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The Boys of Summer are in midseason form, so here's one for America's pasttime.
Fictitious baseball player Roy Hobbs of the NY Knights when finally getting the opportunity to play Major League Baseball, fulfilling a childhood dream, softly uttered four words I often feel could've been written and/or spoken by me. I think of that every time I watch, The Natural, hearing the line, "God, I love baseball."
I've loved baseball since I can remember. Dad, though not a fanatical fan, exposed us to baseball, with some catches in front of the house, attending Indians and Falcons/Tigers games, buying us a "Pitch-Back" (probably because before we had that, we threw a tennis ball against the front steps, and often times the ricochet of the ball would hit the front of the house, not only making a "thud" sound, but if the ball was muddy or wet, it would leave tennis ball prints on the house as well.)
As kids we were often on baseball sandlots, city baseball/softball diamonds, or vacant lots, playing any/every game of baseball we could play. It didn't matter how many showed up, we played some kind of baseball game. We never had to look for our glove each day, as whenever we got home from a day of baseball, we'd slide our gloves on our bicycle handlebars, and be set for next game.
We'd play conventional games, games using "ghost runners," the mound as first base," 21, Lazy Man, and Home Run Derby too. Often, we'd use Jamestown Falcon bats that had cracked in games. They'd give them to us, we'd take them home, put a couple screws or nails in them, then wrap them with our dads' electrical tape. (Sometimes, more than we should have, then forget to tell him when we used it up, making for some interesting one-way conversations when our dads went looking for the tape, next time he needed it.) But it was worth it, as we just wanted to play baseball, and probably did so anywhere from a couple to six days a week.
My love for baseball has never waned from then, proven by my wardrobe, home decor, cellphone ringtones/notifications, my vehicle, and two tattoos, I sport. Nine years ago, I offered a narrative about my love for baseball mentioning a dozen or so baseball films I've amassed (not my entire collection), most being on VHS. (I have a working 9" by 9" Combination TV/VCR.) My collection includes 56 owned baseball movies, and I include 15 more seen but not taped, an old Home Run Derby TV program tape (Killebrew vs. Colavito) a Simpson's episode involving players of the 90s, a CD on Baseball Legends (Robinson and Gehrig), the Bob Feller Story, and several Cleveland Indians videos of the 90s and 00s.
My collection contains the following baseball films, some originally big screen, some made for TV, that I own (unmarked), and/or have watched, (marked with an *).
1.) Elmer the Great - 1938
2.) It happened in Flatbush - 1942*
3.) The Babe Ruth Story - 1948
4.) It Happens Every Spring - 1949
5.) The Kid from Cleveland - 1949
6.) The Stratton Story - 1949
7.) The Jackie Robinson Story - 1950
8.) Kill the Umpire - 1950
9.) Angels in the Outfield – 1951
10.) Rhubarb - 1951
11.) The Pride of St, Louis – 1952
12.) The Winning Team - 1952
13.) The Kid from Left Field - 1953
14.) Fear Strikes Out - 1957
15.) Damn Yankees - 1958*
16.) Safe at Home - 1962
17.) Damn Yankees (Remake) - 1967*
18.) Bang the Drum Slowly - 1973
19.) Bad News Bears - 1976
20.) Bingo Long Traveling All Stars and Motor Kings - 1976
21.) Bad News Bears Breaking Training - 1977
22.) Bad News Bears Go To Japan - 1978
23.) One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story - 1978
24.) The Kid from Left Field (Remake) - 1979
25.) The Comeback Kid - 1980
26.) Don't Look Back: The Story of "Satchel" Paige- 1981
27.) The Natural - 1984
28.) The Slugger's Wife - 1985
29.) Brewster's Millions - 1985*
30.) Winner Never Quits - 1986
31.) Amazing Grace and Chuck - 1987
32.) Bull Durham - 1988
33.) Eight Men Out - 1988
34.) Stealing Home - 1988
35.) Field of Dreams - 1989
36.) Major League - 1989
37.) There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace: Life in the Negro Leagues - 1989*
38.) The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson - 1991
39.) Babe Ruth - 1991
40.) Pastime - 1991
41.) Talent for the Game - 1991
42.) The Babe - 1992
43.) A League of Their Own - 1992
44.) Mr. Baseball - 1992
45.) Cooperstown - 1993
46.) The Sandlot - 1993
47.) Rookie of the Year - 1993
48.) The Scout - 1994
49.) Angels in the Outfield (Remake) - 1994
50.) Major League II - 1994
51.) Little Big League 1994
52.) Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns - 1994
53.) Cobb - 1994
54.) Soul of the Game - 1996
55.) The Fan - 1996*
56.) Major League 3: Back to the Minors
57.) For Love of the Game - 1999
58.) Angels in the Infield - 2000
59.) Finding Buck McHenry - 2000
60.) 61 - 2001
61.) The Rookie - 2002
62.) Mr. 3000 - 2004
63.) The Winning Season - 2004*
64.) Bad News Bears (Remake) - 2005*
65.) The Bench Warmers - 2006*
66.) The Final Season - 2007*
67.) Chasing 3000 - 2010*
68.) Moneyball - 2011*
69.) 42 - 2013*
70.) Million Dollar Arm - 2014*
71.) Ken Burns: Jackie Robinson - 2016*
"God, I love baseball."