Baseball Movies: Bull Durham (1988)

Baseball as a way of life, a religion, and most importantly, a game.

There are a lot of great lines in Bull Durham, a sharply written film. The “beliefs” monologue at the beginning, any of Annie’s speeches, or some quippers like, “You think Dwight Gooden leaves his socks on?” all stand out.

But there’s a repeated mantra in the film that always gets me:

“It’s a simple game. You throw the ball, catch the ball, hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”

I doubt that Bull Durham can take credit for this wisdom. It’s been attributed to old-timer Casey Stengel, which is certainly possible as some of the film’s musings clearly take inspiration from his witticisms, but it sorta just feels like an ethos that just exists. 

And the reason that I love it so much, and the reason that I love Bull Durham so much, is because this baseball hymnal reminds us that the game really is just that simple. It’s a game. Throwing, catching, winning, losing – just like any other game.  

Read Patrick’s review over at Bleacher Brawls.