Its one of those discussions people have when it’s raining outside, or when TBS, TNT or any number of stations puts on one of those standby pastime flicks. It’s a time-killer debate that has originated its own area of genre…the baseball movie. Going back nearly a century, baseball has been a prominent fixture in movies, with any number of them being released in a decade especially in the 1980s and 1990s. While the recent collection of flicks have failed to even touch the crest of “immortality” and have been quick to enter the $5 bin at Wal-Mart, there are still dozens of excellent.

So many good choices…so few bad ones that even debating the “best” is a topic one can’t even decide upon themselves let alone with others. Hence, I want to go backwards with this and instead debate the worst baseball movies of the last twenty-five years. I use twenty-five, since I am 26 and it’s a more even number and since I’m more familiar with these. Now at the on-set, I should day that I’m still a fan of most of these as a bad baseball movie it’s like a bad piece of pizza. It’s still comforting and some good can still be squeezed out.

5) The Sandlot – This circa 1992 flick about a 1960s group of adolescents who play baseball in a vacant lot is Americana at its finest, but I believe totally overrated. It’s a movie with little staying power and one that has too many irritating flaws. The premise is sweet and wholesome, but the side-story about a menacing dog and blind James Earl Jones doesn’t fit. Let alone the hard to believe ending in which the nerd becomes the LA Dodgers play-by-play announcer. No c’mon…all of pbp’ers should be outraged!

4) Hardball – Earlier this decade Keanu Reeves looked to master the diamond, much like he did in the 80s in hockey with Youngblood and the 90s with the “replacements”. Long story short I’ve never seen this flick, though have had chances on a few bus rides but it never soaked me in. The story about an inner-city team has failed to even be recalled by many.

3) Major League Three – Back to the Minors: The first two Major Leagues are classics, with stunningly believable action, storylines and creative characters. However, this 1998 stretch of the franchise has thankfully been forgotten by most. The story features Scott Bakula and the dude who played Jefferson Darcy on Married with Children. Need I say any more. Sad thing is, Bob Uecker nearly kills his Harry Dole character in this movie, making an embarrassment not only of Harry, but of himself.

2) Rookie of the Year – Its hard to believe, but the kid who plays the star Henry, in this 1993 movie is the same kid who gets to…you know…with Tara Reid in the first American Pie. It’s a clever movie, lacking in believability and brought down further by a pointless John Candy radio commentary. However, the movie likely did cause a few kids to break their arm on purpose just in case it would speed up the fast ball.

1) The Rookie – There is plenty about this 2004 movie that I like, from the realistic action and story that is kept fairly close to the truth. The movie came about shortly after Disney’s remarkable “Miracle” and has been of excellent moments. However, poor casting of Dennis Quaid, who is quite honestly terrible as a pitcher is aggravating. He is impossible to fall in love with in the movie and the whole story of an unforgiving father/son relationship is something I haven’t been able to back-up in reading about the real Jim Morris.