Thursday, March 28, 2013

Jamie Welcomes Baseball Season

There are a lot of things happening this weekend.  I am heading north to hang out with my family.  Kacey is off to Bali to properly relax during her Spring Break, and two huge TV series of the epically nerdy variety are premiering their latest seasons.  First on Saturday is the return of Doctor Who with his newest companion.  Sunday will see the start of season 3 of Game of Thrones, which is based on my favorite book of the series (random pop culture thing I love: the new companion dates Robb Stark in real life).  But all of that pales in comparison to the main event, the start of baseball season.  Baseball season is a sacred thing in our family.  And to be honest, it's actually already started for some, as Dad has been coaching fastpitch softball for over a month already.  But on Sunday, spring is really here and the games really count as teams (even our Mariners) work toward the ultimate goal: October.  When I talk about baseball I tend to get all emotional, and I ramble all over the place. In order to give this a little bit of focus, I think it's only appropriate that I give you my top 10 baseball movies.
#10 Moneyball Statistics and baseball and Brad Pitt, how could you go wrong?  I did like the book a little better, but that is generally the case with book to movie conversions.  In the film I missed the thrill of the draft and the way that Michael Lewis was able to get the reader (at least baseball nerds like me) wrapped up in the excitement of the day and to really believe, if only for that moment, in Billy's strategy.  But I completely understand how that would have distracted from the overall narrative of the movie.  The film also has Phillip Seymour Hoffman, stealing every scene he is in, which always makes me enjoy a film just a little bit more.
#9 Angels in the Outfield What?  I dare you watch that movie and not cry.  I am particularly sentimental about orphan stories since I've been listening to an Anne of Green Gables audiobook for the last week, but that is besides the point.  When that whole stadium stands up with a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt because they believe that washed up Tony Danza can do it too, I just cry.  And when Danny Glover decides to adopt those kids, and J.P. too cause you couldn't leave J.P.... oh, I'm sorry.  I have to stop or I'll just start sobbing.
#8 Major League (and to a lesser degree Major League 2) Whatever you may think about Charlie Sheen, Wild Thing is a classic.  And that scene is applicable to real baseball games.  I mean, how much do you judge a closer by his intro music?  And it is because of this movie.  With no disrespect to the Bartender (current Mariner closer Wilhelmson), I don't know if anything will top JJ Putz and Thunderstruck. 
#7 Eight Men Out I went through a phase where I was a little obsessed with this story (I mean, I am pretty into all baseball history).  I researched the players and the various conspiracy theories.  I wanted to know if Shoeless Joe & Bucky Weaver were as innocent as the film made them out to be or if that was just Hollywood.  At this point we probably won't ever know everything, but this is a great movie, which actually also makes me cry.  A lot of these movies do.  Like I said, I get very emotional about baseball.  This one humanizes an unpleasant moment in the history of America's past-time, and has a fantastic cast.
#6 The Rookie About the crying.  Disney has a slew of these sports movies based on real life, and every single one of them absolutely kills me.  For a variety of reasons, Remember the Titans is actually my favorite of all these, but the Rookie is a close second, which is more than enough to earn it this 6th spot.  When his family and all his players come to watch him... here I go again, where is that box of tissue.
#5 Long Gone Finally something that doesn't make me cry.  This is a completely ridiculous movie.  Before William Peterson was solving crimes with bugs on CSI, he was Stud Cantrell, reluctantly romancing Virginia Madsen's Dixie Lee Boxx and guiding Dermot Mulroney's once wholesome Jamie Weeks.  This Bull Durham-esque movie is full of ridiculousness and will probably offend more than a few viewers, but it'll get you back as you cheer when Joe "Jose" Brown refuses to let them intentionally walk him again and steps way out and crushes the ball.
#4 The Sandlot There are a great deal of life lessons in The Sandlot, even beyond how to make smores.  Don't judge your neighbor by creepy urban legends, every once in a while it is too hot to play baseball outside, go for it with that hot lifeguard, don't chew tobacco (and certainly don't do it before riding horrific carnival rides), be nice to the new kid (even if he can't play), and for the love of all that is holy do not play baseball with a ball autographed by Babe Ruth.  Although if you do, you are likely to have an amazing and unforgettable summer adventure.  Oh, and pickles can be really cool.
#3 A League of Their Own Like I said before, baseball is very special to my family.  And since my parents had three girls and no boys, it is only fitting that this is a family favorite.  It's about sisters and friends and baseball and women being awesome and Tom Hanks is in it. You know, all the really important things in life.  Plus, it is endlessly quotable.  We have been known to break into "And there's Marla Hooch... what a hitter" for no apparent reason.
#2 Bull Durham I cannot say enough about this movie, and it almost made the top slot.  From Susan Sarandan's monologue on the Church of Baseball (of which I am clearly a member) to Crash Davis' monologue on what he believes in, to all the superstition and pitcher's mound chatter and clubhouse yelling, this movie has it all. The only thing it's missing is magic, which is why...
#1 Field of Dreams Bring back the box of tissue.  I saw you put it away after the end of A League of Their Own, but you're going to need it.  I'll wait.  I don't know what I can say about this movie that hasn't been said by people who write far better than me.  I guess what I love about it the most (besides the whole dead baseball players coming out of the corn to play in your backyard thing, cause how can you not love that, most awesome thing ever) is its pure love of the game.  You see it in different ways through all different characters, but its there, and it helps them appreciate the people around them and to live their lives more completely. 
Okay, I'm getting sappy and sentimental again.  I may need a marathon.  And a couple boxes of tissue.

Books Read: 7  (I'm a little slow this year, but have been catching up via audiobooks... note: I missed a book for last year, so I really did make it to 50!)

Coming Soon: Sarah is too emotional after thinking about all of these movies to write at the moment.  Instead we'll just go see 42 and cry some more.