by Bruce Johnson

Created on: August 18, 2009

While baseball's status as the national pastime might be in jeopardy, there is little question that the sport provides the background for some memorable movies. But identifying the best is challenging, if only because the range of movies run the gamut from comedy to fantasy to drama. So let's look at the best that Hollywood has to offer, broken down into a number of categories.

Best Comedy - Major League

A realistic portrayal of baseball? Not on your life. It is a collection of caricatures and stereotypes which, as it turns out, just works as the framework for the broad comedy found in the movie. Or, as Bob Eucker put it "Just a bit outside". Runners up: The Bad News Bears (the 1976 version, of course), Angels in the Outfield

Best Historical Portrayal - League of Their Own

Set in World War II America, this movie covers the inaugural season of the All American Girl's Baseball League. In a country where the men (including the baseball players) have gone off to war. To fill the gap, a group of owners in the mid-west decide to form a league comprised of the women left behind. The story covers an era of baseball that is little known outside of historians, and does so in a way that illustrates the strength of the women involved. I tear up at the end of the movie, which is always a sign of a touching movie. Runners up: Eight Men Out, The Pride of the Yankees, The Babe.

Best Musical - Damn Yankees

Yes, baseball has even spawned a musical. Here, Tab Hunter enters into a Faustian bargain with the devil so that he can help his team with the championship. The movie features familiar music (Heart and Whatever Lola Wants are the big hits), dance and Gwen Verden. Runners up: You're kidding, right? You think there is more than one baseball musical?

Best Romance - Bull Durham

For those of you fuming over the Best Comedy winner, this is the category that I believe Bull Durham should be placed in. Yes, this movie is a comedy. And at least as good as Major League. But the driving force behind this movie is love. The love between Susan Seranden and Tim Robbins. The love between Kevin Costner and the game of baseball. And finally, as it probably should be, between Seranden and Costner. Runners up: For the Love of the Game

Best Fantasy - Field of Dreams

Saving the best for last, Field of Dreams has Kevin Costner (in his third role in a baseball movie) as an Iowa farmer who makes a spiritual journey that requires faith and perseverance. The ending of this movie also brings me to tears as Costner and the ghost of his father 'have a catch'. Runner up: The Natural

As you look over this list of movies, you'll see that baseball has been used as a metaphor for life and as a backdrop for slapstick. As a view of America in a different, older era and as a framework for romance. In other words, baseball, as it's nickname suggests, is still ubiquitous enough to touch the hearts and minds of the population

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