Baseball Movie Battle: ‘Angels in the Outfield’ vs. ‘Rookie of The Year’

‘Angels in the Outfield’ or ‘Rookie of The Year’? Which of these two was your favorite baseball movie as a kid in the early 90s?

The combination of social distancing and the coronavirus pandemic killing the start of the baseball season has led many fans to turn to binge-watching movies to get their fix. Movies like “The Natural”, “Field of Dreams”, and “Bull Durham” are right at the top of every fan’s favorite baseball movie list, but baseball is a kids game.

1993 & 1994 were big years for preadolescence making an impact in the Major Leagues. In 1993, Henry Rowengartner went from the bleachers to the pitching mound to lead the Chicago Cubs to a World Series title.

The apparently not-so-strike-shortened 1994 season was highlighted by not one, but two down-to-the-wire pennant races In one version of the season, a young Billy Heywood led the Minnesota Twins to the American League Championship Series, only to be beaten by a stacked Seattle Mariners team.

In another parallel universe, the California Angels, with the help of a bit of divine intervention, would win the not-so-vacant-after-all 1994 World Series title. While history would suggest that 1994 had no World Series champion, the fictional baseball world crowned two.

“Rookie of the Year”, “Angels in the Outfield”, and “Little Big League” left a mark in the heart of every baseball fan, but which movie reigns supreme?

Unfortunately for Billy Heyward, “Little Big League” only made $12M at the box office, which is equivalent to what the real-life Minnesota Twins will be paying Nelson Cruz this year. For this reason, it will be eliminated from consideration.

That leaves us to debate “Rookie of the Year” versus “Angels in the Outfield”.