Whether a sports fan or not, every boy dreams of the moment when he finally reaches first base, rushes towards second then continues past third as the tension mounts and his body pulsates with sweat before sliding safely in for the score. It’s a journey that turns a boy into a man. With such a high reward, no wonder it’s our nation’s favorite pastime.

The maturation process of baseball is explored deeply in the 1988 film, “Bull Durham.” Set in the prepubescent stage of the minor leagues, it focuses on the journey of a couple of players and a certain fan of Durham, North Carolina’s Durham Bulls. A veteran of the Minors, ‘Crash’ Davis, (Kevin Costner) a catcher, is brought in unwillingly to control the wildness of ‘Nuke’ LaLoosh’s personality and pitches. They are both approached by the team’s biggest fan, Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) who, every season, selects one player to treat to her lessons on metaphysics, literature and especially sexual relations. After Crash removes himself from the competition with a memorable speech on the things he believes in, Nuke becomes her student.  

As a former player in the minor leagues, director Ron Shelton presents a realistic look at the basement level of baseball, complete with the long bus trips, clubhouse camaraderie and the personal desires to succeed. Though set in the minors, its drama is major league and deals more with matters of the heart than baseball. Unlike the typical sports movie that culminates with winning the big game, this movie follows a parallel between one career that is beginning, one that is ending and a woman caught between two men.

To take advantage of Nuke’s natural athletic ability and tame his wild nature, Crash must use some curveballs in his teaching technique. He would, at least, like to have his big league dreams live on through another, while at the same time he’s also envious of the relationship Nuke is having with Annie. While Sarandon now strikes out with me due to her strong political activism, she does connect as the sultry southern belle. Her chemistry with Robbins is out of the park, and their work together on this film led to their long time personal relationship off camera.

Eventually, everyone’s hard work pays off for Nuke as he becomes a winning pitcher. With superstitions being so rampant in baseball, much to Annie’s chagrin, he feels his victories are connected with not being intimate. (Maybe I should be a pitcher) Nuke is called up to “the Show” and after some early jealousy, Crash offers him some final advice and then faces the spiraling end of his own career as his services are no longer needed by the Bulls.

As the film’s conclusion nears, Crash is prepared to start a new life as a coach and with Annie, while Nuke begins in the majors with the valuable lessons given by his mentor. Though the film’s sexuality is heavy, it bares souls rather than bodies.

Featuring Robert Wuhl as the jittery pitching coach and Max Patkin “Clown Prince of Baseball” Bull Durham is referred to by many critics as one of the best sports movies of all time and, in March of this year, its 20th Anniversary Edition was released on DVD.

The level of baseball above the minors is portrayed in 1989’s “Major League,” a comedy about a fictionalized version of the Cleveland Indians and their misery from not having won a World Series since 1948. Their stadium is mostly empty for games and their owner, Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), a former Las Vegas showgirl, who makes Marge Schott looks like a queen of the baseball world, wants the team to fail miserably so she can move them to Florida.

As part of her plan, she hires a bunch of misfits who are sure to be incapable of winning; aged catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), criminal Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen), the speedy Willie ‘Mays’ Hayes, which gave (Wesley Snipes) the opportunity to swipe bases with his speed before he stole from the government with tax evasion, Voodoo King Pedro Cerrano (Dennis Haysbert) who I didn’t recognize as President Palmer from “24” and proud Christian Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross). Already on the team is Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen), who is afraid of fielding the ball due to the risk of injury and Lou Brown (James Gammon), hired from a tire store to be in the dugout as manager.

The plans looks perfect as the team can do nothing right when they are brought together at Spring Training. The only thing they can successfully produce is laughs.

Though he has a rocket of an arm, Vaughn’s pitches are lethal weapons as they go anywhere but over the plate. He is given the nickname ‘Wild Thing’ and the song is blared through the stadium when he takes the field in a high energy entrance. His control is fixed when it’s discovered he has a vision problem and is given glasses.

The cast makes up a believable roster of players. They look natural in their positions and it appeared they had a back up plan if the acting thing never worked out. Maybe the belief they have some athletic skills is a credit to their acting.

While baseball is the central theme, there is a little extra back story thrown in with Taylor trying to win back the affection of his former love, Lynn (Rene Russo), who he discovers is engaged to another man.

Of course, through the power of Hollywood, the Indians start winning and, despite Phelps’s efforts to add to their misery by taking the hot water out of the clubhouse and flying them on a rickety plane, their desire to win continues to put them on top. When the team learns of Phelps’s plan they get a life size cutout of her body and peel away an article of her clothing with every win.

The movie concludes with a one-game playoff against the powerful New York Yankees. As the traditional sports movie always does, I don’t believe I’ll ruin anything by saying that they win in dramatic fashion. Even when the action on the field was less than stellar, it was presented in All-Star fashion by the team’s radio announcer, Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker), who actually is the play by play man for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Two sequels followed, “Major League II” (1994) and “Major League: Back to the Minors” (1998), neither of which were as successful as the original though there are talks of making an additional installment in the near future.

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