America's Pastime: Quotes from Baseball Movies Quiz

Answer: The Sandlot

In 1962 Los Angeles, a group of neighborhood kids get together every day and play baseball in the sandlot. The newest kid, Scott Smalls (yes, of "You're killing me, Smalls" fame) decides to use his stepdad's Babe Ruth autographed baseball in one of their practices.

When he hits the ball over the neighbor's fence, he is nearly sick about it. The other boys didn't know that Babe Ruth had signed the ball. Smalls didn't know who Babe Ruth was. The biggest problem with jumping the fence to get the ball? The dog they called "The Beast" lived there. Benny, the best player on the team, was visited in a dream by Babe Ruth. Babe told Benny to just jump the fence and get it. Benny's reply was this quote.

Answer: Major League

The Cleveland Indians' franchise was a consistently losing team for over 40 years. Their new owner devised a plan to put the worst players they could find on the field so they would lose so badly that their attendance would drop. If it dropped below a certain point, she would be allowed to move the team to Miami (before Miami had the Marlins). During spring training, Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) was on the mound, with the pitching coach and manager standing behind the catcher to see how Rick could throw.

When he let a 96 mile per hour fastball go, it flew over the catcher's head, between the two coaches and broke a sign on the fence. The conversation the coaches had about him was this quote.

Answer: Field of Dreams

When Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a voice while in his cornfield ("If you build it, he will come."), telling him to build a baseball field, he inexplicably cuts down his corn and installs the field. The townspeople all thought he had lost his mind. Ray believed that if he built the field, Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) would be able to come back and play again.

This exchange happens when Shoeless Joe does come to the field and Ray pitches to him.

Answer: Bull Durham

In my opinion, the best baseball movie ever made, "Bull Durham" tells the story of the Durham (North Carolina) Bulls, a minor league baseball team, who get a hotshot new pitcher, destined for the Major Leagues. The only problem is that the pitcher, Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), lacks control over his pitches. The team brings in veteran catcher, Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), to rein in Nuke and prepare him for life in the Majors. To further complicate things, Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), who takes in one player per season as her boyfriend (to also prepare them for life in the Majors), can't decide between Crash and Nuke. Even as she takes Nuke as her boyfriend, she still has conflicting feelings for Crash, mostly because he is much more intellectual than most baseball players.

This quote comes from the manager's frustration at how lazy his team has been. Larry is the bench coach who is frequently the go-between for the players and the manager.

Answer: A League of Their Own

My pick for the second-best baseball movie ever, "A League of Their Own" is based on the actual women's baseball league from the World War II era. With most of the Major League players gone to fight in the war, a few owners decided to create a professional baseball league for women so that the public could still have baseball during wartime. Former Major Leaguer Jimmy Dugan (brilliantly played by Tom Hanks right before mega-stardom) is tapped to manage one of the teams. He isn't keen on the idea, but he feels indebted to the owner for what he did for him at the end of his career. Interestingly, Dugan is based on real-life former Major Leaguer Jimmy Foxx, who was also hired to manage one of the women's teams.

One of the women on his team, Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis), is considered to be the best player in the league. She only agreed to come from Oregon to play in the league if they also took her sister, Kit (Lori Petty). Even though she is the best player, she isn't consumed with the game like the other players are. When her husband returns from the war, she decides she will quit the team (right before the World Series) and go back home to start a family. This exchange comes when Dugan tries to convince Dottie to stay on the team and finish the season.

Answer: For Love of the Game

In the third Kevin Costner baseball movie in this quiz, Detroit Tigers' pitcher Billy Chapel (Costner), who is in the twilight of his career, is in the midst of throwing a perfect game. While the game progresses, he thinks about his life choices and mistakes he has made. As the quest for the perfect game continues, he realizes that he has not always put his on-again/off-again girlfriend's needs before his own and his career. If you're not familiar, a perfect game is when an opposing team doesn't get any base runners. 27 hitters; 27 outs.

This eloquent quote is spoken by the Dodgers' legendary broadcaster Vin Scully, playing himself announcing the Yankees/Tigers game. Anyone familiar with Scully's style will be able to hear this speech in his voice. So smooth.

Answer: Rookie of the Year

When an injury gives 12-year old Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas, Kevin from "American Pie") an amazing pitching arm, he is asked by the Chicago Cubs to come pitch for them. As Henry is still just a kid, the game is still fun for him. He befriends fellow pitcher Chet Steadman (Gary Busey) and tries to get him to enjoy the game again.

Henry yells this quote to Chet as he's struggling on the mound. If you're not familiar with baseball lingo, "cheese" is another name for a fastball.

Answer: Bad News Bears

"Bad News Bears" is the story of a Little League team full of foul-mouthed misfits, coached by a beer-swilling former minor league player, Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau). They have some bright spots in their season and eventually make it to the championships. One of their players, Ahmad Abdul Rahim, says this line to the opposing team's catcher as he's stepping into the batter's box.

Answer: Mr. Baseball

"Mr. Baseball" is the story of aging Major Leaguer Jack Elliot (Tom Selleck), who is hired by a team in Tokyo to come play for them. In the predictable culture clash that follows, Jack tries hard to maintain his American ways and bring the Japanese players and management around to his way of thinking and playing (even though he's a guest in their country).

He finds out about a Japanese tradition where you can get drunk with your boss and tell him off without consequence (I'm not sure how true that is, but a fella can dream, can't he?). Jack is concerned about the team because they are afraid to make mistakes and bring dishonor upon themselves and the organization.

This exchange comes as Jack is getting drunk with the manager of the team.

Answer: Pride of the Yankees

In the heart-breaking true story of Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper shows all of the struggles that Gehrig went through as he was dealing with the demands of playing every day and with his battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Gehrig held the record for most consecutive games played - 2,130 - for 56 years, until it was surpassed by the Baltimore Orioles' shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr., in 1995. For Gehrig (nicknamed Iron Horse) to play that many consecutive games is in itself remarkable.

The fact that Gehrig played many of those games while living with the crippling disease is downright amazing.

This quote comes from his farewell address to Yankees fans.