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Baseball: The Movie is the first definitive history of this film genre that was born in 1915 and remains artistically and culturally vital more than a century later. Writer and critic Noah Gittell sheds light on well-known classics and overlooked gems, exploring how baseball cinema creates a stage upon which the American ideal is born, performed, and repeatedly redefined.
Traversing history and mythmaking, cynicism and nostalgia, this thoroughly researched book takes readers on a multifaceted tour of baseball on film.
ADVANCE PRAISE
“Finally, someone takes baseball movies seriously! Baseball: The Movie blends the passion of a fan with the rigorous analysis of a film critic to create a persuasive argument that the baseball movie matters—to baseball, to Hollywood, even to America.”
— Ben Mankiewicz, host, Turner Classic Movies
“To paraphrase Jacques Barzun, whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball movies, and Baseball: The Movie is the best possible primer: a perceptive, persuasive, and comprehensive account of a quintessentially American movie genre. This union of subject and writer is a match made in heaven—or Iowa, anyway. Here’s hoping Hollywood busts baseball movies out of their slump and gives Noah enough material for a sequel someday.”
— Ben Lindbergh, author of “The Only Rule Is It Has to Work” and “The MVP Machine”
“There's analysis and there's storytelling. In my professional life, I practice them in the booth all season long. Noah GIttell not only masters each skill in Baseball: The Movie, but intertwines them seamlessly with humor, depth, and a personal perspective that makes it a must read for any movie lover, baseball fan, or curious observer of American culture.”
— Ron Darling, author, baseball analyst, and former MLB pitcher
“There are baseball fans, baseball aficionados, baseball fanatics – and then there is Noah Gittell. Baseball: The Movie is at once literate, scholarly, and passionate. Most of all, it understands that the sport's depiction in the movies is as revealing a narrative history of America as it is of our ‘national pastime.’ Imagine reading Franklin Foer’s classic How Soccer Explains The World in one hand while clutching a hot dog and a beer in the other. Move over, Bart Giamatti and Bill James, here's a new one to add to the canon.”
— Edward Zwick, director of Glory and Courage Under Fire
“Like a wise catcher who sees the whole field, Noah Gittell brings a keen eye and sharp perspective to two national pastimes that work as perfect companions: baseball and the movies. The summer game and the silver screen have evolved together through the decades, and Gittell traces their twin histories in rich detail, with riveting behind-the-scenes stories that make you appreciate the ballpark and the box office like never before.”
— Tyler Kepner, author of “K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitchers” and “The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series”
“Absolutely fantastic. Baseball: The Movie is much, much more than a list, a ranking, or a mere remembrance of some beloved baseball movies. It's a truly great work of cultural history.”
— Craig Calcaterra, author of Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game