Stealing signs

Another indicator of the looming GrownUpAcalypse is that it is now nearly June, and I have not yet had a day/week of baseball movie watching.

Maybe it’s because I was writing, perhaps because TIVO knows us so very well.

But I think it’s because I didn’t do it last year, either.

Slowly, steadily, I’m choosing movies other than bubblegum sports fare as I age. Perhaps it’s the 246 Dramas, 278 Action, 227 Science Fiction or 203 comedies (there is overlap, btw) on the DVD shelf that are overshadowing the

40

Sports DVDs.

But I still like them, and the 20 that even peripherally have to do with Baseball (not counting the Ken Burns film of the same name) are among my all time favorites.

And there’s some off bits among them.

Field of Dreams, for example, is really a Family Drama.

Bull Durham is a Chick Flick.

Pride of the Yankees, Eight Men Out, The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, 61*, The Rookie, and A League of their own are fictionalized documentaries.

3 are devoted to Seattle Mariners (2005 and 06 Season ticket holder DVDs, Edgar Martinez Tribute disc).

Battlefield Baseball is a Zombie-fighting Musical (I can’t make this stuff up, folks)

So what I’ve got left of movies that are actually about baseball are Mr. Baseball, Major League (1, 2, and 3), Hardball, Summer Catch, and Mr. 3000.

And that’s one hell of an afternoon.

Oh, look, ESPN in HD. I’ll be back in a bit…