In the spirit of Academy Awards Sunday, I’ve compiled a top 10 list of my all-time favorite baseball films. Baseball movies are rarely nominated for Oscars. Moneyball will try to nab the first major Academy Award for a baseball film, since there has never been one to win Best Picture, Best Director, or Best Actor/Actress.

Baseball lends itself to the art of cinema well since the game is already drama-filled on and off the field. Baseball is also often poetic in nature. The emerald green grass and baby blue sky is perfectly beautiful when captured on camera. Baseball has had its share of characters running through its history, and the pages of these screenplays reflect their egos, eccentricities, and heroics. During the offseason, a baseball movie can transport the anxious fan back to the ballpark for a temporary fix.

Now, this list is of course subjective. Depending on who you root for and what you like about a movie can create a different order for each viewer. For me, the way the film depicts baseball cinematically along with the emotional appeal helped me decide the rankings.

An interesting pattern I noticed is that many of my favorite baseball films were made during the late ’80s/early ’90s. Perhaps this was somewhat of a Golden Age of Baseball Films. (more…)