Top sports movies

Since not much going on with our Rams baseball team until January, I have had a little more time to spend with my family and to watch a lot of basketball which I love to do. Recently our family went and saw "The Blind Side," which was very good and got me to thinking about the best baseball movies of all time. It was really hard to pick but here is my opinion.

10. Mickey- A little known film written by John Grisham and starring Harry Connick Jr. The movie was made just before the Danny Almonte age scandal at the Little League World Series and is very close to the real events that actually occurred later. The story revolves around a 13-year old who playing as a 12-year old and leads his team to the Little League World Series.

9. The Sandlot III "Stealing Home"-Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez is all grown up and now manages the Dodgers and his star player Tommy Santerrelli is a guy from the same neighborhood who has unfortunately let and his stardom go to his head and lose his values.

8. The Rookie- The true life story of former Angelo State Ram, Jim Morris, and his improbable journey from high school baseball coach to major league baseball player.

7. 61*- The HBO movie about the epic battle between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris and their pursuit of Babe Ruth's home record and the effect that the chase had on each man.

6.The Sandlot-Still one of the best movies ever. Although the story is set in the 1950's it reminds me so much of my childhood growing up where we would all meet up and play baseball from daylight to dark everyday during the summer, where their were no coaches, parents or umpires around to screw things up. We made the teams, rules and calls and learned a lot about life, baseball and how to deal with people that unfortunately kids don't get a chance to do today.

5. For Love of the Game- The first of several Kevin Costner movies in my list. I was lucky enough to witness the World Premiere of this movie at the 1999 College World Series in Omaha while I was coaching at Texas A&M. Costner premiered the movie to all the participating teams at a theatre in Omaha the day before the Series started and stuck around afterward to sign every autograph and take every picture. A great story about a perfect game thrown by aging pitcher Billy Chapel and his final game at Yankee Stadium.

4. Field Of Dreams- The classic about the crazy farmer who plowed up his land and built a baseball field.

3. Bull Durham- This movie came out the summer after I graduated high school and I think we went and saw this at the $1 theater at least four days a week when we didn't have anything to do. I would have it higher but the last 20 minutes with the love story between Crash and Annie takes away from all the great baseball.

2.The Natural- Roy Hobbs and the battle between good and evil and Hobbs choices he has to make. Still one of the funniest moments in movie history when Bump Bailey crashes through the outfield wall and dies and the team scatters his ashes before the next days game.

1. Pride of the Yankees- A very old movie starring Gary Cooper in the story of Lou Gehrig. Even Cooper's lack of baseball skills can not take away from this unbelievable account of Gehrig's life and his battle against his disease that ultimately took his life.

I'm sure everybody has their opinions but this is mine. Have a great Christmas season and only about two months til opening day.