These Baseball Flicks Are Out of the Park!

These Baseball Flicks Are Out of the Park!

NEW YORK, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year, the World Series marks the high point of our national pastime's long season, and even the casual sports fan usually gets involved to root for their team (or against the Yankees). Last year's storied and surprising championship run by the long-frustrated Boston Red Sox transcended sports culture and led to the making of several documentaries and a hit date movie. Who will take the title this year?

Regardless of the winner, the nation's largest direct marketer of home entertainment -- Columbia House -- has a DVD Club that features a stellar lineup of All-Star caliber baseball titles. So round the bases with these sure to please hits:

* "Bull Durham" (1988) In this cool comedy, a fan who has an affair with one minor-league baseball player each season meets an up-and-coming pitcher and the experienced catcher assigned to him. It's all about lust and sport. What else is there? Starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins.

* "Eight Men Out" (1988) 1988 was a great year for baseball movies, and this dramatization analyzes a bad year. The film covers the history of the Chicago "Black Sox" scandal, in which ball players accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series. John Cusack stars in The Scandal That Rocked A Nation.

* "Major League" (1989) In this Cleveland classic, an assortment of oddballs tries to play hardball to bring the hapless Indians a title, and the result is totally screwball. Starring Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Rene Russo, Wesley Snipes and Dennis Haysbert.

* "Bad News Bears" (1976) The original ... an aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league. The coach is waiting for his next beer. The pitcher is waiting for her first bra. The team is waiting for a miracle. Consider the possibilities. Starring Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal.

* "The Babe" (1992) There was only one Babe Ruth, and in this depiction, he becomes a baseball legend but is sometimes less-than-heroic to those who know him. Starring John Goodman and Kelly McGillis.

* "Fear Strikes Out" (1957) The timeless true story of the life of Jimmy Piersall, who battled mental illness to achieve stardom in major league baseball. Starring Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden.

* "The Natural" (1984) An over-age baseball player comes out of seemingly nowhere to become a legendary player with almost divine talent. Boyhood dreams, a bat made from a tree struck by lightning and most importantly, a never-ending passion for the game. Starring Robert Redford, Robert Duval, Glenn Close and Kim Basinger.

* "Cobb" (1994) An earnest reporter hired to write the 'official' biography of much-despised Detroit phenom Ty Cobb discovers just how dark the baseball legend's real story is. Everyone hated this baseball legend. Starring Tommy Lee Jones in an Oscar-nominated performance.

* "For the Love of the Game" (1999) A washed up pitcher, Billy Chapel, flashes through his career and must choose between the woman he loves and the game he lives for. Starring Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston and John C. Reilly.

* "Field of Dreams" (1989) In what many call the greatest baseball movie of all-time, an Iowa corn farmer, hearing voices, interprets them as a command to build a baseball diamond in his fields. He does, and the Chicago Black Sox come. Starring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones.

To learn more, or to sign up for the Columbia House DVD Club, visit http://www.columbiahouse.com/.

Source: Columbia House DVD Club

CONTACT: Melinda Meals, +1-212-930-4418, Melinda.meals@bmgch.com

Web site: http://www.columbiahouse.com/

------- Profile: Ent