Monthly Archives: April 2013
Top of the Ninth
“As a celebration of the magic of movies involving baseball, at least one scene from a different film will be posted each day for the next nine days…”
—From “Top of the First” March 28th
Being the new kid in town isn’t easy. This is especially true when you are not fluent in the language of the other kids: baseball. In this case, classifying the new kid as mildly conversational was a stretch a mile long. This serves as the opening conundrum for Scotty Smalls, or just “Smalls,” as in the universally known and cherished phrase, “you’re killin’ me Smalls!” After an awesomely cool speech from his Mother, Smalls got out of his honor roll bubbled room and explored his new terrain. Here is that rad speech for Mrs. Smalls (turn the volume up!).
“The Sandlot” is one of the best movies about baseball of all-time. It’s a cultural staple for an entire generation. Serving up not only favorite moments of nostalgia, the 1993 classic also paints the picture of a group of friends that experience summer the way it was intended way back in 1962. They played baseball all day and every day at their very own “sandlot,” they went to the carnival at night with a little too much “help from their friends,” scoped out the girls (Wendy Peffercorn!), caused a ruckus at the community pool, told epic tree house stories, celebrated the 4th of July the right way, got chased by the biggest dog in the world and had unforgettable nicknames. To serve as a refresher course, the names included: Smalls, Squints, Yeah-Yeah, Benny the Jet, Ham, Repeat and, of course, The Beast.
Below is the trailer and two classic scenes. Welcome back to “The Sandlot!”
“This pop isn’t workin’, Benny! I’m bakin’ like a toasted cheese-it! It’s so hot here!”
“You’re killin’ me Smalls!”
http://youtu.be/XlddDZkkxCc
One quick recommendation: At least read an introductory book about your new language before venturing outside as to be cognizant of important phrases and figures, such as the most famous person of that culture.
Bottom of the Eighth
“As a celebration of the magic of movies involving baseball, at least one scene from a different film will be posted each day for the next nine days…”
—From “Top of the First” March 28th
Cleveland, Ohio is one of the heartbreak cities of sports in America. For decades, their teams have not been able to catch the ultimate break and reward the “Sixth City” with a major professional championship. Is there anybody who can become the “savior” of this city? (no, not him). How about a man with an incomparable style, somebody who has a certain women-loving way about him and all with a tolerance for speed that nobody can match?
Not for the reasons you’re thinking of, but yes: Charlie Sheen.
Could he lead “The Tribe” again? Just in the rare circumstance he declines, below is a “how-to” guide for the next wildly successful Indians pitcher.
Glue a skull to the front of your glasses, walk onto the pitcher’s mound, turn your back to the baddest hitter in the game as he struts to home plate, put the glasses on, spin around and pull off a stare-down worthy of a Wild West duel. If you do this, then you’re one pivotal step closer to becoming a certifiable “Major League Wild Thing.”
Below is the instructional video:
After that high-pressure strikeout, you know the Cleveland Indians fans were chanting, “Winning!” in some way or another.
Top of the Eighth
“As a celebration of the magic of movies involving baseball, at least one scene from a different film will be posted each day for the next nine days…”
—From “Top of the First” March 28th
Imagine being back in middle school, one of the most uncomfortable phases in life. Your name is Henry Rowengartner. While hanging around the baseball field at school, one of the kids publicly makes fun of you for embarrassingly throwing a ball over the fence for a home run…for the other team! (tunnel vision can be a killer). He then instantaneously challenges you to catch a high soaring fly ball he hits into the sky in your direction. The girl of your dreams is watching in anticipation to see if you’ll redeem yourself. You start sprinting to make the heroic catch, but instead wildly trip on a stray baseball in the grass and land awkwardly, breaking your arm.
Ouch! In more ways than one…
This is the beginning of the movie, “Rookie of the Year.” After having a cast on into the beginning of summer, the day has arrived to remove the white hot compression box (speaking from personal experience).
“I’m looking for Henry Rulenfurter.
Henry Rowengartner?
Yeah.”
When I broke my arm and had to wear a cast during the summer of 1996, I didn’t subsequently pitch for the Chicago Cubs. Instead, I got the entire Mexican Olympic soccer team’s autographs, along with several other Olympians while in Atlanta for the XXVI Olympiad. However, the most treasured signing of all was “Carl the Scalper.” Why? He sold my Dad and me Dream Team tickets versus Lithuania!
“Starting at guard, number 6, Penny Hardaway!”
The lesson from all of this: Awkwardly break your arm, wear a cast in the summertime and amazing things will happen!
(Just kidding, but only kind of…)
Bottom of the Seventh
“As a celebration of the magic of movies involving baseball, at least one scene from a different film will be posted each day for the next nine days…”
—From “Top of the First” March 28th
The very nature of a 162-game baseball season can be exhausting. What’s odd is that a 3-game winning streak will not always be perceived as a tremendous accomplishment. The same goes for a long string of losses. There is a numbing element and until something drastic happens, the status quo can persist. Some cases literally require a divine intervention.
People will have their opinions on what they deem as the greatest movie made about baseball. “Field of Dreams” immediately comes to mind. Why? The reason is one of the components for a great movie about sports is that the game serves as only the visual vehicle of a much more profound story. The 1989 major motion picture meets this criteria, as does a 1994 Disney major motion picture that involves two foster kids, who are best friends, and the struggling Anaheim Angels. This is one of the greatest (if not possibly the best…?) baseball movies ever made.
It has heart, lots of laughs and emotional highs and lows that make it a timeless classic for all ages. It’s deservedly earned the gold standard of an amazing family movie. Plus, here is a rundown of the primary cast. Do any of these names look familiar?
-Christopher Lloyd
-Danny Glover
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt
-Tony Danza
-Adrien Brody
-Neal McDonough
-Dermot Mulroney
oh, and this guy named Matthew McConaughey
As mentioned earlier, sometimes things have to get really bad before they get better.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 