The Topic of the Next Episode

lol... I just think there is something about the look of baseball players that makes us believe that actors of almost any physicality could be AAA material.

PATRICK, I might be too excited for this one. I love sports movies, especially baseball films. Even the bad ones. My dad wasn't into sports. I never really played a sport. But I've always liked the IDEA of baseball. The iconography, the characters, the drama, even the graphic design all speak to some inner jock that's buried deep deep inside of me. But the Baseball story is almost impenetrable. It's like a soap opera in its 150th season. I watched the entire Ken Burns Baseball saga last year at the start of Covid and it demystified and finally gave context to everything. I felt like I could sit down and watch a game and actually know what was going on. All this to say, I'm looking forward to your insights on this and can't wait for this video!

Jake Parker

YES!! Became a patron after your last vids and this is exactly what I want out of this :)

As a Canadian, I’m more partial to hockey movies. That being said, there are significantly more quality movies about/featuring baseball. Excited to see what you have in store!

Bethany Laurel

Great minds! Or maybe great-adjacent.

I know the topic is not about the documentary. But I was also agreeing with your assessment of it. And for me, having watched the documentary I have a greater appreciation of baseball in general and why it works so well in film narrative. 🤓

Wendy Alexander

Oh this is going to be fun. Baseball is perfect for movies because it’s a slow sport. Yes, there are moments when everything spends up to an explosion of energy but it takes time and it’s worth the effort.

Gotta admit, for a game I only briefly enjoyed in my early teens I must admit that it has led to some very good (and even decently mediocre) films. (And yeah, that Ken Burns doc is pretty good, one of the better ones before the whole Ken Burns Documentary Thing became a parody of itself.)

Karel P Kerezman

(read the post again)

Patrick (H) Willems

whoa don't spoil all my points before I've even had a chance to film the video

Patrick (H) Willems

I am totally down with this. I could care less about most sports. But there’s just something elegant about baseball that just lends itself so well to film. And if you haven’t caught Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary. It’s glorious.

Wendy Alexander

I think a lot of it may come down to the fact that America is an individualistic society, and we like individual achievement. Baseball is one of the few sports that mechanically pits two men against each other (pitcher and batter) despite it being a team sport. It's true that other sports have individual stars that command the game (Jordan, Kobe, Ewing) and sports that have important individual players (Quarterback, Goalie), but Baseball is the only one with this particular structure. I also think it might be because the individual components break down so well. You can go to a batting cage and *just* hit balls for an afternoon or find that enjoyable. You don't need a team or a game. And of course, that perennial favorite of Americana - playing catch with dad (or whomever). I think these things make easy to build emotional stakes and individual drama into movies about the sport.

As another non-American who doesn’t care about sports I have liked Baseball movies more than any other sporting films probably. (Even the Moneyball book was engaging) — This is a great vid topic

Looking forward - as a non-American I've never understood (or cared about) baseball (in or outside of movies), but I'm happy to be challenged on this (or at least better understand what it means for others)!

Uhh...it disparages space jam. Space jam is bad. Sorry.

Patrick (H) Willems

Baseball is clearly the best sport in movies as it has successfully cornered the market in sports movies involving ghosts.

I’m so here for this video (and all of your videos! But, if this movie disparages the masterpiece that is Space Jam, I’ll silently stew in the corner

Alex Stephen