When news broke over a week ago that Arte Moreno had reached an agreement to sell the Los Angeles Angels to Stan Kroenke, my buddy who lives in Mississippi texted me the—dare I say—iconic GIF from Angels in the Outfield:
That child actor is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and he’s gone on to quite the acting career from starring in the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun to portraying Batman’s sidekick in The Dark Knight Rises, among many other credits. He’s a good actor.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized
that the cast for Angels in the Outfield is stacked. I mean, you have JGL in one of his earliest roles, if not his first; then you have established movie stars at the time like Danny Glover and Christopher Lloyd; sitcom star Tony Danza; and future stars Adrien Brody and Matthew McConaughey.
And that’s not even it!
Does Angels in the Outfield boast the best movie cast of all the baseball movies? It’s off to a strong start, for sure. But I wanted to make sure, so I first listed all of the baseball movies I could think of, then narrowed it down to 11 of them. After that, I wrote down every actor I could think of from that movie before turning to IMDb to see if I missed anyone.
Today’s mission: decide which of these 11 baseball films, listed alphabetically, has the best cast, regardless of how good the movie actually is. Readers can vote at the end.
42
Released in 2013, this Jackie Robinson biopic boasts Marvel star Chadwick Boseman in the title role with Harrison Ford portraying Branch Rickey, the Dodgers GM who signed Robinson. That’s a heck of a 1-2 punch. The cast also includes Nicole Beharie, who’d go on to star in the television show Sleepy Hollow, as Rachel Robinson, plus two doctors from Grey’s Anatomy, the always underrated Hamish Linklater, Christopher Meloni as Leo Durocher, Lucas Black, Andre Holland, Alan Tudyk, John C. McGinley (aka Dr. Cox from Scrubs), and an actor with just an incredible last name, Brett Cullen.
Heck of a first entry. Let’s see if it can be topped.
A League of Their Own
Two titans of modern-day acting in the first two films: Harrison Ford vs Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan, the manager of the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II. Accompanying Hanks: Geena Davis and Lori Petty as sisters who star for the Peaches; pop star Madonna; 47’s BFF Rosie O’Donnell; The Third Cusack; Jon Lovitz; famed director Garry Marshall as the owner/creator of the league; David Strathairn as his right-hand man; Bill Pillman as Davis’ character’s husband; and early Téa Leoni.
Angels in the Outfield
I went through a good chunk of these actors in the beginning, but to recap: Danny Glover, Christopher Lloyd, Tony Danza, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrien Brody, Matthew McConaughey. But joining them: Brenda Fricker, who just passed away and was famous for her role in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York; Jay O. Sanders; my father’s favorite cowboy actor, Ben Johnson, as the owner of the Angels; Neal McDonough; and Dermot Mulroney (not to be confused with Dylan McDermott).
Brewster’s Millions
I love this stupid movie. I have seen it entirely too many times. Richard Pryor stars as Montgomery Brewster, a minor-league pitcher who must spend $30 million in thirty days to inherit $300 million. I’m laughing as I write this because one of the tags for the movie on IMDB is “high-concept comedy.” Sure.
Anyway, starring alongside Pryor is the great John Candy, who plays Spike Nolan, his battery mate and best friend. Other actors include Lonette McKee, Mr. Law & Order himself, Jerry Orbach, Pat Hingle (who played Commissioner Gordon in the Batman movies from 1989 to 1997), and—get ready for this—RICK MORANIS!
One million points awarded.
Field of Dreams
This is probably the best movie on this list, but does it boast the best cast? It’s certainly a strong one with an in-his-prime Kevin Costner starring as an Iowa farmer who hears voices in his head that convince him to create a baseball field in his corn. Then some ghostly baseball players come out of the corn, one played by Ray Liotta, another by Art LaFleur (we’ll see him again), and one by Frank Whaley. Whaley’s character is also portrayed by the great Burt Lancaster in one of his final films. Newly minted scream queen Amy Madigan plays Costner’s wife while her real-life husband, Ed Harris, is The Voice.
Last but certainly not least, James Earl Jones portrays Terence Mann, an early foil to Costner’s Ray Kinsella who then helps solve the mysteries spoken by The Voice.
(Uncredited as fans at Fenway: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, but they’re just extras here, so I’m not counting them.)
Brief interlude here to recognize two movies that feature baseball to a much smaller degree:
- The Untouchables when Robert De Niro’s Al Capone brings a baseball bat to a meeting, and
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when the gang takes in a game at Wrigley, scored tied 0-0, Bears winning.
The Major League films
Bit of a cheat here as I’m considering all three of the Major League movies. The original’s cast is stacked with the likes of Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Wesley Snipes, but the first sequel brings in Omar Epps to replace Snipes while the second sequel—a very awful movie that you should at least watch once—stars that guy from Quantum Leap, a young Walton Goggins, and Ted McGinley of Married…with Children and Shrinking fame.
Corbin Bernsen is Roger Dorn in all three films while Dennis Haysbert also shows up in the trio. Rene Russo plays Berenger’s significant other in the first and then is barely in the second while Margaret Whitton excellently mocks Marge Schott. James Gammon, Chelcie Ross, David Keith, and everybody’s favorite announcer, Bob Uecker, also shine in these flicks.
Moneyball
Quality over quantity for Moneyball, which makes sense. Brad Pitt leads as Billy Beane, the general manager of the cheap Oakland Athletics. Jonah Hill co-stars as his right-hand man not named Paul DePodesta while the late Phllip Seymour Hoffman captures the disgruntled manager, Art Howe. Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, and Reed Diamond—shoutouts to Homicide: Life on the Street and The Shield, two of the best cop shows ever—also star. Arliss Howard plays Red Sox owner Johny Henry for one memorable scene. Howard will show up again later in this list.
The Natural
After two very strong candidates in Major League and Moneyball, we have The Natural, which may top both of them. Three Roberts lead the way: Redford as Roy Hobbs, Duvall as journalist Max Mercy, and Prosky as the majority owner known simply as The Judge. But that’s far from all: Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, and Barbara Hershey are also in the movie alongside the likes of Wilford Brimley, Joe Don Baker, Michael Madsen, and Richard Farnsworth.
Folks, I think we may have a new leader in the clubhouse.
Rookie of the Year
Daniel Stern directed this movie about a boy named Henry, played by Thomas Ian Nicholas, who breaks his arm, but when it heals, he can suddenly pitch as fast as Jacob Misiorowski. More believable than The Miz, Henry is a bullpen arm. Eddie Bracken, who plays the owner of the Cubs, has his son, played by Dan Hedaya, sign Henry. Amy Morton stars as Henry’s secretly ballplaying mother while Bruce Altman is truly slimy as her boyfriend.
Lest we forget, Gary Busey, always a wildcard, plays the team’s aging ace, Chet Steadman.
The Sandlot
Interesting candidate here as the main characters are all played by child actors who a) do an amazing job playing kids of a bygone era who love playing baseball during the summer and b) unlike Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Angels in the Outfield and Thomas Ian Nicholas of Rookie of the Year, didn’t do much afterward. Still, these kids are all brilliant.
Of the adult actors in the movie, Karen Allen plays, uh, Mom, who is the mother of the main character, Scotty Smalls. Denis Leary plays Bill, Smalls’ stepdad. Art LaFleur makes the list for the second time, this time as the specter of Babe Ruth. Arliss Howard, also in Moneyball, plays an adult version of Smalls, now a broadcaster for the Dodgers. And James Earl Jones makes his second appearance, this time as the owner of the misunderstood Hercules, the dog who loves to collect baseballs.
The Scout
Last and least, we have The Scout, which stars two of my favorite actors: Albert Brooks as a scout for the Yankees who finds an incredible, Shohei Ohtani-esque baseball talent portrayed by Brendan Fraser. Also in this film: Diane Wiest, the subject of the joke of one of the best cold opens in recent sitcom history:
Those are the eleven contenders. I have to say, I think I’m going with…The Natural by a smidgen over A League of Their Own followed by Field of Dreams. I’m going with Moneyball and Angels in the Outfield to round out the top five.
But now it’s your turn to vote. Poll limited to six options, if it’s an option not listed, feel free to speak up in the comments!
