Play ball! 

Major League Baseball is back, and the 162-game marathon to World Series glory is on. An exciting 2025 season awaits as the Boston Red Sox begin a fresh start with new third baseman Alex Bregman, New York’s teams begin a heated rivalry spurred by Juan Soto’s $765 million crosstown move and the Los Angeles Dodgers, with star designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, aim for the first back-to-back World Series win in 25 years.

Millions of fans recognize baseball’s universal impact, which transcends the game itself. Over 100 baseball-focused films have highlighted the beauties of the sport, from the players who conquered the heights of the game to the fans whose love for baseball has been passed down for generations. These films have become an essential complement to the game, and through them, some of baseball’s most important moments in history have been rediscovered and cherished by new fans.

The Huntington News compiled nine baseball films to add to your watchlist as the MLB season kicks off. All of these films, whether they depict the most important players to take the field or tell tales of the ordinary people that baseball has touched, emphasize the sport’s immortality and the connections and bonds it created.

Jake’s picks

“Bull Durham”

Kevin Costner has led several classic baseball flicks — and the unabashedly horny “Bull Durham,” released in 1988, is perhaps chief among them. 

Lawrence “Crash” Davis (Costner), a disgruntled, aging catcher, is tasked with reeling in Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), a rookie pitcher with an impressive, if imprecise, arm and major league potential. Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), an attractive woman who, each season, takes the most promising Durham Bull player as her lover and student, is determined, like Crash, to mold the immature Nuke into an MLB superstar. 

There’s just one problem: Crash and Annie’s growing mutual attraction.

Buoyed by a smart, Oscar-nominated screenplay and the committed performances of its three leads (Robbins proudly graces the silver screen in a garter belt), “Bull Durham” has more than earned its reputation as one of the greatest sports films ever made.

“Eephus”

“Eephus,” its title derived from an off-speed pitch, deviates from others in the pantheon of baseball cinema in its measured approach and melancholic mood.

The Adler’s Paint baseball team and the Riverdogs face off for their final game as, much to their chagrin, the stadium hosting amateur league play is set for demolition, paving the way for a new school. Shot in nearby Douglas, Massachusetts, Carson Lund’s poignant debut feature is concerned with time’s passage and navigating homosocial relationships: the players reflect, argue and commiserate between cracks of the bat.

A bittersweet ode to the American pastime that’s united so many, this 2024 release thrives on its no-frills presentation and the ensemble’s pitch-perfect chemistry.

“A League of Their Own”

Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), an alcoholic slugger-turned-manager, stewards the Rockford Peaches, featuring catcher and assistant manager Dorothy “Dottie” Hinson (Geena Davis), center fielder “All the Way” Mae Mordabito (Madonna) and pitcher Kit Keller (Lori Petty), among others, to the 1943 World Series in this Penny Marshall-helmed film.

“A League of Their Own” may be best remembered in the cultural consciousness for Hanks’ impassioned delivery of “There’s no crying in baseball,” but the film is much more than one quotable line. Marshall’s movie has inspired countless young women since its 1992 release, encouraging them to pursue sports and reshape what has traditionally been a male-dominated discipline.

With a feminist edge and an abundance of personality, it’s no wonder that “A League of Their Own” has cemented itself as an audience-adored baseball movie.

“Moneyball”

After a devastating loss to the New York Yankees at the 2001 American League, or AL, Division Series, the Oakland Athletics, or A’s, are in a precarious position: General manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) has lost his three best players and, with the organization strapped for cash, his means of compiling a competitive roster has plummeted to $41 million. 

Disillusioned with normal scouting practices, Billy employs Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a Yale alum and Cleveland Indians adviser who believes studying sabermetrics is the key to assembling a winning team. The A’s acquire players that, according to the data they gather, are undervalued — Scott Hatteberg (Chris Pratt) and David Justice (Stephen Bishop), to name two — much to coach Art Howe’s (Philip Seymour Hoffman) dismay. 

As Art and the rest of Billy’s detractors soon learn, though, this unorthodox bunch, brought together for a relatively small sum, is nothing short of formidable on the field.

By the time the credits roll on 2011’s “Moneyball,” a film that sings thanks to co-writer Aaron Sorkin’s sizzling dialogue, Pitt’s effortless performance and Bennett Miller’s deft direction, viewers will find themselves asking one of Billy’s trademark rhetorical questions: “How can you not be romantic about baseball?”

“The Sandlot”

A coming-of-age classic for good reason, “The Sandlot” transports viewers to the San Fernando Valley circa 1962 where Scott “Scotty” Smalls (Tom Guiry), an introverted fifth grader, has just moved. He’s taken in by Benjamin Franklin “Benny” Rodriguez (Mike Vitar) and his friends, who ultimately come face-to-face with “the Beast” while recovering a Babe Ruth-signed baseball from a backyard adjacent to the titular sandlot.

Largely structured as a series of vignettes, audiences watch as the youngsters cause chaos around town — from the local community pool, where Michael “Squints” Palledorous (Chauncey Leopardi) fakes drowning to receive mouth-to-mouth CPR from crush and lifeguard Wendy Peffercorn (Marley Shelton), to the traveling carnival, where the nine boys vomit after chewing tobacco and riding the Trabant.

1993’s “The Sandlot” is a certified cult classic, a film sure to leave baseball fanatics and dissenters alike reminiscing on their equally eventful childhood summers.

Daniel’s picks

 “42”

Baseball has had its fair share of heroes, but one man’s heroics were bigger than the game itself.

Before his iconic role as Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman wowed audiences in 2013’s “42” as Jackie Robinson, who changed the world forever in 1947 when he broke baseball’s color barrier with the then-Brooklyn Dodgers. Under the stewardship of Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford), the Dodgers owner determined to end baseball’s cursed history of segregation, Robinson overcomes brutal discrimination on his path to become one of sports’ most recognizable legends.

When released 12 years ago, “42” was lauded for its handling of difficult subject matter and for accurately depicting Robinson’s perseverance and heroics. But as politicians attempt to erase the bravery of Black pioneers like Robinson, this empathetic and impactful film is more essential viewing than ever before.

There’s one cruel aspect to watching “42” today, however: the reminder that Boseman’s acting prowess was taken from us far too soon.

“61*”

Here’s a film that’s different from the others on this list; “61*” is a made-for-television film, originally airing on HBO in 2001, but it still has its share of theatrical thrills. 

Directed by die-hard New York Yankees fan Billy Crystal, “61*” follows the 1961 Yankees season, in which Roger Maris (Barry Pepper) and Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) both chased Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in a single season. As Mantle, one of the most famous Yankees of all time, struggles with health issues during the season, the underdog Maris sees an opportunity to seal his name across the Yankee greats.

“61*” gained renewed attention in 2022, a result of Aaron Judge’s eventually successful attempt to break the American League home run record set in 1961. Even with a new AL home run king, “61*” is a gripping character study of baseball legends that will mesmerize all fans, especially those of the Yankees.

Also, the asterisk in the title is very intentional. Watch to find out why.

“Field of Dreams”

Of all the films on this list, none capture the familial bonding of baseball quite like the 1989 fantasy classic, “Field of Dreams.”

Ray Kinsella (Costner), haunted by his failure to fix his relationship with his late father, is instructed by a mysterious voice that “if [he builds] it, he will come.” With his wife and young daughter, Ray turns the family’s acres of corn fields into a baseball diamond and is visited by the ghosts of the 1919 White Sox, the team that notoriously threw the World Series. Thrust into an odyssey across the history of baseball, Ray discovers how a silly game played with a bat and a ball is a driving force that has transcended generations. 

With countless iconic quotes and heartfelt performances from Costner and the late, great James Earl Jones, “Field of Dreams” has stood the test of time in the hearts of baseball fans of all ages. If you’ve ever had a baseball catch with your father, prepare to be an emotional wreck by the time the credits roll.

“The Natural”

Baseball fans view players like gods, which makes humanizing them on the silver screen even more difficult. But “The Natural” doesn’t just do this masterfully; it does it with ease.

Based on the book of the same name, Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is on a mission to prove himself as the greatest baseball player of all time. After a tragedy forces him to leave the game behind, an older Roy looks to stage a comeback while facing the demons of his past and present.

Many baseball films follow the real-life pursuits of the sport’s legends to become some of the greatest players ever. But through its surreal premise, “The Natural” allows viewers to understand the sacrifices that sports superstars make daily, both on and off the field. With stellar performances and a majestic score from Randy Newman, “The Natural” is an incredible piece of cinema that will wow casual viewers and die-hard baseball fans alike.