top 10 Baseball Movies of All-Time (pt 2)

8. A League of Their Own (1992)

"Are you crying? There's no crying in baseball!"

This star packed feature directed by Laverne, tells the story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that was formed in 1943 while most MLB stars were fighting in WWII.  It follows Dottie Henson (Geena Davis) as she and her kid sis Kit Keller (Lori Petty) join the Rockford Peaches and manager  Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) for the first season of the fledgling league.  Rosie O'Donnell as Doris Murphy and Madonna as "All the Way" Mae Mordabito round out the cast of lady ballplayers.   Most of the comedy comes from the changing perception of the stereotypical female in the 40's set against the masculine backdrop of baseball.  There's something immediately funny thinking about your grandmother's clubhouse etiquette.

7. Eight Men Out (1988)

"Say it ain't so, Joe"

In 1919, 8 Chicago White Sox players took money from gangsters to throw the World Series.  This is their story.  This movie really centers around Buck Weaver (John Cusack) and his story that he never took any money, and never attempted to throw any games.  Of the other 7 players, we have Eddie Cicotte (David Straitharn), "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (D.B. Sweeney) and "Hap" Felsch (Charlie Sheen).  The other players play mostly incidental spots in this version.  The entire incident is commonly known as the "Black Sox Scandal."  This term is quite ironic, as the label "Black Sox" had been used for years before the scandal due to owner/cheap-ass Charlie Comisky's policy of making the players wash their own uniforms because he did not want to pay the laundry bill, resulting in stained uniforms.  This was before free-agency, and baseball had an anti-trust agreement with the U.S. government, so players were basically slaves.  They had to take the meager pay, or not have a job.  I think I'd have taken the money, too.