Movies are cool. They can be a much needed distraction from the pain sports can bring. Like when Jose Alvarado gives up a homerun that still hasn’t landed yet, a movie can be a nice change of pace. Baseball season is right around the corner and there are plenty of movies to get you in the mood for 162! The classic baseball movies are known, and can probably be recited chapter and verse by big seam heads. Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, The Natural, Bull Durham, and so on and so on. They are all great in their own right and doing a top list of those movies is a waste of our time.

So lets take a look at some deep cuts. Some baseball movies that may have avoided your radar. These are just based on my opinion, so take that for what its worth. Some of these you may have heard of. A few of them you may have even seen. But hopefully this list will give you some suggestions on films you may have missed.

So while you wait for Trea Turner’s first official at-bat as a Phillie, and as you wait for the first Kyle Schwarber home run of the season, here are 8 movies to get you through the waiting game of meaningful baseball.

• Sugar (2009)

  Sugar is a really great movie and a solid look at the struggle that latin players have to go through to make it to the big leagues. It follows a player from signing with a team, being placed in the middle of nowhere, having instant success and then struggling with adapting to the culture and the game.

  AVAILABLE ON AMAZON PRIME FOR FREE

• The Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014)

  This is an INCREDIBLE documentary and a real underdog story. It focuses on a minor league baseball team with no affiliation to a professional club who was a rag tag group. From the ownership, to the try outs, to the actual games, you’ll be entertained throughout.

  AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX

• Bang The Drum Slowly (1974)

  For the older crowd this is certainly NOT a deep cut, but for the younger baseball fans out there then it probably isnt on your radar. Robert DeNiro plays a quirky backup catcher who is paired with the new phenom pitcher. The two cant be more different. But the two grow a connection, especially when the pitcher finds out a secret that the catcher is keeping from the team.

  YOUD HAVE TO RENT THIS ONE

• 61* (2001)

  Another movie that if your are a bit older you probably have seen but this is a deeper cut for the younger fan out there. 61* follows the home run race between teammates Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. The stress that Maris faced trying to break Babe Ruth’s record. A must watch.

  AVAILABLE ON HBO

• A Player To Be Named Later (2005)

  A Player To Be Named Later is a documentary follows 4 players at different stages of their baseball careers as they try to make it to the show. A player back from Japan, a 1st round pick, a player on the cusp. All of it. The grind these players face and a look at how tough it truly is.

  YOU HAVE TO RENT THIS ONE

• Catching Hell (2011)

  This documentary follows the fall out of the Steve Bartman issue. An issue that, at the time, many Cubs fans claimed cost the team its first World Series since 1908. It looks into how a fan can impact a game, and how desperate some fans are to have a scapegoat.

  AVAILABLE ON ESPN+

• 42 (2012)

  Deep cut? Maybe not. But I know so many baseball fans that ignored the 2012 biopic on Jackie Robinson’s first year in the majors. Based on the book “Opening Day” this movie is incredibly detailed down to aspects that they didnt even need to include, but did. Harrison Ford is incredible in the role as Branch Rickey, and Chadwick Boseman was amazing in the lead as Jackie Robinson. A MUST watch.

  AVAILABLE ON CINEMAX

• Summer Catch (2001)

  Its so bad that its good. The thing I like about this movie is it follows something that no baseball movie ever has, the Cape Cod League. The top summer league for college baseball players. Freddie Prinze Jr. isnt exactly convincing in his role as a local pitcher who found his way onto the Chatham A’s. But there is some humor in the movie, its corny at times. As I said, its so bad that its good. AND the Phillies are mentioned, so thats cool.

  YOU HAVE TO RENT THIS ONE

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