If you are having trouble getting into a baseball mood here at the beginning of the season I would suggest adding a few baseball movies to your Netflix.com queue. There are a number of movies that could work like The Natural , Damn Yankees, Eight Men Out, Bang the Drum Slowly, Angels in the Outfield, Baseball by Ken Burns, Fever Pitch, A League of Their Own, The Rookie or Major League. Of course once you have watched all of those it might be time for the all star game so perhaps we should pare down the list to 3 movies. Coincidently three of the best baseball movies were made by Kevin Costner.

• Bull Durham – Costner plays a perineal minor league baseball player.
• Field of Dreams – Costner builds a baseball season in his corn for Shoeless Joe Jackson (I would love to have been in the room as they were pitching this movie).
• For Love of the Game – Costner plays an aging hall of fame bound pitcher who finally discovers something he loves better than baseball.

The first two pictures are classics but it is actually For Love of the Game that is my favorite of the three. Bull Durham and Field of Dreams are baseball fantasy movies, but For Love of the Game gives a glimpse into the mind and life of a major league pitcher. What is it like to stand in the middle of Yankee stadium and ignore the crowd while the game depends on what you can and cannot do? Watching these movies will make you long for the sunshine, green grass and hot dogs.