Baseball is one of the sports watched by millions worldwide, even by those who don’t play. And there are a lot of baseball movies that have been made. Some of these are based on real-life stories and some, despite being fictional, are entertaining. So here are the 30 best baseball films of all time and where to watch them!
1. Moneyball (2011)
- Director: Bennett Miller
- Story by: Stan Chevin (based on the book by Michael Lewis)
- Screenplay by: Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian
- Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt
- IMDb: 7.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
- Where to Watch: Netflix
Moneyball is a film that showcases the drafting of players for the baseball teams. The film follows Billy Beane, who takes it upon himself to assemble a team of skilled players but with a limited budget. He decides not to use the regular selection methods and instead uses sabermetrics to hire players based on their value.
2. 42 (2013)
- Director and Writer: Brian Helgeland
- Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Christopher Melonie, André Holland, Lucas Black, Hamish Linklater, Ryan Merriman
- IMDb: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, YouTube Movies
This biographical sports drama stars the late Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson. Robinson attempts to make his mark in baseball amidst racial discrimination. Jackie Robinson was the first person of color to break the baseball color line and was also the first player to win the Rookie Of The Year award after its inauguration. 42 is an inspiring baseball film, and there’s a lot to learn from it!
3. Million Dollar Arm (2014)
- Director: Craig Gillespie
- Writer: Tom McCarthy
- Cast: Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Bill Paxton, Suraj Sharma, Lake Bell, Alan Arkin, Madhur Mittal, Tzi Ma
- IMDb: 7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
- Where to Watch: Disney+, Amazon Prime
Million Dollar Arm is one baseball movie based on a brilliant true story. American sports agent J.B. Bernstein attempts to look for fresh baseball talent and hosts a contest in India. Two youngsters Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, emerge as the contest winners and fly to the United States to begin training.
4. The Rookie (2002)
- Director: John Lee Hancock
- Writer: Mike Rich
- Cast: Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Brian Cox, Beth Grant, Angus T. Jones
- IMDb: 6.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
- Where to Watch: Disney+
The Rookie is based on the career of Jim Morris. Jim Morris became the oldest player to debut in the Major Baseball League at the age of 35. The film chronicles the challenges he faced and his eventual success. This movie can easily enter in your watch list if you have great love for baseball.
5. The Sandlot (1993)
- Director: David Mickey Evans
- Writers: David Mickey Evans and Robert Gunter
- Cast: Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Patrick Renna, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York, Brandon Adams, Grant Gelt, Shane Obedzinski, Victor DiMattia, Denis Leary, Karen Allen, James Earl Jones
- IMDb: 7.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 63%
- Where to Watch: Disney+
The Sandlot is a beautiful coming of age sports comedy film. The film follows a young boy, Scotty, who moves with his family into a new neighborhood. He then experiences a series of adventures after he joins the local baseball team.
6. Trouble With The Curve (2012)
- Director: Robert Lorenz
- Writer: Randy Brown
- Cast: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Matthew Lillard, Jack Gilpin, Scott Eastwood
- IMDb: 6.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 51%
- Where to Watch: Netflix
An aging baseball scout decides to go on a final scouting trip. He partners up with his estranged daughter, and together, they search for new baseball players. This movie can easily enter your watch list if you have a great love for baseball. This movie is a great journey.
7. Henry & Me (2014)
- Director: Barrett Esposito
- Writer: David I. Stern
- Voice cast: Richard Gere, ChazzPalminteri, Danny Aiello, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Austin Williams, Lucie Arnaz, Hank Steinbrenner
- IMDb: 6.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
This beautifully animated film revolves around a young boy named Jack, who is suffering from a terminal illness. He has a dream of meeting his favorite baseball players. A guardian angel named Henry pays a visit and takes Jack to a reality where he can meet baseball players from the present as well as the past. Numerous former baseball players cameo in this film as themselves!
8. The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
- Director: Alfred E. Green
- Writers: Arthur Mann and Lawrence Taylor
- Cast: Jackie Robinson, Ruby Dee, Minor Watson, Louise Beavers, Richard Lane, Harry Shannon, Joel Fluellen
- IMDb: 6.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 63%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Another film on Jackie Robinson, but this one stars Robinson as himself! This documentary follows the life of Jackie Robinson as he becomes the first person of color to play in Major League Baseball. This movie can easily enter in your watch list if you have a great love for baseball.
9. The Battered Bastards Of Baseball (2014)
- Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way
- Writer: Todd Field and Bing Russell
- Cast: Kurt Russell, Todd Field, Frank Peters, Joe Garza, Jim Bouton, Joe Garagiola
- IMDb: 8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
- Where to Watch: Netflix
This baseball documentary baseball follows the now defunct Portland Mavericks team, which was owned by actor Bing Russell. Bing’s son Kurt Russell played for the Mavericks before becoming an actor. The film chronicles the team’s journey. If you are a team player, then this movie is made for you.
10. The Pride Of The Yankees (1942)
- Director: Sam Wood
- Writer: Paul Gallico
- Screenplay by: Jo Swerling, Herman J. Mankiewicz
- Cast: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth, Walter Brennan
- IMDb: 7.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
This sports drama follows the legendary first baseman, Lou Gehrig, who played from 1923 to 1939 for the New York Yankees. He died in 1941. This film was released a year after his death and is dedicated to him. This legendary first baseman has a huge fan following and this story can make you cry.
11. Fear Strikes Out (1957)
- Director: Robert Mulligan
- Screenwriters: Ted Berkman, Raphael Blau
- Cast: Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden, Norma Moore, Adam Williams, Perry Wilson, Peter J. Votrian
- IMDb: 7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
This sports drama follows the life of Jimmy Piersall, who was pressured into playing baseball by his father. Piersall also has bipolar disorder as a result and ends being institutionalized where he thinks over his father’s decisions. A struggle of a baseball player, which can make you feel motivated towards life.
12. Field Of Dreams (1989)
- Director and Writer: Phil Alden Robinson
- Cast: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Burt Lancaster
- IMDb: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime
A farmer in Iowa is inspired to build a baseball field on his cornfield. This leads to ghosts of great baseball players to come out and play on the field. This movie is a journey where one can see the struggle of a farmer, which can make you feel motivated towards life.
13. A League Of Their Own (1992)
- Director: Penny Marshall
- Story by: Kelly Candaele and Kim Wilson
- Screenplay: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, John Lovitz, David Strathairn, Garry Marshall, Bill Pullman
- IMDb: 7.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
A former baseball star who is now an alcoholic is forced to become a women’s professional baseball team manager. If someone likes a story of a person, who messed up his life and then rebuilds life, then you should watch this movie.
14. 61* (2001)
- Director: Billy Crystal
- Writer: Hank Steinberg
- Cast: Thomas Jane, Barry Pepper, Anthony Michael Hall, Richard Masur, Bruce McGill, Chris Bauer
- IMDb: 7.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
- Where to Watch: Disney+
This sports drama follows the careers of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle as they both attempt to surpass Babe Ruth’s home run record of 60 single-season home runs. This movie can easily enter in your watch list if you have a great love for baseball.
15. Major League (1989)
- Director and Writer: David S. Ward
- Cast: Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, Corbin Bernsen, Margaret Whitton, Dennis Haysbert, James Gammon, Rene Russo, Bob Uecker
- IMDb: 7.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
A baseball team’s new owner wants the team to lose matches so that she can move the team to Miami. She begins sabotaging the team to degrade their performance in the matches. When the team’s players learn about her intentions, they try to win every game possible to get back at her.
16. The Natural (1984)
- Director: Barry Levinson
- Screenplay by: Roger Towne, Phil Dusenberry (based on the book by Bernard Malamud)
- Cast: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Robert Prosky, Richard Farnsworth
- IMDb: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
This Oscar-nominated baseball movie revolves around Roy Hobbs, a middle-aged man who joins a struggling team and helps them achieve success with his natural skills and his bat that is made out of wood. Journey of an old young man, who made his team win.
17. Ballplayer: Pelotero (2011)
- Directors: Ross Finkel, Jonathan Parley and Trevor Martin
- Writer: John Leguizamo
- Cast: Jean Carlos Batista, Miguel Sanó, AstinJacobo, John Leguizamo
- IMDb: 7.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime and YouTube
This documentary focuses on the corruption that occurs during the drafting of players. The film follows two players from the Dominican Republic and their challenges while making it to the Major Leagues. It is not a usual story, this is a documentary, so it is for core baseball players.
18. Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
- Director and Writer: Richard Linklater
- Cast: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Glen Powell, Wyatt Russell
- IMDb: 6.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime
This coming of age teen comedy takes place in 1980. The film follows a college fresher named Jake. Jake meets his baseball teammates, who turn out to be unruly yet fun. This movie is specially for high school baseball players. A comedy movie can be in your watch list.
19. The Bad News Bears (1976)
- Director: Michael Ritchie
- Writer: Bill Lancaster
- Cast: Walter Matthau, Tatum O’Neal, Chris Barnes, Vic Morrow, Jackie Earle Haley, Joyce Van Patten, Quinn Smith
- IMDb: 7.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime
An alcoholic and grumpy man who was once a minor league pitcher is recruited as a coach. He coaches a team called “The Bears,” who are a bunch of misfits. This movie tells the story of a man who turns into a great leader after falling in abbyss.
20. Eight Men Out (1988)
- Director: John Sayles
- Screenplay by: John Sayles (based on the book by Eliot Asinof)
- Cast: John Cusack, John Mahoney, Michael Rooker, Clifton James, Micheal Lerner, Christopher Lloyd, Charlie Sheen, David Strathairn, D. B. Sweeney
- IMDb: 7.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Another baseball film that showcases corruption in the game. This film follows the Black Sox Scandal. In this scandal, eight players of the Chicago White Sox team deliberately lost the 1919 World Series. This movie can easily enter in your watch list if you have a great love for baseball.
21. Up For Grabs (2005)
- Director and Writer: Michael Wranovics
- Cast: Marty Appel, Barry Bonds, Patrick Hayashi
- IMDb: 7.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Netflix
This documentary is based on one of the most unexpected and peculiar stories in the history of baseball. After a record-breaking home run is scored, two spectators in the crowd fight over who caught the ball first. This case later ends up in court!
22. Sugar (2008)
- Directors and Writers: Anna Boden and Ryan K. Fleck
- Cast: Algenis Perez Soto, Karl Bury, Michael Gaston, Andre Holland, RaynielRufino
- IMDb: 7.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
- Where to Watch: Disney+
Miguel “Sugar Santos, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, struggles to make it to the big leagues and also tries to pull his family out of poverty. This movie can easily enter in your watch list if you have a great love for baseball.
23. Bull Durham (1988)
- Director and Writer: Ron Shelton
- Cast: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Trey Wilson, Robert Wuhl, William O’Leary
- IMDb: 7.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime
A veteran player is hired to train a beginner who is dim-witted. Matters take a turn when they both get involved with the same girl who is a baseball fan. This movie is a romantic baseball movie. If you are a fan of baseball and a lover of the romantic genre then the movie must be on your watch list.
24. The Life And Times Of Hank Greenberg (1998)
- Director and Writer: Aviva Kempfer
- Cast: Reeve Robert Brenner, Hank Greenberg, Walter Matthau, Alam M. Dershowitz, Carl Levin, Stephen Greenberg, Joe Greenberg, Rabbi Max Ticktin, Bill Mead, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth
- IMDb: 7.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
This documentary narrates the inspiring story of Hank Greenberg, who gave up his religion to pursue playing baseball. As a result, Greenberg faced a lot of antisemitism. This movie can easily enter in your watch list if you have a great love for baseball.
25. The Phenom (2016)
- Director and Writer: Noah Buschel
- Cast: Johnny Simmons, Yul Vazquez, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Paul Giamatti, Ethan Hawke, Marin Ireland, Elizabeth Marvel, Louisa Krause, Allison Elliott, Paul Adelstein
- IMDb: 5.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
A troubled rookie pitcher is still traumatized by the memories of his abusive father. As a result, he struggles to play on the field. A sports therapist helps him recover.
26. Cobb (1994)
- Director: Ron Shelton
- Screenplay by: Ron Shelton (based on the book by Al Stump)
- Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Wuhl, Lolita Davidovich, Lou Myers, William Utay, J. Kenneth Campbell, Rhoda Griffis
- IMDb: 6.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
This biographical film follows the book’s writer Al Stump who is called by an ailing Ty Cobb to write his biography. Ty Cobb. Cobb was one of baseball’s greatest players ever. His image in his later years was tarnished by allegations of violence, racism, and erratic behavior.
27. Bang The Drum Slowly (1973)
- Director: John D. Hancock
- Screenwriter: Mark Harris (based on his book of the same name)
- Cast: Robert De Niro, Michael Moriarty, Vincent Gardenia, Phil Foster, Heather MacRae, Ann Wedgeworth, Tom Ligon, Danny Aiello, Selma Diamond, Barbara Babcock, Patrick McVey
- IMDb: 6.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime and Vudu
The film follows a close friendship between a hotshot extroverted pitcher, Henry, and a simpleminded catcher, Bruce. Tensions rise in the team as they are losing matches while Bruce gets diagnosed with cancer, which hinders him from playing.
28. Damn Yankees (1958)
- Directors: George Abbott and Stanley Donen
- Screenplay by: George Abbott and Stanley Donen (based on their play)
- Cast: Tab Hunter, Gwen Veron, Ray Walston, Russ Brown, Shannon Bolin, Robert Schafer, Rae Allen
- IMDb: 7.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
This baseball movie also happens to be a musical! This film follows a rivalry between the New York Yankees and Washington Senators teams. The film’s story is a modern adaptation of The Faust legend.
29. The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
- Director: John Badham
- Screenplay by: Hal Garwood, William Johnson, and Matthew Robbins (based on the book by William Brashler)
- Cast: Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor, Stan Shaw, Tony Burton,
- IMDb: 6.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
This film is set in the era of racial segregation. A top baseball pitcher decides to create his own team after being fed up with the ill-treatment he received from his team owner. The team achieves great success and are called to join the Negro Leagues.
30. The Perfect Game (2009)
- Director: William Dear
- Writer: W. William Winokur
- Cast: Clifton Collins Jr., Cheech Marin, Moises Arias, Jake T. Austin, Ryan Ochoa, Carlos Padilla, Carlos Gómez, Jansen Panettiere, Emilie de Ravin
- IMDb: 6.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 57%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
This inspiring film is based on the first team from outside the United States to win the 1957 Little League World Series. The underdogs from Monterrey, Mexico, won consecutive matches before beating the heavily favored U.S. team.
This list of films is a great watch for all. It doesn’t matter whether you are a baseball lover or not, and you will greatly enjoy these films along with your friends and family! Happy Watching!
