It’s been a few days but we’re diving right back in to our IAbaseball Movie Bracket Challenge once more. So far, we’ve delivered our top one and two seeds in each region, hopefully with very little pushback. We’ve combed through various lists, popularity blogs, gross money taken in, and more to come up with this 16-movie bracket that will continue on right now. It is now time to reveal our number three seeds for each region.
North Region
Rookie of the Year (1993)
It’s the classic tale of what every baseball kid dreams of, making the Major League on a dime. To pick up a ball and one day lead your favorite team to victory. That’s exactly what the Rookie of the Year film brings fans of all ages, all across the world. It’s especially special if one is a Chicago Cubs fan as the film centers around a fan who gets arm surgery and comes out of it with a bionic arm that allows him to pitch in the Major Leagues.
It’s a story that’s been in day dreams of many young fans and as a result grossed $107 million (marking for inflation) making it the 10th-highest grossing baseball film of all time.
South Region
The Rookie (2002):
A classic tale of perseverance, The Rookie, follows teacher Jim Morris who’s convinced by his team to continue his Major League Baseball dreams. Tries out, makes the Tampa Bay Rays minor league roster and works himself up to the majors. It truly was the feel good story of the early 2000’s and one of Dennis Quaid’s most memorable films to date. It was a film that touched a lot of people from all walks of life from rural to city slicker and it showed amassing a gross mark of $122 million (adjusted for inflation). That mark made the movie the sixth biggest grossing baseball movie of all time.
East Region
42 (2013)
This was the long time overdue cinematic story of Jackie Robinson and is the most recent major baseball film. It followed the ground breaking story of Robinson who broke the color barrier in the sport of baseball, paving the way for some of the greatest baseball players to grace the game. Robinson himself was quite the player, amassing a .313 average with 141 home runs and 761 total RBI. This movie originally grossed $95.1 million which would equate to $114 million in today’s money, good enough for ninth-most among baseball movies all-time. Right out of the gates it was widely accepted and broke the record for highest box office opening weekend for a baseball movie.
There’s no doubt on the impact of Robinson not just on the movie itself, but he was also the first baseball player to be pictured on a postage stamp. He was an interesting man overall, one that was in the army and played semi-pro ball in Hawaii.
West Region
Angles In The Outfield (1994)
It seemed as though the late 90’s and the early 2000’s were the right time periods to produce a lot of baseball movies. Angles in the Outfield was among the plethora of diamond films released during that time but it still stands out as one of the best. A timeless classic for the whole family, it may be cheesy but it hits all the right notes and drives the ball out of the park. It follows a foster child who prays for the Angles to make the World Series so he can finally reunite with his estranged father. To his surprise, he gets that Devine assistance and the rest is history.
Truly a movie worth watching again and again. If you don’t believe that, then believe the $50.2 million it picked up at the box office on opening day. It also was a slight connection to the team within the movie (then Anaheim) Angles as Disney ended up buying the team until 2003, which just so happened to be the streaming release date of the film. Interestingly enough, the film was never shot in Anaheim, but instead in Oakland at the Oakland Colosseum, home of the A’s.