Sports have been a favorite subject for storytellers since a primitive human first told others how much fun it was to whack a round rock with a stick. Author George Plimpton once wrote in the New York Times that “the smaller the ball, the more formidable the literature. There are superb books about golf, very good books about baseball, not many good books about football or soccer, very few good books about basketball and no good books at all about beach balls.” The same parallels to life and American history that make those baseball books so compelling provide a rich metaphorical backdrop for cinematic masterpieces as well.

Baseball’s enduring, prominent place in United States and Latin American culture has also made it popular as a movie theme. From the thousands of baseball films ever made, we selected and ranked those that we feel are the most impactful, entertaining, and well-regarded. This list can serve as a reminder of old favorites or a way to discover new gems, and would make a fine template for a holiday weekend marathon with the baseball fanatic in your life.

We’re going back to 1958 for the 15th film on our list, with an adaptation of the Broadway play “Damn Yankees.” It stars Robert Schafer as Joe Boyd, a Washington Senators fan who makes a deal with the devil incarnate in a man named Mr. Applegate (Ray Walston). After promising his soul for a player who can help his team beat the New York Yankees, Boyd is transformed into home run hitter Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter) and joins his beloved Senators for the pennant race. 

The theatrical version of “Damn Yankees” had a stacked cast that also featured Gwen Verdon, Jean Stapleton, Rae Allen, and Nathaniel Fry. It shows its age a bit almost 70 years later, but still offers nearly two hours of musical fun. Ray Heindorf earned the film’s only Oscar nomination for his original score, although it won the Laurel Award as best movie musical.  Another feature-length adaptation came to television in 1967 with Ray Middleton, Phil SIlvers, and Lee Remick, and both are worthy of the under two-hour time commitment.

The 2001 HBO film “61*” is part historical drama and part nostalgic tribute from director Billy Crystal. It stars Thomas Jayne, Barry Pepper, and Anthony Michael Hall and tracks Yankee stars Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle through the 1961 American League schedule as they chase Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in a season. The asterisk in the film’s title comes from a long-held notion that Maris’ home run total was entered in the record books with that notation (since nitpickers would claim that Babe Ruth accomplished his record in fewer games), but Maris was regarded as the true one-season home run king until Barry Bonds hit 73 round-trippers in 2001. 

Pepper’s top-tier performance illuminates how the pressure of the home run chase affected Maris and his wife Pat (Jennifer Crystal Foley), and he was nominated for a Golden Globe as best actor. Crystal was also honored by the Director’s Guild of America in the category of TV movies. “61*” is a nuanced take on a summer that polarized baseball fans, and the script and performances show how the home run chase reflected changes in the nation and game in the years since Ruth set the mark in 1927.

In 2011 — a decade after Billy Crystal made a film about the 1961 season — “Moneyball” illustrated some of the off-the-field changes in baseball in the 50 years since Maris’ home run chase. The film tells the story of how Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) and on-field manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) work with analyst Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) to use computerized statistical analysis to help make championship contenders out of their low-budget team.

 “Moneyball” inherited some fundamental flaws from the Michael Lewis book from which it sprung, but the film still has a lot of heart. “Moneyball” was nominated for three Oscars including for best picture and acting nods for Pitt and Hill. Hoffman is spot-on as the gruff, resistant Howe, and Hill shows that he can play more than the hapless goofballs that dominated his early filmography. “Moneyball” is a well-told underdog story that illuminates the conflict between baseball’s old and new ways, and deserves a spot in your baseball movie lineup.

“The Rookie” seems like pure fantasy, but is more rooted in truth than “Damn Yankees” or even “Moneyball.” The 2002 Disney film is the remarkable story of unlikely major leaguer Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid). In 1999, Morris was coaching a sad-sack Texas high school baseball team and promised his players he would revive his own pro baseball dreams if they won a championship. After an unlikely title season and stellar tryout, he earned a spot on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays pitching staff. Agent Steve Canter saw an article in Baseball Weekly about Morris and knew right away it was a good story. 

According to the MLB.com website, Canter told Morris “If you pitch well in Triple-A, the Rays are going to call you up to the big leagues. And if the Rays call you up to the big leagues, I promise you we’re going to make a movie about your life, and you’re never going to have to worry about being able to take care of your family again.” Brian Cox — who went on to play Logan Roy on “Succession” — shines as Jim  Morris Sr., and Angus T. Jones was nominated for a Young Artist Award for his performance as Jim’s son Hunter. “The Rookie” is inspirational without being too syrupy, and Quaid’s Morris is eminently likeable. It’s family-friendly and full of lessons in perseverance and positive thinking, making it perfect viewing for a rainy weekend afternoon.

The nostalgic 1993 sleeper hit “The Sandlot” focuses on the summer of 1962 and a group of Southern California pre-teens who meet in a neighborhood field to play baseball every day. Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) is new in town and not very athletic, but he’s welcomed to the on-going game by its leader, Benjamin “Benny the Jet” Rodriguez (Mike Vitar). 

Karen Allen and James Earl Jones deliver strong performances in limited screen time, and the script of “The Sandlot” is full of inspirational bon mots like “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.” “The Sandlot” is mostly feel-good family fare, although there’s plenty of crude trash talk from the boys including such poetic epithets as “fart smeller” and “buffalo-butt breath.” Those lines and the familiar “you’re killing me, Smalls” were penned by Robert Gunter and David Mickey Evans, and Evans directed the project. It’s one of those films that divides critics and fans, with a 66% rating from reviewers and 89% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s nostalgic for both the Boomers who grew up during its era and the ’90s kids who grew up watching the film.

“The “Bad News Bears” is a cultural touchstone for Gen Xers, much like “The Sandlot” is for Millennials. The Bears are the worst team in a top-level league for Southern Californian kids, coached by washed-up former pro Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau). Buttermaker recruits two new players to help his woeful team: Pitching phenom Amanda Whurlitzer (Tatum O’Neal) and juvenile delinquent Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley).

The new stars carry the woeful Bears to the championship game, which turns into a lesson about competition vs. having fun from Buttermaker and rival coach Roy Turner (Vic Morrow). The movie’s ultimate feel-good message would be perfect for younger kids were it not for the steady stream of ethnic slurs and vulgarities from the children on the team. (Ah, the ’70s.) Matthau was nominated for the 1977 BAFTA as best actor and writer Bill Lancaster won the Writer’s Guild of America award for best original screenplay. It has the period-appropriate amount of grit and hasn’t aged perfectly, but is wildly entertaining. The film spawned a short-lived TV series, two sequels, and a 2005 remake starring Billy Bob Thornton as Buttermaker and Sammi Kane Kraft as Amanda.

The 1973 drama “Bang the Drum Slowly” tells the story of developmentally disabled catcher Bruce Pearson (Robert De Niro) and how his team helped him process a terminal diagnosis of Hodgkin’s disease. The story began as a 1956 novel by Mark Harris that was a follow-up to his 1951 book “The Southpaw.” Both stories featured pitcher Henry “Author” Wiggen (Michael Moriarty in the film), a bookish player who becomes Pearson’s unlikely best friend. 

De Niro won the New York’ Film Critics Circle award as best supporting actor, and the performance helped launch his long, illustrious career. It’s not one of De Niro’s best or worst films, but “Bang the Drum Slowly” still has emotional impact more than 50 years after its release. Its themes and performances resonate with viewers today, and “Bang the Drum Slowly” helped catapult De Niro to Oscar-winning stardom. “The Godfather” had hit theaters in 1972, and by 1980 De Niro had also starred in that film’s sequel, “Taxi Driver,” “The Deer Hunter,” and “Raging Bull.”

The 1989 comedy “Major League” is a decent parallel to “Bad News Bears,” chronicling an unlikely season for the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) wherein new team owner Margaret Whiton (Rachel Phelps) wants to take advantage of an attendance clause in the team’s stadium deal and move it to Miami. In an attempt to drive fans away, she packs the roster with misfits and cast-offs, much to the frustration of manager Lou Brown (James Gammon). Charlie Sheen stars as relief pitcher Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, while Tom Berenger is his trusted catcher Jake Taylor. Wesley Snipes steals every scene he’s in as flashy outfielder Willie Mays Hayes, who claims he can “Play like [Willie] Mays and run like [Olympic sprinter Bob] Hayes.” 

Corbin Bernsen stars as bitter washed-up third baseman Roger Dorn, Rene Russo plays Jake’s ex-fiance Lynn Wells, and Dennis Haysbert is the imposing home run hitter Pedro Cerrano. The film was a bit too irreverent to earn any Oscar nominations, but the Japanese Academy nominated it for best foreign language film. It’s goofy fun and supremely entertaining, and a 1994 sequel saw Dorn take over as team owner and much of the main cast (including Sheen and Berenger) return to reprise their roles.

“The Natural” hit theaters in 1984 and takes a fairly reverent tone toward the game. The adaptation of Bernard Malamud’s 1952 novel was directed by Barry Levinson, and Robert Redford headlines the stellar cast as outfielder Roy Hobbs. Roy is shot by crazed fan Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey) on the verge of his major league debut, but finally reaches the big leagues 16 years later with the struggling New York Knights and their frustrated manager Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley). There’s a supernatural touch regarding his handmade bat “Wonderboy” and a dramatic pennant-winning home run that unleashes a spectacular light show.

“The Natural” is loaded with star power, with Robert Duvall as sportswriter Max Mercy and Glenn Close as Roy’s high school sweetheart Iris Gaines. It was a hit with awards committees, racking up four Oscar nominations to go with a host of international film society honors. “The Natural” captured Japan’s Hochi Film Award for best foreign movie, and Randy Newman won a Grammy for composing the moving instrumental score. 

While “The Natural” was a somewhat schmaltzy work of fiction, 1994’s “Cobb” was a biography with plenty of grit, chewing tobacco, and racial slurs. It stars Tommy Lee Jones as Tyrus Raymond “Ty” Cobb, the  irascible Detroit Tiger Hall of Famer who overcame a tragic family history to become baseball’s all-time leader in hits until Pete Rose surpassed him in 1985. Robert Wuhl plays biographer Al Stump, who tries desperately to get close enough to Cobb to write a book about him. 

Jones was nominated for the Chicago Film Critics Association award for best actor, although it wasn’t much of a stretch for him to play an abrasive but talented grump. The real-life Stump earned a writing credit for the film along with former minor league infielder Ron Shelton. “Cobb” is an honest, faithful look at a flawed superstar, and Wuhl is spot-on as the man who neglects his own life to tell Cobb’s story.

The 1992 comedy “A League of Their Own” was directed by Penny Marshall and stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, and Tom Hanks. It’s the tale of the Rockford Peaches, a cornerstone of the World War II-era AAGPBL (All-American Girl’s Professional Baseball League). Chicago Cubs owner Phillip Wrigley formed the league to satisfy fans while many American and National League players were serving in the military. “A League of their Own” gave us such memorable lines as “There’s no crying in baseball,” and, like “The Natural,” won the Hochi Film Award as the year’s best movie from outside Japan.

Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars, noting “the way this early chapter of women’s liberation fit into the hidebound traditions of professional baseball.” There’s some very important history along with the clever comedy, and you don’t have to be a baseball fan to appreciate or learn something from “A League of their Own.”

“Bull Durham” is another baseball movie that doesn’t require much interest in the game to enjoy. “Cobb” writer Ron Shelton wrote and directed the 1988 film that stars Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon. Robbins is Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh, a rookie with the minor league Durham NC Bulls, while Costner plays journeyman catcher Crash Davis, who mentors LaLoosh and introduces him to team groupie Annie Savoy (Sarandon). Much of the charm of “Bull Durham” is creditable to the performances of the three leads, and it’s a pretty realistic portrayal of the push-pull relationship between veteran players in the minors and the youngsters that come to displace them.

Shelton’s script earned an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay, and “Bull Durham” won Boston Society of Film Critics awards for best film and best screenplay. Shelton’s time in the minor leagues from 1967-71 helps the film resonate with baseball fans, giving it an authenticity that is further bolstered by the use of a real-life minor league team. The Bulls have played in the International League since 1998, and are now the AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tthe 1988 historical drama “Eight Men Out” tells the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, who became known as the Black Sox after eight players took money from gamblers to intentionally lose the World Series and were banned from baseball for life. John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, John Mahoney, and David Strathaim star as disgraced White Sox players, while John Sayles directed the script he co-wrote with Eliot Asinof. 

“Eight Men Out” didn’t earn any Oscar nominations, but it’s required viewing anyone curious about the scandal that led to baseball’s crackdown on gambling. The period-correct costumes and cinematography will captivate any film buff, baseball fan or not. The year after “Eight Men Out” hit theaters, history repeated as Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose was banned for life for betting on baseball games, including some involving his own team. 

There are few figures in baseball history as important as Jackie Robinson, the Georgia native who became the first Black major league player in history on April 15, 1947. His legacy is so important to the game that every Major Leaguer wears his number 42 on what is now known as Jackie Robinson Day. Major League Baseball retired his number 42 for all teams in 1997, and his alma mater UCLA did the same for all sports in 2014. Robinson’s jersey number also served as the title for a 2013 biographical drama that starred Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey. Rickey chose Robinson to break the color barrier in large part because he felt the minor league star had the maturity and emotional strength to handle the inevitable racist backlash from fans. 

The film doesn’t sugarcoat Robinson’s often disgusting treatment from spectators and opponents, and his widow Rachel was consulted to help keep the story true to life and Jackie’s legacy. “42” is the third film on our list to win Japan’s Hochi Film award as best foreign film. It also earned four NAACP Image awards, and the enlightening peek into post-war America helped make a star of Boseman. It’s a must-watch for anyone interested in baseball history, offering a perfect illustration of how the sport serves as a mirror of American society.

Our pick as the best baseball film of all time is the hearwarming, star-studded “Field of Dreams.” The 1989 drama has plenty of familiar faces: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Ray Liotta as Chicago Black Sox star Shoeless Joe Jackson. Costner stars as Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, who builds a baseball field in one of his cornfields after hearing a spectral voice say “If you build it, he will come.” Ray assumes the voice means his late baseball-obsessed father, but when he builds the field, it is deceased professional baseball players who emerge from the rows of corn that make up the outfield fence.

Ray’s dad John (Dwier Brown) eventually comes back from the great beyond to have a catch with his son, and Jones plays author Terence Mann, a tribute to the film’s origin as a novel from earlier in the decade by W.P. Kinsella. The film earned three Oscar nominations including best picture, and is yet another to be honored with Japan’s Hochi Film Award as best foreign language movie. It was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2017, and both the father-son reunion and redemption story for the Black Sox are genuinely heartwarming.