Baseball: The Movie

Quick, enjoyable read about how notable baseball movies, from The Pride of the Yankees to 42, reflected American culture. Props to Noah Gittell for calling out pervasive racism and sexism in the selected films. But he ignores homophobia; the queer but sadly short-lived A League of Their Own TV series gets a brief mention in the final chapter, while the original 1992 movie's lesbian erasure is completely glossed over. Gittell notes that many of baseball movies' best scenes take place in between the action, and recent MLB attempts to speed up the game to win back younger fans reduce the chances of inspiring memorable scenes like the pitcher's mound conversation in Bull Durham. We may have seen the last of great baseball movies, but at least we'll always have “You're killing me, Smalls!”