Best Line about Baseball in a movie.

[riverhawk]

I know that there are numerous threads on favorite movies, but I don't think this has been done before ...

What's your favorite line about baseball in any movie (note: this thread is not limited to just baseball movies, though I suspect most of the lines will come from them for obvious reasons.)

For me its one of the following three --

"The game doesn't stink, Mr. Wheeler. It's a great game." - Billy Chapel in "For Love of the Game"

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come." -Terrance Mann in "Field of Dreams"

"It's fun, that's what it is, it's fun. Baseball is more fun than anything else. You can watch it and just love it and enjoy it. I don't think that there's anything tremendously philosophical about it. I don't think there's anything metaphysical I just think its so much fun to watch." - Robert Creamer in Ken Burns "Baseball" Inning One.

[VIBaseball]

I have several favorites from non-baseball movies:

1. The language is too graphic for this forum, but it's James Remar's threat to the member of The Baseball Furies in The Warriors. "Ajax" will turn the painted thug into a popsicle!

2. "You know what I like? Baseball!" Robert De Niro as Al Capone in The Untouchables.

3. And just to show that I'm not obsessed with violence, we have Jack Warden in Twelve Angry Men: "Hey, let's wrap this up...I got tickets to the Yankees tonight!"

[Imapotato]

funny how the Terrance Mann quote is obsolete so soon after it was said

Baseball no longer marks the times
No one cares about the past anymore...the past is last year at best
We are no longer an optimist society, but bitter and self serving with a fast food mentality

[Captain Cold Nose]

I have several favorites from non-baseball movies:

1. The language is too graphic for this forum, but it's James Remar's threat to the member of The Baseball Furies in The Warriors. "Ajax" will turn the painted thug into a popsicle!

2. "You know what I like? Baseball!" Robert De Niro as Al Capone in The Untouchables.

3. And just to show that I'm not obsessed with violence, we have Jack Warden in Twelve Angry Men: "Hey, let's wrap this up...I got tickets to the Yankees tonight!"

"When we get home, I'm going to show you Ebbets Field," Buzz in the "Amazon Women on the Moon" segment in the movie of the same name. The "movie" came out some time in the fifties (the announcer said a different date each time they came back from commercial) with the action taking place in 1980.

[DTF955]

funny how the Terrance Mann quote is obsolete so soon after it was said

Baseball no longer marks the times
No one cares about the past anymore...the past is last year at best
We are no longer an optimist society, but bitter and self serving with a fast food mentality

Which is why I love the history of it so much. I have had high school friends say I was behind the times for preferring the era when I grew up, the 1970s,w hen we still were an optimistic society that kept rebuilding and so on. But, there is such a difference between the way people think now and what it used to be; and, it's hard to imagine why such friends would decide they wanted it the way it is now and not the way it was. It really is sad.

I'm trying to think of good lines. I love to write, and have written some great lines; 1/3 of the way through a baseball book that will be Print On Demand when it comes out in maybe a year if I'm lucky. But, i guess plots matter more to me than individual lines in movies, though I do remember some jokes quite well.

My favorite line fromt he book I'm writing so far is:
“A good fastball stings a little even with padding. Then there’s the foul balls. They don’t call them the ’tools of ignorance’ for nothing. Although, when your choice is chancing getting beaned by a foul ball or getting stoned on something, that’s when you realize catcher’s gear can be the tools of a very wise man.”

[Imapotato]

and we are called nostalgic fools, who have no vision and surprise...cynic, hence my tagline

I feel I am missing something...I like very few people, when 15 years ago, I was happy and optimistic, lots of friends, didn't know about politics and the hypocrisy of the world...yet now I think most people are mildly retarded or worse, and they feel the same about me

Problem is I am in the minority...so I do wonder if something is wrong with me sometimes

Nah....

[Erik Bedard]

"It's not my fault you wouldn't play catch with your father!"

STILL a Terence Mann quote from Field of Dreams.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

One of my favorite scenes from Bull Durham.

NUKE

(singing softly)
Oh she may get wooly, women do get
wooly, because of all the stress...

CRASH

I hate people who get the words wrong.
It ain't "woolly" it's "weary" and
it nobody's got stress, they're
wearing a dress.

NUKE

How come you don't like me?

CRASH

'Cause you don't respect yourself,
which is your problem, but you don't
respect the game -- and that's my
problem.
(beat)
You got a gift.

NUKE

What do I got?

CRASH

A gift. When you were a baby the
gods reached down and turned your
left arm into a thunderbolt. - (funny how the original script said lefty, but they cast Nuke as a righty)

Nuke looks at his left arm rubs his shoulder curiously.

CRASH

You got a Hall of Fame arm but you're
pissing it away.

NUKE

I ain't pissing nothing away -- I
got a Porsche already. A 944 with
A.C. and a quadraphonic Blaupunkt.

CRASH

You don't need a quadraphonic
Blaupunkt -- you need a curve ball.

http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Bull-Durham.html

[christian gentleman]

"Who is he, anyhow, an actor?"

"No."

"A dentist?"

"Meyer Wofsheim? No, he's a gambler." Gatsby hesitated, then added coolly: "He's the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919."


The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

[Tigerfan1974]

If you have ever stood on your own favorite field of dreams, for me it was Tiger Stadium, I like this line from 'Field of Dreams' when John and Ray are standing on their favorite field-

(John Kinsella): Is this heaven?
(Ray): It's Iowa.
(John): Iowa? I could have sworn this was heaven.

[runningshoes]

Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham:

Well, you know I... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?

[wamby]

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come." -Terrance Mann in "Field of Dreams"

"It's fun, that's what it is, it's fun. Baseball is more fun than anything else. You can watch it and just love it and enjoy it. I don't think that there's anything tremendously philosophical about it. I don't think there's anything metaphysical I just think its so much fun to watch." - Robert Creamer in Ken Burns "Baseball" Inning One.

That's a pretty odd combination. Field of Dreams makes me gag a little bit. I do agree with the Creamer quote.

[riverhawk]

That's a pretty odd combination. Field of Dreams makes me gag a little bit. I do agree with the Creamer quote.

On the face I guess they are, but in truth I think they go hand in hand. Creamer's quote is timless, baseball was fun in 1910, just like it was in 1950, just like it is today. As in the "Field of Dreams" points out there aren't too many things in our society today that we can look at with the same eyes as our grandfathers did.

[wamby]

On the face I guess they are, but in truth I think they go hand in hand. Creamer's quote is timless, baseball was fun in 1910, just like it was in 1950, just like it is today. As in the "Field of Dreams" points out there aren't too many things in our society today that we can look at with the same eyes as our grandfathers did.

I see what you are saying but I can't agree with it. I think the Field of Dreams quote is way too sentimental. I doubt if I have ever looked at baseball the same way my grandfathers did. The game on the field is very similar, but seems a lot different off the field.

[Tigerfan1974]

On the face I guess they are, but in truth I think they go hand in hand. Creamer's quote is timless, baseball was fun in 1910, just like it was in 1950, just like it is today. As in the "Field of Dreams" points out there aren't too many things in our society today that we can look at with the same eyes as our grandfathers did.

But baseball is one of them. It is the same fundamental game today as it was then. That's why it is so much fun and timeless.
MLB changes, but the game itself doesn't.
I enjoy watching sandlot and little league as mush as college or MLB.
It is the enjoyment of the sport.

[riverhawk]

I see what you are saying but I can't agree with it.

Fair enough. I see your side too, guess I'm still too much of an optimist, though I'm becoming less of one with each passing day.

[wamby]

Fair enough. I see your side too, guess I'm still too much of an optimist, though I'm becoming less of one with each passing day.

I know the feeling. Living in the south has not been good for my optimism.

[Tigerfan1974]

I see what you are saying but I can't agree with it. I think the Field of Dreams quote is way too sentimental. I doubt if I have ever looked at baseball the same way my grandfathers did. The game on the field is very similar, but seems a lot different off the field.

Off the field?? There is no game off the field!
And how is Rose and 'roids today any different from Blacksox and Ruth then.

What I mean by Ruth is that he did all the carousing and drinking and tempers and womanizing, but it was overlooked.
Off the field is no different, except for science ('roids).

Personally, I don't care about off the field.
It is baseball that I love.

If we put players on pedestals, we should not be surprised when they fall. They are only human. They did not ask for 'deification', we did that.

Off the field is irrelevant.
The game is what we, me anyway, love.

Just IMO.

[wamby]

Off the field?? There is no game off the field!
And how is Rose and 'roids today any different from Blacksox and Ruth then.

What I mean by Ruth is that he did all the carousing and drinking and tempers and womanizing, but it was overlooked.
Off the field is no different, except for science ('roids).

Personally, I don't care about off the field.
It is baseball that I love.

If we put players on pedestals, we should not be surprised when they fall. They are only human. They did not ask for 'deification', we did that.

Off the field is irrelevant.
The game is what we, me anyway, love.

Just IMO.

I think off the field is far from irrelevant. In my grandfathers' day there was no million dollar ballplayers, no work stoppages, no expansion etc. I'm guessing that way they looked at the game in 1930 or 1950 was a lot different then I looked at it in 1975 or 1981 or now.

[Tigerfan1974]

I think off the field is far from irrelevant. In my grandfathers' day there was no million dollar ballplayers, no work stoppages, no expansion etc. I'm guessing that way they looked at the game in 1930 or 1950 was a lot different then I looked at it in 1975 or 1981 or now.

I guess we are talking apples and oranges.
I am talking about baseball the game; and you are talking about MLB, the sport/business. Just a different point of view.
It's all good.

[wamby]

I guess we are talking apples and oranges.
I am talking about baseball the game; and you are talking about MLB, the sport/business. Just a different point of view.
It's all good.

I agree. I don't see the product on the field in a vacuum.

[Captain Cold Nose]

I agree. I don't see the product on the field in a vacuum.
Have you read the book Field of Dreams came from, Shoeless Joe?
If you think the sentiment was dripping in the movie, you'd drown in it if you read the book.

[wamby]

Have you read the book Field of Dreams came from, Shoeless Joe?
If you think the sentiment was dripping in the movie, you'd drown in it if you read the book.

I found a copy of it on our ship and read it. I think you're exactly right. I didn't like it very much.

[Mike D.]

Have you read the book Field of Dreams came from, Shoeless Joe?
If you think the sentiment was dripping in the movie, you'd drown in it if you read the book.


I read it back as a teenager, probably close to 15 years ago now...along with his other book "The Iowa Baseball Confederacy". Haven't read either in years...will have to check them both out again.

[christian gentleman]

What's maybe nice is to find a quote or use of a baseball term in a movie not about baseball. That might lead us somewhere else.

We have all those great terms, but can we find them in more everyday usage.

We say, "run out that ground ball" or "swing for the fences." What movies or books or situations do we use baseball as a metaphor or inspiration or ideal.

Then we can move away from Field of Dreams which is a sentimental love affair with the game.

I loved the book by the way. It hit me "close to home." Is that a baseball expression?

-cg

[Sultan_1895-1948]

What's maybe nice is to find a quote or use of a baseball term in a movie not about baseball. That might lead us somewhere else.

We have all those great terms, but can we find them in more everyday usage.

We say, "run out that ground ball" or "swing for the fences." What movies or books or situations do we use baseball as a metaphor or inspiration or ideal.

Then we can move away from Field of Dreams which is a sentimental love affair with the game.

I loved the book by the way. It hit me "close to home." Is that a baseball expression?

-cg

Hit and Run has been said in many movies not relating to baseball.

Going all the way with a girl, or going to first base, second base, or third base has also been said many times.

In a crucial situation, somebody might say "it's the bottom of the 9th, with 2 outs" or something.

Is that what you mean?

[christian gentleman]

exactly. or maybe expressions with added power.

hey, don't "buckner" this presentation.

[RuthMayBond]

"There's no crying in baseball!"

After the pitcher gives up a long home run-
"That ball wouldn't have been out of every park."
"Name me one."
"Uh, Yellowstone?"

[Captain Cold Nose]

What's maybe nice is to find a quote or use of a baseball term in a movie not about baseball. That might lead us somewhere else.

We have all those great terms, but can we find them in more everyday usage.

We say, "run out that ground ball" or "swing for the fences." What movies or books or situations do we use baseball as a metaphor or inspiration or ideal.

Then we can move away from Field of Dreams which is a sentimental love affair with the game.

I loved the book by the way. It hit me "close to home." Is that a baseball expression?

-cg
It's not a movie, but the James Thurber short story "The Catbird Seat" is rife with terms Red Barber would use during Dodger broadcasts. That's where the title of the short story comes from. If the story were more sinister in nature, Rod Serling could have used it.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

exactly. or maybe expressions with added power.

hey, don't "buckner" this presentation.

It's not a movie, but the term "Ruthian" used to be used quite often in our country to describe something of greatness.

And the name Babe Ruth was used as a standard of excellence. For instance, when Willie Sutton was released from prison, Time referred to him as "the Babe Ruth" of bank robbers.

Under a photo of singer Franco Corelli in The New York Times, the caption read "the Babe Ruth of operatic tenors."

A Long Beach, California press release said that Chuck Stearns was "the Babe Ruth of water skiing."

John Lahr was thanking people who helped him write the biography of his father, and said that Suzi Arensberg was "the Babe Ruth of copy editors."

[Melottfan]

This line says it all,

"Dogs have fleas, managers have sportswriters!"


Guffy McGovern, the original "Angels in
the Outfield." 1952

[johnny]

I will paraphrase, but my alltime Favorite Line is from Ty Cobb. When asked why he thought he could only manage to hit .290 against the current crop of major league pitching he replies, 'Cause I'm 73 f'n years old' :grouchy

[zman]

In "A League of Their Own" Jimmy Dugan signs a baseball for a kid, who reads it out loud: "Avoid the clap, Jimmy Dugan."

[tmorss9]

In "A League of Their Own" Jimmy Dugan signs a baseball for a kid, who reads it out loud: "Avoid the clap, Jimmy Dugan."

The best part of that scene is when he yells to the kid, who is now walking away "That's good advice".. I like to say that whenever possible.

[Chef Bill]

My favorite line is from Bull Durham, "Rose goes on the front, big guy."

[Rennie Stennett]

It's not a movie, but the term "Ruthian" used to be used quite often in our country to describe something of greatness.

And the name Babe Ruth was used as a standard of excellence. For instance, when Willie Sutton was released from prison, Time referred to him as "the Babe Ruth" of bank robbers.

Under a photo of singer Franco Corelli in The New York Times, the caption read "the Babe Ruth of operatic tenors."

A Long Beach, California press release said that Chuck Stearns was "the Babe Ruth of water skiing."

"I'm the Mickey Mantle of the grease pits." The Fonz from Happy Days.

Josh Gibson "The Black Babe Ruth."

[vasprtsfn]

I vote for that Terrence Mann line in Field fo Dreams.

[Captain Cold Nose]

I vote for that Terrence Mann line in Field fo Dreams.
Peace love dope?

[PopTop]

I know the feeling. Living in the south has not been good for my optimism.
Strange, I've never known that latitude could have such an impact on one's outlook in life. :confused:

Haven't seen a lot of lines from Major League on here.

Uecker's,"Juuuuust a bit outside" is a classic. Also like Cerrano's, "It's very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Very bad."

[VTSoxFan]

Harris's line from Major League cracks me up every time:

"Are you tryin' to tell me that Jesus Christ can't hit a curve ball?" :D :D :laugh

I like Field of Dreams, saccharine as it is. But Shoeless Joe.. OMG... If Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton (who penned the immortal phrase "It was a dark and stormy night") had written a baseball book, it would be this one. Not merely saccharine, it's dripping syrupy sentimentality and stuffed with the purplest of purple prose and packed with entirely non-credible plotlines and garnished with enough forced similies to choke a horse (and yes, a few mixed metaphors as well). I honestly don't know how I finished it.

One of my favorite quotes is the last 3 paragraphs of Summerland by Michael Chabon, especially the line:

"...you must hold onto the ball as if you are holding onto the love of your very truest friend."

:D

[PopTop]

One of my favorite quotes is the last 3 paragraphs of Summerland by Michael Chabon...That was a good book, Annie. Not generally the kind of story that can hold me, but that one was a very enjoyable read.

[East Coast Bat Co]

Robert DiNiro in "The Fan"

"thats why baseball is better than life, its fair!"

[BadKarma]

from one of my favorite movies of all time:

Pop Fisher: My ma urged me to get out of this game. When I was a kid, she pleaded with me. And I meant to, you know what I mean? But she died.
Red Blow: Tough.
Pop Fisher: Now look at me. I'm wet nurse to a last-place, dead-to-the-neck-up ball club, and I'm choking to death!


this says it all:

Roy Hobbs: I coulda been better. I coulda broke every record in the book.
Iris Gaines: And then?
Roy Hobbs: And then? And then when I walked down the street people would've looked and they would've said there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game.

[Mike D.]

A book, not a movie, but any post of baseball quotes wouldn't be complete without the last line of "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton:

"You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out it was the other way around the whole time."

[Captain Cold Nose]

A book, not a movie, but any post of baseball quotes wouldn't be complete without the last line of "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton:

"You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out it was the other way around the whole time."
I've always liked the line he had about Paul Richards. "Not as many people think so highly of the slip pitch as Paul Richards. Not as many people think so highly of Paul Richards as Paul Richards."
They may be off, but it's the idea. I'm not positive that came from Ball Four, but I'm pretty sure it did.

[tigers527]

"JUUUUSSSSTTT A BIT OUTSIDE" Bob Eukar Major league

[skeletor]

leo the lip...once said...

baseball is a lot like church, many attend, but few understand it...


or something along those lines....

[wamby]

Strange, I've never known that latitude could have such an impact on one's outlook in life. :confused:

Haven't seen a lot of lines from Major League on here.

Uecker's,"Juuuuust a bit outside" is a classic. Also like Cerrano's, "It's very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Very bad."

I've just returned to Alabama from Ohio and I can definetly say the latitude has a definite impact on my outlook on life.

Uecker's line got really tiresome really quickly in the 1995 post-season.

[Go Bravos!!!#1]

From: Bull Durham

After Crash Davis tells Nuke LaLoosh to hit him with a baseball.

Nuke: Man, I'd kill you...

Crash: Yeah, From what I hear you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a
f@#$%^ Boat!!!

[Tango Tiger]

"There's no crying in baseball!"



This was mine as well.

[ZR56664]

"Is this heaven?"

"No, it's Iowa."

[W_Marone]

Im gonna have to go with

"There's no crying in baseball!"

or

"Give him the heater"

or

"You run like Mays but you hit like s*%#"

[bosoxfan33]

There are so many great quotes, most of which have been mentioned here already, but I'll list the ones I like.....................

(to enhance the sappy reputation of FOD)
"Hey dad, you wanna have a catch?" "I'd like that."
In short, for many years my father and I did not click on too many levels, but we could always play catch. That line is my favorite for that reason.

"Yo Bartender, Jobu needs a refill."

"I held it like an egg..." "Yeah, and he scrambled the SOB. Look at that, the guy hit the %&@#ing bull, he gets a free steak."

"Let's see.... Nuke's upset because his shockers are jammed and his old man's here; we need a live roo... is it a live rooster? We need a live rooster to get the curse off of Jose's glove and NOBODY seems to know what to get Millie and Jimmy for a wedding gift. Is that about it? We're dealing with a lot of #$@$."

"Oh Rexman, I don't think this one's got the distance."

"Hey batter batter batter batter batter batter swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing batter........... he can't hit he can't hit he can't hit he can't hit he can't hit swing batter."
(I actually yelled that at Wrigley in 1992)

"Haywood leads the league in every offensive category including nose hair."

"We don't know where Hayes played last year but I'm sure he did a helluva job."

"'46? That was our year; '67? THAT was our year; '75? that was definitely our year; '86? Pfffft" -Denis Leary, at the beginning of the '04 WS highlight film

"So, the Indians, suffering from propeller lag, drop a heartbreaker 2-1. Postgame show is brought to you by (paper shuffle) crap, I can't find it, to hall with it."

Ray-"You lied to me." Terrance-"Well, you were kidnapping me at the time you big jerk!" R-"You lied to me!" T-"You said your finger was a gun!" R-"Good point"

"You wouldn't believe how many guys wanted to come over; we had to beat them off with a stick. Ty Cobb wanted to play but none of us could stand the SOB when we were alive so we told him to stick it."

I'm sure I could come up with 100 more, but I'll stop now and give someone else a chance.

[MY.RANGERS]

The one that made me laugh the most was Bob Eukar
he's gonna haft to have a rocket up his a## to catch that one.

[Mr. Boh]

This quote wasn't in a baseball movie but the scene in Good Morning, Vietnam when Master Sgt Dickerson is chewing out Cronauer...

Dickerson.."What does three up and three down mean to you Airman?"

Cronauer.."End of an inning."

Being in the military..got a chuckle outta that one.

[AndrewJ]

It's fun, that's what it is, it's fun. Baseball is more fun than anything else. You can watch it and just love it and enjoy it. I don't think that there's anything tremendously philosophical about it. I don't think there's anything metaphysical I just think its so much fun to watch." - Robert Creamer in Ken Burns "Baseball" Inning One.

Creamer's quote echoes Woody Allen's line from Zelig: "I love baseball. You know, it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just very beautiful to watch."

[The Real McCoy]

"Nah, that's not him. Those guys are all gone now." Signature line of what could be the best baseball movie scene ever filmed.

[ACrank]

Hyman Roth: I loved baseball ever since Arnold Rothstien fixed the World Series in 1919.

[redbuck]

How about that speech by that fabricated hippie freak writer from "Field of Dreams" based on JD Salinger?

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.

America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers.

It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again, but baseball has marked the time.

This field, this game, its a part of our past, Ray, and reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again."

[lamearm]

Would it be considered a streach to mention "Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you"....? After all it was in The Graduate....

[Captain Cold Nose]

Hyman Roth: I loved baseball ever since Arnold Rothstien fixed the World Series in 1919.
Jay Gatsby (on Meyer Wolfshiem): He's the fellow who fixed the 1919 World Series.

[wamby]

One that always makes me laugh: from Homicide, Life on the Street:

After the squad gets a call that a fan has been murdered during a game at Camden Yards:

John Munch: Baseball? Tell me something that's more boring than baseball. Yeah, a documetary about baseball.