Monday is All about Scouts this Week

Editor’s Note: In the spirit of seeking sunshine during a gray winter, and to help usher in the upcoming baseball season, we will be featuring baseball movies every Monday between now and Opening Day. Today’s choice of silver screen Baseball goodness is our first doubleheader.

Today Baseball Movie Monday focuses on two movies, Talent for the Game and Trouble with the Curve. Both movies shed light on some of the unsung heroes of baseball, the scouts.

Although the movies came out around 20 years apart, they each do a superb job of showing the life of a professional baseball scout.

Throughout the history of baseball, individuals have scoured the back roads of America looking for that hidden gem of a player that can be the missing piece of the puzzle for a team looking to have long term success.

Talent for the Game and Trouble With the Curve are two movies focusing on what it is like to be a scout in Major League Baseball. Photo R. Anderson
Talent for the Game and Trouble With the Curve are two movies focusing on what it is like to be a scout in Major League Baseball.
Photo R. Anderson

Countless hours are spent by these scouts out on those back roads watching baseball games at Ballparks across the country trying to find players for their organization to draft.

In recent years, teams have focused on international players with baseball academies in the Dominican Republic and other nations. However, the fact remains the bulk of Major League Baseball players are still from America and someone needs to discover them.

With the addition of the internet and other factors, the need for scouts to physically travel the back roads has diminished in some way over the last couple of decades.

You Tube and other sources provide a way for baseball organizations to track players nearly from the first time that they pick up a ball or a bat. Several teams have even made drastic cuts in the size of their scouting departments, while ramping up efforts on the analytical side of the game.

Talent for the Game and Trouble with the Curve focus on the scouts dealing with pressure from their management to change with the times while struggling to hold on to the tried and true evaluation techniques that decades in the game have given them.

Personally, I prefer to think of baseball with the scouts as part of the game and not some area to be replaced by computers and spreadsheet.

A few years back, I attended a Baltimore Orioles Spring Training game at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, FL.  and was seated in the “scout section.” Throughout the entire game, I was entertained by stories from these rough around the edges baseball lifers and was given a firsthand look into a piece of the life of a scout.

Many of the stories from that game amongst the scouts cannot be repeated in a family column, but they showed insight into a brotherhood where there was a kinship among the nomadic brothers in arms despite the competitive nature that goes along with the job.

For those without access to scouts of their own, Talent for the Game and Trouble with the Curve transport the viewer into a scout’s life as they balance their love for the game with the elements of time that are encroaching to make their fate seem like that of the dinosaurs.

Edward James Olmos and Clint Eastwood each give strong performances as the scouts. Both movies also feature strong supporting casts and story lines that have one pulling for the scouts to defeat the odds and find a way to continue doing what they are doing.

It is very possible that a day will come when the sabermetric movement eliminates the use of all baseball scouts.

If that day does come, at least there will be movies like Talent for the Game and Trouble with the Curve to show future generations the way talent used to be found.

Hopefully, next year I can once again find a Spring Training seat with the scouts to hear more tales of a nomadic live on the road.

Until then, I have these two movies and my memories to act as my guide to the life of a baseball scout in search of the next big thing.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some movies about scouts to watch.

Copyright 2015 R. Anderson

Baseball Movies, Major League Baseball

Superstitious Day for Some, Just Another Day for Others

Editor’s Note: We are taking a break from our regularly scheduled Friday feature on the history of Spring Training over the past 40 years to focus on a superstitious day. We will resume our historic series next Friday with a doubleheader that covers Spring Training in 1985 and 1995. And now without further adieu, we bring you, Friday the 13th.

Today is Friday, February 13, 2015.

For some people this means nothing more than the fact that yesterday was the 12th and tomorrow is the 14th.

For the superstitious among us, today means all of the things above in addition to it being an unlucky day all the way around.

While many may think that the Friday the 13th craze started with a certain movie character named Freddy, the roots of Friday the 13th actually run much deeper than late 20th Century cinema.

For many people a black cat crossing their paths is a sign of bad luck. Photo R. Anderson
For many people a black cat crossing their paths is a sign of bad luck.
Photo R. Anderson

Since the 19th Century, Friday the 13th has been considered an unlucky day in Western and Eastern superstition.

Friday and the number 13 were considered unlucky by some on their own. So, it was only logical that both occurring at the same time would be even unluckier.

In fact, fear of Friday the 13th even has a name; friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom Friday is named in English and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen).

Personally, I have never feared Friday the 13th and am among the people who consider it just another day.

But the arrival of Friday the 13th on the same day that many teams started sending their equipment down to their Spring Training facilities made me think about sports and the superstitious rituals that many players seem to follow.

Bull Durham
The movie Bull Durham did a very good job showing the superstitious side of baseball through chants over bats, breathing through one’s eyelids, chicken, and of course a garter belt where the rose goes in the front. Photo R. Anderson

There are players who will eat the same pregame meal because they feel that to eat anything else would risk certain disaster on the field.

Hitters on a hot streak in baseball are notorious for continuing whatever “routine” it is that they feel is behind their streak, since they feel any deviation will likely mean the end to the streak.

The movie Bull Durham did a very good job showing the superstitious side of baseball through chants over bats, breathing through one’s eyelids, chicken, and of course, a garter belt where the rose goes in the front.

Baseball is not the only sport with superstitions. Across all level of sports there are athletes who have a lucky shirt, or other article of clothing that they can’t go onto the field of battle without.

The link between superstitions and sports can start at a very early age.

Back in high school, I did a feature article on the goalie of my school’s woman’s soccer team, who attributed her on-field success to a lucky argyle sock that she wore during every game.

Although he could be moody and liked to bite my nose to wake me up each morning, my dearly departed black cat, Lucky, was mostly a sweetheart and was certainly nothing to be superstitious of. Photo R. Anderson
Although he could be moody and liked to bite my nose to wake me up each morning, my dearly departed black cat, Lucky, was mostly a sweetheart and was certainly nothing to be superstitious of.
Photo R. Anderson

To be clear, it was not a pair of lucky socks, but one single sock that took over when her “magic shoes” fell ill.

Throughout my career, I have been around many other superstitious athletes, and I am sure I will meet many more. To date though a single “lucky” Argyle sock has been the most memorable superstition I have encountered.

So on this Friday the 13th , beware of those around you who are extra cautious of their surroundings.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to see if I can find a black cat while walking under a ladder and holding a broken mirror while stepping on all of the sidewalk cracks I can find.

Copyright 2015 R. Anderson

Baseball Movie Monday, Baseball Movies

Baseball Movie Monday is a Natural This Week

Editor’s Note: In the spirit of seeking sunshine during a gray winter, and to help usher in the upcoming baseball season we will be featuring baseball movies every Monday between now and Opening Day. Today’s choice was literally a natural to include on the countdown.

Last Baseball Movie Monday, we looked at Moneyball, which showed the future of the game of baseball through the use of advance metrics.

Today, it is only natural to balance things out a little bit by looking at a film that celebrates the pre-sabermetrics Golden Age of baseball.

Roy Hobbs and his bat named “Wonderboy” anchor The Natural. The Natural is a tale of making the most of second chances and knocking out a few stadium lights in the process.

The movie, which came out in 1984, is an adaptation of Bernard Malamud’s 1952 baseball novel of the same name.

At the cork core of the Natural is a story about a man, his homemade bat and some sparks on and off of the field. Photo R. Anderson
At the cork core of the Natural is a story about a man, his homemade bat and some sparks on and off of the field.
Photo R. Anderson

Starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Wilfred Brimley, Kim Bassinger and Robert Duvall, the The Natural recounts the experiences of Roy Hobbs, a player in the 1930’s with great “natural” talent, and questionable decision making when it comes to members of the opposite sex.

After being shot when he was 19 by a crazed female fan, Hobbs makes a comeback attempt in his mid-thirties with the New York Knights managed by Pop Fisher (played by Brimley).

There are many baseball clichés included in the movie from the grizzled “seen it all manager” to the “intrepid baseball reporter” looking for a scoop, but all in all the clichés do not distract from the overall tone of the story.

And the movie’s climax is certainly one for the ages with the cascade of sparks falling down from the busted stadium lights after Hobbs hits the home run as the iconic music plays in the background.

It is an iconic scene in an iconic film that has been often imitated.

Outside of the film, the music from that iconic scene can be heard at Ranger Ballpark in Arlington whenever a member of the home team sends one over the outfield fence.

I am sure there are other teams that do the same thing, but the only one I have seen do it in person is the Rangers.

Admittedly, I am sure many of us have hummed along to that song after achieving some feat of skill or other accomplishment while picturing a shower of sparks falling around us.

Some days, just getting out of bed can be cause for humming the theme to The Natural as we make our way around the base path of life.

In addition to creating lasting memories of home runs that knock out the stadium lights, the Natural was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close), and nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger).

So, with all of that in its corner, it would be only natural for The Natural to make our countdown.

Now if you’ll excuse, I need to go dodge a shower of sparks.

Copyright 2015 R. Anderson

Baseball Movie Monday, Baseball Movies

Baseball Movie Monday gets Analytical with Moneyball

Editor’s Note: In the spirit of seeking sunshine during a gray winter, and to help usher in the upcoming baseball season we will be featuring baseball movies every Monday between now and Opening Day. Today we look at the fantasy baseball aspect of Major League Baseball with the trend that started it all in Moneyball.

Few people can argue that the game of baseball was forever changed when the sabermetrics element of the game was moved from the back rooms, and fantasy baseball leagues to the general manager’s office.

Like it or not, the advanced analytics are here to stay. Those game changing metrics are featured in the movie Moneyball. Moneyball is the true story of how one team’s front office broke with tradition by using charts and graphs to build a team in a way that forever changed the game of baseball.

The film is based on Michael Lewis’s 2003 book, Moneyball, which follows the Oakland Athletics 2002 season and general manager Billy Beane’s (Played by Brad Pitt in the movie) attempts to assemble a competitive team through nonconventional means.

Instead of relying on the eyes and ears of baseball scouts on the road, the new analytical baseball method relied on computer programs showing where certain players excelled based on historical averages and on base percentage.

Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill star in Moneyball which brings the world of sabermetrics to the big screen. Photo R. Anderson
Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill star in Moneyball which brings the world of sabermetrics to the big screen.
Photo R. Anderson

The idea behind this new approach was that small market teams could spend more wisely on players who got on base more often instead of trying to go dollar to dollar with big market teams who spent more on a single player than many teams spent on their entire rosters.

While a new concept when it was introduced by the Athletics in the 1980’s, almost every team today using sabermetrics to one degree or another to build their rosters each year.

Whether sabermetrics is good for baseball in the long run is still up for debate. It has certainly allowed many smaller market teams the ability to be competitive and stand toe to toe with the big spenders in baseball for the past few decades.

The big spending teams are still around, but through Moneyball inspired roster building, a few smaller teams have found ways to crash the playoff party now and then.

Even the big spending teams have adapted some of the sabermetric philosophies including the Boston Red Sox who used a variation of the Oakland formula to compile the roster that won the 2004 World Series.

While the past few decades have certainly proven that sabermetrics is not going away any time soon, for those wanting to see how it all began Moneyball is the way to go.

Now if you’ll excuse me, all this talk about statistics and math has me feeling a bit queasy.

Copyright 2015 R. Anderson

Baseball Movies

Baseball Movie Mondays is in Love with the Game

Editor’s Note: In the spirit of seeking sunshine during a gray winter, and to help usher in the upcoming baseball season we will be featuring baseball movies every Monday between now and Opening Day. Today we fall in love with the game and visit the first side of the Kevin Costner baseball triangle.

Kevin Costner has made three baseball movies in his career. In those movies Costner has played a Minor League catcher who creates rain delays and catch phrases, a farmer who hears voices in the corn and builds a ballpark, and a Major League pitcher who dates John Travolta’s wife.

Today, we are focusing on the movie where he played a pitcher, For Love of the Game, which also happened to be the newest of the three Costner baseball movies.

By the time the third leg of the Costner baseball triangle rolled around, like an old journeyman pitcher who has bounced around from team to team it was clear that he did not have much left in the tank.

The third side of the Kevin Costner baseball triangle is For Love of the Game. Photo R. Anderson
The third side of the Kevin Costner baseball triangle is For Love of the Game.
Photo R. Anderson

While Bull Durham and Field of Dreams provided entertainment from start to finish, along with a few tears, For Love of the Game has moments where it turns into that extra inning game that you just want to end so you can fight the traffic and go home.

Still, it is hard to not count the complete Costner trilogy in a listing of baseball movies, since each one contributes pieces to the entire picture.

The movie focuses on Costner as a 40 year-old pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. Throughout the course of pitching what could be the final game of his career Costner flashes back to various points of his career both on and off the field. Each of these flashbacks force Costner’s character to think about the events that made him the person that he became.

The movie is helped by the presence of Vin Scully calling the on-field action as only Vin Scully can.

When the day comes where Vin Scully is no longer able to call baseball games, it is nice to know that his voice will live on not only through his massive archive of actual games called, but also through a few silver screen games as well.

There truly is no one left in the world of baseball who calls a game like Vin Scully.

For Love of the Game is not just a baseball movie.

Like the previous movie on our countdown, Fever Pitch, For Love of the Game probably could also fall into the romantic “Rom Ball” category. However, as Fred Savage’s character in The Princess Bride comes to learn, you likely won’t mind the “mushy stuff” as the movie draws to its conclusion.

For the most part, the baseball action is strong,  and the flashbacks do not seem to water down the present day action.

Not to give anything away for those who have not seen the movie, but viewers are rewarded in the end of the film in much the same way that a fan is rewarded with a walk-off home run after watching a 21-inning game into the wee hours of the morning.

Again, For Love of the Game is not Kevin Costner’s strongest baseball movie, but it does deserve a place on the shelf next to the other two sides of the Costner baseball triangle if for no other reason than to say that you own the complete triangle of Kevin Costner baseball movies.

And, like I said, there is Vin Scully to listen to so one really can’t go wrong there.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to listen to some vintage Vin Scully broadcasts.

Copyright 2015 R. Anderson