Dave Magarity -- Baseball Movies

It appears that some of my fellow coaches have become a little bothered by the fact that I continue to receive prime real estate on CollegeInsider.com's homepage.

Apparently some have inquired as to why my features are always front and center. Lets face some simple facts here -- given my size and tremendous stature -- no matter where I appear on the front page I am always going to be front and center.

I am kind of hard to miss.

COOPER AND COLUMBUS

I was thoroughly that once again the producers of The Sopranos worked one of Hollywood's classics into the script. While it is not mentioned by film title, it is clear that Tony Soprano is referring to Gary Cooper's tremendous film, "High Noon."

This is masterpiece, which is frequently interpreted as a parable about artists left to stand alone and face persecution during the HUAC Hollywood blacklisting. Years later, Howard Hawks allegedly devised "Rio Bravo" as an answer to this film's "wimpiness."

The same can't be said for Ralphie and his bedroom actions in a recent episode of The Sopranos.

Another hot topic -- of a recent episode -- centered on Columbus Day and the great Italian explorer.

Hollywood film makers have offered up numerous accounts of Christopher Columbus, but perhaps the most visually pleasing was the 1992 film, "Christopher Columbus - The Discovery." Not only did Columbus discover the Americas, but he also discovered that its' female inhabitants preferred the sun over clothing.

A tremendous example of how less is often more, especially to the human eye.

During my vigorous recruiting journey, I was fortunate enough to spend the night in a hotel, which offered Telemundo as part of its cable package. I was even more fortunate to see an encore showing of Raquel Welch in, "One Million Years B.C," with "showing" being the key word.

I forgot to mention in my last column that I was thoroughly terrified by the dinosaurs, which roared with a Spanish accent.

Sometime during the course of the season I will shed light on some more outstanding leading ladies, like Ms. Welch. But now it's time to move from the court to the diamond for my latest offering of Hollywood's best baseball films.

DIAMOND CLASSICS

With Halloween just around the corner, I am considered shaving my head and wearing a New York Yankee cap and jersey so I can greet trick or treaters as David Wells.

Anytime a man of such tremendous physical shape can take the mound and win close to 20 games, I am thoroughly impressed. Wells is without question an honorary member of the portly and stout club.

While filmmakers haven't yet scripted the David Wells story, there have been numerous baseball movies, depicting Yankee greats so let's begin the game with one of the all-time classics.

By the way, how great is it for baseball to see all these small-market teams in the NL and AL Championships series'?

FIRST INNING: Gary Cooper was terrific in, "The Pride of the Yankees," which told the story of Lou Gehrig's rise to greatness and the debilitating disease that prematurely ended his career and his life.

The producers of the film faced one big dilemma in that Cooper, who played Lou Gehrig, could NOT swing the bat left-handed. Since Gehrig was a lefty, the producers decided to sew a backwards No. 4 on Cooper's Yankee jersey and have him swing right-handed. In the editing room they flipped the negative so that he would appear to be hitting from the left side in the film.

This is one of the best baseball movies of all time, which also stars Babe Ruth who obviously plays himself. Another Yankee great, Bill Dickey also plays appears in the movie.

The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including best-picture.

SECOND INNING: John Cusack and Charlie Sheen star in the story of how the Chicago White Sox fixed the 1919 World Series. "Eight Men Out" brings the audience back to another time, when a World Series bonus was actually a big deal.

The film, which sounds more like a Traci Lords flick, details the events, that almost ruined the National Pastime. This is a tremendous movie, based on Eliot Asinof's 1963 book of the same name.

THIRD INNING: "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings" takes a look at Negro League Baseball and teams that barnstormed the country to play the game they loved.

An all-star cast, headlined by James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor and Billy Dee Williams do a wonderful job of providing a thought-provoking balance of the social issues of the day and comedy.

Leon Wagner, who played in the Major Leagues with the Angels, Cardinals, Giants, Indians and White Sox (1958-69) also stars in the film.

This is a must rental or buy for fans.

FOURTH INNING: "Bull Durham" is a tremendous depiction of life in the minor leagues, starring Kevin Costner as Crash Davis.

Costner's character is a long-time minor leaguer who gets the task of developing a hot prospect, played by Tim Robbins. Susan Sarandon plays the role of the baseball groupie who enjoys wining and dining ballplayers.

Sarandon has a classic line when she proclaims, "There's never been a ballplayer who slept with me who didn't have the best year of his career."

This film provides an insightful look into life in the minor leagues, with a lot of humor.

Robert Wuhl, of "Arliss" fame plays the manager.

FIFTH INNING: Tommy Lee Jones plays the legendary Ty Cobb in the film, "Cobb." This film deals more with the demons that Cobb faced in his final years and how he wanted to be remembered by future generations.

Robert Wuhl portrays the legendary sports-writer, Al Stump whom Cobb hires to write his life story.

Tommy Lee Jones is tremendous! The sequence when Jones and Wuhl go racing down the icy mountain is classic.

In one of the few baseball scenes in the film, Roger Clemens plays an opposing pitcher who says to Cobb, "I hear you're from Georgia where the men are men and the Sheep are scared."

SIXTH INNING: The "Bad News Bears" trilogy lost its luster with the third installment ("The Bad News Bears go to Japan"), but the original is a classic.

Walter Matthau plays the coach (Morris Buttermaker) who takes the worst team in the league and molds them into a winner, with the help of a hard-throwing teenage girl (Tatum O'Neal) and a punk kid (Jackie Earl).

There are a lot of classic one-liners in this one. You forget how funny this film was until you watch it again.

SEVENTH INNING: Many baseball fans name "The Natural" as their all-time favorite baseball movies and why not. This was a tremendous film.

Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs who is promising young player who has his dreams shattered by a mysterious woman. Years later, he gets another shot and helps to lead the New York Knights to a pennant.

Robert Duvall plays the sportswriter (Max Mercy) who is determined to do whatever it takes to get 'the story.' Fellow coaches, does that sound familiar?

Avid baseball fans can easily point to the No. 9 Jersey worn by the left-handed batting Hobbs and draw comparisons to Ted Williams. And in the climactic baseball scene, the hard-throwing Iowa farm boy conjures up the image of Hall of Fame hurler Bob Feller.

Kim Bassinger stars as the woman who plagues Hobbs in his return to the big leagues, while Glenn Close plays his childhood sweetheart.

And, if you look closely, you may recognize Michael Madsen who dies while crashing through the outfield wall.

There is a great scene when Hobbs gives new meaning to the expression, "hitting the cover off the ball."

EIGHTH INNING: How many baseball fans had a tough time holding back the tears when Kevin Costner and his dad finally play catch in "Field of Dreams?"

Ray Kinsella, against all logic, turns his farm into a baseball field because a voice from the corn tells him, "Build it and he will come."

And they do come. It's a who's who of baseball legends from the turn of the century, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, played by Ray Liotta.

James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster also play key roles in this classic.

NINTH INNING: Before Robert De Niro became a Hollywood icon he starred with Michael Moriarty in "Bang the Drum Slowly." This is one of my all-time favorites.

It tells the story of a young catcher (De Niro) for the New York Yankees who is slowly dying of a terminal illness. Moriarty plays the star pitcher who befriends De Niro and who sticks by him through it all.

De Niro's baseball abilities are more like a bunt than a home run, but his acting is a grand slam.

Paul Newman also stars in the film, while Vincent Gardenia was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

You may also notice that it's Shea Stadium, not Yankee Stadium, where the baseball action takes place.

EXTRA INNINGS

If you are looking for some good laughs and a David and Goliath tale, then pop "Major League" into the VCR.

Kevin Costner returned with another good baseball movie in, "For the Love of the Game." Costner plays a veteran pitcher who is on his way to Cooperstown, but first he has a fateful day in Yankee Stadium.

Karl Malden plays the dad and Anthony Perkins "attempts" to portray the ball player in "Fear Strikes Out." This is the story of Jimmy Piersall who was a promising young player with the Boston Red Sox that never attained greatness due to some serious inner turmoil.

I am not sure what was scarier --- Perkins character in Alfred Hitchcock's "Physco" or his attempt to throw a baseball in this movie. If he's a baseball player than I am a chiseled 185 pounds.

If you are looking for something new to watch, rent the recently released movie, "The Rookie." Dennis Quaid is terrific in this true story of how a former minor leaguer in his 30's gets another shot at the big show.

Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes star "The Fan," which focuses on a San Francisco Giants fan that lives a little over the edge. Snipes' character, Bobby Rayburn, will remind you a lot of Mr. Barry Bonds. The lovely Ellen Barkin plays a female reporter and Benicio Del Toro plays the San Francisco rookie star.

Comedian John Leguizamo and former Major Leaguer John Kruk also star.

"Soul of the Game" did not get a lot of hype, but it was tremendous HBO film. It's 1945 and baseball is still segregated and three players (Josh Gibson, Satcel Paige and Jackie Robinson) are all being scouted by the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Lastly, Denis Leary stars in a nice movie called, "The Sandlot," which takes place in the early 1960's. Your kids will love this film.

FINAL PITCH

Of course there are numerous titles that I did not touch on, but I believed we covered all the classics.

I have been getting an abundance of emails, regarding my feature on Elvis films. Glad to know that people actually read what I take the time to write.

Let's keep those emails coming. I want to hear your ideas for future movie columns topics.