Baseball is as American as apple pie and so it’s not surprising that there have been quite a few baseball movies produced over the years. The movies below are three great examples.
Eight Men Out
Eight Men Out is a 1998 film, based on the true story of the ‘Black Sox’ scandal of 1919, when the poorly paid White Sox players were bribed by mobster Arnold Rothstein to deliberately lose the World Series. Rothstein, of course, stood to gain massive amounts of money through the World Series bets placed as the White Sox were the better team.
The World Series is an annual championship series played between the American League and National League team champions. In 2013, the winners of the Fall Classic (the World Series takes place in October) were the Boston Red Sox. They beat the St. Louis Cardinals by four games to two. This year, the favourite team to win the World Series at betting exchange Betfair are the Detroit Tigers, also the favourites to win the American League, with Betfair offering a price of around 11/4. The San Francisco Giants meanwhile are favourites to win the National League.
In the movie, the scandal is set against the backdrop over a pay dispute between the players and the team owner. The film shows the conflict many of the team members felt in playing to deliberately lose, and indeed towards the end of the World Series, some decided to play as well as they could in order to win. However, two years after the White Sox had lost the World Series, two players confessed and there was a trial of eight players. The film shows that they were not found guilty, but they were banned for life by Judge Landis, the new independent baseball commissioner.
Field of Dreams
Kevin Costner has made a ton of movies, but this 1996 film is one of his best for its combination of mystery, adventure and magic – all set around the game of baseball. Iowa corn farmer Ray (Costner) is convinced by voices he hears in the corn to build a baseball diamond in his field. ‘If you build it, he will come’ works a treat as the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) – one of the Chicago Black Sox – turns up in his field for a game. But that’s not all; Ray comes to understand that his ballfield is somewhere that people who have made sacrifices in their life can come for a second chance. Examples include Doc Graham (Burt Lancaster), a doctor who gave up his future in baseball in order to practice medicine. The final visitor to the ball field is someone very close to Ray’s heart.
Moneyball
Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill star in this baseball movie – based on the real-life story of player turned manager of Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane. Billy has a team to run on a low budget, which means they’re on a losing streak against the bigger teams. He turns to an untested and seemingly crazy method to pick new players which, against all the odds, begins to pay off. It’s a great film and although it was nominated for six Oscars, it didn’t actually win any in the 2012 ceremony.
