Play Ball! The Movies' Greatest Sluggers

In 'Million Dollar Arm,' sports agent Jon Hamm has to go all the way to India to find the next big thing in baseball. Too bad he can't just travel back in time and sign any of these guys. Batter up!

EBBY "NUKE" LALOOSH, 'Bull Durham' (1988)

Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) may have the smarts, but out of all the players in the minor league Durham Bulls, only naïve pitcher LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) has what it takes to make it in the big leagues. And he knows it.

ROY HOBBS, 'The Natural' (1984)

It's one of Robert Redford's iconic roles: the star of the fictional New York Knights, whose handmade bat – carved out of a tree that was struck by lightning – enables Hobbs to literally knock the cover off of a baseball.

WILLIE "MAYS" HAYES, 'Major League' (1989)

Although Major League's main protagonists are played by Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Corbin Bernsen, the Cleveland Indians are saved by the lightning-fast Hayes, played by an up-and-coming actor named Wesley Snipes.

JACKIE ROBINSON, '42' (2013)

Fictionalized athletes are great and all, but who among them could even hold a candle to the real-life heroics of Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman)?

LOU GEHRIG, 'The Pride of the Yankees' (1942)

While we're on the subject of biopics, this classic weepie stars Gary Cooper as the brave but ailing Gehrig. The film was released just a year after Gehrig's death; you can imagine the response.

BABE RUTH, 'The Babe' (1992)

No list of great baseball players would be taken seriously if it didn't include the legendary Babe Ruth. Unfortunately, this biopic, starring the appropriately hefty John Goodman, struck out at the box office.

KELLY LEAK, 'The Bad News Bears' (1976)

Why not include a little league sensation in our fantasy baseball team? A young Jackie Earle Haley plays this talented juvenile delinquent, who stops causing trouble long enough to help lead the Bears to (a kind of) victory.

DOTTIE HINSON, 'A League of Their Own' (1992)

This classy Rockford Peaches dame (Geena Davis) could go toe-to-toe against any male slugger. Her sister Kit (Lori Petty) might be an even better player, but Dottie would shed no tears. After all, there's no crying in – well, you know.

JOE HARDY, 'Damn Yankees!' (1958)

Middle-aged Joe Boyd makes a deal with the devil and is transformed into a hunky Washington Senators prodigy named Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter) in this entertaining if corny musical.

STAN ROSS, 'Mr. 3000' (2004)

The late, great Bernie Mac plays Ross, who at the age of 47 learns that he didn't actually reach 3,000 base hits during his professional career – he only got up to 2,997. Ross suits up to make those final three hits; the results are unexpected.

JIM MORRIS, 'The Rookie' (2002)

The Rookie is the saga of the real-life Morris (Dennis Quaid), who took up professional baseball in his thirties. In 1999, at the age of 35, Morris made his major league debut. He remains the game's oldest rookie.

MIGUEL "SUGAR" SANTOS, 'Sugar' (2008)

This little-seen but well-received independent drama follows the fictional Santos (played by newcomer Algenis Perez Soto) from his hardscrabble life in the Dominican Republic to his bid for American baseball glory.