Major League Baseball comes back to Iowa on Thursday night, when the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Minnesota Twins in the latest edition of the Field of Dreams Game. Seeing highly paid professionals play ball against one of the most bucolic backdrops in sports is always a treat. It will also be a reminder for plenty of fans across the country to revisit the movie, whether for the first time or just the first time in a while.
I'm certainly not here to rain on anybody's parade. I'm not a huge fan of Field of Dreams as a film — it's a little bit too indulgent, a little flabby in the middle, while more than a little dismissive of the women who surround Kevin Costner's character — but I do understand the pull of that field at golden hour, of Costner asking Ray Liotta if he wants to have a catch. I'd simply like to offer some alternatives: Because while Field of Dreams gets played on cable approximately once every 42 seconds, America has more than a century of baseball cinematic tradition to draw from.
So, if MLB's return to the corn has you in a mood to luxuriate in the pathos of our national pastime, here are some recommendations you may not have encountered before. (Note: This is not a list of the best baseball films of all time, nor is it meant to be exhaustive; the last thing the internet needs is yet another article telling you about The Sandlot.)
Eephus (2025)
The most recent entry on this list, and for my money the one that most effectively evokes just what it is we love about this beautiful, baffling, sometimes all too unforgiving sport. The plot is all too simple: Set in the 1990s, the eve of the new millennium, two small-town Massachusetts recreational-league teams play one last game while facing the imminent demolition of their field.
But there are no plucky underdogs here, no schemes to try and save the day. There are just nine more innings, one more opportunity to play against the dying of the light. If you've ever taken the field, at any age, you'll find in Eephus everything you fell in love with in the first place, from dugout banter to those all-too-brief moments of transcendence.
Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
In many ways, Everybody Wants Some!! is director Richard Linklater's spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused, wondering what might have happened to those characters after they left their hometown behind and went off to college. The story centers on freshman Jake Bradford, a former all-state pitcher settling into life in a new setting and a home full of new teammates. But this movie isn't really about Bradford's career, or any wins or losses; it's about the sometimes uneasy brotherhood that develops between all these disparate ballplayers, and the shenanigans that can ensue when a bunch of 20-year-olds have too much time on their hands and not enough supervision.
Long Gone (1987)
If you happen to have a copy of Long Gone, physical or digital, please let me know. Released in 1987 by HBO, it came and went all too quickly — but for those lucky enough to catch it on television in their childhood, it remains indelible as a sort of proto-Bull Durham crossed with Major League.
CSI's William Petersen stars as Cecil "Stud" Cantrell, a player with the Class D Tampico Stogies, a Minor League team without MLB affiliation whose owners are two local "entrepreneurs" constantly looking to leverage their various debts. Cantrell is a Crash Davis figure, a former rising star whose career was derailed by an injury suffered during World War II. But really, this is a true ensemble piece, the entire cast — including a standout Dermot Mulroney — fully embodying a ramshackle team that tries to defy the odds while having a whole lot of fun.
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
Loosely based on William Brashler's novel, Bingo Long tells the story of a group of former Negro League ballplayers who, in the name of making a buck, start barnstorming around the country in the age of codified racial segregation. The fact that several of those ballplayers are played by Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor tells you what kind of movie we're talking about here — an absolute romp that mostly exists to give its all-star cast plenty of room to shine. A faithful rendering of baseball this is not; but if you want maximum gags, this is the film for you.
Angels in the Outfield (1951)
Yes, that says 1951 — all due respect to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Danny Glover, we're not here to talk about the Disney movie from the '90s. That version was based on the original more than 40 years prior, in which a cantankerous Pirates manager played by a spectacular Paul Douglas gets a visit from the archangel Gabriel promising to help Pittsburgh turn its season around if Douglas changes his behavior. While the remake feels a little too carefully calculated, all too willing to smash the "weepy" button whenever it can, the original is just the right amount of sweet while also never losing sight of the humanity within all of its characters.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
I'm sorry, there's no way we could end this list without including at least one musical. And there's no musical quite like a Gene Kelly musical, especially one that also stars Frank Sinatra. The two play a pair of star ballplayers who return from an offseason spent on the vaudeville circuit only to find that their owner has died and bequeathed the team to a distant relative, played by Esther Williams. Plenty of romantic hijinks ensue as the no-nonsense Williams guides the squad toward another pennant — need I say more?
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