You’ll never make it to the bigs with fungus on your shower shoes
Conor · October 7, 2008 at 10:51 pm · Filed Under Mariners
This is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. (Hat tip to Gaslamp Ball)
Discussion topics…
• What’s your favorite baseball movie?
• If this comes out, will you see it?
Comments
60 Responses to “You’ll never make it to the bigs with fungus on your shower shoes”
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Best baseball movie has to be either Bull Durham or Field of Dreams, right? I kinda fell asleep during that Roy Hobbs flick whose name currently eludes me.
Someone needs to find the old Baseball Tonight commercials where the guys reenact famous scenes from baseball movies. My favorite was Karl Ravech as Crash Davis reciting the “I believe in the soul” speech. For the punch line Peter Gammon is Annie Savoy. He’s wearing the wig and black dress and utters the “oh my” line. Hilarity.
Good ol’ Harold Reynolds had a couple great roles in those commercials.
How could I forget! Harold played the Bull Durham manager and did the whole lollygag spiel in the locker room!
Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner might be the critics punching bag but he nailed “Field of Dreams”, “Bull Durham” and to a lesser extent “For the Love of the Game”
I need to pull “Field of Dreams” out again and remind myself what baseball is all about.
Go Phillies!!
No love for Major League?
Yeah, Jeff, I’m a Bull Durham / Major League guy.
Don’t get me wrong, Field of Dreams was a good flick; I just think that baseball lends itself more to whimsical and silly portrayals, than hagiography.
But Field of Dreams has that whole father-son dynamic and timelessness of baseball theme.
To answer your questions:
1) Field of Dreams
2) Hell no
Major League would get more credit if Slapshot hadn’t done the same thing first, and funnier.
Is it me, or does Costner look more than a bit like Ozzie Guillen these days?
I’m a Bull Durham / Major League guy myself for the record.
–But “A League of Their Own” has to get some pub. /doesn’t that hurt the cows? It would bruise the hell out of me/ We don’t play enough night games to be able to sign your daughter /You look like a penis with a little hat on. — good stuff
It really depends on the script. If the script is strong; it will be a good film.
Squeals are usually horrible because they have rushed and underdeveloped scripts. Hopefully, since it has been 20 years, they will spend a lot of time on the film. It isn’t like they are riding the wave of the first one.
Unless the reviews are horrible; I will go see it.
Anyone like The Natural anymore?
And sequels are almost always a bad idea, especially 2 decades after the first installment.
Personally, I am hoping for the 4th sequel to the Bad News Bears series: The Bad News Bears Go to Madagascar.
I hate baseball movies. Especially ones with slow motion in them. Field of Dreams irritated the heck out of me; The Natural put me to sleep. Bull Durham was tolerable; A League Of Their Own was not. I’ll go with Major League, I guess.
All baseball movies suck. Mark Harris, in arguably the best baseball novel ever written, The Southpaw (1953), stated through his protagonist, Henry Wiggen, “I never yet seen anybody hit a foul ball in any of them movies.”
I am a John Sayles fan, so I will go with “Eight Men Out,” even though I recognize that Sayles is not accurate in how he portrays each of the men.
And while it is not a baseball film, if we consider cricket to be a distant cousin of baseball, then my favorite film is the Bollywood production “Lagaan.”
Major League / Major League 2 are by far two of my most favorite movies, baseball or otherwise. Let’s just all pretend the third movie never happened though, okay?
“I feel like a banker in this.”
My top 3:
Bull Durham
Major League
For Love of the Game
The ones that almost made my top 3:
Field of Dreams
The Rookie
The Natural
Greatest baseball movie: A League of Their Own.
Bull Durham had some great moments, but Kevin Costner has a way of delivering lines that makes my teeth stand on end. That entire “I believe in” speech made me cringe.
That said, I liked him well enough in Field of Dreams, but A League of Their Own would have to be my favorite baseball movie.
Field of Dreams just strikes a magical tone for me and is, probably, my all-time favorite MOVIE. I tend more toward indie fare and am fond of 8 Men Out. Two that haven’t been mentioned are The Rookie (Dennis Quaid) and *61. I found both entertaining and Barry Pepper, in particular, was haunting in his portrayal of Roger Maris.
There’s a ton of foul balls in League of Their Own. Rosie comes up with a hot dog after catching one. Gina catches one behind her back.
Been a baseball fan my whole life, and have been dating a girl from Iowa for over two years, and I JUST saw Field of Dreams this last weekend. It’s her favorite movie of all time, but I wasn’t all that crazy about it. It was good, but not great.
Best baseball movie for me has to be Major League. WIthout a doubt.
And when you get a few beers in me, Base-ketball takes over as the best baseball/basketball movie. If you like baseball, basketball, and South Park, check it out.
And I’m surprised some smart-ass didn’t give a shout out to Mr. 3000…
Bull Durham is my total all-time favorite baseball movie, which is why I seriously doubt that I’ll witness this likely disaster. Why can’t Hollywood leave well enough alone? (Rhetorical question.) Didn’t they learn anything from the Blues Brothers sequel? (Rhetorical question.)
Re: Costy and good lines in League of their own. I use the “There an’t no crying in baseball.” at Safeco this way “Their an’t no wave in baseball.”
I will watch any baseball movie at least once (excluding Mr.3000).
There are the obvious picks in Bull Durham and Field of Dreams but For Love of the Game is one of my favorites.
Jane: Do you lose very much?
Billy Chapel: I lose. I’ve lost 134 times.
Jane: You count them?
Billy Chapel: We count everything.
One of my favorite parts is when Billy cuts his hand opened and is being rushed by helicopter to another hospital and he throws out the quote telling Jane to call his trainer, that he is the most important person in his life right now…now thats crushing someone.
- Bang the Drum Slowly
Henry Wiggen: These are Fifth and Two. Fifth and Queen.
Joe Jaros: Red Rooster.
[long pause, then Tegwar Player lays a 3. Joe slams down his cards]
Joe Jaros: BANJO! Ha-HAAAA! That’s the first natural Banjo since the days of Joe Dimaggio in St. Petersburg.
Henry Wiggen: Hey, wait a minute. Fifteen and Fifteen’s Thirty-One.
Tegwar Player: Hey, what’s the name of this game?
Joe Jaros: Fifteen and Fifteen is Thirty-TWO!
Henry Wiggen: Thirry-T… oh, that’s right.
[to Tegwar player]
Henry Wiggen: That’s a Double Honeybees.
Tegwar Player: I’m not too sure if I’m clear on some of these new rules.
Joe Jaros: What new rules? There hasn’t been any rules changes since the Black Sox Scandal, 1919. Big League Tegwar’s Big League Tegwar known to every big-time ballplayer from Boston to California.
why would you revisit Bull Durham, and cast the very distinctive co-stars as two completely different people? Maybe if Shelton is involved…
another look at the minors I liked was ‘Pastime’ (also known as ‘A cup of coffee’) with William Russ as a former pro mentoring a young black player in the ’50s.
I tend to favor the old ones, like the original Angels in the outfield (1951), The Kid from left field (1953), The Big Leaguer (1953) or The Kid from Cleveland (1948)
Or so-bad-it’s-good movies like the tv version of Joe Torre’s autobiography, Curveballs along the way.
speaking of Henry Wiggen, every time I hear Jeff Nelson pronounce Arthur Rhodes’ given name, I think of Bang the drum slowly.
I read “Field of Dreams” when it was “Shoeless Joe” (I still have that first edition hardcover, signed by Kinsella). The book is better than the movie (but who hasn’t heard that before?)
Major League, without question for me.
Evil owner trying to move team stymied by her hand-picked squad of losers and washouts. More priceless one-liners than almost any other movie I can think of in any genre.
The sequels were all garbage though.
1. Field of Dreams;
2. Major League
3. The Natural
Yes….I would see it. I lvoed Bull Durham and, despite what everyone else thinks of him, I like Kevin Costner. It’ll be interesting to see how they transition to the “plot” of this movie. According to the article the Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon characters are married co-owners of a team Costner manages. Bull Durham left off with Robbins heading to “the show” and Costner returning to the Sarandon character after “hitting his dinger” to set the Minor league record.
So how the leap from them together to her getting back with robbins will be interesting.
No love for the Sandlot? Maybe for the younger generation but it sure is a cult classic for me.
Field of Dreams, for me.
I shouldn’t like The Rookie, but I do anyway.
If BDII comes out, I’m sure I’ll see it eventually. It’s a baseball movie. Whether I’d see it in the theaters would depend on the reviews. It would take some pretty good reviews. My budget is limited, and I’m not a huge fan of the original. (Heresy, I know – so shoot me.)
I think “Bull Durham 2″ would have a chance.
Ron Shelton is THAT good. Kevin Costner, whatever his limitations are as an actor, is at home in sports comedies (I liked “Tin Cup,” also made by Shelton, just as much as “Bull Durham”) and Susan Sarandon, even in her 60s, is still sexy and can do no wrong.
One problem: Weirdly, Robbins went from looking 10 years too old for the part he played in 1988 to looking now 10 years older than Costner is now. He hasn’t aged well.
The hesitations we all have about “sequelitis” are very real. But, assuming Ron Shelton writes and directs, this could work. In my opinion.
How are people leaving out the dynamic duo of kids-in-the-big-league movies, Little Big League(don’t they lose to the M’s in the play-offs?) or Rookie of the Year (or as my roommate called it “Rocket Kid”)? Maybe because they were both terrible, who knows.
I gotta go with Major League. Like smb said, as an M’s fan I can relate to a lot in that movie. Bob Euchre as Harry Doyle the jaded plat by play announcer is like some bizzaro Niehaus.
Plus I love Jake Taylor reading classic literary works, like Moby Dick, in comic book form. That’s my kind of guy.
And so many classic one liners too “Are you sayin’ the good lord can’t hit a curve ball?”
Yeah, I think those two movies should get a little more love here. Especially *61 – I thought it was pretty well done.
Favorite baseball movie…For Love of the Game. Mostly because of the actual baseball game that’s going on, everyone sitting on the opposite side of the bench so they don’t get Costner out of his zone. A little melodramatic, but actually a cool way to do a movie.
Will I see it…Sadly, I won’t be able to help myself, no matter what I hear about it. Bull Durham was great…”Anything that goes that high should have a stewardess on it, doncha think?” (forgive the inaccurate quote)
I actually just watched Little Big League the other day (own the DVD) and I’m also a fan of The Sandlot.
The correct answer is probably Major League, but one of my all-time guilty pleasures is Little Big League. Once you suspend your disbelief it’s actually a damn good baseball movie. The game of baseball isn’t just scenery or a dramatic prop, it’s the driving narrative force. How do you get a disgruntled pitcher to pitch better? How do you bench a respected veteran? How do you convince a stubborn flamethrower that his mechanics are off? If you like baseball movies you definitely ought to check it out.
And of course all Mariner fans need to watch it solely for the climatic one game playoff between the Twins the fearsome Seattle Mariners. Randy and Junior both play themselves and the best part is…well, watch the movie.
Angels in the outfield? Christopher Lloyd, what’s not to like?
I’d have to say Major League. Wesley and Charlie Sheen and the Allstate guy!
How could I forget that one? The Sandlot is a great movie. Who hasn’t told a friend or co-worker “Yer killin’ me Smalls!” when they mess up?
I think it’s kinda slept on because it’s not one of those contrived epic major league baseball movies that are all about dragging emotions out of people.
It’s just a simple tale of the good times had with friends one summer over at the local ball field. Who can’t relate to that?
Actually, I completely forgot about my favorite baseball movie of all time…and this post is going to make me pop it in the DVD player right now:
the Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings. It come out in 1976 when I was just a kid and I remember watching it over and over again with my dad. It starred some guys named Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, & Richard Pryor.
I love that movie. If you can’t find it, I’ll be glad to burn you a copy.
Another “B” movie flick that was worth the watch was Long Gone…it came out in 1987 and starred then unknowns William Peterson (CSI), Virginia Madsen and Durmot Mulroney
Favorite movie. Bull Durham.
One other aspect of Major League that hasn’t been mentioned: it pretty much happened in real life to the Sonics. Except for the part about the sucky roster winning the championship and forcing the owner to keep the team in Cleveland/Seattle.
Would I see BDII? Although it probably is a bad idea, and likely will suffer from sequelitis, there is still a chance it could be a good movie. Especially if they make it stand on its own, with just enough homage to the original to satisfy people who want to see what happened to Crash and Nuke and Annie.
The problem with most sequels is they do the homage part — and then just stop. Anyone can write a sequel that has Crash and Nuke and Annie in it, and the results are usually predictably bad. What is difficult, but could make BDII good, is if they write an ORIGINAL good script, (but with Crash/Nuke/Annie in it) rather than just simply recycling the characters.
Bottom line: as others have said, I’ll wait for the reviews. Chances are that the sequel will not be good, but it does have a chance.
Totally agree with Medicine Hat. Long Gone came out when I was in middle school and I loved it.
It has held up well. The baseball scenes, while not incredibly believable, were not horrible either.
I’ve used William Peterson’s character’s name, Cecil “Stud” Cantrell for my fantasy baseball teams a few times. Go find that movie– it’s well worth the cost. I wore out my recorded from HBO tape a long time ago, then I bought it on ebay a few years ago and have just about worn out that copy as well. Wish it made dvd!
Also, the Bingo movie was excellent as well.
ahem. Billy Peterson was the star of Manhunter & To Live and Die in L.A. (not to mention Steppenwolf Theatre) and Virgina Madsen had been the leading lady of the craptastic Electric dreams
I liked Long gone– it also had the brilliant notion of casting Henry Gibson & Teller as the father & son owners of the team…
Favorite Movie: Bull Durham.
Why? Because it is more than just a good baseball movie – it’s simply a good movie. Every significant girlfriend I’ve had at some point watched this movie with me and EVERY ONE OF THEM liked it and at later on wanted to watch it again.
Bull Durham works so well because of it’s clever writing, simple styling, and unglamorous view of a sport that has become lost in the money.
I’m not sure Bull Durham works if set in the Major Leagues. The anonymity of the minors (both players and stadiums) allows you to get lost in the characters and story without even once considering the setting.
I don’t see any way that a sequel would work if they set it in the majors. I get how it’s a natural progression, but how could anyone besides A-Rod actually afford to be a former player who buys a Major League team?
I think the premise is better suited to Nuke owning a minor league team (ala Cal Ripken, George Brett), Crash managing and Annie still caught between.
The best thing the writers could do for this movie is to recreate the characters and let the writing flow from there. When you try to recreate scenes it almost always comes up as cheesy. The best sequels come from material that feels like it would have been in the original if they would have had more time.
But that’s just my opinion.
Side note: has anyone noticed the part in Bull Durham where Crash writes the note to Annie in the dugout, hands it to the kid who walks it over to Milly who then reads it to Annie? Crash writes, clearly, “I want to f*** you,” but when Milly reads it she says “I want to make love to you”. Just another one of the subtleties that makes this movie one of my favorites.
I was at an M’s game having this same conversation with a friend, who said “Fever Pitch”. Before I could even reply, a guy sitting behind us yells in disbelief, “Fever Pitch is NOT a baseball movie”.
‘times.
every one knows Fever pitch is a football movie.
hmm. or Nuke & Annie aren’t married in the sequel.
Field of Dreams and Bull Durham aren’t just good “baseball” movies, they’re just good movies period. Those two have always ranked way up there for me.
Major League, honestly, strikes me as an oddly Moneyball 2.0 / sabermetric movie. Dumpster diving for freely available talent, snatching up good veterans that had upside or at least one more good year in them, etc.
You had your strikeout pitcher (Vaughn), a groundball machine (Harris), a superior on-base guy who played amazing defense at a key position(Hayes), a strong power hitter (and international signee, Cerano), and two slick fielding defenders with decent enough bats that their overall value in runs was positive (Dorn and Taylor). Also, do you remember any bullpen arms? No? Why? Because they were all replacement parts! No “closer” to speak of, just a bunch of arms that were found in the minors or on the trash heap that could get one to three outs when needed. In fact, the team with the “closer” (New York) lost! Even if you assume the rest of the team is replacement level, you have several positive marginal win players putting the team over.
USSM had an article once about Bugs Bunny, I’d like to see a couple where they analyze these “teams” in movies.
I love Field of Dreams, but the fact that the movie has Liotta batting righty when Jackson is a lefty really deters me from making it my #1.
But I wish there were some better baseball movies. I often apply Rudy to baseball, especially when Rudy’s father first goes to a ND football game and says when he comes out of the tunnel, “this is the most beautiful thing these eyes have ever seen.” I get that feeling a lot at Safeco.
Wow.. Little Big League. I’m glad someone brought that up; I forgot all about that movie. Brings back memories.. probably haven’t seen it in 10-15 years or so. How old is that movie, anyway?
Bull Durham, as with most movies, was filled with filming errors. A lot of them are listed here. Some of my favorites that I actually knew about from watching the movie a million times:
In the first game of the movie, two batters are introduced with “Now batting for the Peninsula White Sox” but they are wearing the uniform of the Hagerstown Suns.
When Annie and “Nuke” are in her kitchen during the “seduction” scene, she has stockings on in all of the close-up shots, but bare legs in the long shots.
After Nuke hits the mascot and Crash tells the nervous batter, “I don’t know where it’s gonna go – I swear to God,” Nuke throws a fastball for strike one, yet the batter is rung up for a strikeout.
Came out in 1994
The top 10 Sports movies of all time were rated in June 2010 by the American Film Institute. Bull Durham was the 2nd baseball movie listed at # 5. Pride of the Yankees was #3.
I’m a little younger so growing up I had a few baseball movies that I always watched
Sandlot
Angels in the Outfield
Little Big League
Rookie of the Year
I watched Field of Dreams again recently and was surprised at how awful it is. But then again my worldview has changed pretty significantly since I first saw it.
A League of Their Own is fantastic.