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During the coronavirus shutdown, each day we will bring you a recommendation from The Post’s Peter Botte for a sports movie, TV show or book that perhaps was before your time or somehow slipped between the cracks of your viewing/reading history.
Bull Durham (1988)
Rated: R
Streaming: Amazon Prime
The beloved Kevin Costner classic receives our full endorsement as the funniest depiction of minor league baseball ever made, even if a few questions always have persisted since first seeing it over 30 years ago.
First-time director Ron Shelton later added sports titles, such as “White Men Can’t Jump” and “Tin Cup” (with Costner again), to his IMDB rèsumè, but “Bull Durham” was a true labor of love for the former minor league ballplayer.
Costner’s journeyman catcher Crash Davis hooks on with the Durham Bulls, ostensibly to tutor prized but raw pitching prospect Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) and help him advance to the majors. Susan Sarandon also stars as Annie Savoy, a lifelong baseball groupie who romances and also imparts wisdom to LaLoosh, although Crash ultimately gets the girl in the end.
“Bull Durham” — ranked the No.5 sports movie all time by the American Film Institute — even might have earned our first perfect rating in this series. But like many sports flicks, there are a few plot points that only would happen through the Hollywood lens.
For instance, we are told that LaLoosh strikes out 18 and walks 18 — both league records! — in his first professional start, which would be a minimum of 126 pitches and likely closer to 200. No chance, even then.
Also, after overcoming several poor starts, under Crash’s and Annie’s tutelage Nuke finally wins a few games and immediately gets the call to make the direct jump from Single-A to the majors?
As Davis would advise, “Don’t think. It can only hurt the ballclub.”
Quote of Note: “OK, well, candlesticks always make a nice gift, and maybe you could find out where she’s registered and maybe a place-setting or a silverware pattern. OK, let’s get two!” — pitching coach Larry Hockett (Robert Wuhl), discussing the upcoming wedding of one of the players during a meeting on the mound.
Botte Blows: 4.7 of 5
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