MOVIE RANT: Rookie of the Year

I have no problem with outlandish story lines and far-fetched plots. It's Hollywood, and movies are best appreciated when the audience suspends their disbelief and accepts whatever's on the screen as a possible scenario. Films offer us a chance to use our imagination- stretch our concepts of what's real and tangible, and be taken away by a story.

I get that, I'm all for it. But what I can't stand are mistakes stemming from lack of attention to detail, especially in sports movies.

So while watching Rookie of the Year the other night, I was less concerned with the fact that a 12-year old was the focal point of the Cubs' bullpen than I was with the idea of Henry Rowengartner wearing blue jeans in his Little League game at the beginning of the movie.

You're kidding me- jeans? What self-respecting Little Leaguer shows up to his game rockin dungarees? Not one who expects to play, or walk away from the field without a wedgie, I assure you. "Man, I wonder why no one takes me seriously at baseball. I get no respect- I show up to games with my jersey untucked and wearing denim pants, what could be the problem?"

Baseball Movie All-Star Game: Starting Lineups

With all the baseball movies that are out there, I have always wondered which characters are the cream of the fictional crop. Now Ray Kinsella might look up at me and sarcastically ask, “What’s a crop?” – but I digress. Baseball movies often tell the story of an entire team, but each team has their usual cast of superstars, and now is their time to be recognized among baseball’s fictional elite.

I have broken up the All-Stars into two teams, American League and National League- groundbreaking stuff, I know. There is no rhyme or reason behind which team a guy ends up on- there are even teammates that find themselves on opposing sides. I was trying to model a competitive game, and these are the players that I felt gave their squad the best chance to win. Now I must warn you, there will be some snubs, along with some head-scratchers, but that is merely a consequence of baseball movies featuring mainly catchers, pitchers, and outfielders as their stars and main characters- essentially zero middle-infield love.

Also, this list consists of all fictional characters, although I was tempted to place the two main characters from *61 in each team’s cleanup spot.

So without further ado, here are your starting lineups. (We will assume the game is being played at an NL park: no DH's.)