Baseball. Just say the word and you will bring a smile to my face. I’ve been a baseball fan as long as I can remember and I don’t think it is possible that love will ever fade. As we come to the end of another baseball season, I am a little sad, but luckily we’ll always have baseball movies to get us through those long, cold winter months. The good news is that baseball is the most often and well represented sport in the medium of film.

To try to name the ten greatest baseball films is not an easy task as there are dozens upon dozens of great films to choose from. But that is my task today and I will do my best. For me, to be a truly great baseball movie, it has to be great for even non-baseball fans. It’s not great film if I cannot sit down and watch it with my sister, who thinks baseball is boring. Sure, these are all baseball films and will appeal to baseball fans, but I hope they also appeal to fans of good film.

So, here it is. The ten greatest baseball films:

10. The Babe (1992)
Perhaps John Goodman was a bit too fat to play Babe Ruth, but who cares? The Babe isn’t so much about Babe Ruth’s career as it is about his life as the most popular figure in the history of the sport. The Babe portrays Ruth as a man of many, many faults, but in his heart, he only wanted people to be happy around him. I believe that is accurate to how Ruth really was.

I had a tough time choosing to include The Babe over Cobb. While I think Cobb is an excellent picture, it only serves to make me hate Ty Cobb. The Babe makes me appreciate Babe Ruth even more. The Babe is more compelling as both a human and a film.

9. Bull Durham (1988)
Bull Durham is the best look at life within the game of baseball. Writer and director Ron Shelton spent some time playing in the minor leagues and you get the feeling that this is really what it is like to play in the minors. And it’s not just about life in the minors. It’s also a terrific romantic comedy with fabulous performances from Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.

I think what I like best about Bull Durham is the great balance between the two main storylines: Costner’s aging Crash Davis showing the ropes to the young Robbins’ Nuke LaLoosh and Sarandon’s Annie Savoy’s fascinating romantic games with the other two. Shelton’s script is expertly crafted and earned a well deserved Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

8. The Rookie (2002)
Sure, it’s a cheesy Disney movie about an impossible dream come true, but it makes this list because it’s a true story told faithfully. Jim Morris really was a high school science teacher and baseball coach when he went to a tryout for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as a lark and somehow discovered the talent to make it to the Major Leagues as a 35 year old rookie, ten years after he had quit the game. It’s the stuff dreams are made of and it really did happen. The Rookie tells that story beautifully.

Dennis Quaid, despite his 47 years at the time of filming, gives a believable performance as Morris and while many elements seem cliché, I have to discount them because it is a true story. I only wish there were more true stories like this one.

7. Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Babe Ruth was a compelling baseball figure, but was anyone more compelling than Lou Gehrig? No way. The man was quite simply the greatest first baseman who ever played the game. That he played the latter third of his career with ALS while maintaining a extremely high level of play is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever considered in the realm of athletics.

Pride of the Yankees is Lou Gehrig’s story. Gary Cooper was too old to play Lou Gehrig and was not the right choice for the part, but don’t let that dissuade you from seeing this great film. If you can suspend your disbelief on Cooper, you’ll find a wonderful story. Teresa Wright, perhaps my favorite actress of the 1940s, is superb as Gehrig’s loving and supportive wife. And Babe Ruth himself even makes a cameo playing himself.

Pride of the Yankees was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won the award for Best Editing. I don’t know that it’s 11 nominations good, but it’s certainly good enough that you should watch it. It won’t disappoint.

6. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
Bang the Drum Slowly is another story about a dying baseball player. This one is fictional and feels very much like baseball’s version of Brian’s Song, which I think is a good thing. At its core, it’s about the friendship between Michael Moriarty’s pitcher and Robert De Niro’s catcher and the lengths that the pitcher will go to in an effort to help his dying friend.

De Niro fans will enjoy seeing a young De Niro in a bit of a different kind of role. Here he plays a shy, quiet character. It’s different, but effective here as Moriarty’s character is the talker and the one who does everything he can to make his friend’s last days satisfying. It’s interesting, after watching this, that De Niro was the one that went on to become the huge Hollywood star.

5. Fear Strikes Out (1957)
I’m not sure this is the one you’ll want to watch with your father. Fear Strikes Out is the true story of Jimmy Piersall, a young man who overcame mental illness to achieve success in the major leagues for the Boston Red Sox.

Anthon Perkins stars as Piersall with Karl Malden in a brilliant turn as Piersall’s extremely overbearing father. It’s easy to see how the mental illness developed as the father was almost tyrannical in his drive to see his son succeed on the diamond. Perkins, who obviously had a knack for playing unstable characters, was great here, but the really great performance is from Malden who should have been an Oscar nominee.

4. The Bad News Bears (1976)
This is the ultimate kid’s baseball movie. What’s not to like? You have a colorful cast of kids, a girl pitcher and a lovable drunken coach. And of course they’re not very good. That is until the coach gets involved and a miracle happens.

I think Walter Matthau was born to play Coach Morris Buttermaker. Really, could you think of anyone better? I haven’t seen this year’s remake yet so I imagine Billy Bob Thornton is a decent alternative, but you can’t top Matthau. He’s cantankerous personified and it’s a beautiful thing on display in The Bad News Bears.

3. 61* (2001)
I was absolutely shocked when I saw this a few years ago. No way did I think Billy Crystal could produce something this good. 61* is really a great film. It’s the story of the 1961 baseball season and in particular the friendship between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, played brilliantly by Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane respectively, as they each chased down the ultimate sports record, Babe Ruth’s single season record of 60 home runs.

It’s obvious that Crystal has a true passion for the game and its history and it shows through every frame of 61*. The details are impeccable and the story is just outstanding. I’m a Yankee hater through and through, but I couldn’t help but feel for these characters and what they went through that summer. Truly an amazing achievement by Mr. Crystal and he’ll always have my respect for this.

2. Field of Dreams (1989)
Field of Dreams is baseball magic. Sure, the premise (Iowa farmer hears voices that tell him to build a baseball field) may sound ridiculous, and maybe it is, but that’s not the point. It’s about believing in something, and you don’t have to be a baseball fan to believe in this. Hell, my father, who hates baseball, loves this film and, believe me, that speaks volumes about Field of Dreams.

You couldn’t ask for a better cast than Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster, and even Timothy Busfield. They help us live out this field of dreams so well that you can’t help but wish you were a part of it. If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out on baseball magic.

1. Eight Men Out (1988)
Our best baseball film is another true baseball story. It’s the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox and the eight players who allegedly conspired to throw the World Series that year. It’s a sad story. It really is because I love the game so much and I’d hate to see such a thing happen again. I want my baseball heroes to be honest. Perhaps that’s too much to ask, but that’s my ideal.

Eight Men Out’s truly outstanding cast includes John Cusack, David Strathairn, Charlie Sheen, D.B. Sweeney, and John Mahoney as the manager, William "Kid" Gleason. They brilliantly capture a different time and a different era of the game, but the game is still the same and it serves as an excellent cautionary tale that I hope is never repeated.

So there you have it. These are ten great baseball films that should appeal to even non-baseball fans. And if you are a baseball fan, give these films a watch. You won’t be disappointed.