Plot: The story of the life and career of the baseball hall of famer, Lou Gehrig.

KBZ’s Take: We struggled with this position as we really wanted The Sandlot (1993) in the Top 10. However, we couldn’t, in good conscience, leave off one of the best baseball films of all time that’s about one of the best players of all time even if the film is over 83 years old.

Despite the age of the film, it still holds up well with Gary Cooper’s Oscar nominated performance as the legendary Lou Gehrig. And any film that also has the greatest player of all time in Babe Ruth (as himself) is a must-see for any fan of baseball.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: The powerful story of Jackie Robinson, the legendary baseball player who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier when he joined the roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The film follows the innovative Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, the MLB executive who first signed Robinson to the minors and then helped to bring him up to the show.

KBZ’s Take: Two films on our list are about black players breaking MLB’s racial barrier in the 1940’s – Soul of the Game (1996) and 42. While Soul of the Game is a great film in its own right that covers the legendary careers of Negro League baseball players Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson, 42 is solely about Robinson and his ascent to the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first black player in Major League Baseball.

This is one of the best baseball films of all time as it balances the racial challenges Robinson continually faced despite his obvious talent for the game (and who was often the best player on the field). It’s the late Chadwick Boseman’s defining role (as Robinson) and one of Harrison Ford’s best performances (as Brooklyn Dodger’s owner Branch Rickey). It’s the best film that covers racial integration in baseball and a classic film of the subgenre.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.

KBZ’s Take: When it comes to baseball films, we have a slight preference for sports biopics or films that accurately depict historical events over comedies or fantasy-driven films. Eight Men Out is one of those films that covers one of the darkest periods in Major League Baseball – The Black Sox Scandal.

This is a film that non-sports fans might not enjoy as it goes into detail about the organized crime and gambling involved in the 1919 World Series. However, for baseball fans, it’s a fascinating look at how we often take for granted the integrity of sports.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: As America’s stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey. Competitive sisters Dottie Hinson and Kit Keller spar with each other, scout Ernie Capadino and grumpy has-been coach Jimmy Dugan on their way to fame.

KBZ’s Take: After his breakout performance in Big (1988), Tom Hanks had a string of disappointing films before starting on perhaps one of the greatest runs in the history of Hollywood. It started with his role as manager Jimmy Dugan in this film and was followed by blockbusters and/or academy award nominations in Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Philadelphia (1993), Forrest Gump (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998) and The Green Mile (1999). That’s quite a lineup!

As for the film, it’s a comedic look at the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League which was started in 1943 during World War II. Though Hanks steals the film as the grumpy manager, it’s really a film about sisters Dorothy (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Petty) and their sibling rivalry.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: The story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane’s successful attempt to put together a baseball team on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

KBZ’s Take: While Moneyball is mainly a Sports Drama, it was also the #4 film on our list of the Best Tech Biopics. It’s also high on our list here due to the film’s emphasis on how technology fundamentally changed the game of baseball.

It’s a great film that looks at Billy Beane’s (Brad Pitt) belief in Sabermetrics and his willingness to upend historical norms and processes in lieu of unproven tech analysis.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: When Rachel Phelps inherits the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband, she’s determined to move the team to a warmer climate – but only a losing season will make that possible, which should be easy given the misfits she’s hired. Rachel is sure her dream will come true, but she underestimates their will to succeed.

KBZ’s Take: It’s not often that a sports film can create iconic fictional characters that are almost as well known as real-life, legendary players. But that is the case with Major League and it’s cast of hilarious misfits and losers in Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes) and the Jobu-worshipping Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert).

Though the film is predictable, it’s one of the funniest sports comedies (of any sport) and an annual “adult” baseball classic to watch before Opening Day.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: An aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league.

KBZ’s Take: If there’s one film on our list that will be enjoyed by adults as much as kids, it’s The Bad News Bears. This is the defining sports comedy of many adult childhoods and a perennial film for each new generation of kids to build interest in Little League Baseball.

It’s rude, it’s crass and it’s filled with mild foul language. But it’s a time capsule into a time where competition was taking all the fun out of the game. That is until the film’s iconic ending where The Bears accept their fate in the most brash way possible.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Ray Kinsella is an Iowa farmer who hears a mysterious voice telling him to turn his cornfield into a baseball diamond. He does, but the voice’s directions don’t stop — even after the spirits of deceased ballplayers turn up to play.

KBZ’s Take: Kevin Costner’s a bit of a legend when it comes to sports films. He’s been in multiple films about baseball with Field of Dreams, Bull Durham (1988) and For Love of the Game (1999), all of which are in our Top 30 list. But he’s also been in films about competitive cycling in American Flyers (1985), films about golf in Tin Cup (1996) and films about football in Draft Day (2014). That is quite a resumé.

As for Field of Dreams, it’s one of the best fantasy films about baseball with a scene stealing performance from the late Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson. Ultimately, the film is about dreams, family and the eternal lure of the sport of baseball as America’s pastime. Just be sure to have some tissues on hand as the film is also one of the best tearjerkers on our list.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Veteran catcher Crash Davis is brought to the minor league Durham Bulls to help their up-and-coming pitching prospect, Nuke Laloosh. Their relationship gets off to a rocky start and is further complicated when baseball groupie Annie Savoy sets her sights on the two men.

KBZ’s Take: Our second Kevin Costner film in the Top 5 (with For Love of the Game (1999) at #17), we have Bull Durham ranked slightly ahead of Field of Dreams (1989) for two specific reasons. First, it’s much more focused on actual gameplay and strategy and second, it’s a damn funny film.

With the film’s blend of inside baseball comedy matched with a romantic comedy triangle, it’s a perfect film that appeals to baseball purists and non-sports fans alike. This is a film about baseball as much as it is about the relationships between characters that are rising and falling in the lower echelons of the sport.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930’s baseball team to the top of the league.

KBZ’s Take: The Natural is not only the best film about baseball, but we would argue it’s the best sports film period. It’s a film about family, relationships and most of all, never giving up on a dream. And while our list is filled with inspirational baseball films, none can match the story of Roy Hobbs.

The film has had its detractors over the years who point out that most of the incredible situations in the film could never happen. But they’re missing the forest for the trees when it comes to Hobbs’s desire to be ‘the best in the game’. This is a fable about a man who is lost, and his dreams of baseball not only make him whole again but bring him back to a family life that he was always destined for.

It doesn’t get any better than The Natural and is the best, and most rewarding, film about baseball you’ll ever see.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon