I’ve been religiously watching the World Series and loving the fact that my Red Sox, a team I've rooted for all my life, is back where they belong. But between innings of last night's game, I began to think of my favorite baseball movies of all time -- after all, there's only a week at most left of baseball. When Rogers Hornsby, arguably the greatest right-handed hitter of all time, was asked what he does all winter, he replied: "I sit by the window and wait for spring." So baseball movies -- good ones -- are the next best thing, besides the plethora (good Scrabble word) of MLB DVDs.

Among those worth seeing or watching again is "Field Of Dreams" (more than a baseball movie and the best film of the '80s for my money, though my friend James Earl Jones HATES baseball, ironically). I talked with Kevin Costner about it during a REEL TALK interview with him a few months back. Take a listen...

Other great baseball movies include "Pride of the Yankees" (but you knew that), "It Happens Every Spring," "Big Leaguer" with Edward G. Robinson, of all people, as the manager of the N.Y. Giants and the ONLY movie featuring a cameo by "King" Carl Hubbell, one of the greatest pitchers of the 1930's, with that sensational screwball.
Most recently there was "The Rookie," with Dennis Quaid as real-life high school coach Jim Morris, who made a near-impossible comeback and made it to the big leagues with the Devil Rays. Finally, "Talent For the Game" stars Edward James Olmos as a scout who goes into a coal mine, among other places, in pursuit of a pitching prospect.
So there you go. At least your first week of November with no baseball is covered.