Baseball fans love baseball movies and can immediately recognize a great line from one of their favorite films. Let’s not forget, however, that there are hundreds of celluloid moments where baseball is referenced by characters in motion pictures that don’t have the national pastime involved in the story at all. Examples include…
> “I love baseball. You know it doesn’t have to mean anything, it’s just beautiful to watch.” – Woody Allen in Zelig (1983)
> “Baseball should be the only thing on an eight year old boy’s mind.” – Aidan Quinn in Stolen Summer (2002)
> Jane: “I’ve heard police work is dangerous.”
Frank: “It is. That’s why I carry a big gun.”
Jane: “Aren’t you afraid it might go off accidently?”
Frank: “I used to have that problem.”
Jane: “What did you do about it?”
Frank: “I just think about baseball.” – Priscilla Presley & Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun (1988)
> “I loved baseball ever since Arnold Rothstein fixed the World Series in 1919.” – Lee Strasburg (as Hyman Roth) in The Godfather II (1974)
> “What’s the matter with you? Don’t you want to watch the World Series?” – Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
> “You’re a tragic hero. You’re Lou Gehrig.” – Billy Crystal in Father’s Day (1997)
> Q: “Yogi?…why it’s some sort of religion, isn’t it?”
A: “You bet it is – a belief in the New York Yankees.” – Kirk Douglas in Ace in the Hole (1951)
> “I’m an escaped car thief. I broke out of prison to see the Cubs in the World Series.” – James Belushi in Taking Care of Business (1990)
> “Hey, batter-batter-batter, hey batter-batter-batter- swing batter.” – Mathew Broderick in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
> “I like baseball. I just never understood how you guys can spend so much time discussing it…I’ve been to games, but I don’t memorize who played third base for Pittsburgh in 1960.” —- “Don Hoak!” Helen Slater, Billy Crystal & others in City Slickers (1991)
When it comes to movies about baseball, the memorable lines are endless. Here are some you might remember…
> “There’s no crying in baseball!” – Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own (1992)
> “When the ball meets the bat and you feel that ball just give, you know it’s going to go a long way. Damn, if you don’t feel like you’re going to live forever.” – John Cusack (as Buck Weaver) in Eight Men Out (1988)
> “Listen, Lupas, you didn’t come into this life just to sit around on a dugout bench, did ya? Now get your ass out there and do the best you can.” – Walter Matthau in Bad News Bears (1976)
> “Ahh, Jesus, I like him very much, but he no help with the curveball.” – Dennis Haysbert (as Pedro Cerrano) in Major League (1989)
> “People all say that I’ve had a bad break. But today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” – Gary Cooper (as Lou Gehrig) in The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
> “Hey, Dad? You wanna have a catch?” – Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams (1989)
> “God, I just love baseball.” – Robert Redford (as Roy Hobbs) in The Natural (1984)
> “Tonight, he will make the fateful walk to the loneliest spot in the world, the pitching mound at Yankee Stadium, to push the sun back into the sky and give us one more day of Summer.” – Vin Scully in For the Love of the Game (1999)
> “We’re not athletes, we’re baseball players” – Tom Selleck (as Jack Eliot) in Mr. Baseball (1992)
> “I’m your new Catcher and you just got lesson number one: don’t think, it can only hurt the ball club.” – Kevin Costner (as Crash Davis) in Bull Durham (1988)
> “If you build it, he will come.” – Ray Liotta (as Shoeless Joe Jackson) in Field of Dreams (1989)
> “You gotta stop thinking. Just have fun. I mean, if you were having fun you would’ve caught that ball.” – Benny in The Sandlot (1993)
> “The key to being a big league pitcher is the 3 R’s: readiness, recuperation and conditioning” – Daniel Stern in Rookie of the Year (1993)
> “Do you know what we get to do today Brooks? We get to play baseball.” – Dennis Quaid (as Jim Morris) in The Rookie (2002)
> “This is how we do business in Cleveland.” – Reed Diamond (as Mark Shapiro) in Moneyball (2011)
> “Pick me out a winner, Bobby.” – Redford again in The Natural (1984)
> “I’d sell my soul for one long-ball hitter” – Robert Shafer in Damn Yankees (1958)
> “From here on in, I rag nobody.” – Michael Moriarty in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
> “Juuuuussssst a bit outside” – Bob Uecker in Major League (1989)
If the Old Duck wasn’t such a “Lollygagger”, another entire column could be filled with more great lines from Major League, Bull Durham, A League of Their Own and a few others. And let’s not forget the soliloquies offered up by Burt Lancaster (as Moonlight Graham) and James Earl Jones (as Terrance Mann) in Field of Dreams.
Hope your favorite was mentioned. If you think coming up with a new topic each week to keep you entertained is easy, remember the words of Jimmy Dugan, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard…is what makes it great.”
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